How to Use the Lightroom Before and After Tool
Master the Lightroom Before and After tool to effortlessly compare edits and enhance your post-processing workflow.
Lightroom | Software | By Judyth Satyn
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This guide will give you the easiest ways to use the Before and After tool in Lightroom.
I’ve been using Adobe Lightroom for years, and I find this tool indispensable in my work.
The Before and After tool in Lightroom helps you to view corrections and gain perspective for editing tasks.
Let’s dive into the tutorial.
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How to Use the Lightroom Before and After Tool
The Before and After tool is used to make a comparison between the original image and the post-edit image.
This helps us spot areas that still need to be altered or see where areas have been over-edited.
It can also help us appreciate our amazing editing job and final masterpiece.
Open an Image in Develop Mode
Before starting, open an image in Lightroom’s Develop mode.
To do this, select an image from the Library and click Develop in the top right corner of the canvas workspace.
Note that it’s not possible to use the Before and After tool in Lightroom’s Library mode.
Side-by-Side View
The Before and After tool’s option to view your images side by side is possibly the most used.
It gives the editor a clear vantage point from which to compare the image before edits and after edits.
Using this option, you can see both images clearly.
Split Screen View
The Split Screen View cuts the image in half, showing one half as the before-edit view and one half as the after-edit view.
The Split Screen view can be cut vertically or diagonally.
As you can see, in this example, it’s not possible to view a comparison of the water using the vertical split screen.
However, you can gain a better perspective on the color of the snow.
Top to Bottom View
The Top/Bottom view mode is essentially the same as the side-by-side view, as both images are displayed beside each other in the canvas workspace.
However, instead of being presented on a horizontal plane, one image is positioned above the other.
Before View
The last Before and After viewing option allows you to see only one image at a time.
Using this option, you can flip from a view of the Before (original) image to a view of the After (edited) image.
The edited image in the canvas will be replaced by the original image.
This option is usually used as a quick flash scan of the original image to gain perspective while editing.
So, how do you access the Before and After tool? We’ll run through the three options.
You can access it through the main menu, or you can use keyboard shortcuts for a quick flick look.
These two options are handy when you need a speedy comparison.
The third option is to use Lightroom’s View Modes.
When the Before and After Tool is accessed through View Modes, it comes with extra options.
Main Menu Access
If you don’t like shortcuts or are unable to use the keyboard, you can access the tool through the main menu.
Head to the main menu and click View.
A menu will drop down. From here, select Before / After.
A pop-out menu will appear. From here, you can select one of the four viewing options.
Select Split Screen.
The Split Screen view of the Before and After edits will appear in your canvas workspace.
Below is the Split Screen viewing option.
For alternate viewing options, select Left/Right, Top/Bottom, or Before Only.
Develop Mode Access
Another way to access the Before and After tool is in Develop mode.
At the left bottom-hand side of the canvas workspace, you will find the Before and After tool button.
The button is a light grey rectangle box containing two Y symbols.
If you can’t find the button, you will need to activate it through View Modes.
Click on the downward arrow in the bottom right-hand corner of the canvas to open View Modes.
Once clicked, a drop-down menu will appear. Select Before and After.
The Before and After tool buttons will now appear.
The button with two Y’s demonstrates which Before and After view the tool is set to.
Below, there are two side-by-side Ys, and the tool’s View Mode is set to a Side-by-Side view.
Click on the arrow beside the Before and After tool button (the Y), and a drop-down menu will appear, as you can see in the image below.
Here, you can select a different view mode by clicking on your choice.
Below is an example of the Top/Bottom Split.
To the right of the YY button are three more buttons.
The first button is two rectangles with a right or downward-pointing arrow. Click this to “Copy Before’s Settings to After.”
The second button is two rectangles with a left or upward-pointing arrow. Click this to “Copy After’s Settings to Before.”
As you can see below, the “Copy After’s Settings to Before” button was clicked, and the edits were swapped.
The edits were switched onto the Before image on the left side of the canvas workspace.
The edit-less original image was switched to the After position on the right.
