Lightroom Classic 10 bug: Copy/Sync Crop and Spot Removal wrong results at portrait photos

@arjun_haarith

The provided sample image is the original JPG image from a Nikon Coolpix 995 camera after imported into Lightroom. Because the camera has no orientation sensor (and no orientation exif tag), Lightroom displays every portrait photo from this camera as a landscape photo after the import. So I had to rotate it manually in Lightroom [Library -> Photo -> Rotate Right (CW)].
This problem I has only now been noticed. Up to now I had denoised all my JPG images before importing them into Lightroom using the Neat Image application, because it gives much better results than the Lightroom denoised function. 
But now I wanted to change my workflow to completely use Lightroom and import the original (not denoised) JPG of the camera and try to transfer the development settings. I noticed that the crop and spot removal develop settings are transferred incorrectly. Affected are all images rotate in Lightroom, if the source image of the development settings was processed by any external program.

@Rikk 

I updated to Lightroom Classic 10.2 on Windows 10 and unfortunately the bug still occurs and is not solved.

Even if I check the option in Catalog Settings > Metadata > Automatically Write Changes Into XMP (John_R_Ellis has previously written it should works with it).

Steps to reproduce:

- Download my sample image from post1

- Removing all metadata from the image (because Lightroom has unfortunately added the rotation directly to the image).

- Import the image into Lightroom Classic 10.2

- rotate the image by: Photo -> Rotate Right (CW)

- right click on the image -> Edit in -> Photoshop 2021 -> Edit a Copy

- In Photoshop 2021: File -> Save -> close Photoshop

- Now, 2 times the same image is existing (imported and a copy from Photoshop). 

- goto develop tab
- crop the left image
- add spot removal to the left image (removes the boat on the left side)

- now we have:

- copy develop settings from from left image (spot removal + crop)
- paste develop settings to to the right image

- Now both images should have the same crop and spot settings, but the result is (grid view):

- Result in Develop Tab and show the crop:

Now you can see 3 bugs:

- crop is wrong

- spot removal is wrong (instead of removing the boat on the left, the plants in the water ( bottom) are changed

- lock for crop is wrong

I just did more tests and found a new problem.

Steps to reproduce:

- reimport the same image (without metadata)

- rotated the image and added crop & spot removal

- now right click on the image -> Edit in -> Photoshop 2021 -> Edit a Copy

- In Photoshop 2021: File -> Save -> close Photoshop

Result: the copy (right) by Photoshop is completely different to the source (left) and also significantly distorted.

Hello, could you state the version of Lr Classic you are using, and your OS?

Lightroom Classic 10.2 release Build 202103041821-226a1211

Windows 10 Home 20H2 OS build 19042.867

There is a Cumulative update KB5001567 that is available

Thanks, Is this issue new/unique to this update of Lr?

Yes, was fine yesterday, automatic update this morning.  Also happens when going from 4x6 to 8x10.  Ran the windows 10 update, no change.

Can you give me step by step instructions for reproducing?

1.

2.

3.

4.

Get 4 4x6 photos crop 2 as landscape and 2 as portrait.  Select all 4,  then using one of the landscape shots change it in develop to a 16x9 then sync with just process and aspect ratio.  At least the 2 portrait should be obviously wrong.  

I can give a step by step with more detail after the college double header I am shooting. 

Further checking this morning seems to show the problem happens when you crop a landscape picture to portrait and later sync to a different aspect ratio. The sync seems to go back to landscape and uses the center section.

The sync was referenced to a landscape photo, have not checked for using a portrait photo as the starting point.

Basic editing routine

1 import photos to Lightroom

2 preliminary edits 

3 export as uncropped

4 crop  and export as full

5 Select all photos then convert 1st photo in group to 16x9 aspect.

6 Sync all the photos to 1st photo checking only Process Version and Aspect ratio.

 Samples are in JohnWacher.com LR Problem. 

Used a portrait photo as reference for sync, it messed up all 3 other photos.

Samples in JohnWacher.com LR Problem labeled Synced2_from_Portrait.

This has never been a problem in the past.

Either I am misunderstanding you or unable to reproduce what you are seeing. Can you post a screenshot of LrWeb and LrClassic showing the issue?

Snip 1 showing original photos.

Snip 2 showing cropped edited photos ready to be changed to 16x9

Snip 3 showing photos after syncing the 1st photo which had been changed from 4x6 to 16x9. Photos that did not have their original orientation changed are fine, the ones that were changed from landscape to portrait are not.

I believe you said so above but can you confirm the version you are on currently and the version you were on before your Auto-update?

If, on screen 3, rather than sync the images you select all in Grid and use the Quick Develop crop, what does your grid look like?

