How to speed up Lightroom 4

Ever since the new year I've switched over to doing most of my editing in Adobe Lightroom 4. I loved Lightroom 3, and Lightroom 4 was even more amazing. The new 2012 processing engine is incredible, from the ridiculous highlight recovery latitude, to the noise reduction that still keeps the details. But, like a lot of people, everything slowed... way... down. It took several seconds after clicking a slider for the updated image to show up. So I tried a bunch of things to help speed it up, after all, I spend a good chunk of time editing after weddings and such so any little increase would yield huge benefits for my free time! Hopefully these little tips will help everyone else speed up Lightroom 4.


First a little background. I'm (unlike almost every other photographer) a PC user. I built my own custom photo editing PC a few years ago, so that will be the basis for this tutorial. Sure it's not state of the art anymore, but it should be able to power though the raw files from my Nikon D4! Don't worry, some of these tweaks will work on a Mac too, but I can't put all the specific details here, because I don't have one. Also, perform these tweaks at your own risk. I haven't had any issues but I can't guarantee you won't.

Here's a quick summary of the things I've tried and their rough results:

• Putting the Lighroom Cache File on a SSD: 5-10% Improvement
• Turning off automatic write to XMP Option in Catalog Settings: No noticeable improvement, although others say it has really helped
• Changing BIOS Memory Option from Turbo to Extreme: 20-30% Improvement
• Renaming Lightroom Preferences File: 20-50% Improvement, others have said more
• Overclocking Computer: Can help with performance, but I've never tried mine in a non-overclocked setting to judge the difference
• Create a New Catalog: 5-10% Performance
• Allocating More Memory to the Cache File: No noticeable improvement

I would say overall I've probably gotten Lightroom 4 to be roughly 50% faster, most notably in the brushes and slider responsiveness. Still not as fast as I would like it, but definitely a noticeable improvement. Note: I still haven't figured out a way to make the program launch faster, elimate the delay in flipping from one photo to the next in the Develop Module, or eliminate the delay the very first time you adjust a slider on an image. If anyone has figured this out, please send me a message!

Anyways on to the good stuff! In order of goodness:

Renaming the Lightroom Preferences File: 20-50% Improvement

For Windows 7/Vista:

1. Hit Start and type in "%appdata%"

2. Open the Adobe Folder

3. Open the Lightroom Folder

4. Open the Preferences Folder

5. Rename the "Lightroom 4 Preferences.agprefs" file to something else (like "old_lightroom 4 preferences.agprefs")

6. Restart Lightroom

Most likely this will have killed a few of your preferences, but you can always go back in and change them. If you go back into your Preferences folder you will notice that Lighroom has created a new Preferences File. I'm not sure why this improves the performance so much, but hey, I'm not gonna complain! Note: This may need to be done every few months to keep the performance improvement, but I haven't tested things that far yet. If this doesn't help feel free to go back and rename your old file and delete the next one Lightroom created.

If your on a Mac, I'm sure the same tweaks will work, but I'm not sure if this file is located in a different directory than on Windows. I'll update this if someone can confirm this with me.

Changing the BIOS Memory Option from Turbo to Extreme: 20-30% Improvement

Note this is an option only for Gigabyte motherboards. There may be a similar setting available from other motherboard manufactures, but your on your own for that.

1. Boot into your BIOS (on my computer you restart and press delete frequently before the computer boots to windows)

2. Go to MB Intelligent Tweaker


3. Go to Advanced Memory Settings


4. Under Performance Enhance change the option to "Extreme"


I'm not exactly sure what this is changing inside the computer (all my clock settings remained the same) but whatever it did, performance was noticeably improved. I haven't noticed any stability issues in the past week of having this setting changed either.

If your on a Mac, I doubt the fine people at Apple have something like this for you to change, but let me know if there is so I can add it to this!


Creating a New Lighroom Catalog: 5-10% Improvement

1. Open up Lightroom
2. Go to File -> New Catalog

Over time Lighroom Catalog's get clogged up with all the information about your files. Creating a new one from time to time, especially if you are a heavy user, can improve responsiveness.


Putting your Lightroom Cache on a Solid State Drive (SSD): 5-10% Improvement

Note, in order for this to work you must have a solid state drive in your computer. If you don't have one or don't have a clue what that is just skip to the next tip.

1. Open up Lighroom
2. Go to Edit --> Preferences
3. Click on the File Handling Tab


4. Under the Camera Raw Cache Settings, change the location to be on your solid state (most likely C: Drive)


Allocating More Memory to the Cache File:


1. Open up Lighroom
2. Go to Edit --> Preferences
3. Click on the File Handling Tab
4. Under the Camera Raw Cache Settings increase the cache file size (see above screenshot). I have mine at 20GB.

Some people have reported this helps, I personally haven't noticed a difference.


Overclocking Computer:

I'm not going to go into a lot of details here, because there are a lot of great resources else ware on the internet. This can damage your computer if you don't know what your doing but it can improve performance of your entire computer across the board.