The third button has two rectangles with two arrows. Click this to “Swap Before and After Settings.”
Using the buttons, you can cycle between Before and After views to get the best comparison vantage point of your edits.
Before and After Tool Shortcuts
Shortcuts are a great way to retain a smooth editing flow and save time.
When you’re in the zone, your muscle memory will click the shortcut keys without you even having to think.
It’s a great idea to familiarise yourself with all of Lightroom’s shortcuts.
Let’s run through Lightroom’s Before and After tool shortcuts.
To pull up a view of the Before (original) image, hit the backslash key \. To return to the After (edited) image, hit the backlash key again.
To bring up a side-by-side view of the Before and After image, hit the Y key. To go back to editing, hit the Y key again.
To view the Before and After images one on top of the other, hold down the Alt key and hit Y. To go back to editing, press Alt+Y again.
To view half of the Before and half of the After image, a split screen view, hold the shift key and hit Y. Hit the same keys to go back to editing.
Using Navigation In Conjunction With the Before and After Tool
To gain a better comparison vantage point when using the Before and After tool, you can incorporate the use of the Navigator tool.
The Navigator tool is positioned on the left-hand side of the workspace.
Using it, you can zoom in and out of the screen. You can also move the viewing window.
Zoom in and out to compare aspects of the images in more detail.
In the image below, the canvas size has been increased to gain a better comparison of skin tones.
Place the cursor inside the Navigator’s viewing box, click down, and drag to alter the position of the viewing window.
In the image below, the Before and After View Mode was switched from Side-by-Side to Split Screen.
This allows for a closer inspection of the woman’s skin tones.
The Before and After tool is a valuable tool for inspecting and comparing edits.
History
You can compare any stage of the editing process to the original image.
All edits are stored in the History tab.
To view them, open the History tab by clicking on the downward arrow beside History.
Click on an edit to compare this step of the process to the original.
Once clicked, the After image will be switched to represent the image at this stage of the editing sequence.
As you can see below, the After image was switched back to the edit Post-Crop Vignetter Roundness.
Click on the last edit conducted, and the After image will switch to display this stage of the editing process.
Mobile Lightroom Before and After View
The Before and After tool isn’t available in Lightroom Mobile.
However, you can view the original image when editing images in Lightroom Mobile.
To view the original image, place your finger on the screen and press down.
The image before edits will be displayed.
Remove your finger, and the edited image will reappear.
There is no option to view the original and edited images side by side.
Here is an image displayed in Lightroom Mobile before edits:
Lift the finger, and the image goes back to the edited version.
Although you can’t see the images side by side to compare them, it’s useful to be able to view the original image when editing.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and will find many uses for the new skills you’ve learned today.
If you liked this tutorial and you’d like to keep learning, try this – How to use Lightroom Classic (A Beginners Guide).
FAQ
How do you do before and after in Lightroom?
You can access the Before and After tool in Lightroom when the image is open in Develop mode.
The Before and After tool viewing mode is located at the bottom left-hand side of the canvas.
Click on the tool’s button to activate it.
How do I use the transform tool in Lightroom?
To use the transform tool in Lightroom, open the Develop mode and click on Transform in the right-hand panel.
When the Transform panel is open, slide the sliders to transform your image.
Should I Photoshop before or after Lightroom?
Normally, standard adjustment edits are made in Lightroom first.
Photoshop is usually used after Lightroom. Photoshop is capable of more advanced, complex edits such as adding components, cutting sections, or creating layered work.
How do I compare two photos side by side in Lightroom?
To compare two photos side by side in Lightroom, use View Modes.
Here, you can compare an image before and after edits or compare two different images side by side.
Do professional photographers use Lightroom or Photoshop?
Professional photographers use both Lightroom and Photoshop. Lightroom is useful for editing and fixing photographs, whereas Photoshop is capable of completely transforming the photograph. (Read a detailed comparison of Lightroom vs Photoshop here.)
Judyth is an experienced studio photographer and glass artist. When she isn’t Photoshopping comedians into the bellies of sharks, you can find her cooking delicious treats for her guests.
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