Focus Points for Lightroom Classic

V4 – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Version 4 is the largest update since the project was revived. It fundamentally changes how Focus Point Viewer integrates with Lightroom. You can now keep the viewer open while continuing to work in Lightroom, choose between multiple rendering methods depending on your workflow, and benefit from significantly faster image display.

These new capabilities also introduce new interactions between the plugin and Lightroom. As a result, you may occasionally notice behavior that differs from what you would normally expect from a native Lightroom feature. In most cases, this is due to limitations of the Lightroom SDK rather than the plugin itself.

This FAQ explains the most common questions about Focus Point Viewer in Second Screen mode, the reasons behind certain behaviors, and the available workarounds where applicable.

Browse by topic

Display modes

• Direct View: gray artifacts around corner markers (Windows)

• Preview Image / Export Image: why unavailable on macOS?

Second Screen mode

• Window switches back to the primary screen (macOS)

• Viewer becomes the active window in Follow Lightroom mode

• Keyboard input after opening in Interactive mode (Windows)

• Window always in front (Windows)

• Export file when Preview Image is selected

• Arrow keys stop working in filmstrip (Follow Lightroom mode, Windows)

• Double-click required in Grid view (macOS)

• Empty margins after resizing

General

• Keyboard shortcut to open Focus Point Viewer

Q&A

Why does Direct View display gray artifacts around the AF corner markings on Windows? Is my GPU the cause?

Direct View on Windows produces corner markings with rectangular artifacts around the overlay images:

This is due to inconsistent behavior of the underlying Lightroom SDK function when using transparent PNG overlays in overlapping layouts on Windows vs macOS.

See also: Known Limitations 5) for background information, a possible workaround, and instructions on how to support the Adobe bug report.

This limitation of the Lightroom SDK only affects Windows and does not indicate a problem with your GPU.

Why are the Preview Image and Export Image display modes unavailable on macOS?

The availability of Preview Image and Export Image display modes on macOS requires the integration of the third-party tool ImageMagick which is used on Windows to draw rectangular markings onto the image file.

Support for macOS is planned for a future V4 pre-release.

How can I stop Focus Point Viewer from switching back to the primary screen on macOS?

Focus Point Viewer remembers its size and position when you close and reopen it. However, on macOS, it doesn’t remember which screen the window was opened on. If you drag the window to a secondary display, it switches back to the primary display when you open another photo.

See also: Known Limitations 1) for background information, and instructions on how to support the Adobe bug report.

This limitation of the Lightroom SDK only affects macOS and cannot currently be resolved by the plugin.

How can I prevent Focus Point Viewer from automatically becoming the active window whenever a new photo is loaded in Follow Lightroom mode?

Lightroom opens floating dialogs as active window by default. Once a dialog has been opened, keyboard input is accepted and processed by the dialog. While this is desired behavior in Interactive mode, it breaks the user workflow in Follow Lightroom mode. The Lightroom SDK lacks the option of a parameter controlling the window behavior.

A workaround has been implemented on Windows using an AutoHotkey script. While this is acceptable for a pre-release, it is not a viable solution for a public release.

A similar workaround for macOS has not been investigated because Follow mode is currently of limited practical use on macOS due to another Lightroom SDK limitation.

See also: Known Limitations 2) for background information, how to install the available workaround, and instructions on how to support the Adobe bug report.

A workaround is available on Windows for this limitation of the Lightroom SDK.

Why doesn’t Focus Point Viewer accept keyboard input immediately after opening in Interactive mode on Windows?

While Focus Point Viewer becomes the active window after it has been opened, it doesn’t accept and process keyboard input until the user presses Tab, Right Arrow, Down Arrow or clicks a UI control. This behavior is a limitation of the Lightroom SDK and affects Windows only.

A workaround has been implemented using an AutoHotkey script. While this is acceptable for a pre-release, it is not a viable solution for a public release.

See also: Known Limitations 3) for background information, how to install the available workaround, and instructions on how to support the Adobe bug report.

Why is Focus Point Viewer always in front on Windows?

When running Lightroom in screen mode Normal or Full Screen with Menubar, Focus Point Viewer is always in front of all other open windows. While this is usually not a problem, it can be annoying if you want to temporarily send the window to the background.

Use Lightroom screen mode Full Screen and Focus Point Viewer Interactive to be able to switch between the two windows.

See also: Known Limitations 4) for background information.

A limited workaround for Windows exists. macOS is not affected.

Why does Lightroom display an ‘Export file’ progress bar even though I have chosen Preview Image display mode?

Apart from an explicit choice of Export Image, Focus Point Viewer can choose this method in two situations:

1. In Develop module
   Lightroom cannot always generate or update previews quickly enough while you are working in Develop module. (that’s also why Lightroom’s Build Previews command is not accessible in Develop)
2. If a Preview Image timeout has been specified
   In order to reduce long opening times of Focus Point Viewer (which is basically waiting for a preview to become available), you can specify a timeout after which Focus Point Viewer no longer waits for a preview but uses Export instead. ↗.

Why do the Left and Right Arrow keys sometimes stop working in Lightroom when Focus Point Viewer is running in Follow Lightroom mode?

Observed on Windows.

When using the left and right arrow keys to navigate in filmstrip view while the Focus Points Viewer is open in ‘Follow’ mode, the arrow keys may stop working after some time.

The Ctrl+Left Arrow and Ctrl+Right Arrow keys continue to work and perform the same function.

Sending Lightroom to the background and then back to the foreground will resolve the issue.

Why do I have to click twice to open a photo in Focus Point Viewer from Grid view, while a single click is enough in Filmstrip view on macOS?

This is normal macOS behavior when any application is active and you click in the grid.

Why do empty margins appear on the right or bottom of the Focus Points Viewer window when I change its size in ‘Second Screen’ mode?

The Focus Point Viewer keeps a fixed layout so it does not resize when switching between landscape and portrait photos on a secondary screen. Choosing a smaller size for the plugin window can result in empty margins. Simply resize the window once to remove them. ↗

How can I set up a hotkey to open Focus Points Viewer?

There are different ways to do this on Windows and macOS. ↗.

This site is open source. Improve this page.