Turning off automatic write to XMP Option in Catalog Settings: 

All the Adobe teachers say to do this to improve performance, but I just haven't seen a big difference. I have gotten the warning that Lightroom isn't finished writing the .xmp files when I go to exit after a lot of editing, and I imagine this will fix that issue if that bothers you. Note: you will need to manually save your .xmp files if you want the changes to be visable out of lightroom.

1. Open up Lightroom
2. Go to Edit --> Catalog Settings
3. Under the Metadata Tab, Uncheck "Automatically write changes to XMP"


Alright well I hope that at least one of those tips has helped you speed up Lightroom 4! If anyone has more tips, or wants to add in Mac specific instructions, feel to add them in the comments below.

Quick Photo Tip: Getting In Close

Wow its been forever since I've posted some basic photo tips. I'm not sure if I've posted this simple trick before but its always a good to come back to.

Making better photos is as easy as taking a few more steps toward your subject. Moving in closer eliminates more of the background, emphasizes your subject, and invokes a lot more emotion. Here are a few lovely pictures of my offical photo tip model, Debra. See which one is your favorite!

The best of Josh's Photo Vortex

Believe it or not, this is post #200 on here. I decided it would be a good time to look back and highlight some of my best blog posts (voted by you!) of the last 200 posts!

I know there are a lot of you that are new to the blog (readership has exploded from 5 to 50+ in the last few months!) so this will give you a chance to catch up on some of my best posts. Enjoy!!


Church of Christ Scientist - Beautiful Architectural Photography from one of Rochester's most beautiful churches



Mount Marcy Climb - Absolutely stunning images from the tallest mountain in new york



New Years Eve Times Square Pictures - A documentary of my trip through times square on new year's eve



Stef and Ryan's Engagement Shoot - Some awesome images of some of my good friends that got married earlier this year



10 Tips for Night Photography - A in depth article into some of my best night photography tips and tricks



Red Hot BMW Z4 - Some of my best automotive photography



The Waterfalls of Greenville - Some beautiful photos of the waterfalls of downtown Greenville South Carolina



Jill and Charlie's Wedding - Some of my favorite wedding photos ever!



Rochester Downtown Wasteland - An emotional documentary about how the downfall of the economy has affected Rochester, New York



Watkins Glen State Park Gorge - Some stunning nature images from my trip to Watkins Glen State Park

Architecture Class Update

If there is one thing I have learned in my Architectural Photography class so far this quarter, it has to be trial and error. My first shot for the class turned out alright, and I got some good feedback to come back a little later when there was more sunlight on the building. The teacher also suggested I wait until closer to spring so the grass would look a little more alive. Here is my original shot, followed by the updated one. A big improvement if you ask me!

Original Shot


Updated Shot

Stop, look, listen

You probably heard your teachers and parents say this to you as a kid. I bet you never thought to apply it to photography though.

Last weekend I was out taking pictures at the Pittsford Nature Center with my friend Rich and there didn't seem to be a lot going on. Typical nature scenes, a couple distant birds, nothing really to write home about. So I decided to do something not so many people do when they are out taking pictures. I just stood there and listened. After a few minutes I started to hear some rustling in the leaves near by me.


I saw this small snake stick his head up out of the leaves, and since I wasn't walking around or in a hurry, he wasn't either. He let me get within 3 feet of him to take his picture. So here's an easy tip to use next time your out taking pictures. Stop, look, and listen, you never know what great photos are hiding right next to you.

Five Minute Difference

It just blows my mind how much lighting can change is such a small amount of time. I was downtown shooting some landscapes of the city lights and I kid you not, these images were taken within 5 minutes of each other. What a huge difference!

Taking a break from photography

Here's a tip that you probably don't see on many photography websites. Sometimes its good to take a break from photography. Although its good experience to shoot everyday, and will really enhance your skills, after shooting for a long time its good to take a break. Just like most things in life, after training for a long time, you need to take a break to recover and expand your skills in other areas. Ever heard the term "crosstraining"? Well that applies in photography as well.

As I write this I haven't touched my camera in well over a week. Webdesign, school, and tutorial videos have consumed my life. I can just hear my camera down there crying. But soon I will return to it, with new ideas, and a clear head.

A random picture of a pigeon downtown

Leading Lines

The use of leading lines is just one of those subliminal things that fits together with a lot of other aspects to make a great image. These lines can imply motion, stability, or simply entertain the eye. Here's one of my favorite "Leading Lines" images, taken at a local park.

Color Contrast

I don't know what it is. Contrasting colors are just plain interesting. Take the following shot for instance:



I took this picture downtown the other day. It's just a pretty ordinary scene but the strong blues and vivid reds really make the photo interesting. Here's a quick tip: Next time your out shooting look for scenes where there are two wildly different colors. It can turn a very ordinary scene into something beautiful.

Albums, Prints and Frames

It's been nice not being at school for the past week. I've been able to catch up on some sleep, printing, album making, and some framing. When you shoot 25,000 images a year it takes a lot to keep them organized and useful. 

