Lightroom auto settings not being applied to all selected photos.

[mikeg31607364]

When selecting multiple photos and applying auto settings (Devleop Settings > Auto Settings), only a small portion of the photos have auto settings applied. This can be anywhre between 50 and 700 photos. There seems to be no logic to how many photos correctly have auto settings applied. It seems to work for more photos when selecting in the Library tab as opposed to selecting in the Develop tab. 

Running Windows 10 on Lightroom 13.2. This has been happening for a couple years now. 

Same as post: https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/auto-adjust-settings-does-not-apply-to-...

[mikeg31607364]

Update after Mac tag was removed by moderator: 

This is also happening on my Macbook running Sonoma.  

[GoldingD]

I could easily be wrong. Other members will correct me if so. But as I recall, and as I have noticed, The Auto Tone in the Develop Module, unlike the quick Auto Tone in the Library Module, does not apply individual photo adjustments in bulk/batch. You select multiple photos, you naturally have one of those photos as most selected, you click on that Auto Tone button, and it adjusts all those photos as if they had the same tonality of that most selected photo, Oh the sliders may show some difference, but that difference will not be based on each individual photo, but will be in proportion to the most selected.

Now if you try this in the Library Module, you will find that it works their (although a smaller set of sliders)

___________________________________________________________

I do have a reccomended workflow change. A plug-in to accomplish the Auto Tone. This one is found in the Jeffrey Frieda's Blog, for Lightroom Plug-ins, A plug-in called Jeffrey’s “Bag-o-Goodies” and specifically a tool in that plug-in called Personalized Auto Tone. I find that it does work in batch. I like it as I can limit what sliders get modified and by how much (limit) So for example I could just mod brightness, white, and blacks and avoid auto contrast, etc. 

If you buy it (not expensive, donations are, and trial for six weeks) read the instructions as initially setting it up is tricky.

http://regex.info/blog/lightroom-goodies/bag-o-goodies#personalized-auto-tone

[mikeg31607364]

Thank you for your reply. Maybe I am misunderstanding but is Auto Tone the same thing as Auto Settings (Right Click > Devleop Settings > Auto Settings)?

[GoldingD]

Not at a PC, but yes (If I remember correctly)

[mikeg31607364]

OK good to know. So is there a reason the auto setting (auto tone) stops working after a handful of photos? I cannot find any rhyme or reason as to when the auto settings stop being applied. It will often skip chunks in the middle of the section. 

[johnrellis]

"is Auto Tone the same thing as Auto Settings"

Adobe changed the name from Auto Tone to Auto Settings a while back (not sure when). The official name in the app is now Auto Settings.

[johnrellis]

"I could easily be wrong. Other members will correct me if so. But as I recall, and as I have noticed, The Auto Tone in the Develop Module, unlike the quick Auto Tone in the Library Module, does not apply individual photo adjustments in bulk/batch."

Not quite right.  In Develop, when you select multiple photos and do the menu command Settings > Auto Settings, the command applies only to the most-selected (currently displayed) photo.

However, if you right click any selected photo in the filmstrip and do Develop Settings > Auto Settings, it will apply the command to all selected photos individually.

It's just part of LR's impossible to remember rules for handling multiple selections:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-ideas/consistent-behavior-when-multiple-photos-sele...

[johnrellis]

Just now and in response to previous reports about this issue, I've tried unsuccessfully to reproduce the problem on my test catalog with 1667 photos from many different cameras and formats. Unless Adobe is able to reproduce the problem, or there are many more reports about it, they are unlikely to pay attention.

If you can make a test catalog for which the problem reliably occurs, then Adobe might then address it (or at leask acknowledge it as a confirmed bug). Make a new catalog, put its photos in a subfolder of the catalog folder, and then import those photos into the catalog. If the problem occurs reliably, then zip up the entire catalog folder, upload it to Dropbox, Google Drive, or similar, and post the sharing link here or send it to me in a private message.  If the problem occurs on other LR installations, then that's a significant step forward and we can ask Adobe to look at it.

[mikeg31607364]

Thank you for the advice. I tried doing what you suggested and, of course, could not get the issue to appear. This could mean it only occurs with larger LR catalogs (my main catalog currently has over 12k photos). 

[johnrellis]

...and/or it's triggered by some conditions in particular catalogs. Given the relatively small number of reports, it seems there is something that's particular to specific catalogs or installations or combinations of specific photo formats.  

[mikjo243]

Well. If I select all photos and run Auto, ther is a message saying something like "Auto applied to x photos" and that amount it says is all photos. And then it often applies auto only to the first half or a bit more/less.

[KirsopMedia]

I've also got this issue, in 2025 on v14.4. Been happening a lot, seemingly can only apply auto settings to some pictures. I've got around 100 pictures in this current batch and after around 20 pictures the sliders in the "basic" slider panel are all reset to 0. However the colour grade and total exposure settings have applied to the whole batch - just not the basic sliders panel.

[Aleke]

Hi @KirsopMedia, welcome to the community! Sorry to hear you're running into issues with Lightroom Classic.

Could you share a few more details about what’s happening? For example, what operating system you're using, and when you check the History panel for one of the affected photos, do you see the auto settings applied? Also, is there any pattern, like does it always stop on the same photo?

Thanks so much!
Alek