High-Quality Photo Exports That Save Space On Your Drive (VIDEO)

Here’s an enlightening Lightroom tutorial from the Dream Life YouTube channel that kills two stubborn birds with one stone. On the one hand you’ll learn a tried-and-true method for exporting high-quality images. The bonus is that this method accomplishes the task while saving considerable space on your hard drive.

Instructor Tom Woods has been a full-time pro for two decades, and his vast expertise is readily evident when discussing the technical, creative and, practical aspects of our craft—with more than a bit of inspiration thrown in for good measure. This episode is his response to a query from one of his followers who asked, “What resolution do you suggest for keeping good pictures that don’t eat up too much space on a drive.”

There’s a link beneath the video to Wood’s previous tutorial, when maximum quality is the goal. Today’s video, by comparison, is geared toward space-saving tips that still provide good enough quality for most common purposes. Be sure to watch until the end, when Woods concludes the tutorial by explaining how to easily automate the process and streamline your workflow.

Woods pull up Lightroom’s Export window and illustrates the configuration he recommends. He first selects the Resize to Fit option, and then inputs the appropriate dimensions for using the images in a variety of ways. You can always increase or reduce file size depending upon whether you intend to post the shot on social media sites or if you intend to print the photograph.

Another key consideration is specifying the name of the file and the folder in which you want the export to reside. Both of these simple steps are essential because they’ll help you avoid wasting valuable time when seaching for a particular image.

Once the foregoing is accomplished it’s time for another timesaving trick that involves creating a preset for automating the configuration you chose. This way you don’t have to type in the various options and criteria every time this particular export configuration suits your needs.

There’s much more to learn on the Dream Life Photography YouTube channel, and we suggest taking a close look.

We also recommend that you check out a Lightroom tutorial we featured recently from another image-editing expert who demonstrates an unusual White Balance technique that delivers photographs with perfect colors.