Exporting edited photos

After making edits to photos, we’ll likely want to export them so that they can be printed or shared online. When exporting photos, we can choose where they should be saved, if they should be renamed (and what the new names should be), what file type the images should be exported as, what size and resolution the images should be when exported, and more. We can export images one at a time, or select a number of images to export all at once.

What will your photo be used for after it’s exported?

Before exporting a photograph from Lightroom, you'll need to think about what your image will be used for before starting the export process. The image’s ultimate destination will have an impact on what export options you'll choose, such as the file format and resolution. If your image is being printed, you’ll need to choose different options than what you would if you export the image for screen use.

For the sake of time today, we won’t go too deeply into discussing file types and resolution — for a detailed discussion about image resolution and file types, view the page Understanding image resolution and file output from the IT Training course Photoshop: The Basics. For today, we’ll just touch on the file formats and basic values you’ll want to use based on where your photographs will be used.

If you’re planning on using the image on a website or sharing it on social media, the best file type for that is JPEG, with a resolution of 72 pixels per inch. If the image will be printed, you’ll want to export it as a TIFF file, with a resolution of at least 150 pixels per inch. (The higher the image’s resolution, the better the image’s quality will be when printed.)

Exporting a photo

We can start the export process in two different ways: if we’re in the Library module, we can click the Export button at the bottom of the left panel dock; we can also access the Export command from the File menu in the Menu bar. Both methods will bring you to the Export dialog box.

Let’s export the photo jack.dng as a JPEG file. We’ll export it with a resolution of 72 pixels per inch (or ppi) so it’s optimized for web use.

To switch to the Library module, in the module switcher at the top right of the Lightroom window,
Click Library
To select the photo we want to export, in the thumbnail list in the library,
Click

NOTE: To choose multiple photos to export at the same time, on the keyboard, press and hold Control key (or Command key on MacOS), then Click the thumbnails for the other photos you want to export.

To start the export process, on the Menu bar,
Click File, Click Export…
To choose where the image should be exported on our computer, in the Export To field under the Export Location heading,
Click the drop-down menu, Click Desktop
To change the file type to JPEG, if necessary, in the Image Format drop-down under the File Settings heading,
Click the drop-down menu, Click JPEG
To adjust the image’s resolution, in the Resolution field under the Image Sizing heading,
Press & Drag value, type: 72
To finish the export process, in the bottom right corner of the Export dialog box,
Click Export

NOTE: If exporting multiple images at once, the settings chosen in the Export dialog box will apply to all selected photos.

The image will be exported to the selected location.

For more information about exporting photos from Lightroom Classic, read the Adobe Help article Export photos from Lightroom Classic.

Now that we're done with the export process, we can close Lightroom Classic.

To close Lightroom Classic, in the Menu bar,
Windows: Click File, Click Exit
MacOS: Click Lightroom Classic, Click Quit Lightroom Classic
To confirm that you want to quit the application, in the dialog box that appears,
Click Yes

Exporting edited photos

What will your photo be used for after it’s exported?

Exporting a photo

Step 1. Move back to the Library module, then select the image jack.dng.

Step 2. Export jack.dng as a JPEG file with a resolution of 72 pixels per inch.

Step 3. Close Lightroom Classic.