We’re going to do something a little different things month. I listen to a radio show in the morning that does a “What’s Good Wednesday” where they just talk about good stories. Let’s face it… controversy sells. Bad news and scary headlines get clicks. And if you get too caught up in it, it can be a real downer.
Every person reading this knows full well that more people would have clicked to this page if I titled it “The Secret Features that Adobe Doesn’t Want You to Know About!!!”.
So I got this idea… Let’s just talk about the GOOD stuff! No clickbait headlines… Just the good stuff (but sometimes missed) you get with your Adobe $9.99 subscription. Things that are beyond just the two programs you get – Lightroom and Photoshop (if you’re on the higher priced plan because you use Premier, Illustrator or InDesign you get this stuff too).
It’s crazy… Adobe gives you so many little “extras” that I find it’s almost impossible to keep up with them all. So let’s take the next few weeks (I’ll be doing these on Monday / Wednesday / Friday) and hopefully let you know about something you’ve missed.
SIDENOTE: I’ve also created a page where each of these “How to get the most” videos (click here) will be compiled in one place. So feel free to stop back here on Monday, Wednesday or Friday to see each new video, or just check back to the master page if you just want the video without any of the written description.
Why Am I Doing This?
I’m doing this because Adobe backed up a truck full of money in to my front door 😉 Yeah right! Or how about because my income is tied to Adobe courses – so if Adobe does poorly it’ll reflect in my income. That’s another popular one I hear! Or, I’m just a fanboy and Adobe “shill” right?
I laugh it off, so it’s all good. But that’s the kind of stuff that anyone says the moment you defend or get passionate over liking a product. And even more so if the product is successful, or from a big corporate company. People love to hate the guy on top right? So… for the record. If you must know my financials, checks from Adobe account for about 0.006% of my income (I checked today). Usually just speaking fees if they have a booth at a conference, and ask me to speak there. And if you really must know, and we’re being honest, I teach post-processing – NOT just Adobe. I can teach you to edit a photo in any program out there, because we all know it’s about the art of the edit. So now that there are more viable competitors, I have more software to teach on – and hence a much larger market to talk to.
So why am I really doing this? I’m doing this because the Peta-Stoppers websites (AKA: lynch-mob or “tabloids” really) seem to really have it in for Adobe lately. They constantly post clickbait headlines (with so many false statements) that are no better than those tabloids you pass by at the grocery store checkout. I think these sites are the most toxic places in the photo industry, and they thrive on the negative commenters that troll them. But it’s pointless if I try comment there right? Nobody wins. The authors are just trying to stir things up, and the commenters are just plain angry mean trolls. I won’t change their mind, and they won’t change mine. So I decided to take the approach that the radio show I listen to did…
… To take my platform, and talk about What’s good about Adobe and their subscription, and helping you get the most out of the $9.99 a month you spend.
So… for those of you who are on the Adobe subscription, this is for you. It’s not meant to sell anyone to join it, and to leave their program of choice if it’s not Adobe. It’s simply here to make those that use it feel even better about the $9.99 you spend each month, and hopefully point out something you didn’t even know you get.
Expectations
Remember that more than just photographers use Photoshop. So some of the things I point out may be more creative in nature. But, many photographers are also creative, so you never know what you’ll learn, or get inspired from.
Do I expect that every item that I bring up this month will be of use to everyone? Nope… but I run in to FAR too many people that simply have no idea how many great things their subscription gets them. And when they see a feature they often say, “how come I never heard about this before?”.
Getting the Most From Adobe Video #1: Online Gallery Sharing
This is one of the best perks for me and I use it constantly. Earlier this year, I shared it with a smaller group in a course I did and I was flat-out amazed at how many people didn’t know they had access to this. Not only that, I saw hundreds of messages about how excited they were to find out what was possible.
The main feature of this video is that, in Lightroom Classic, once you create a Collection of photos (AKA: Album), you can share that collection with a link that you can send people. It will take them to an online gallery where they can view the photos, see a slideshow, see photo info (metadata if you choose), download (again, if you choose), and even comment on them. The best part is they don’t need ANY Adobe products (or even an Adobe account) to do it. And it all comes free with your Adobe subscription. No need to pay a web host or other website company (or know any techie stuff) to do it.
