Swapping virtual and master copies in Lightroom

[DanK]

I know some folks here don't use the virtual copy function in LR, but I use it a fair amount (not including the virtual copies created in soft proofing), and I found something today that could be quite useful.

For years, I've received Tim Grey's free email newsletter, in which he answers questions mailed in to him. Much of what he explains I know, but sometimes he explains something that's new to me. Today was one case.

It turns out that if you have one or more virtual copies along with the master file, LR allows you to make any of the virtual copies the master, converting the original master to a virtual copy. Of course, the original raw file remains unchanged, as it always does. LR is simply changing which set of edits to retain as the "master".

For example, you could create a virtual copy, try two different editing approaches, and then decide that the approach you used in the virtual copy is the one you want to keep. You can convert that one to the master and delete the other (assuming you have confirmed that it's no longer the master file). He wrote:

To do so, you can simply select the virtual copy that you want to "upgrade" to having the status as your master image. Then go to the menu and choose Photo > Set Copy as Master. This will swap the adjustment settings for the photo, so that in this example the master image will have the black and white adjustments and the virtual copy will have the color adjustments

For folks who do very little of their editing in LR or who do it in ACR (which lacks a history panel and virtual copies), this won't be of any use. But for people like me who sometimes to substantial edits in LR, this could prove useful.

[LenR]

Dan, this is a function I make use of as well. As you say, useful for different editing approaches of the image.