Think you know how to use Lightroom pretty well? Take the quiz and find out

Published about 2 years ago • 6 min read

Hello Reader,

Have you been using Lightroom for a while now? How confident are you in using it?

Do you think you know Lightroom pretty well? If so, answer the following questions and see how you make out (the answers are at the end of this email).

Keep in mind that if you get less than 100%, don't beat yourself up. Just keep reading the rest of the email to find out how you can level up your editing skills and save! ​

Lightroom Classic Quiz

20 questions total:

  1. What does the shift double-click trick do? Which sliders do you use it on?
  2. The editing tools in Lightroom are the same as in Adobe Camera Raw in Photoshop - true or false?
  3. When you back up your Lightroom catalog your images are also backed up and are safe - true or false?
  4. Folders and Collections are the same - true or false?
  5. Smart Previews and 1:1 previews are the same thing - true or false?
  6. You should avoid making a lot of Virtual Copies because they take up a lot of hard drive space - true or false?
  7. Lightroom is set up to remind me to back up every time I exit the software. If not, I know where to find that setting and how to change it. Yes or no?
  8. Do you know how to add a texture overlay with Lightroom? Yes or no?
  9. What key do you press and hold to see clipping warnings when adjusting the basic sliders?
  10. What button do you press and hold to lock the aspect ratio when using the crop tool?
  11. How many ways/tools are there to adjust or change the color of your image in Lightroom (excluding saturation adjustments)? 1, 3, 6, or 10?
  12. Do you know what a Scrubby Slider is and how to use it?
  13. How many ways are there to take the settings from one image and apply them to another? 1, 3, 5, or 8?
  14. What are the 3 ways you can adjust White Balance?
  15. Can you change the overlay color when masking? If so how?
  16. What view mode would you use in the Library module to help you pick the best image from a set so you can see two at a time, side-by-side?
  17. Which of the following can you use to search and find certain images?
    1. A certain keyword
    2. Images with no keywords
    3. File name
    4. Caption
    5. Star rating (1-5)
    6. Color tags (red, yellow, green, blue, purple)
    7. Flagged images
    8. Rejected images
    9. The subject - for example, all flower images
    10. All edited images
    11. All unedited images
    12. File type (JPG, RAW, DNG, PSD, TIF, etc.)
    13. All images created in the last year
    14. Camera
    15. Lens used
    16. Focal length
    17. Aperture used
    18. Shutter speed used
    19. ISO used
    20. GPS or location data
    21. Copyright status
    22. All vertical images
    23. All horizontal images
    24. All black-and-white converted images
    25. Images without keywords
  18. What are clipping warnings and why are they important? Bonus if you know the keyboard shortcut to hide/show them.
  19. How do you ensure that what you see on your screen will print accurately?
  20. What are the 5 ways to fix a crooked or tilted image?

See below to check your answers - no peaking until you've answered all the questions though! Give yourself a fair test.

Answers to the Lightroom Classic Quiz:

  1. Sets the black and white endpoints, it is used on the Blacks and Whites sliders in Lightroom Classic.
  2. True
  3. False - backing up the catalog saves your Lightroom data, your images are NOT safe.
  4. False - folders are where your image files live, collections are just virtual albums.
  5. False
  6. False
  7. Give yourself a point if you said yes. Backup often and always check them to ensure they are valid files.
  8. This was a trick question - give yourself a point if you knew it could not be done with Lightroom because you need layers for this.
  9. Alt/Option
  10. The Shift Key
  11. There are 6: - Camera profiles, White Balance (Temp/Tint), Curves, HSL (now called Color Mixer), Color Grading, Calibration
  12. Give yourself one point if you said yes, and that it is a way to make the sliders less sensitive (move slower).
  13. There are 5: Sync, Auto-Sync, Copy and Paste, Previous, and Save as a Preset.
  14. Drag the sliders (a), select a preset from the pull-down menu (b), or use the eye-dropper (c).
  15. Yes, you can - just press the O key to show/hide the overlay, and Shift+O to change the color (you can also click the color and choose a custom one).
  16. Compare mode
  17. All of them EXCEPT "The subject - for example, all flower images" Lightroom cannot do that currently unless you add a keyword to the image.
  18. Parts of the image which are clipped, meaning they are off the edges of the histogram. That means they will have no detail where the clipping warning is shown (highlight or shadow areas).
  19. Monitor calibration is necessary for that.
  20. Using the Crop tool auto level (a), the straighten tool (b), or adjusting it manually by grabbing one of the corners (c) OR in the Transform panel using the Level button (d) or Rotate slider (e).