I love teaching and photography... In that order. I feel that enjoying photography, and photo editing can get WAY too complicated. So my personal mission (and favorite thing to do), is to create education that simplifies the process of taking great photos, and how to edit them to get the results you’ve always wanted.
Hi Matt
I have multiple catalogs and it looks like syncing can only be done with one catalog. Is that the case or is there a secret to doing for more than one? The different catalogs are for events I shoot for different charity organizations.
Hi Mark. Yes that’s correct. Syncing can only be done with 1 catalog.
I’ve synced my collection, right clicked on it to sync to LR, go back and right click again but the option to Copy Public Link is greyed out. I even logged out of LR and logged in using the Creative Cloud app and I still get that greyed out. Not sure what to do?
Continuing… I also don’t get the sync option when I click on the upper corner as you showed. I only get Address Lookup and Face Detection.
Hi. This is an older video and it has moved. Just look in the top right at the “cloud” icon. Thanks
Hello Matt.
Thank you so much for this wonderful bit of info. It works great.
I did run across one issue though that seems strange; the invited users need to login before they can comment on the photo. Its that so?
Hi Mike. Yep… otherwise spam bots across the internet would flood the page with spam comments.
So glad I found you again. Your courses are terrific and what you are doing in this blog is so useful. Thank you!
Great video. Thank you so much. I am working on my first collection to share and have been following step by step. ( So I thought) I must have done something wrong because I have 45 pictures in the collection and it will only show 26 when I share it. I did a test run and sent it to my husband. What did I miss?
I got it. It was all in the syncing…lol
Thanks Matt
i am happy to pay for your courses and do so, as they are so worth the $$ spent. However these little gems that you throw in are like gold.
Hard to find, but what a feeling when you discover them – Thank so much. Tim
Hi Matt
Great video, I just love your enthusiasm for everything you do. I have a small problem, I have my lightroom synced, I click on Make collection public, go back to the collection, right click but copy public link and view on web are greyed out. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Stay safe and well
Dave
Hey Matt, I did not know of this Lightroom feature until I saw the email and I finally found some time to try it… da. How do you give access to all your photos from one link… at least that is what it looks like from the video. Looks to me like each separate collection that is synced is shared with a different link.
Thanks
Ken
Hi… Other than putting them all in the same collection there is no way. Thanks!
Thanks for this great video Matt! I am looking for something to supplement my presentation capabilities. I want to give my clients a way to view the gallery and then mark their favorites and comment on each photo. However, when I created the collection and sync it with my Lightroom the client has to either sign in to their Adobe account or create one just to click on the little heart icon or post a comment. Most clients won’t have the Adobe account and probably would find this frustrating to create a new account just to comment on any of the gallery images. Am I missing a setting or is this the only way for someone to comment on images?
Hello Matt,
Unless I missed it, how did you get the logo at the bottom right of your online gallery?
Doh, thats a Youtube logo, not in the Adobe gallery. Nevermind… But that would be a cool touch for Adobe to add.
Wonderful video thanks Matt!
Isn’t it a bummer that Adobe doesn’t let you share videos from your Lightroom collection this way ?
None of these programs I’m referring to are really meant for video, so it’s not a surprise. Honestly, it’s not something I hear often, so I think most people are happy with stills.
Thanks Matt for starting this series! I didn’t know about the collection sharing, and also have been avoiding anything that says “Synch”. Now that I know how this use of it exists, I might get brave and learn a few more.
Hi Matt: Looks like a great series you are presenting. I am coming late to the party….
I have used this a few times, but your tutorial sorted a few things out.
But I would love to show the Title in the metadata, but can’t figure out how. I believe you mentioned clicking show title in the display settings will show title if you use that metadata field; as far as I can figure out that only shows the name of the collection as the title at the top of the webpage. Am I missing something?
