Lightroom Classic · Lesson 32 Red Eye & Face Tagging
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Lightroom Classic — Lesson 32
Fix Red Eye in Seconds. Tag Faces Forever.
Two distinct tools — one corrects a camera flash artifact in a single click, the other builds a searchable, intelligent portrait library from your entire catalog.
👁️
Red Eye Fix
Detect and desaturate the red channel in flash-lit pupils. Handles both human red-eye and animal pet-eye.
🧑‍🤝‍🧑
Face Tagging
LR detects faces across your catalog, groups them, and lets you name each person — then search any name instantly.
Red Eye Tool
How the Red Eye Tool Works
The third tool in the Develop toolbar. Two modes: Red Eye (camera flash) and Pet Eye (animal eye shine). Select the correct mode before applying.
1
Select Red Eye mode (for human subjects)
In the tool options bar, choose "Red Eye" from the mode dropdown. This targets the red channel specifically — the cause of flash red-eye in human eyes.
2
Click and drag over the affected eye
Draw a circle over one eye. LR detects the pupil boundary within your selection and applies the correction automatically. Repeat for the second eye.
3
Fine-tune with Pupil Size and Darken sliders
Pupil Size adjusts the correction area. Darken controls how much the pupil is darkened — increase for very bright red pupils, decrease to avoid unnatural pitch-black pupils.
Zoom in to 1:1 first — red-eye corrections are much easier to place accurately at 100% zoom. Press Z to zoom.
Pet Eye Mode
Fixing Animal Eye Shine
Animals don't get red-eye — they get a greenish, yellowish, or whitish glow (tapetum lucidum reflection). Pet Eye mode handles this different color spectrum.
Red Eye (Human)
Targets the red channel. Desaturates and darkens red pixels inside the pupil area. Does not work correctly on animal eyes.
Pet Eye (Animals)
Handles the full spectrum of animal eye-shine colors. The "Add Catchlight" option can restore a natural eye highlight after darkening.
!
Always switch to Pet Eye mode before correcting animal eyes
Using Red Eye mode on an animal will produce an incorrect result — wrong channel targeting. Switch the mode, then apply.
🐕 Dogs, cats, horses — all need Pet Eye mode, not Red Eye. The visual glow is a completely different optical phenomenon.
Understanding Red Eye
Why Red Eye Happens
Red-eye occurs when on-camera flash fires close to the lens axis — the light reflects off the blood-rich retina back to the camera.
Why
On-camera / pop-up flash positioned near the lens
The closer the flash is to the lens axis, the more direct the reflection back to the sensor. Pop-up flashes are the worst offenders.
Fix
Bounce flash, off-camera flash, or move the flash away from the lens
Bouncing flash off a ceiling breaks the direct axis. An off-camera flash on a bracket or stand creates an angle that eliminates retinal reflection entirely.
LR
Fix it in Lightroom when prevention wasn't possible
The Red Eye tool is fast and effective for occasional occurrences. For events shot with on-camera flash (unavoidable), expect to use it frequently.
Face Tagging
The People View
LR automatically scans imported images, detects faces, and groups them for you to name. This is the People View — your face-tagging command center.
1
Press the People icon in the Library toolbar — or View > People
The Library view switches to a face-grouped layout. LR shows clusters of similar faces for you to identify.
2
LR groups detected faces — similar faces appear together
Face detection runs in the background. Faces aren't perfectly grouped immediately — LR refines groupings as you confirm more names.
3
Named and unnamed groups are shown separately
Named people appear at the top with their names. Unnamed groups appear below with a "?" or count of unconfirmed matches.
People View — Named People
😊
Sarah Chen
47 photos
🧑
Marcus Rivera
23 photos
❓
Unknown Person
12 photos
Naming Faces
Naming & Confirming People
1
Click a face cluster → type the person's name
A text field appears below the face thumbnail. Start typing — if you've named this person before, autocomplete suggests the name.
2
LR learns that face for future images
Once named, LR uses the face as a training reference. New imports are analyzed against known faces, and matches are offered as suggestions to confirm.
3
Confirm "?" faces — checkmark to accept, X to reject
LR shows "?" for faces it thinks it recognizes but isn't certain. Click the checkmark to confirm the match, or X to reject it (the face goes back to unnamed).
4
LR gets smarter with every confirmation
The more you confirm, the more accurately LR suggests matches for that person in future imports. It improves through use.
Searching Your Catalog
Finding Photos by Person
Once faces are named, you can search your entire catalog by person — instantly finding every photo of a specific individual across all folders and years.
1
In Library, open the Filter Bar (\ key)
2
Click Metadata → change a column to "Person"
The Person column shows every named person in your catalog. Click a name to filter to all their photos instantly.
3
Results span all folders and collections
LR searches the entire catalog — not just the currently selected folder. Every tagged photo of that person, from any year, any event, appears.
The payoff: Years of family photos, client sessions, event coverage — all searchable by face. "Show me every photo of grandma" becomes a two-click operation.
Privacy
Face Data & Privacy
Understanding where face recognition data lives is important — especially for professional photographers working with client images.
LR Classic (Desktop)
Face data stored locally in the catalog file
Not uploaded to Adobe's cloud
Stays on your machine
Catalog portability preserves face data
Safe for client photography
LR (Cloud / Mobile)
Face data may sync to Adobe cloud
Different privacy model from Classic
Review Adobe's current privacy policy
Consider implications for client work
⚠️ For client portrait photographers: LR Classic's local storage keeps face data on your machine. Understand the difference before enabling face recognition on client catalogs.
Full Workflow
Face Tagging Workflow
1
Go to Library module
2
Open People view (face icon in toolbar or View > People)
LR shows all detected face groups — named at top, unnamed below.
3
Work through unnamed faces — click and type a name
Start with large groups (most photos of one person) to build strong recognition training quickly.
4
Confirm uncertain "?" matches — checkmark or X
Review each LR suggestion. Confirming correct matches improves future accuracy. Rejecting wrong ones prevents mis-tagging.
5
Search by person in the Filter Bar (Metadata > Person)
Your catalog is now searchable by face. Find any person's photos across years and folders in seconds.
Your Turn
Challenge + Recap
3-Part Challenge:
  1. Find a flash photo with red-eye. Apply the Red Eye tool — adjust Pupil Size and Darken to taste. Zoom to 1:1 to evaluate.
  2. Open People view in Library. Name at least 5 face groups. Confirm or reject 3 "?" suggestions.
  3. Use the Filter Bar (Metadata > Person) to find all photos of one named person. Count how many LR found across your catalog.
Red Eye Fix
Click and drag over the eye. Adjust Pupil Size and Darken. Zoom to 1:1 first.
Pet Eye
Switch to Pet Eye mode for animals — different color channel from human red-eye.
Face Tagging
Library > People view. Name clusters. LR learns each person and improves with confirmations.
People Search
Filter Bar > Metadata > Person. Find every tagged photo of anyone across the whole catalog.
Up Next
LR 33 — Detail: Sharpening
Amount, Radius, Detail, Masking — and the Alt-drag trick that changes everything.
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