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Export or share your photos

  1. Adobe Lightroom User Guide
  2. Introduction
    1. What's new in Lightroom
    2. Lightroom system requirements
    3. Lightroom | Common questions
    4. Lightroom tutorials
    5. Work with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for mobile
    6. Set preferences
  3. In-app learning
    1. In-app learning and inspiration
    2. In-app learning and inspiration | Lightroom for mobile (iOS)
    3. In-app learning and inspiration | Lightroom for mobile (Android)
  4. Add, import, and capture photos
    1. Add photos
    2. Capture photos with Lightroom for mobile (iOS)
    3. Capture photos with Lightroom for mobile (Android)
    4. Import photos in Lightroom for mobile (iOS)
    5. Import photos and videos in Lightroom for mobile (Android)
  5. Organize photos
    1. Organize photos
    2. Find and organize photos of people in the People View
    3. Search and organize photos in Lightroom for mobile (iOS)
    4. Search and organize photos in Lightroom for mobile (Android)
  6. Edit photos
    1. Edit photos
    2. Edit photos in Lightroom for mobile (iOS)
    3. Edit photos in Lightroom for mobile (Android)
    4. Quickly edit photos with Quick Action in Lightroom on mobile (Android)
    5. Quickly edit photos with Quick Action in Lightroom on mobile (iOS)
    6. Presets in Lightroom
    7. Presets in Lightroom for mobile (Android)
    8. Crop, Rotate, & Geometry tool in Lightroom
    9. Remove tool in Lightroom
    10. Remove tool in Lightroom for mobile (iOS)
    11. Remove tool in Lightroom for mobile (Android)
    12. Edit panel in Lightroom
    13. Masking in Lightroom
    14. Lens Blur in Lightroom
    15. Merge photos to create HDRs, panoramas, and HDR panoramas
    16. Edit HDR photos
    17. Edit HDR photos in Lightroom for mobile (iOS)
    18. Edit HDR photos in Lightroom for mobile (Android
    19. Easily enhance image quality in Lightroom
    20. Edit photos in other apps
    21. Learn about Content Credentials
    22. Add Content Credentials in Lightroom on mobile (Android)
    23. Add Content Credentials in Lightroom on mobile (iOS)
  7. Edit videos
    1. Edit videos 
    2. Edit videos in Lightroom for mobile (iOS)
    3. Edit videos in Lightroom for mobile (Android)
  8. Save, share, and export
    1. Export or share your photos
    2. Export and share photos in Lightroom for mobile (iOS)
    3. Save, share, and export photos with Lightroom for mobile (Android)
  9. Lightroom for mobile, TV and the web
    1. Get started with Lightroom for mobile (iOS)
    2. Get started with Lightroom for mobile (Android)
    3. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom on the web
    4. Set up Lightroom for Apple TV app
    5. Use keyboard shortcuts in Lightroom for mobile (iOS and Android)
    6. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for mobile and Apple TV | FAQ
    7. View Lightroom photos and videos on your TV
    8. How to Add Presets/Sync Presets with mobile
  10. Migrate photos
    1. Migrate Apple Photos Library to Lightroom
    2. Migrate photos and videos from Lightroom Classic to Lightroom
    3. Migrate photos from Photoshop Elements to Lightroom
  11. Troubleshooting 
    1. Fixed Issues 
    2. Known Issues

 

Learn how to export edited photos as JPG, AVIF, JPEG XL, DNG, TIF, or original. Share photos or albums with the people you want and invite them to contribute to the shared albums.

Export photos in the format of your choice

You can export photos to a folder on your computer or to an external or network drive. When exporting photos, Lightroom creates new image files that include your edits and other changes so you can easily share them with others.

  1. In the Share menu, you can find preset options to quickly export your photos. Select JPG (Small), JPG (Large), Original, or Previous Settings. Lightroom will then prompt you to select a location to export the photos to. If you want to access more export options, click Custom Settings.

    You can also do one of the following:

    • Press Shift+E to view Custom Settings for exporting photos. You can also choose File > Export to do the same.
    • Command-click (macOS)/right-click (Windows) the photos and select Export from the context menu to view the export options.
    • Press Command+E (macOS)/Control+E (Windows) to quickly export the selected photos with the previously used export settings. You can also do this by choosing File > Export with Previous. Note that this will include your previously used location settings as well.
  2. When you select Custom Settings, you can find the following options in the Export screen:

    Note:

    Starting Lightroom Desktop v5.2, you can now specify the maximum pixel dimension for the short edge of the photo in the Custom Export Settings

    File Type

    Choose from JPG, TIF, DNG, and Original (exports the photo as full size original).

