How to Apply Lens Correction to All Photos in Lightroom

As a photographer, you may have had to deal with photos with varying degrees of distortions. No matter how sophisticated modern lenses are, they still aren’t perfect. To help you reduce or fix photo distortions, the article examines how to apply lens correction to all photos in Lightroom.

How to Apply Lens Correction to All Photos in Lightroom

Lens correction (also known as image correction) is a great way to take your photos and make them look their best. It’s often used in post-processing to fix chromatic aberration and profile corrections, which different angles of light or vignetting can cause.

Steps to Set Lens Correction to All Photos in Lightroom

Lens rectification can be done in both Lightroom Classic CC and Lightroom CC. What’s even great about the feature is that it allows you to make changes to all your photos simultaneously. 

Step 1: Launch Lightroom 

Go to the Lightroom icon on your computer to open the application. For easy understanding, the steps will begin with how to apply lens correction in Lightroom Classic CC.

Step 2: Select Module

More often than not, Lightroom would open in the Library Module. However, to set lens adjustment to all your photos, it’s best to start by creating a preset to automatically apply to all photos when you import them into Lightroom. To begin, click on the Develop Module.

Step 3: Create a Preset

Presets are instructions to tell Lightroom what to do with photos when imported into the application. On the left-hand side of the screen, you will notice a menu with a list of options. Click on the Preset option, located underneath the Navigator option.

Clicking on the Preset options opens a drop-down menu with different photo editing options. However, the focus is on revealing the setting menu of the Preset option. Next, click on the + icon to the right of the Preset option.

The icon opens up a menu list consisting of three options — Create Preset, Import Preset, and Manage Preset. Click on the Create Preset option. 

Step 4: Configure the Preset Option

A “New Develop Preset” pop-up menu appears on the screen. An Input Preset Name field is the first option in the menu. Next, define the preset by choosing a suitable name like Lens Corrections for easy identification.

While you’ll notice other different options below the Settings menu, locate and click on only Lens Correction. To clarify, the Lens adjustment settings would have four options — Lens Profile Corrections, Chromatic Aberration, Lens Distortion, and Lens Vignetting. Therefore, clicking on Lens Correction settings would immediately activate all four options.

Click on the Create tab at the bottom of the New Develop Preset menu. To know the preset was successfully created, it would appear as a clickable option under the Preset Tab (on the left-hand menu option of the screen), underneath User Preset.

Step 5: Activate the Created Preset

Right-click on the Lens Corrections option (or whatever name you saved the preset with). This action displays a menu list with options. Finally, click Apply on Import to activate the preset to work on all imported photos.

Step 6: Import the Photos

Go to the Library Module by clicking on the Library Tab. Next, open the folder where the photos are stored. Then proceed to click on the Import tab on the bottom left area of the screen.

You would notice that all imported photos into Lightroom all have lens adjustments applied to them. To confirm if the preset was applied, return to the Develop Module while all imported photos are displayed in the Library Module. 

In the Develop Module, on the right-hand side would be a menu with options. Click on Lens Correction to reveal two options — Remove Chromatic Aberration & Enable Profile Corrections. To confirm the preset is activated, both options would be enabled.

What Causes Distortion in Camera Lenses?

Optical distortion of camera lenses results from the lens’s optical design. A common noticeable distortion seen in camera photos is when straight lines look curved or slightly bowed. As lens manufacturers continue to improve designs, it’s still safe to say no lens is perfect.

Another common distortion is chromatic aberration. Chromatic aberration occurs when the camera lens struggles to process colors. It particularly occurs when the lens tries to capture a thin detail against a bright background.

When the edges of photos appear to have darkened edges caused by the Lens, it is called vignetting. It is caused when lens elements inhibit the passage of light to the camera sensor.

How to Use Lens Rectification in Lightroom

The degree of distortions in photos can often differ. As such, there may be a need to further adjust the lens correction on individual photos. However, the process is also fairly easy once you know what to do.

Lens Correction in Lightroom Classic CC

Select the photo you need to put lens adjustments on. Then, click on the Develop Module to highlight editing options for the photo. You’ll notice a menu on the right-hand side of the screen; locate and click on Lens Corrections. 

Profile Settings

There are two menu functions under Lens Corrections; Profile and Manual. When you click on Lens Corrections, it opens up in the default Profile settings. 

• Underneath the Amount settings are two distinct options, Distortion and Vignetting. With the Lens adjustment preset applied, both settings have a value of 100.
• Adjust the values by increasing and decreasing the slider by moving it to the left or right. 
• Pushing the Distortion slider further to the right over-corrects the distortion in the photo. This is especially needed in photos with large amounts of distortions.
• Increase or decrease the Vignetting slider to adjust for the vignette in the photo. If there’s no need for it, you can leave it at 100.

Manual Settings

This setting gives you more control to adjust distortions and chromatic aberration. The two primary setting options to focus on are Distortion and Defringe.

1. You can begin by moving the distortion slider to repair the degree of distortion on the photo. Then, you can choose to enable or disable the Constrain Crop as you make your adjustment.
2. The Defringe tool is shaped like an eyedropper. It is the tool used to manually remove chromatic aberration in a photo.
3. Click on the Defringe tool. 
4. Once selected, an instruction appears on the bottom of the Defringe setting that reads, “Use the eyedropper to select the purple & green fringe colors for correction.”
5. Click on the area of the photo where the chromatic aberration occurs to remove it.

Lens Adjustment in Lightroom CC

Lightroom CC does not have a detailed menu option like that found in Lightroom Classic CC. However, it is still easy to set lens correction to any photo in this version.

1. Select the photo you need to apply lens rectification.
2. On the Edit menu, locate and click on Optics.
3. The Optics section shows two options, Remove Chromatic Aberration and Enable Lens Correction.
4. Although it has no manual option, you can click on a downward-facing arrow to reveal Distortion Correction and Lens Vignetting options.
5. Adjust the slider for each option to further add lens rectification to the selected photo. Depending on the level of distortions, the changes are more visible in some photos than in others.

Conclusion

It’s easy to add lens adjustment to all your photos in Lightroom on your computer. Lens rectification removes chromatic aberration and enables profile corrections in your photo by making them less visible. The post gives detailed and simple steps to set lens adjustments to all photos.