Visual Wilderness
  • Get Started
  • Shop
    • SPECIAL OFFERS
    • STREAMING SERVICE
    • Browse by Topic
    • Learn To Shoot
    • Post Processing
    • Online Classes
    • eBooks
    • Landscape Photography Guide
  • Blog
    • Blog
    • Guest Photographers
  • About
  • My Account
    • My Account
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
  • 0Shopping Cart

10 Lightroom Shortcuts That Every Photographer Should Know

February 2, 2018/in Post Processing /by Pedro Kin

Adobe Lightroom has many different keyboard shortcuts. While we all may love editing, we could possibly spend more time shooting and less time editing. Because there are so many shortcuts, it can be difficult to memorize them all. The following list shows my top ten Lightroom shortcuts that I think every photographer should know.

25% OFF NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY TUTORIALS
Sale Expires In:
0Days0Hours0Minutes0Seconds
SHOP NOW

Shortcuts

Develop Module – Shortcut: D – A quick way to switch from library module to develop module.

Grid View (Library Module) – Shortcut: G – This is the quickest way to jump from the develop module to the library module to see the grid.

Undo – Shortcut: Ctrl-Z (Pc) Cmd-Z (Mac) – Use this to undo your last change. Because Lightroom keeps all history information, you can undo more than just the last step.

Before/After – Shortcut: \ (backslash) – Allows you to see how your photo has changed. For this shortcut to work, you must be in develop module.

Light Mode – Shortcut: L – This is very useful when you want to remove distractions and focus only on the image at hand. There are two modes in light mode that can be used apart from the default.

Clipping Indicators – Shortcut: J – This allows you to see the blown highlights in red and clipped shadows in blue.

Crop tool – Shortcut: R – This allows you to access the crop tool. Once you’ve selected the correct size of your image, you can press R again to confirm the crop.

Spot Removal – Shortcut: Q – From dust in the sensor to unwanted elements on our images, we use this tool more often than we would like to admit.

Graduated Filters – Shortcut: M – A great way to improve the overall mood of your photos.

Reset Adjustments – Shortcut: Shift-Ctrl-R (PC) Shift-Cmd-R (Mac) – If you are not satisfied with the changes you’ve made, this shortcut allows you to return to the original image to start over.

25% OFF NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY TUTORIALS
Sale Expires In:
0Days0Hours0Minutes0Seconds
SHOP NOW

Bonus – Shortcut: Ctrl + / –  This allows you to access a list of additional shortcuts from the module in which you’re working.

Editing is a big part of a photographers arsenal, we spend hours and hours being editing tools, we remove spots, we revert adjustments, we crop and sometimes we reset all the adjustments and go back to square one, we more often then not need to compare the before and after image.

For example every time I start editing a new image I will press L (Light mode) so I can remove all lightroom distractions, I can focus solely on the image in front of me, once I have a better idea what I want I go into the develop module (D), once in develop module I will check the highlights (J) and start doing my adjustments, I often use the backlash (\) to compare the original image with my new edited one, spot removal (Q) is one of my main used tools due to the conditions I often shoot, I find myself using graduated filters (M) often to improve the overall mood of my images.

Memorizing the shortcuts can be annoying but if you perform actions like me in all your photos, think how much time you will save just by learning this shortcuts and applying across all your work.

Everyone uses Lightroom differently and some shortcuts are more useful to some people than others. I find these ones the best overall shortcuts for me, but feel free to add some of your favorite shorts in the comments below.

LIGHTROOM TUTORIALS FOR NATURE PHOTOGRAPHERS
Check out the following tutorials on Visual Wilderness:
  • Range Masks in Lightroom

    $39.95 . $29.95 Sale!
    Add to cart Show Details
  • Lightroom for Landscape Photography Tutorial Cover

    Lightroom for Landscape Photography

    $39.95
    Add to cart Show Details

About Author Pedro Kin

Pedro is a Portuguese landscape photographer based in Slovakia but you’ll often find him chasing the light in the most beautiful mountains, forests and fjords of Europe. Favouring the cold landscapes and the raw nature of northern Europe, the weather does not stop him from going after the perfect shot — be it the northern lights in the Lofoten Islands, a snowy beach in Lithuania or a powerful waterfall in Iceland. When not traveling the world with his camera, Pedro is found back home helping others improve their photography and editing skills through personalized one-to-one online courses.

Website | Facebook| Google+| Twitter

Tags: Lightroom
You might also like
Cover for blog post about how to crop in Lightroom by Kate Silvia How to get a perfect crop in Lightroom
Cover for blog article about Lightroom for Landscape Photography by David Johnston Easy Lightroom Workflow for Landscape Photography
Cover photo for Landscape Photography blog post about Range Masks in Lightroom How to use Range Masks in Lightroom
Cover Image on Tips to Sharpen Your Photos in Lightroom Blog Post Tips to Sharpen Your Landscape Photos in Lightroom
Lightroom: How to Watermark Your Images
Cover for Lightroom tips about Nature Photography by Charlotte Gibbtte Gibb 3 Invaluable Lightroom Tips for Nature Photography

25% OFF NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY TUTORIALS

Step-by-step workflow for nature photographers to create spectacular natural-looking photos with stunning details and vibrant colors.

SHOP NOW

NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY NEWSLETTER

Join 45,000+ Nature Photographers and get the free eBooks, free creativity course & discount codes right in your inbox.

loader

Note: We never share your email address with anyone. More Info.

PRODUCTS WE USE

Shimoda Camera Bags
10% OFF Code: PATEL10
NIK Collection by DXO
10 Day FREE TRIAL

Testimonials

I love the Visual Wilderness Video Courses! And you have great customer service as well 🙂
April AbercrombieOregon, USA
I’ve never seen training material this high in visual quality, formal presentation, knowing what’s important to present and how.  I hope you keep on expanding your Landscape Photography Video Tutorial output and set even better standard.
Al DziczekKentucky, USA
Essential Filters Course would have saved me from frustrating photos that were a result of using filters wrong or not understanding when and how to use them.  Another great tutorial series from Jay & Varina.
Tom HealyPortland, Oregon
Varina and Jay will go the extra mile in making sure you understand the concepts.
Stephanie
I wanted to say thank you, I’ve been watching some of the videos tutorials you made teaching about different camera lenses and they are absolutely great. I especially like the case studies that let you actually see how things work in practice while you explain them.
Sara GhedinaSan Francisco, California
Having Jay and Varina as instructors opens up a totally new perspective to Landscape photography.
Vikram JayaramanSan Jose, California
I would like to complement Jay, Varina and your Visual Wilderness associates for making such well thought out photo training & guidance videos. They are topical, have a clear structure to help in the learning process and good quality.
Barry DenchNew Zealand
I love your photography and your instructional videos and eBooks!
Lenize ZikaOrlando, Florida
Thank you Jay and Varina . Another great collection of instructional videos. I watch a lot of videos and you two are really the best in giving useful information.
Richard DuckworthFlorida, USA
Jay and Varina do a great job of instructing through your video’s. I’ve brought some other big name Landscape photographers but Visual Wilderness Video Tutorials are much better quality!
Glen LawrenceQueensland, Australia

Blog | Shop | About

 Email Policy  |  Privacy Policy  |  Terms

INFOCUS NEWSLETTER

Join 45,000+ other photographers and get the Free eBooks, Free Creativity Course & Discount Codes right in your inbox.


loader

Note: We never share your email address with anyone. More Info.


All Rights Reserved, © Copyright Visual Wilderness

How to Effortlessly Photograph Flowing Water The narrows 4 Post-Processing Mistakes Made by Beginners
Scroll to top