The Compare View is a useful tool when culling images, or whenever you need to look into the details of two similar images.
Within Adobe Lightroom this is done by:
1) Access LR in the Library Module
2) Select two images to be compared. The two images can be anywhere: collections, folders, etc. They don't have to be next to each other; just select both images at the same time, pressing your <Ctrl> key while mouse clicking the second image. (Apologies to Mac users, I don't have the symbol for your equivalent to the Windows 'control' key.)
Example 1 - Select two images to be compared
3) Press 'c' to initiate the compare. Or, use menu command: View / Compare
Example 2 - Adjust your desktop panels to maximize the space available for the two image compare
4) You can gain more 'geography' by hiding aspects of the LR desktop
Example 3 - Use Zoom and Navigation buttons
5) Use the 'z' key to zoom in and out of the details. Each time you press 'z', you toggle between the full-image and the zoom view. You can adjust the zoom level with the slider on the lower left of the Compare window. I find 1:1 (100%) to be the most useful.
6) Use 'c' or 'l' (l - library) or the <Done> button to exit or otherwise toggle out of the Compare view. Restore the hidden panels onto your desktop, as needed.
Using Compare as a culling toolConsider the 26 images in Example 4. Which is the keeper?
Example 4 - Initial import of 26 versions of the same spider
You can use the Compare View to 'walk' the images seeking to identify the one (or few) that justify spending any additional time editing. Begin by picking (selecting) the first two images and press 'C' to access the Compare view.
a) If helpful, press 'z' and zoom into the details. Using the 1:1 Zoom to compare the images, the better of the two should be obvious. Use the Reject flag to identify the lesser of the two being compared. Be sure to reject the proper image. You might reject both, or move on keeping both.
b) When I'm walking images, I place the 'keeper' in the left window. Refer back to Example 3 and the navigation buttons to arrange images. Hover your mouse over the buttons for the pop-up descriptions. The 'make select' moves the right image to the left position. Just keep moving in sequence; you can come back and compare and select from the 'keepers' in a second round of culling.
Example 5 - comparing the 100% details
c) With the current 'keeper' on the left side, use the 'select next' arrow to move the next sequential image into the right-side of the Compare view.
d) Compare the details again, if the new image is better than the old image, reject the left-side and use the 'make select' button to move the right side to the left side and continue to compare the next image in the sequence.
e) You're doing 1 to 1 image compares, looking at just two images at a time. At the end of this 26-image sequence, you might still have 13 images left from the individual 1 to 1 compares. Remove the rejected images (Example 6) and repeat, as needed, until you've identified only the best 1 (or few) to then bring as potential 'keepers' into the Develop module for processing.
SUMMARYThe harsher you become as a critic of your own work in culling, the better your resulting images should become. The Compare view at the 100% zoom lets you make critical assessments of your images. At the minimum, you'll become more efficient at editing where you begin to spend your time editing only your best work rather than all images from a session.
TIP-01: If you didn't build 1:1 previews during the import, these previews are dynamically built when you view each image at the 100% zoom. Alternatively, before the culling effort, select the images in the Library view and build the previews with Library / Previews / Build 1:1 Previews. Begin culling only after the previews are available. Building the previews first makes the Compare view more responsive as you navigate between images.
TIP-02: Use the filmstrip, if desired, to select individual images to compare rather than the 1 by 1 left to right sequence described in steps (b) thru (d). The filmstrip is easier to select two images when they are not in sequence and directly next to each other.
TIP-03: Use the Attribute filter to select the Rejects and remove from further consideration. Remove the attribute filter and continue the culling.
Example 6 - Using the Attribute filter to identify Rejected images. Select all the rejects and use your <Backspace> key to remove from the Collection or to Remove from the LR Catalog (and delete from disk, if desired) .