How To Zoom In And Out In Adobe Lightroom

Adobe Lightroom has a super intuitive zoom feature built-in to the mouse, but there are many other means of zooming in and out in the program, too. To learn of all the different zoom methods you can employ to your advantage in Adobe Lightroom, simply follow our step-by-step instructions below.

For all other information, and if you have any further questions on the subject, please check out our FAQ section at the end of this article.

How to zoom in and out in Adobe Lightroom (left-click)

1. On your computer, open up the Adobe Lightroom program and then import a test image (or load an image you’ve already been working on)
   
2. To zoom in on the image, hover your cursor over the part of the image you wish to zoom in to, and then left-click with your mouse or trackpad.
   
3. To move around whilst zoomed in, hold the SPACEBAR on your keyboard, and left-click and drag the image to navigate it.
   
4. To zoom out from the image, simply left-click with your mouse or trackpad again. The image will return to the default fit/zoom.
   

Note: If you have a tool open at the time you wish to zoom in or out, then left-clicking will only apply the tool (for example, the paintbrush). In this case, you must first hold SPACEBAR on your keyboard, before left-clicking to zoom in or out.

Note: You can, alternatively, still zoom with the left-click by first closing/deselecting the tool from the toolbar on the right-hand side of Lightroom.

How to zoom in and out in Adobe Lightroom (keyboard shortcuts)

1. On your computer, open up the Adobe Lightroom program and then import a test image (or load an image you’ve already been working on)
   
2. To zoom in on the image, hover your cursor over the part of the image you wish to zoom in to, and then press CTRL/CMD and (+) PLUS on your keyboard. Each subsequent use of the shortcut should zoom you in incrementally further.
   
3. To move around whilst zoomed in, hold the SPACEBAR on your keyboard, and left-click and drag the image to navigate it.
   
4. To zoom out from the image, press CTRL/CMD and (-) MINUS on your keyboard. Each subsequent use of the shortcut should zoom you out incrementally further.
   

How to zoom in and out in Adobe Lightroom (Navigator panel)

1. On your computer, open up the Adobe Lightroom program and then import a test image (or load an image you’ve already been working on)
   
2. Make sure the left-hand panel is visible. If it’s not, hover your cursor over the left-most part of your screen, and it should pop-out.
   
3. Under the ‘Navigator’ section of this panel, locate the various aspect ratios you can select. The options should be “Fit”, “Fill”, “1:1” and a drop-down menu with many different ratio options.
   1. Fit: this option will restore your image to the default zoom level, whereby it is stretched to fit the view pane.
   2. Fill: this option will zoom in further on your image, so that it fills the entirety of the view pane.
   3. 1:1: this option zooms in to the image even further, to ensure that 1 pixel of the image fills 1 pixel of your computer screen; it is also referred to as 100% zoom
   4. Custom: the options under the drop-down arrow range from extremely zoomed out (1:16) to extremely zoomed in (11:1)
4. Simply click any option and your image will be zoomed in or out to that ratio. You can then perform any task on the image as you usually would, including using the other zoom methods described above.

And there you have it! Three watertight ways of zooming in and out in Adobe Lightroom. Go get practicing! If you have any other queries or questions, see our FAQs below.

FAQs

Why would I need to zoom in and out in Adobe Lightroom?

Adobe has produced some of the most innovative, accessible, and useful image sharing and editing programs in the world. Known globally for software such as Photoshop and InDesign, Adobe products are used by graphic designers, photographers, web developers, and more. 

Adobe Lightroom is one such program. Lightroom is software you can use to store, organize, edit, and share high-quality, large-size digital images and photographs. You can use Lightroom to manipulate those images, editing them to the look you need for your work, as well as for organizing them and storing them in thoughtful ways.

Since a large part of any Lightroom, experience is spent editing images and checking them for sharpness, quality, noise, imperfections, and subtle differences between similar copies, it’s important to be able to zoom in and out on said images.

By zooming in on Adobe Lightroom images, you can see them in close detail, and thus assess their quality on a macro level. Whilst, by zooming out, you are able to then see the image from a fuller perspective. To learn how to zoom in and out in Adobe Lightroom, simply follow our tutorial instructions up above.

Can you use the scroll wheel or trackpad to zoom in Adobe Lightroom?

Unfortunately, you cannot use the scroll wheel or finger motions on the trackpad to zoom in and out in Adobe Lightroom. Whilst this mechanic does enable the innate zoom functions of other programs (even others in the Adobe Suite), Lightroom does not have this function.

The basic zoom mechanic in Lightroom is actually already so easy, instant, and intuitive, there’s little reason for there to be a secondary built-in mechanic linked to the trackpad. And, whilst we know that many users like the functionality of the mouse scroll-wheel or trackpad for zooming, bear in mind that these mechanics are mapped to different functions in Lightroom.

In Lightroom, “scrolling” with the scroll-wheel or trackpad actually cycles through tools, instead of scrolling. Alternatively, it will cycle through the photos/images you have open in Lightroom. Used in combination with the in-built zoom functions (discussed above), this can be super helpful! Once you’ve grown used to the way zooming in Lightroom works, we promise you’ll not mourn the loss of zooming with the scroll wheel.

What’s the best way to zoom in and out in Adobe Lightroom?

The answer to that depends entirely on your own personal preferences and the reason for your zooming in and out. 

If you just want to quickly magnify and then zoom out from parts of your images to check them for sharpness or detail, then the left-click in-built zoom mechanic is surely the most practical. Remember, if you have a tool open, you’ll simply first have to hold the SPACEBAR on your keyboard whilst left-clicking.

However, if you need a wider range of ratio options, in order to see your image from a range of different angles and perspectives, then selecting a ratio from the top of the left-hand panel is your best option. 

Furthermore, if you’re a keyboard warrior, then remember that you can always use the CTRL/CMD and (+) PLUS keyboard shortcut to zoom in, and the CTRL/CMD and (-) MINUS keyboard shortcut to zoom out.

Can I change the default zoom level in Adobe Lightroom?

In a sense, yes. What you can do is you can “lock” the zoom level on one photo, so that said zoom level is made constant across all the photos you’ve currently got open in Adobe Lightroom. Simply click View > Lock Zoom Position.

This can be especially useful if, for example, you’ve zoomed in on someone’s eyes to check if they’re open or closed in a group shot for which you have multiple takes. You can then cycle through each take with your mouse’s scroll wheel, and the zoom will remain fixed on that point of each image, allowing you to quickly find the shot in which the person’s eyes are open and sharp.

How do you reset zoom to default in Adobe Lightroom?

There are a few different ways you can “reset” the zoom level to default in Adobe Lightroom. A simple left-click of your mouse or trackpad, when zoomed in, should zoom you back out to “default” in a split-second. Alternatively, pressing CTRL/CMD and (0) ZERO on your keyboard should have the same effect.

Additionally, you can use the ratios in the left-hand panel to take you back to the default zoom level by selecting “Fit” from the options. This will “fit” the image to the preview pane, so that all of it is made visible, and takes up as much room as it can without cropping any parts of the image out. This is the standard, default view you will see images at when first you load them into the program.