    Dimensions

    You can choose from the following options:

    • Small: Limits the length of the saved JPEG photos to 2048 pixels. The breadth is scaled accordingly to maintain the original aspect ratio.
    • Full Size: Exports the selected photos in the highest available quality in JPEG format.
    • Custom: Applies the specified pixel value to the long and short edge of the photo. The edge value can't exceed 65,000 pixels.

    Quality

    Choose an option from 10% to 100%.

    Include Watermark

    Select this option to include a text or graphic watermark in your photo. Click the Settings icon to view the customization options. For more information, see Add a text watermark or Add a graphical watermark.

    Click More Options to access:

    • Options to export photo(s) with all metadata or export with copyright only
    • File Naming You can choose to name your exported photo(s) as the original name, custom name, or in 'date-filename' format. 
    • Output Sharpening Set the sharpening settings based on the medium in which you want to view the photo(s) and amount of sharpening you want.
    • Color Space Choose a color space based on the intended output. See the in-app tool tips for more details.
    Export settings in Lightroom desktop
    The Export screen in Lightroom desktop

    To update the Export settings panel using preset options, click the Preset drop-down in the upper right corner of the screen.

  3. Click Export Photo(s). The number of selected photos to be exported is displayed in the Export button in the upper-right corner. Lightroom then prompts you to select a location. Select a folder or location to export your photos to, and you're done!

Group Album

Group album is an easy way to share images with friends and family. With a group album, you can share an existing album or multiple photos that are not part of any album through an invite. You can create a web link for your group album, share it, and then keep editing images. As the images are stored in the cloud, the shared album will always have the latest edits and images in it.

Starting with Lightroom desktop version 4.3, you can edit photos in collaboration with multiple people. Invite others to edit your photos and keep track of all the edits made by everyone.

Share and Invite in Lightroom
The Share & Invite dialog box in Lightroom desktop

Share a Group Album

Create a group album and invite others to contribute

You can now share and invite others to view or contribute to an album. You can also select photos which aren't a part of any album, share them through an invite, and request others to contribute to the album. This way, you can easily access all your desired photos in one place.

To share and invite others to an album, follow these steps:

  1. Select an existing album from the Albums panel or create an album. You can also select multiple photos in the Grid view. Once you've made the selection, do one of the following:

    • Ctrl-click (macOS)/right-click (Win) the album or selection of photos and select Share & Invite from the context menu.
    • Click the Share & Invite icon  at the upper-right corner of the grid header.
    • Click  in the upper-right corner and select Share & Invite. If the album is already shared, you can also click one of the people icons in the upper-right corner.
  2. Click Get shareable link to receive a link to your shared album.

  3. The Link Access field is set to Invite only, by default. This creates a private link that only members whom you invite can view or contribute to your album.

    Alternatively, change the Link Access setting to Anyone can view to create a public link, where anyone with the link can view your album.

  4. Click  to copy the link to share it with others. If your Link Access setting is Anyone can view, you can also click the Facebook or Twitter icons to share the album on these social media sites.

    To invite others to view or contribute to your album, enter their email addresses in the Invite section and click Invite. The invitees will then receive an email to access your album.

  5. In the Invite section, you can view the list of the email addresses you have sent the invite to. Next to each email address, click the drop-down list to set the album access setting of that person:

    • Can View The invitee can view the shared album, add comments in photos, and mark them as Favorite.
    • Can Contribute The invitee can add photos to the shared album, add comments in photos, and mark them as Favorite.
    • Can Edit and Contribute The invitee will be allowed to add photos to the shared album and make photo edits. Multiple people can make edits to a photo and you can view the various edits in the Auto tab of the Versions panel. The invitees will also be able to export the photos in JPG format.
    • Remove Access Removes the invitee from the shared album list.
    Share and Invite in Lightroom
    Invite others to edit and contribute photos

    In the Invite section, you can view access requests from people. Next to the name of each request, click  to allow access or click  to deny that person's access to the album.

