How To Use Lightroom Classic’s Compare View

Compare View is a tool that helps you select the best photos from a shoot to send to the Develop module.

Along with Survey View, it makes it easier to search through hundreds of photos to find the keepers.

It seems hard to believe now, but back when I started out in photography I edited photos (as in select the best ones) by looking at 35mm slides on a lightbox.

Now Lightroom Classic makes the process much easier. Let’s say you take 500 photos on a shoot. You don’t want to develop them all. You can make better use of your time by picking the best 30 or 40 and focusing your attention on developing those to their full potential.

Compare View helps you do that.

To get the most out of Compare View you should use Collections to organize your photos, and Grid View to view thumbnails. Use the links below to learn more about both.

Learn more: How to Organize Your Photos With Lightroom Classic Collections

Learn more: Take Control of Lightroom Classic’s Grid View

Lightroom Classic Grid View

Grid View is the starting point for using Compare View. The first step is to select the photos you want to compare. Ideally they should be similar. That’s because Compare View helps you find the best photo from a group of photos. It doesn’t help you find the best two or three photos (for that you need Survey View).

In the screenshot below you can see I have ten similar photos. My aim is to find the best one, develop that, and ignore the rest. That’s what Compare View is for.

The first image you select is called (in Lightroom terminology) the active photo or the most selected image. It has a lighter frame than the other photos in the selection. In the screenshot below the active photo is the one on the left.

Compare View

Next, press ‘C’ on your keyboard to go to Compare View. Lightroom displays the most selected image on the left. This photo is called the Select. The next photo in the selection is displayed on the right. This one is called the Candidate.

Press the ‘I’ key to display the Info overlay with each photo. This displays information like the file resolution and the date the photo was made, as you can see below.

Press the ‘I’ key again to cycle through to the second Info overlay, and again to make the overlay disappear.

You can learn more about the Info Overlay, and how to configure it to display the information you need to see, in my article Six Hidden Features of the Lightroom Classic Loupe View.

Now you’re in Compare View Lightroom lets you compare the Select with the rest of the photos in the selection. Test it out by using the left- and right-arrow keys on your keyboard. If your selection contains more than two images, Lightroom cycles through the remainder of the selection, displaying each image as a Candidate.

Compare View icons

You may have noticed some icons under both photos in Compare View. The key below tells you what they do.

1. Click on these icons to flag the photo as a Pick (left) or a Reject (right). You can also use the ‘P’ or ‘X’ keyboard shortcuts (or ‘U’ to remove the flag).

2. Click these dots to give the photo a Star rating.

3. Click the square to apply or remove a Color label. Click the X to deselect the photo. Lightroom removes it from your selection and from Compare View. This is a good way of reducing the number of photos in the selection and make it easier to find the best one.

The icons change to indicate the updated status of the photo.

Auto Advance

If the photo changes when you click any of these options, it’s because you’ve enabled Auto Advance. Turn it off by going to Photo > Auto Advance. It’s easier to use Compare View with it disabled.

The Toolbar icons

There are more icons displayed in the Toolbar at the bottom of the Compare View window (press ‘T’ on your keyboard to reveal the Toolbar if you don’t see it).

This is what the icons are for.

Compare View icon

This indicates that you are in Compare View. From left to right, these icons show Grid View (G), Loupe View (E), Compare View (C), Survey View (N) and People (O). You can switch between these modes by clicking on the icon or using the keyboard shortcuts (indicated in brackets).

Padlock icon

When the padlock icon is in the locked position you can zoom into both the Select and Candidate photos at the same time by clicking on either one. The Zoom slider sets the magnification and both images move together when you use the hand tool.

This comes in useful when you want to compare two nearly identical images for fine detail like focusing accuracy. A good example would be looking at portraits to make sure the eyes are in sharp focus.

When the padlock icon is in the unlocked position you can move or zoom into either image without affecting the other. Click the Sync button to bring the other image into sync with the one you are zooming/moving.

There are also some icons on the right of the Toolbar. The list below explains what each one does (from left to right).

The Swap button

The Swap button (X|Y with two arrows) tells Lightroom to swap the Candidate and Select images. Use this when the Candidate is better than the Select.

The Make Select button

The Make Select button (X|Y with one arrow) tells Lightroom to turn the Candidate image into the Select. Again, you use this when the Candidate is better than the Select. The difference is that Lightroom removes the Select from the display and the next image in the selection becomes the new Candidate, letting you continue the comparison process faster.

Arrow keys

Click the arrow keys to navigate through the selection (or use the arrow keys on the keyboard). The Select stays the same, and the Candidate changes. Use the arrow keys when the Candidate is weaker than the Select and you don’t want to keep the Select as it is.

The Done button

When you click the Done button Lightroom takes you to the Loupe View and displays the Active photo. You can also use the ‘G’ shortcut to return to Grid View.

White arrow icon

Click the White arrow icon to add or remove icons from the Toolbar. If you can’t see any of the icons listed above, use this icon to add them back to the display.

Using Compare View

As mentioned earlier one purpose of Compare view is to let you compare similar image so that you can decide which ones you want to process in the Develop module.

Another could be to compare photos that you’ve already developed, or partly developed, in the Develop module.

Use the arrow keys to cycle through the images in your selection, and the Swap and Make Select buttons to compare different images. If this is new to you, it won’t take much practice before you settle into a rhythm. You’ll be surprised at how quickly you can work your way through hundreds of images.

Some photographers use Star ratings and Color labels to help organize their images. But I feel the simplest method is to use Flags.

Here’s how it works. If you decide to develop an image, click the grey flag icon underneath the photo (it’s on the left) to flag it as a Pick (or, quicker still, use the ‘P’ keyboard shortcut).

If you decide not to develop it, leave it unpicked. Work your way through all the photos in the Collection, using both Compare View and Survey View to find and flag the best photos.

Then return to Grid View and choose the Flagged option in the Filter bar. This shows your flagged photos and hides the rest. Go to Edit > Select all to select all the flagged photos and send them to a new Collection.

You can learn more about this technique in my article How To Find Your Best Photos Fast In Lightroom Classic.

You can learn more useful stuff like this about Lightroom Classic in my new ebook Lightroom Classic Q&A: 101 Readers’ Questions Answered.

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