Thanks again, I really enjoy all your work
Hi Matt, thanks for this great and informative video. I use this feature a lot but only finally understood the distinction between private view on web and public view from your video. I have a gallery set up to show off photos of my new granddaughter to family and friends and want to have the newest photos of her appear first. Initially I sorted the photos by capture date and then simply selected reverse order. But each time I add new photos to the gallery the new photos are added at the end. I have to re-sort by capture date, then reverse the order. Do you know if there is any way to ensure newly added photos to a gallery appear first, without going through the steps I outlined? Thanks
Looked for the answer to this, but I just created a page (GREAT) but the sort order came out funky. Back in Classic they are sorted by capture date. Any way I can fix this?
Love your info and thank you
Hi Matt! I started doing just this a few weeks ago and thought I pretty much knew all I needed to use this feature to the fullest, , until I watched this video. I learned so many other things and thank you for taking the time to do this. A huge help to my overall understanding of what I really need to know to get the most out of this feature.
Thanks Matt!
This coincides perfectly with a job I shot last Saturday. It’s exactly what I needed so my client can share the photos of her rental property, and is so much easier than other options (e-mailing photos, putting together an album that can be sent to multiple people, etc.). Keep up the great teaching!
Matt, wow! This is a brilliant tip, thanks so much for sharing it 🙂
Matt
Although I have ticked “Show metadata”, it appears that Adobe do not consider that Keywords are Metadata. Is there any way to get Keywords showing. I have hundreds of old family photos that I have digitized, and I want other family members to be able to see which people I have identified, and add any missing names, dates, location etc
Hi Colin. Not that I know of but you’d just have to play around and explore all features. If it’s not there, then there are no hidden places it would be. Thanks.
If you added a photo name in metadata, like people’s names, would that show up in metadata? Would you have to number the photos so people could email you with additional names?
Hi Matt
It’s not often I comment but one of the main reasons I subscribe is your common sense. The video was informative and useful as ever but the leading section “Why am I doing this?” – a breath of fresh air ?
Thanks for being an island of sanity amongst all the lunacy that lives on the web!
Thanks Warren! 🙂
Matt thanks for sharing this great information, I was not aware it was available. This is the best way to share photos from my recent trip.
Thank you so much! This is incredibly helpful! I’m so excited to have this new knowledge.
Hi Matt. Thank you for posting this; I always enjoy and learn from your tutorials. I take many pictures for church events and my daughter’s school events to share with others. I usually upload all of the pictures to Dropbox for people to download from. Do you see any disadvantage with me sharing the Lightroom link vs. Dropbox?
Nope! This is exactly what it’s meant for 🙂
Matt. These are awesome. Just watched the first one to start. Question. Is there a limit to how many collections you can share or amount of gigs in photos etc
Hi Paul. Nope!
Hi Matt, I did this a little earlier, but I don’t see it anywhere. How do you delete stuff from lightroom.adobe.com library. I mistakenly got a lot of stuff in there that I didn’t want there. I see how to delete albums, but most of the stuff I want to delete is just according to date and not in an album. Thanks
Hi Matt, Silly question, but how do I delete photos from my lightroom.adobe.com library? Don’t see the option
Hi Loretta – once you share a collection, anything in the collection is shared. You don’t delete things, you simply un-share them by right-clicking that collection again. If you don’t want a photo to be shared in an album then you’ll have to remove that photo from the collection and LR will automatically remove it from the shared gallery.
Hey Matt – thanks so much for this tip and all the others. It looked so easy that I made a page of some of my favorites for my friends and it came out great – check it out: https://lightroom.adobe.com/libraries/a17fe3c2520944b3bb995fcb0c516eca/albums/ee6c44adeef8b66aa4aaeb7db8863ddc
Steve
Hi Steve. Glad you liked the video. Maybe give it a quick watch again. I believe I actually mention that you can’t share the “Lightroom.adobe.com” link. I showed you where to get the public link from and the one you pasted is the direct link that I would only see if I was you logged in. Thx.
Yes Matt – I screwed up and I watched the video twice! Here’s the correct link. https://adobe.ly/2It8QTH
I’ll watch it again Steve
Thanks Matt. Wanted to know how to do this for a long time. I have been following you a very long time. Went to a couple of conferences you lectured at in South San Francisco.
