Oooh, I’m excited about this one! Shortcuts are my favorite Lightroom Hacks.
When you learn to use Shortcuts without even thinking about it, the time you save starts to add up!
After 10+ years of editing in Lightroom, these shortcuts are what I find myself routinely using, often without even realizing it. Sometimes it takes thinking back to the days of being a newbie Lightroom user, to remember the little hacks I hadn’t yet learned. So if you’re reading this, you’re likely learning them faster than I did!
This first one was such a game changer when Adobe added it to Lightroom.
Reference Mode
SHIFT + R
Easily compare photos in the catalog to ensure consistency through your edits. As a photo editor for other photographers, I use this frequently to ensure I’m matching my clients’ edits. But even when editing my own images, having a reference to compare to makes all the difference when I want to create consistent imagery.
Syncing
CTRL + OPT + S (mac) / CTRL + SHIFT + S (WIN)
This shortcut for syncing will bypass the Sync Settings dialog box, so you’ll want to make sure you already have what you want to sync already selected or unselected, but it sure is a speedy feature.
Lights Out Mode
L
Hide the busy interface of Lightroom and isolate your image or images. I love to use this when cropping through a set of images because it will hide the parts of the image that I’m cropping out.
Crop Tool
R
Speaking of cropping, when I find myself needing to make a speedy adjustment to an image, this shortcut is a must.
Virtual Copy
CMD + ‘ [apostrophe] (MAC) / CTRL + ‘ [apostrophe] (WIN)
Almost anytime I make a black and white image, I first create a virtual copy.
A big thanks to Kortni and Chris Photography for allowing me to share their catalog in this tutorial!
Look for a cheat sheet of all the Lightroom Shortcuts? Check out my freebie section!