So how did you do? Did you get all the questions right? Did you get 50% or higher?

If you didn't score as well as you'd have hoped on this Lightroom quiz, do not despair, help is here!

All of those things and more are what you will learn in Lightroom for Photographers: The Complete Course. Get it now for 40% off!

Photoshop Quiz

Want to try your luck at some Photoshop questions too? Here you go, 10 questions total:

  1. Do you know what a Smart Object is and why you'd want to use it?
  2. Which layer blend mode would you use when adding a texture overlay layer?
  3. How do you resize one layer only?
  4. Do you know what all the following file formats are and when to use each for saving your images?
    1. JPG
    2. TIF
    3. PSD
    4. PNG
    5. GIF
    6. DNG
  5. Do you know how to do drop-out text (where an image shows through the text) Yes or no?
  6. Do you know how to add your copyright information to your image in Photoshop? Yes or no?
  7. What are the most common color spaces and which one should you use for editing in Photoshop?
  8. Do you know how to make a Dodge and Burn layer and how to use it? Yes or no?
  9. Why would you want to make a retouching layer to do cloning and healing instead of doing it directly on the image?
  10. What is the best/easiest way to make a contact sheet of a set of images (eg. a 4x5 page of images for comparison)?

Answers to the Photoshop Quiz:

  1. A Smart Object is for applying a filter or plugin in a non-destructive manner. It can be edited or re-edited at any time.
  2. Screen or Overlay blend modes work well for texture overlays.
  3. Use the Transform tool
  4. File formats
    1. JPG (standard 8-bit format for use online and sending to a lab for printing)
    2. TIF (large 16-bit format with layer-saving abilities)
    3. PSD (Photoshop Document, for saving layers and Smart Objects)
    4. PNG - for saving images where transparency is needed (logo, or an image with the background removed)
    5. GIF - simple smaller files, not usually used in photography
    6. DNG - Digital Negative 32-bit files such as HDR or raw format
  5. Give yourself a point if you said yes.
  6. Give yourself a point if you said yes.
  7. There are three: ProPhoto RGB, Abobe RGB, and sRGB. When working with a raw file always use the biggest color space, Pro Photo RGB, as your working document.
  8. Give yourself a point if you said yes.
  9. Because that is the best way to do non-destructive editing. And you cannot heal/clone directly on a Smart Object layer.
  10. By using Adobe Bridge (it comes with Photoshop).

So, are you a Photoshop whiz? Or do you need a little help before you attain that status? Once again - help is coming! CLICK HERE or on the photo below.

So what have my little quizzes taught you today? What did you discover about your understanding and skill level with Lightroom and Photoshop?

The bottom line is this - there is always something new to learn. After 35 years I'm still learning things all the time, sometimes weekly or daily. Never assume you know everything there is to know about a given topic - leave yourself room to grow.

Feel free to save or print out this email and do the quizzes again a year from now and compare your results. The only comparison you ever want to make is with yourself and your own skills. As long as you are seeing progress, you're going in the right direction so keep at it!

But, if you really want to take your skills to the next level, pick up some hidden tips and tricks you didn't already know, or start at the beginning (even if you are a total newbie with Lightroom and Photoshop) then you'll want to grab one of both of my courses as part of week three in our December event! ​

​

All of our courses come with a 30-day guarantee so it's risk-free. If you're not happy with it or find that it's too easy or too difficult for you, no problem. Just email us within 30 days and we'll send you a refund.

Week three is ending soon so grab this deal now!

Count down to 2023-12-22T05:00:00.000Z​

I'll be back tomorrow with details of week four, stay tuned!

Cheers,

With over 35 years of experience as a professional photographer, Darlene provides photography education for beginner to intermediate photographers - from capture in-camera through to the editing process and the final image. Regular free photography tips and articles, video tutorials, and online courses are available on her website. Check out her photo editing tutorials on YouTube and her popular Luminar Neo online course (the only education you need to master Luminar Neo and your photo processing skills).