If you wish to study the way to duplicate a photograph in Lightroom, you’ll want to learn this text.
To duplicate a photograph in Lightroom, choose the picture you need to duplicate within the Library or Develop module, right-click and select the Crate Digital Copy possibility. Lightroom will create a brand new set of enhancing directions known as Digital Copy with out duplicating the unique RAW picture.
Most of my Lightroom articles are the results of me answering questions that I obtain from readers on my weblog. Once I see a sure query requested repeatedly, I write a devoted tutorial or an article on the subject. Right now’s tutorial is not any totally different as I tackle the regularly requested query, “How do I duplicate a photograph in Lightroom?”
Once I see this or an analogous query, I instantly know the photographer who posted the query is comparatively new to Lightroom and doesn’t but absolutely perceive how this system works or handles photos.
After we edit photographs in Photoshop or an analogous enhancing program and we need to create one other model of our work, we usually use the SAVE AS command to duplicate the file earlier than we begin engaged on a brand new model.
In Photoshop, while you begin enhancing a 25MB RAW file, you’ll be able to find yourself with anyplace between three to 5 enhancing variations which might be over 1GB every in dimension by the tip of the method. That is precisely how the photograph enhancing workflow ran earlier than Lightroom was launched.
One of many causes Lightroom was created was to vary the ineffectiveness of Photoshop enhancing as a result of this system was not fitted to processing a big quantity of digital photos.
Lightroom Non-Damaging Enhancing
Lightroom was constructed on the cornerstone of nondestructive RAW enhancing. The RAW file is a mixture of voltage information collected from every pixel of the digital sensor. To see the illustration of the information, you want a RAW converter. Should you shoot JPEG, the digital camera’s picture processor interprets the information collected from the sensor and converts it right into a JPEG picture.
If you shoot RAW, the method of changing information collected from the digital camera’s sensor is finished by Lightroom. It takes the uncooked information and interprets it primarily based on a set of parameters often known as a profile and creates a visible illustration within the type of a JPEG preview.
For instance, while you transfer the Publicity slider to +1 within the Develop Module, Lightroom creates a JPEG preview that’s one cease brighter. The unique RAW file stays untouched; the one factor that’s modified is the JPEG preview.
That is known as Nondestructive Uncooked Enhancing.

Due to nondestructive uncooked enhancing, Lightroom customers can get pleasure from some distinctive functionalities that substitute picture duplications.
How you can Duplicate A Picture in Lightroom
Listed here are 3 strategies of the way to duplicate a photograph in Lightroom, leveraging nondestructive enhancing.
1. How you can Duplicate Picture in Lightroom With Digital Copies
If you experiment with enhancing and need to create a unique model of your picture, Lightroom creates a digital copy as a substitute of duplicating the picture. The digital copy is nothing apart from a brand new set of enhancing directions for the unique picture.
In Lightroom, choose any picture, Proper Click on (Choice-Click on on Mac), and choose the Create Digital Copy possibility. Within the filmstrip, the digital copy will seem subsequent to the unique file.

Now you can edit each variations independently and create totally different enhancing variations. As a substitute of duplicating the unique RAW file, Lightroom creates two units of directions and creates the JPEG previews primarily based on these directions.

What’s a Digital Copy?
Digital copy in Lightroom is a function that permits you to save your work as a brand new model with out duplicating the unique picture. As a substitute, Lightroom creates a brand new model of the XMP sidecar file the place it retains enhancing directions. If you bounce from one digital copy to a different, the unique picture stays untouched fairly than Lightroom masses acceptable XMP sidecar directions.
You’ll be able to create a vast variety of digital copies for a similar picture. Due to nondestructive enhancing, the unique RAW picture by no means adjustments; what adjustments are the enhancing directions which might be saved within the textual content file (.XMP file), which you will discover subsequent to the unique RAW picture.
2. How you can Duplicate A Picture in Lightroom With Snapshots Panel
Although the Digital Copy is a really helpful performance, I choose one other choice to create a number of enhancing variations—the Snapshot.
See additionally: Utilizing Earlier than and After in Lightroom
On the left aspect of the Develop Module, you’ll discover the Snapshot Panel. At any time throughout the enhancing course of, it can save you all of your enhancing steps and changes as a Snapshot.

The Snapshot performance permits you to create intermediate steps throughout the enhancing course of which you can bounce again to at any time. On this case, the snapshots function milestones in your Historical past Panel.
I take advantage of Snapshot performance in another way. I solely save my full enhancing variations as Snapshots. As soon as I end enhancing and I like what I see, I put it aside as a Snapshot and rename it as “Lightroom Enhancing Formulation.” Subsequent, I hit the Reset button and begin enhancing from scratch to create one other variation by cropping it in another way or utilizing a unique shade remedy. When I’m completed, I put it aside as a brand new Snapshot and begin over once more.

When utilizing the Snapshot performance, I can have 10 totally different enhancing variations of the identical photograph with out ever making a Digital Copy. I discover this strategy a lot neater with regards to picture group.
Bonus: Duplicating the Unique RAW Picture On Export
If for some cause you need to duplicate the unique picture, there’s an possibility in Lightroom for that as nicely.
You need to use the EXPORT command. As soon as the Export Module is activated, choose the ORIGINAL possibility from the FILE SETTINGS part.
And hit the Export Button.

How you can Duplicate a Picture in Lightroom: Conclusion
As you’ll be able to see, Lightroom gives us 3 distinctive methods to duplicate any given photograph in Lightroom. The Digital Copy and Snapshot strategies make use of the ability of nondestructive editings the place the unique picture file all the time stays untouched.
The third methodology, duplication of a picture on export, is predicated on conventional file dealing with while you replicate an authentic picture.