You are still a great teacher.
Thanks Matt, didn’t know about this!
War about watermarks?
If we want to use this feature professionally,
we need to watermark our pics!
Within a family not so much ?
Thanks for all I’ve learned from you in the last years!
Great work!
Danke!
Hi. You can only do that through the Web module in Lightroom Classic. Not through this feature.
I was thinking the same thing. Solution I found was to CMD/CTRL E out to PS, add my watermark or signature there, then use the edited file(s) in my LR gallery.
Only takes a few seconds per image, but this would get very tedious if you wanted to post more than 20 or so pictures!
Thank you, Matt.
Amazing stuff, can’t wait for the next Adobe goodie that you are going to reveal next week.
Thanks Matt for another great video on a useful topic. I checked the FAQs and note they say it is actually a Smart Preview that is synced and no space is used. However if someone you send a link to wants to download the image the “save as” option will give them an html file not an actual image file. I was curious about if you do the LR adjustments then take it into PS and do some work there and click save, you will now have two files of the same image in your Catalog, a RAW and likely a TIFF file. I tried it and now know it will sync both images and you will see the same image twice in your shared catalog so we need to be mindful of that. Thanks again.
Hi. If you send some one a link, they can indeed download an image and not HTML if you turn on the option to allow downloads.
And if an image needs PS, I take it to PS and back. I then only put the new PS file in the collection to share.
THanks!
Matt,
I am going to guess that Adobe treats the raw files in the collection the same way for a Gallery that they do when you import a collection into Myportfolio.com
It is likely that they create multiple jpgs to accommodate computers, tablets and phones.
Do you happen to have any special knowledge or a way to find out for sure.
I was told that for Portfolio it is OK to put raw files into the collection the same as a jpg. It must be the same for this. Right?
There doesn’t seem to be a difference in the speed of the user experience.
Hi Steven. I don’t have any info. You could always download the JPG and check it to see what size it is. But my guess is it’s fairly small and only meant for sharing on mobile devices and screen size dimensions. The industry standard seems to be around 2000 pixels. It’s not meant for a professional client to download and use in projects.
Hi Matt,
Thank you for this. I’ve looked at various photo web galleries for sharing (Flikr, Nikon Image Space), but just haven’t found one that I want to stick with. I like how easy this is, and all done from within Lightroom. I recently downloaded your Lightroom System and Photoshop System, and hopefully going to learn them this year. They way you lay things out and explain them are so easy to understand. Thank you!
My question for this: When you sync a Collection to the web, and invite people via email, if you add a new photo down the road, will they get an email indicating a new photo has been added?
My guess is they won’t get an email but you could always email yourself the link and check it out for sure. Thanks Mark!
Hi Matt,
Thanks for another great tutorial video. Wish I had known this before after just have spent time and money purchasing and trialing galleries for my website.
There are many so-called photography tutors out there, and some who know their business, but I always come back to you as I know I am getting valuable information that is going to help me.
Matt,
Thanks for this video. I watched the earlier video you did a month or so which included this feature. I’m probably a bit slow so it takes a couple of times for me to get it all. I have followed you for awhile and bought some courses and am never disappointed. You are the best.I would like to reiterate Jeff’s comment re: you. Thanks again for for sharing in a friendly non-intimidating manner. I look forward to more like this. I just don’t get the Adobe whiners. Probably have too much time on their hands with too little to do creatively.
Thanks Neal! Glad to help and yes, they say we often have to see things a few times before they “take”. And I guess it takes all kinds of people for the world to go around. I don’t understand a certain side of the political race… but hey… that’s what makes life interesting right? 🙂
Thanks Matt. You provide so many great resources. Your name says it all for me.
Thanks Dandy… Glad you see Kloskowski as saying it all… most people just see it as a jumble of letters that’s really hard to pronounce 😉
Thanks Matt! I loved this video – who knew? I have been an Adobe person forever, until they started charging for subscriptions. I can’t afford them all, so now I only have Ltr.CC. I also use Flickr, which I paid for a one year subscription. Now they want to raise it $20. bucks. Not sure I will resubscribe, but with this, could be an alternative to that. You are the best, thanks so much.
