# LR photos change settings/develop on their own



## C.lara_86! (Aug 21, 2012)

Hi everyone! I hope I am coming to the right place. I am using LR4. I previously had LR3. Since upgrading, I have had issues with LR4. When I import my photos, each photo tends to be underexposed and already developed without me doing anything to it. What is also weird is that when I go to develop my photos, I have noticed that there are already certain changes that have been done such as changes in exposure, saturation, tint, contrast, highlights, shadows, whites, blacks and everything else in between. This happens without me doing anything. Each photo is nothing like I shot nor how it looks within my camera or in other software programs that show my photos as shot. It is pretty annoying because I have to edit my photos more than I would like to, especially exposure. It is just too time consuming. I never had these issues with LR3. I do not know if I did something wrong when first setting up LR4 or if there is something I need to change in preferences/settings. Everything I have tried does not seem to work. Hopefully I find a solution. 

Thank you.


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## Jim Wilde (Aug 21, 2012)

Hi, welcome to the forum.

Just to be certain that I understand, are you saying that when you import new images and take them into Develop, the basic panel sliders are NOT all at zero (which should be the default starting position)? 

If so, first question is: are you applying a develop preset during import?
Second question: in your Preferences, Presets Tab, do you have "Apply auto tone adjustments" *checked*?

If either answer is "yes", that will explain the issue, and you need to decide how you want to deal with that.

If both answers are "no", try this: take one newly imported image into Develop, then press and hold down the Shift key....the Reset button bottom right should change to "Reset (Adobe)". Click on it, and do all the sliders in the Basic panel reset to the zero position? Assuming they do, then it means that you have (perhaps unintentionally) changed the Default Develop Settings from the Adobe defaults to something else. 

If you then want to reset the default settings back to the Adobe defaults, press and hold the Alt/Opt key, and Reset should now change to "Set Default". Click it and a dialog box opens, and bottom left is a button which says "Restore Adobe Default Settings". Click it and you should find new imports will be back to normal (though that won't restore already imported images, you'll have to deal with those manually....but you can batch reset them quite easily).


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## C.lara_86! (Aug 21, 2012)

That is EXACTLY what I meant but you put it into words that are easier and simpler. I will definitely try out your advice. I did have "apply auto tone adjustments" checked. I just unchecked it. I am not applying a preset during import. 

I also tried to import a single photo and it did the same thing again but this time around, all but "tint" where set to 0. 

Thank you for your quick reply and helpful suggestions. Hopefully I can get everything to work properly again.


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## Jim Wilde (Aug 21, 2012)

Sounds like "Auto Tone" was the culprit.

Though not sure what you meant by "it did the same thing again" if all the sliders are now at zero (from Exposure down, Temp and Tint will be set at whatever it calculates/interprets the WB to be).


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## C.lara_86! (Aug 21, 2012)

Well I tried every advice your provided and it still under exposes each photo. When it is importing, one after another, each photo changes from how I actually shot the photo to completely under exposes.


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## Jim Wilde (Aug 21, 2012)

Are you shooting Raw? What camera? (If you fill out your profile, these questions wouldn't need to be asked).

You do understand that what you see on your camera is NOT the raw file, merely your camera's attempt at doing a raw conversion and rendering a jpeg for you to see? And that when you import a raw file into Lightroom it first of all shows the built-in jpeg preview before then showing you Adobe's efforts as the raw conversion.....which, because of the proprietary nature of raw files, usually means that Adobe's conversion will likely be different that the camera's conversion.

This difference could be further exacerbated by functions such as Active-D lighting (Nikon) or Auto Lighting Optimisation (Canon)....these directly effect the camera's exposure setting, this adjustment is recognised and dealt with by the camera (or the vendor's own raw processing software), but cannot be dealt with by Adobe, again because of the proprietary nature of the raw files. This often results in under-exposure, and it is often suggested to Nikon/Canon owners to turn off that function if shooting raw.


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## C.lara_86! (Aug 22, 2012)

I do shoot in RAW. I have a nikon d7000.. What you said makes sense. As I load each photo, LR loads it in the same color as it is in the camera and in other photo software. Once it loads though, each photo in the catalog begins to change to a darker setting, basically under exposed. I tried everything you suggested but it still does it. 

Thank you though for your advice and input.


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## Jim Wilde (Aug 22, 2012)

This post explains what goes on better than I did (though it probably needs updating to reflect the LR4 develop changes). However, it doesn't help us work out why all your pictures seem to be under-exposed.....is there a consistent amount of under-exposure on all images, or does it vary?

Just recapping:

1. You're shooting Raw using a D7000.
2. On Import you are NOT applying any Develop presets.
3. You have "Auto tone" turned off in the Preferences.
4. Following import, all sliders in the basic panel (from Exposure downwards) are at zero.
5. In camera, you have Active-D lighting turned off.
6. New pictures (taken after Active-D was turned off) all appear under-exposed on import.

If you can just confirm that recap (especially points 4 to 6), and let us know what the level of under-exposure is, hopefully one of our Nikon users might have an idea what's happening and how to fix it.


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