LR: Survey View
In Lightroom Classic, use the "Survey" view (hotkey: N) to compare any selection of images and glance at a grouping of images to check for consistency.
Discovering this tool was a game-changer for my editing workflow!!
Here are three ways I use survey view…
1. Editing Consistency.
I use the survey view at the point in my Lightroom workflow when I am ready to compare a sampling of images (my “picks”) before I synchronize those sample edits with the other images from the entire session. I am looking for editing consistency throughout my entire gallery, start to finish — things like exposure and contrast, does everything *feel* like it belongs together, and especially skin tones and clothing colors. Over the course of one outdoor session, since the sun moves and since I move around and sometimes even change gear, there will be some inconsistency in my SOOC (straight out of camera) images that I will want to address in post processing. Using survey mode helps me eyeball everything for consistency before I deliver anything to a client!
change the background color of your Lightroom window by right-clicking in that area and selecting from white, black or three grey shades.
^Same Images in both windows above: Grid View “G” versus Survey View “N” — Survey View is way better for eyeballing your editing, right??
2. Culling further.
I cull fast and I cull well. But even after I’ve culled a session down to all my *five star* images… sometimes I realize during image processing that I still have way too many and that some image pairs that are too similar to each other to deliver both. I use survey view to help me cull down further; to compare very similar images and pick only the best ones when trying to reduce the size of a gallery.
3. Visualizing Print Groupings.
Rather than drag images into another software or program or app to help envision how images will pair together for a wall display, I simply use the survey tool and give my clients screen shots to help them visualize what some of their images might look like next to each other on the wall.
To screenshot on a Mac: hold Command+Shift+4 then drag the cursor around the area you want to capture.
I’ve done this to sell nature print groupings as well!
^ these are literally just screen shots of images I’ve arranged in survey mode in Lightroom Classic! Can you see how this could help your clients visualize how they might put prints of your images up on their walls?
It was a couple years into Lightroom that I finally learned about Survey view! I hope you learned something new today!
-Julie