  6. In the Share & Invite dialog box, click the Customize tab to view and edit the following settings:

    • Title Displays the name of the album. Deselect it to hide the name. By default, the existing album name is displayed. If you have selected a set of photos in the grid, the date and time when you generated the link is displayed as Title.
    • Author Displays the name of the person who generated the link. Deselect it to hide the name.
    • Theme Select the desired arrangement of photos that you want in your share. You can choose from Photo Grid, One-Up, and Column.
    • Appearance Select Dark or Light to set the color theme of the arrangement of photos.

    You can also click Customize on web to further edit the arrangement of photos in your shared album, add text, and so on.

  7. In the Settings tab, you can edit the following settings:

    • Under General:
      • Allow JPG downloads Select this setting to allow others to download the shared set of photos.
      • Show metadata Select this setting to allow others to view metadata of the shared set of photos. 
      • Show location data Select this setting to allow others to view location info of the shared set of photos. Deselect it to hide location info.
      • Allow comments and likes This setting is selected by default to allow your viewers to leave comments and likes on your shared photos. Deselect it to disallow viewers to comment and like.
    • Under Link:
      • Allow access requests This setting is selected by default to let people request access to view your shared photos.
    Note:

    To modify the share settings of the group album, click  icon in the left panel. In the Shared to Web panel, expand the Photos folder to view a list of the shared albums. You can then do one of the following:

    • Right-click (Win)/Control-click (Mac) a desired album and select Share & Invite from the context menu.
    • Click the Share & Invite icon  at the upper-right corner of the grid header.
    • Click  at the upper-right corner of the grid header and select Share & Invite.
  8. Click Done. Your group album is now created.

View or contribute to a group album as an invitee

Note:

Starting from Lightroom desktop version 3.1, you can contribute photos to shared albums using Lightroom desktop in addition to using Lightroom on the web.

If you're using an earlier version of Lightroom desktop, you can contribute photos to shared group albums using the Lightroom on the web link, which is sent to you via an email invite.

  1. Open the email invite that is sent by the album owner and click the 'View album' button.

    Email invite

  2. You can view the shared album in Lightroom on the web. Alternatively, launch the Lightroom desktop app and click the  icon in the left panel.

  3. Click the Shared tab in the left panel to view the list of group albums which are shared with you.

    shared with you

  4. If the group album owner has provided contribution access to you, you can add photos. To contribute, do one of the following:

    • Switch to the All Photos view and select photos that you want to add using the grid view. While being in the grid view, click . Then, drag-and-drop the selected photos to the shared group album.
    • In the Shared with You panel, right-click (Windows)/Control-click (macOS) the album and select Set "<album name>" as the Target Album. Then, select photos you want to add from My Photos or Albums and press the T key. 
    • Click  icon in the upper-left corner of the window to add photos. In the import screen, click the Add to Album drop-down list and select Shared with You > <Shared group album name>.
  5. In the Add Photo(s) dialog box, you can choose to include keywords, star and flag ratings, and GPS coordinates. Click the Add Photo(s) button.

    The Add Photo dialog box
    The Add Photo dialog box

Note:
  • Alternatively, use the link in the email invite to view or contribute to a shared group album. Click the View album button in the body of the email to view the shared album on Lightroom on the web. If you have access to contribute (which is granted by the shared group album owner), click the Add Photos button to contribute photos.
  • The photos you contribute to shared group albums can be deleted within 48 hours of adding them.
  • Starting with Lightroom desktop version 3.2, you can export photos that were contributed by others in shared albums. To do this, ensure that the album owner has provided download access to you.
  • Starting with Lightroom desktop version 4.3, you can allow invitees to add and edit photos in your shared albums. To view multiple edit versions of the same photo, see the Auto tab in Versions panel.

Share to additional services

Lightroom allows you to share selected photos or albums and publish your creative work as an online project to services such as Adobe Portfolio, Blurb, and WHCC. To publish to these online services, you begin with adding a connection.

Add a connection

To add a connection, do the following:

  1. Click the  Sharing    icon from the left pane.

  2. In the Sharing panel, select the Add Connection option under Connections.

    Add Connection

  3. From the list of online services, select the one that you want to connect to and click Add Connection.

    All connections

Share photos or albums to a connection

After you have added a Connection in Lightroom, you can share and publish photos or albums. 