Are you adding raw files (virtual links) to the collections? When it does the sync to Lightroom, what size file/format is being uploaded to Adobe?
Hi Al. If you watch the video when I click in the upper left corner of LR Classic to show how to turn on Syncing, you’ll see a “SYNC FAQs” link. Hopefully that answers your question and if you want to know what size you could always make a gallery and download an image to see. Thanks!
So here’s my conundrum. I am an art photographer and most of my images contain nudity. This, of course, causes issues with the big social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram) who are completely allergic to nudity in any form.
I just read the Terms for Adobe’s service and it lists many restrictions. Item (g) contains this:
[Do not]
(g) upload or share any Content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, tortious, defamatory, libelous, vulgar, lewd, profane, invasive of another’s privacy, or hateful;
So what are the chances that nude art falls under “vulgar” or “lewd”? Pretty damned good, I’d say.
https://www.adobe.com/legal/terms.html
Do you think I could share a nude art project up there for my models, makeup artists and others? Sadly, I am not going to even chance it.
Hi Bruce. I’m not sure. It is a private gallery that only you can give access (or a link) to people so nobody just browsing the web would find it. But you could always try for yourself. I always say better to ask for forgiveness than permission! Or in this case, just wait to see if they send you a message that it’s against TOS. Good luck!
Hey, maybe you’re right, Matt: try and see. Art-making is inherently risky. 🙂
Thank you for another very informative and timely info-vid!
Matt hi,
Terrific as usual, and as Jeff R stated, once I see a video by Matt K pop into my email box, I know I will learn something new. You make it more intuitive and easier to understand than any other online teacher out there. I am constantly re- referring to your LR course videos that I purchased a few years back.
Thanks so much Lance!! Glad to help!
I knew this feature existed, but have not tried it out yet. I’m wondering, is there a limit to how many pictures (or GB) you can use on adobe’s server?
Nope!
Thanks for this video. I have been use this type of function for a while (publishing Collections) to have family and friends able to view my photos. It’s easy-peazy. Learn this from one of your other vids. I also use Flicker and upload via LR publishing function. One advantage Flickr has is that I can upload short video clips for viewing. Sure wished LR could provide this capability at some point. If it does now I haven’t found it.
Thanks Matt. Can you get Stats on access, which email accessed and how many downloads are being done? ( I see this with Smugmug)
Can anyone link to this gallery URL and use a photo on a website? Again, I saw on my Smugmug account. Basically they embedded my photo url to their code and when their website was accessed, my photo would load.
thanks, Margie
Hi Margie. I doubt you’ll get reports. But you could poke around to see (there’s not many options as you can see from the video). The link won’t be available for anyone to see unless you share it with people or post it online in a place where more people can see. But it’s not just freely available for anyone to browse. Thanks.
Cool series theme! Thanks for the walkthrough Matt.
In flickr you can post an album similar to this, but you can also re-edit individual images in Lightroom and re-publish them to your album replacing the original image. Can you do that here?
Thanks for doing this. This is going to make March a little more exciting.
I don’t understand the Adobe haters. We are talking about software with a choice. People can be silly sometimes and really need to find more productive ways to fill their time.
So appreciate the video’s you make and share. I also would like to know you can watermark the images before making them “public?” Thank you Matt
Hi. You can only do that through the Web module in Lightroom Classic. Not through this feature.
I think Jeff said it all.
You rock!!
Outstanding
It was very interesting to see this video, and maybe I will try this feature. I always enjoy and appreciate your tutorials.
But what I want to point out as well: I was for a long time an Adobe customer but stopped using it when the subscriptions came in. For a long time I just used my old Adobe programs (up to CS5) or some alternatives, but finally found that the alternatives are not so inexpensive either if one has to update them every year. So since last year I took out a subscription and now I am using it again. At first I thought I thought I would not be able to use it or to catch up, but there are so many helps and tutorials so I get get what I find necessary. And I enjoy this subscription very much. The only thin g I do not want is to have everything on the cloud.
