Lightroom: Why Use Virtual Copies?

Lightroom 4, box cover

Now that Adobe has changed how Lightroom 4 treats the flags, labels and ratings, virtual copies have become much more important.

To create a virtual copy, select a photo, then: Menu > Photo > Create Virtual Copy or Ctrl-L / Option-L

What's a virtual copy?

It's an "almost" copy of a photo. It's not a copy of that photo, it's a different version of that photo. You can have many virtual copies/versions of the same photograph. Personally, I prefer the term "version" to "virtual copy."

When to use virtual copies

  • When creating Black & White photos. Even if I have no plan on also having a color version, I often need to refer to the color version to adjust the Black and White version.
  • When needing to create something like Fake HDRs. Even if I have no plan on also having a "regular color" version, I often need to refer to the color version to adjust the Fake HDR version.
  • When printing photographs. The crop for each size is different. A 4 by 6 is a different crop from a 5 by 7 or an 8 by 10.
  • When needing to apply different keywords, labels or ratings in different collection. For the details, see: http://www.foto-biz.com/Lightroom/Lr4-searching-for-virtual-copies

How to save virtual copies

Usually, there is no need to do anything to save the virtual copies. But... the famous but, there are times when I want to create an actual photograph of the virtual copy. It's very simple:

  1. Select the virtual copy
  2. From the library: File > Export... then Export to: Hard Drive

Select either JPEG, just set the Quality to 100, or export to TIFF or to the DNG format. Then it's possible to reimport that photo in the catalog.

  • To search for virtual copies, see: http://www.foto-biz.com/Lightroom/Lr4-searching-for-virtual-copies
  • It's a good idea to give a "good" name to the virtual copy to remember what was the purpose of the virtual copy. Select the virtual copy and Menu > Library > Metadata section > Default > select the Copy Name and type the new "meaningful" name instead of Copy 1.