  1. Do any one of the following:

    • To share a selection of photos, select one or more photos from the grid view or the filmstrip.
    • To share an album, click My Photos from the left pane and select an album under Albums.
  2. Right-click (Win) / Control+click (Mac) over your selection of photos or the album name and select Share To > <Connection Name>.

    Share to

  3. If you are sharing a selection of photos, type a name for the project and click Continue

    This step is not applicable if you are sharing an album.

View your projects

To view your projects, do the following:

  1. Click Sharing  from left pane to display the Sharing panel.

  2. Select a connection to view the list of images and albums shared to the service.

    View project

To add photos to a publicly shared set of photos or album, do the following:

  1. Select one or more photos from the grid view or the filmstrip.

  2. Right-click (Win) / Control+click (Mac) over your selection of photos or the album name and select Share To > <Connection Name>.

  3. In the dialog box that appears, select the project, from the Add to drop-down, to which you want to add the new selection of photos.

    Share to existing album

Note:

To remove photos, open the grid view of the desired public set of photos or an album and right-click (Win)/Control+click (Mac) over the selection of photos to be removed. Select Remove Photo from the context menu. The selected photos are then removed but not deleted from the publicly shared set of photos or album and you can still find them in All Photos.

Remove a connection

To remove a connection, do the following:

  1. Right-click (Win) / Control+click (macOS) the name of the connection in the Sharing panel.

  2. Select Remove Connection.

    Remove connection

    Note:

    The connection is removed but all published content remains in your online service until removed manually.

Add a text watermark to your photo

Easily add and customize text watermarks in Lightroom desktop. The watermark settings sync across the mobile platforms of Lightroom. To add a watermark, follow these steps:

  1. Select a photo (you can select multiple photos too), click the Share icon in the upper-right corner, and select Custom Settings. You can also press Shift + E to view Custom Settings.

  2. In the Export screen, select Include Watermark. A default watermark of your name is added to your photo.

    The Include Watermark option in Export settings
    The Include Watermark option in Custom Settings

  3. To edit the watermark settings such as font, style, color, anchor point, size, and other options - click the Settings icon next to Include Watermark.

    Customize watermark in your photo
    Options to customize your watermark

  4. Use the desired settings from the following options:

    • Edit your watermark in the given text field.
    • Font Select the font you want to use from the drop-down list. When this setting syncs and your mobile app doesn't support the selected font, it'll revert to the default font on mobile.
    • Style Select from options such as Regular, Bold, Italic, or Bold Italic.
    • Rotate Click the icon to rotate your watermark in the right direction. The preview is visible in the selected photo.
    • Color Choose between black or white for the text color.
    • Use Drop Shadow Switch on the toggle to use a drop shadow for your watermark.
    • Anchor Choose where you want to place the watermark on your photo. Click one of the anchor points to see the preview.
    • Size Drag the slider to the right to increase the font size and to the left to decrease the font size. You can also add a numerical value to get the font size. you need
    • Opacity Drag the slider to the right to increase the watermark opacity and to the left to decrease the watermark opacity. You can also add a numerical value to get the opacity you need
    • Horizontal Offset Drag the slider or add a numerical value to precisely position your watermark horizontally.         
    • Vertical Offset Drag the slider or add a numerical value to precisely position your watermark vertically.
  5. Click Done and then Export Photo.

Add a graphical or signature watermark to your photo

You can add a PNG or JPG file as a watermark while exporting your photos. To do this:

  1. Select the photos you want to export and click the Share icon.

  2. In the Share menu, select Custom Settings.

  3. In the Export screen, select Include Watermark and then click the gear icon next to it to view the watermark settings.

  4. Click the Graphic tab to view the graphical watermark settings.

    The Graphic watermark settings in Lightroom desktop
    The Graphic watermark settings in Lightroom desktop

  5. Click the folders icon to upload a PNG or JPG file. Use the rest of the given settings to rotate, set anchor points, adjust the size, opacity, and horizontal and vertical offsets to position your graphical watermark the way you want.

    Note:
    • Ensure that your PNG or JPG file has a transparent background to get a seamless graphical watermark on your photo. 
    • You cannot upload a watermark that is larger than 5 MB.
  6. Click Done and export your photo. Your watermark settings sync across the mobile platforms of Lightroom. 

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