Is there a way to export from lightroom to multiple formats simultaneously?

Question

I frequently need to photograph my wife's textile works and output the results in several formats. She wants high quality, large jpegs; tiffs; and smallish jpegs for her web site, all of which go into different folders. In some programs it is possible to set up an export queue that will do all those operations with one command. But I can't see any way to do it in Lightroom 4.

So do I have to export the selected photos three times into three different queues, or is there a clever way that I have missed?

Answer 1

OK - this isn't exactly one command but one right click menu

I would suggest setting up separate filesystem publish services with each quality and directory specified. You can the set up a smart collection for each service based on what criterion you want to use for these files (perhaps having them all from a specific collection with a rating above a particular value). It would then be a matter of publishing from each of these services when you update the main collection. Which photographs need updating would be determined by the smart collection rules you set up.

Answer 2

Short answer is No. The only package that I know that does what you want is DxO.

Answer 3

You can use Dr Brown 1-2-3 from Bridge or Photoshop to achieve what you're looking for.

Answer 4

The other answers already say that it is not possible in Lightroom. I don't have LR 4 so I don't know. But since I'm from an IT background I like scripts.

I'm fairly certain you can set up a "run program after export" option in your export preset. You could use the command line tools for the Image Magick library to automatically create the output formats you need after you have exported the highest quality one from LR.

I'd put that in a batch file, but I don't know whether you're on Windows or Mac. I'm on Windows, so I'd make a Windows batch file. On Mac it might work differently. Maybe someone can elaborate in the comments.

Image Magick is a set of image processing tools much like the stuff that happens in LR or PS in the background. Many web based programs that handle images rely on it to resize avatar pictures, create Captchas and similar tools. But we are going to use the command line tools to resize your images and change to compression format.

1. So first of all you need to download a binary release of Image Magick and install it on your system. (A binary is an exe or setup file).

2. Once you've done that, let's set up the batch file. Create a new text file using notepad and put the following lines of code in it. Place it, for example, in your output directory and name it converting.bat.

mogrify -path C:\path\to\export\thumb -thumbnail 300x200 C:\path\to\export\*.jpg
mogrify -path C:\path\to\export\tiff -format tiff C:\path\to\export\*.jpg

3. Now edit your LR export settings to run this batch file after the export is completed.

Let's look at what is happening:

• mogrify takes a bunch of images and processes them. Please be aware that they will be edited in place if the filename does not change. Images will be overwritten!

• The -path option tells the program where to put the output files. In the first line I've created a folder named thumb, in the second line tiff.

• The -thumbnail option takes care of resizing and removes meta data. You can read more about it here. The 300x200 is a size I picked. You can change the size.

• The -format option tells mogrify to convert to a tiff images.

• The last part, C:\path\to\export\*.jpg, is the path to the input directory and images. I wasn't sure where the program will be executed, so I used an absolute path. You can experiment and change that to your liking.

There really is a lot you can do with Image Magick once you've understood how powerful it can be. Using it like this is a very nice time safer that should work without too much learning.

If you want to try out more settings, I suggest you use convert instead of mogrify and start with a test image.

I couldn't verify everything and I don't have IM installed right now, so there might be some glitches. I still hope this helps.

Further reading:

• Detailed usage explanation
• Detailed explanation of resizing, including filters
• http://www.noob2geek.com/how-to/batch-convert-images-using-imagemagick/

Answer 5

Lightroom doesn't have any direct ability to do this, no, but going a different direction: can at least some of the work be done elsewhere? Most specifically I'm thinking about the web site.

I use a tool to run my web site called Movable Type. When I upload an image Movable Type can process it for me as-needed -- including building other-sized thumbnails. In fact, I use it to build several sized thumbnails, which are appropriate for different uses on the site: Home Page Primary Feature (sized big), Home Page Secondary Feature (sized a bit smaller), Gallery Thumbnail (a small thumbail) and Entry Feature (very big).

I just have to upload a large image, and that's all done for me. Unfortunately I don't know other CMSs well enough to say if they can do that...

Answer 6

Just don't export every single image separately. Do all your edits in Lightroom and just select all photos and export with a preset. When the first preset is done, just export with the second preset, and so on. Just create presets with naming and file formats, sizes beforehand. Then, the next time you export all selected photos, you can use (for example), one preset to save in one specific folder and JPEGs, and a second preset to save in different folder as TIFFs.