So thanbk you Matt again, to share with us all the wonderful things.
You rock Matt!! Love these “secrets” and appreciate the time it takes to demo, video and upload!
Thanks so much!
Matt, what a GREAT idea! Thanks for all the good information.
Thanks, Matt very helpful
This is great. Can I get a watermark on the images? I shoot a lot of Senior (High School) banners for sports teams and this is a little easier/faster way for me to get proofs for them to choose their pose. But, as kids will do, they will screen shot anything that moves on the intraweb. It would be great, to upload, they choose, then I remove them and upload the finished product to my website.
Thank you again, as everyone has done already, I did not know this existed!!
Watermark was also the first thing which came into my mind!
If we want to use this feature professionally,
we need to watermark our pics!
Within a family not so much
😉
Great information!! Thank you!
Hello Matt.
Jeff Ross above expressed my thoughts as I read your intro. message on this. Personally, I wouldn’t care if you were promoting Adobe and it was a part of your revenue stream. I use it, you offer quality in your training and information that I appreciate. Your motivation is of little concern. I’ve known you since your days at Elements Magazine. You have all the credibility in the world with me. You are very good at what you do. Thank you.
Amazing! Thanks
Matt – this is a terrific video. I have been using this feature to share images with another individual that has an Adobe subscription to get comments on images I am thinking about submitting to a competition. But I had not known about the options Adobe gives you when you view the album on the web.This is a much better way to quickly share images from a trip with my fellow travelers – which I do often. But I have been SmugMug to do this and sometimes I want to share some image, especially with people in them, only with my fellow travelers and not with the public at large which requires me to create two different albums in SmugMug. Thanks!!
Matt , What a great idea!! A wonderful video.Thank you. This explains the entire concept. This has been one of my favorite features but your way truly less complicated than how I have been doing it Thanks again! I do have a question that I think pertains to this. And that is I have reached my 20gig max in storage. How do you lower storage? From the desktop, I did try to un-sync some of my folders but still did not lower my total storage am I missing something? Thanks
One the logged in webpage, you can click on one image or Shift Click on many and choose DELETE. This looks like it removes them from the server
As always another great tip!! I didn’t know that I could do that. Thanks!
Wow, thank you Matt. I was unaware of this powerful option.
I hear that over and over again. That’s why I did this. Such an amazing feature that goes totally unnoticed. Thanks!
Matt, this is the greatest information I’ve received. Thank you so much for creating this video to teach me about it.
Awesome,
Sandy
You’re very welcome Sandy. In the first 15 minutes since I sent this out I’m already so happy I did. So many messages from people saying they had no idea 🙂
Matt, this is brilliant – I wish I’d known it before!
And as Jeff said, your stuff doesn’t need clickbait headlines – it’s top-notch stuff every time and always brilliantly explained. If we forget about the ‘steam tutorial back in the day, anyway! ??
Love that tutorial! 🙂
It’s about time someone did this Matt. Adobe get lots of undeserved flack and so many people don’t really understand how much value is packed into that subscription model. Add to that the number of people who claim problems to be Adobes fault when its the individual who hasn’t learned to use the software properly or they’re running it on hardware thats not up to the job.
Does the Adobe gallery display 360 images?
Who owns the images?
Can you images by stolen?
I don’t think they do 360.
You absolutely own all of your work and the images can be taken by a screen grab just like any other image on the internet.
Hi Matt:
Thanks for this!. I want to say that as far as I am concerned, you don’t need clickbait. Whenever I see Matt Kloskowski or Matt K, it is one of the first things I go to because over the years I have come to “know” you and your philosophy. I understand your passion and the innate teacher in you.
I do similar things with another hobby of mine so I can help others enjoy that hobby as well. So…I am sure you have many readers who share my sentiments and appreciate all that you do for the photography community. I send you a very well-earned THANK YOU and deep expressions of gratitude!
Thanks Jeff! You made my day! 🙂