LR Classic  10.2 Release Build 202103041821-226a1211

Camera Raw 13.2

As for the previous version Creative Cloud updates my apps automatically so I would not know. Guess I should start keeping track of the versions and dates .

I can find nothing in quick develop to change the aspect ratio of the photos from (2x3/4x6) to (16x9). 

The only thing Sync screws up that I am aware of is changing from 2x3/4x6 to 16x9 when the orientation of the photo was changed from the original and is different from the base photo used in the sync operation.

Yesterday I took a set of photos and selected all the 4x6 landscape photos and using sync converted them to 16x9 using a landscape shot as the base. Then I selected all the portrait photos and did the same using a portrait shot as the base..  Very few of the photos required anything other then the normal minor adjustments to height and width.

Is there any way I can tell what release I was on before and return to it?

You change it in QD Panel in the top section (You may have to expand the disclosure triangle).  There is a 16x9 option in the Crop Ratio pulldown.

The green images are what I started with and the red is after quick develop. The aspect ratio is now 16:9, 

but the original crop is gone.

The workflow is normally to:

1. Select all
2. Apply Aspect
3. Tweak Crops as necessary

In your case, you've pre-cropped without Aspect Ratio so it is a manual process to fix them all now. 

What happens if you sync portrait only to portrait and landscapes only to landscapes?

That works except in one or two cases that I will have to isolate as for reason.  Problem is, I have been doing this for several years and have never had to isolate orientation when synching the aspect ratio.  Is there a way to roll back to a previous release?

Just did portrait to portrait.  Is fine except when the portrait was originally a landscape. Sample first is after 2nd before.

"Is there a way to roll back to a previous release?"

See https://www.lightroomqueen.com/roll-back-update-previous-classic/ 

If you roll back, @JWacher  please confirm here that the behavior is different in the previous version. 

Version 10.1.1 Camera `3.1 Build 202101041610-8c69aa4e works correctly.

Before sync. 

Thanks, quick and easy fix.

Will they be fixing this issue or should I turn off  automatic updates in Adobe Creative Cloud.

Why conversations get merged:

https://feedback.photoshop.com/conversations/lightroom-classic/lightroom-auto-import-to-folders-organized-by-date/5f5f44f14b561a3d422ab0ba?commentId=5f5f48984b561a3d422bdf45 

"Is fine except when the portrait was originally a landscape."

This the same issue as reported in the merged conversation.

A workaround that worked for me:  Before syncing or copy/pasting, select the destination photos and do Metadata > Save Metadata To File.  Or set the option Catalog Settings > Metadata > Automatically Write Changes into XMP.  (This workaround appears not to have worked for another person, though.)

@John_R_Ellis 

Hello John

Thanks for the support and the video.
I did exactly the same thing on my Windows 10 as you did in the video and unfortunately it doesn't work for me.
I then turned off that Lightroom writing metadata to the JPEG (rotation). But that does not work either. The file date was from 2005, after using it in Lightroom the file date was current. Lightroom still writes metadata to the JPG instead of XMP files and also external image viewers follow the new written JPEG rotation after that.
In addition, I then imported the 2 images again (this time without rotation) and changed the other image and then copied the settings to the Photoshop image, but that also does not work.

Looks like there are several bugs with basic tasks in the current version.

Oh, sorry, unfortunately I had forgotten to activate the "Local Adjustments" when copy the settings. Here is a new video where I exactly follow your instructions.

On the normal way, nothing works, crop, spot removal and local adjustments -> everything is wrong. After deleting the images and re-importing (but without rotation), the crop and local adjustments are correct, but spot removal is still wrong.

Why does Lightroom write metadata to the JPG when I have explicitly disabled it in the catalog settings? As you can see in the video, the JPG is modified and after deleting the images in Lightroom and re-importing, the last rotation is loaded.

Interesting, I don't know why you're observing different behavior than I am.  Guess it's part of the bug (by definition, a "bug" is where the program isn't behaving in the way we expect).

"Why does Lightroom write metadata to the JPG when I have explicitly disabled it in the catalog settings? As you can see in the video, the JPG is modified and after deleting the images in Lightroom and re-importing, the last rotation is loaded."

LR doesn't consider rotation and flipping to be "develop settings".  They aren't copied by Copy Settings/Sync, they can't be set by presets, and they don't show up in the History panel. (But they do get copied by Develop Auto Sync -- go figure.)

Thus, since rotation and flipping aren't "develop settings" in LR's eyes, they get saved to the EXIF:Orientation field regardless of the setting of Catalog Settings > Metadata > Including Develop Settings.