Here is how I keep my stuff organized:

1. I tag all my images with the date and subject
2. I pick out my favorites from each shoot
3. I touch up just my favorite shots from the shoot
4. I then save them in a seperate favorites folder (one for each month)
5. In that folder I have a folder for resized images for posting to the web
6. I keep backup copies of all my images on a 1tb external drive

I just started doing this about a year ago but it really helps you keep your head on straight. This way when I want to locate my favorites from each shoot, its easy, I just open up my favorites folder from that month. 

I order prints of these favorites to frame. I think its extremely important to print your work. There is nothing like seeing one of your images framed on the wall. 

Here is some of my latest work:

Lisa & Alan's Wedding Album - I really liked the suede cover on it!







Some 11x14" and 16x20" prints I did for them


Too much stuff to frame

I finally found the missing link!

Usually I don't post this late but I'm just really excited. As a lot of you know I've been experimenting with new workflow lately. While the improvements I've implemented have been a big help, I've noticed that in some of my night photos and car photos there is still something wrong when I resize them for the web. 

I've been doing a lot of reading lately about resizing techniques. There are several ways that images can be resized. One way is nearest neighboor. In this resizing technique the program simply drops out the other pixels. This is probably the fastest way for a computer to resize a photo, but it is also the roughest. Bilinear is a better method where the program averages the pixels, then removes the redundant ones. This takes more computing power, but yeilds much better results. The best way to resize images is using a Bicubic method. This uses a more complex algorithm to resize the image, which takes more time but yeilds some great results. With modern computers there is no reason not to use a Bicubic resizing method. 

So what does all this have to do with anything? Well I was using a program that didn't really specify what type of method it was using to resize the pictures. My best guess is that it was using a Bilinear method. This looked good for most pictures but I noticed, especially in my last series, that it was creating some weird artifacts that are not present in the full sized images. 

Since photoshop continues to be a pain with batch resizing, watermarking, and sharpening, I started to look on the internet for some suggestions. I came across a post on a forum in which a photographer recommended using a program called Photoscape for batch processing. It was also free so I figured I better give it a shot. Wow! I've been looking for a program like this for months! I've never seen a free program that combines the complex bicubic sharpening method, a multitude of filters, and batch watermarking. Go check it out!

Anyways enough rambling, this is a photoblog after all! Here is an example of what I'm talking about.

Resizing With Bilinear Method (Using Old Watermark Utility), JPG Quality 100%


Resizing With Bicubic Method (Using Photoscape), JPG Quality 100%


Resizing With Bicubic Method (Using Photoscape), JPG Quality 95%


Wow! Look at the difference between the first and second image! I don't know about your eyes but to me the lines look a lot smoother and there is more natural detail in the image. It doesn't look oversharpened and retains a realistic look. Bicubic resizing also seems to be much less sensitive to JPG compression as well. I can't tell a difference between 100% and 95% quality, even though the later is half the file size. Photoscape also seems to handle alpha layers much better as well, look how much better the watermark looks in the 2nd and 3rd pictures.

Here is one more example:


Bilinear Method, 100% Quality JPG


Bicubic Method, 95% Quality JPG



Bilinear Method, 100% Quality


Bicubic Method, 95% Quality

You might not be able to see it but there is also a slight improvement in color rendition with Bicubic as well. This example shows it pretty drastically:




Bilinear Method, 100% Quality


Bicubic Method, 95% Quality

I always thought it was compression that was causing the issues. After all this I was just using the wrong type of resizing method. It just didn't fit well with my workflow to have to do each image individually in photoshop. I'm really glad a found a free, powerful utility to handle this. Thumbs up Photoscape! Now I can get back to the important stuff, like photography! But first I need some sleep...

Shooting Broken and Dirty Things

Sometimes the ugliest things in life can make the best pictures. I've found that pictures of trash, broken glass, rust, and a spray paint really add to a picture. These things add texture and character to a picture. They also bring along vibrant colors and strange shapes.



Take the above image for instance. The dirt and grime really add to the image. Another one of my favorite things to do is to take pictures of something very clean and shiny in front of something completely the opposite.



The contrast of the shiny black car and the dirty, rusty pipes really make the image. Experiment with things like this next time you are out shooting! Here is one more example how patterns as well as rust can really add to an image. I found these rusty augers in a local farming community. They really made for an interesting image!


Keep an eye out for things like this next time your shooting. Things like this are all around and can provide for some very interesting images.

Favorite Shots from January 2005

Between school and all these weddings I haven't found myself with a lot of free time to go out and shoot as much as I want to. I found myself looking though some of the pictures I took the very first month I got seriously into photography. These pictures are about 4 years old, and at the time I thought they were really great! Just shows you how much you can improve if you stick with something.

At the time I was shooting with a 3.1mp Kodak CX7330. I was just beginning to learn what a shutter speed was! If your just starting off and your pictures aren't coming out the way you like, stick with it. Remember I sucked back in the beginning too!