Copying Settings Using Sync And Auto Sync in Lightroom

Being able to process our images fast is always a good thing, and batch processing in Lightroom can really help. There are many different ways you can batch process your image. Batch processing simply means copying settings from one image and applying them to other images. In my last video I showed you how to do this using the Previous button and you can watch it here. You can also manually copy and paste settings from one image to another using the history panel or you can use Sync and Auto Sync, which I will show you now in this video.

Speed Up Your Workflow With Sync and Auto Sync

First we’ll look at the Sync Button. I have several images here in the filmstrip and one main selected image in the center. They were all taken with the same settings and in the same lighting. First I’m going to make some quick adjustments to this image…I’m going to make the photo a little warmer since it was taken in late afternoon. I’ll adjust the temperature to about 5333. take down the highlights and open up the shadows and set the white point and black point. I’ll also add a little clarity to about 24 and vibrance to about 14.

Then I’m going to select these images in the filmstrip. To select them all I will hold down the Shift key and click on the last image in the row. If I only wanted a few of this images, them I would hold down Ctrl/Cmd on a mac and select them one at a time.

You’ll see that now the button in the lower right as changed from Previous to Sync. When I click on it you get a dialog box like this. Now I can choose which develop settings I want to sync. It’s a good idea to click on Check None first to clear everything out and then just choose the settings you want to sync. We made adjustments to the White balance, Basic Tone, Clarity and Vibrance, so I will only select those boxed, plus I will check Process version because I’m using the same process version for all these photos. Now I’ll hit the Synchronize button at the bottom right. Now the settings from my main image will be synced to the other images I selected in the film strip.

But then what happens if I want to make more changes? Then I would have to sync them again. But that’s where Auto Sync comes in to play. With Auto Sync, any changes I make to one of these images will automatically be applied to all of the images selected. Local adjustments brush and gradients and radial filters will be applied too.
To get to Auto Sync, you just toggle this little slider next to where it says Sync and now you are in Auto Sync.

Using Auto Sync is super handy. On this image I’m going to make another adjustment. Let’s go down to the Effects Panel and I’ll add a post crop Vignette to about -48 so you can easily see the change. Now look and you’ll see the vignette applied automatically to the other selected images. I’m going to ease up on that since it’s pretty intense.
Then when you are done with your main adjustments you can deselect all the images and select one image individually to make other adjustments if you need to.

So when would you use Auto Sync? It’s helpful when you have select a group of images shot at the same time with the same settings and if you have Auto Sync on as you make adjustments to one image the exact same adjustments will be made to the other selected images in real time as you make them.

Auto Sync makes working in Lightroom faster. You can leave Auto Sync on all the time or you can switch back to Sync which is the “normal mode” and just turn on Auto Sync when you want it.