Develop Module: Views in the Develop Module

Customize the order of Develop panels

You can drag the Develop panels on the right of the workspace in the order you would like to see them in your custom Develop panel menu. You can also choose to show or hide the panels as required.   

To customize the Develop panel menu, do the following:

• Right-click (Win) / Control-click (Mac) on the header of any panel.

• Select Customize Develop Panel from the context menu that opens.

• In the Customize Develop Panel dialog box that opens, drag the panel names in the desired order.

• Click Save.

  To hide any panel, deselect the check box next to the panel name. To show a hidden panel, select the check box next to the panel name. To restore the default order, click Default Order. 

• Relaunch Lightroom Classic to see the Develop panels in the new order in the Confirm dialog that opens.

Views in the Develop module

Reference View

 Available only for Creative Cloud members

Reference View in the Develop module provides a dedicated 2-Up view which lets you place a Reference (static) photo next to an Active (editable) photo. This view is useful when you want to edit a photo to make it look like a different, reference photo. Here are some examples:

• Matching the look of a photo for preset creation.
• Determining the white balance consistency in photos.
• Balancing the image attributes across photos that you want to use together in a layout or presentation.
• Fine-tuning the applied camera matching profiles to the look of camera-generated JPG files.

• Launch Reference View

  You can launch Reference View from the Develop module and the Library module.

  To launch Reference View from the Library module:

  1. In the Grid view or Loupe view, select the photo you want to edit.
  2. Do any of the following:
     • From the menu bar, select Photo > Open in Reference View or press Shift+R keys.
     • Right-click a photo and choose Open in Reference View from the context menu. 

  To launch Reference View from the Develop module, do the following:

  • With a photo selected, click  icon located in the toolbar. 

  The selected photo is added to the Active window in Reference View where you can edit this photo.

  

  Reference View in the Develop module; photo to be edited in the Active window.

  
  

• Select a reference photo

  • In Reference View, drag-and-drop a photo from the Filmstrip onto the Reference window to set it as the reference photo.

  You can also set a reference photo from the grid in the Library module or the Loupe view in the Develop module by right-clicking a photo and choosing Set As Reference Photo from the context menu.

  

  Reference view showing Reference photo in the Reference window on the left and the photo to be edited in the Active window on the right.

  
  

  To change the Reference Photo while in Reference View, do any of the following:

  • Right-click a photo in the Filmstrip and select Set As Reference Photo from the context menu.
  • Drag-and-drop a new photo to the Reference window.
  • Switch to the Library module, right-click a photo in the grid, and select Set As Reference Photo from the context menu.

  By default, Reference View displays the Reference photo and the Active photo side by side on the screen. To switch to the display to Top/Bottom in Reference View, do any of the following:

  • Click the  icon located in the toolbar to toggle between Reference View - Left/Right and Reference View - Top/Bottom display.
  • Choose Reference View - Top/Bottom option from the pop-up menu.

• Edit the Active photo

  Using the tools and panels on the right, you can now work on editing the Active photo to visually match its characteristics and looks with the Reference photo.

  To see a Before view of your Active photo while editing your photo in Reference View, press '\' key. Lightroom Classic displays the previous version of your photo in the Active window. The word "Active (Before)" appears in the upper-left corner of the Active window.

  

  Apply develop setting on the Active photo (right) to visually match its characteristics and looks with the Reference photo (left).

  
  

  Note:

  While in Reference View, you can use all the develop tools to edit your Active photo — except the Crop tool. Apply most of the local edits to your photo including crop, before you launch Reference View.

  When you select the Crop tool, Lightroom Classic displays the Selecting the Crop tool will exit Reference View dialog. You can click Continue to exit. Otherwise, click Cancel to remain in Reference View.

  To change the Active Photo while in Reference View, do any one of the following:

  • Select a different photo in the Filmstrip
  • Drag a new photo to the Active window.
  • Click the Reference Photo lock icon  in the toolbar, switch to the Library module, select a new photo, and then choose Photo > Open in Reference View from the menu bar.

  Note:

  By default, Lightroom Classic clears the current Reference photo when you switch away from the Develop module to any other module. To lock the current Reference photo to the Reference window, click the Reference Photo lock icon  in the toolbar before switching away from the Develop module.

  While working in the Reference View in the Develop module, the area under the Histogram displays the RGB/LAB color values for individual pixels appearing under the Hand or Zoom tool when you move it over the Reference/Active photo: 

  Reference/Active R [Reference value]/[Active value] G [Reference value]/[Active value] B [Reference value]/[Active value] %

  You can refer to these color values while adjusting the tone and color of your Active image. For details, see View RGB and LAB color values in Reference View.

• Exit Reference View

  To exit Reference view, do any of the following: 

  • To remain in the Develop module, press the Loupe icon in the toolbar or press the D key.
  • To return to the Library module, click Library in the Module picker, or press the G or E keys.

While working in Reference View, you can also apply selected Develop settings of the current Active photo across multiple photos. See Apply develop adjustments across multiple photos in Reference View.