Macromedia Lightroom - 5.0 User Manual

ADOBE® PHOTOSHOP LIGHTROOM

Help and tutorials

Contents

What’s New 1...................................................................................................................................................

What’s New in Lightroom 5 2.....................................................................................................................................................

Workflows 6.....................................................................................................................................................

Importing photos into Lightroom: Basic workflow 7...................................................................................................................

Smart Previews | Lightroom 5 8.................................................................................................................................................

The Library module: Basic workflow 10.....................................................................................................................................

Applying adjustments in the Develop module: Basic workflow 11.............................................................................................

Exporting photos: Basic workflow 13.........................................................................................................................................

Editing in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements: Basic workflow 14.............................................................................................

Creating web galleries: Basic workflow 15................................................................................................................................

Printing photos: Basic workflow 17............................................................................................................................................

Creating slide shows: Basic workflow 19...................................................................................................................................

Workspace 21..................................................................................................................................................

Workspace basics 22.................................................................................................................................................................

Setting preferences for working in Lightroom 25.......................................................................................................................

Displaying the Library on a second monitor 26..........................................................................................................................

Personalizing identity plates and module buttons 28.................................................................................................................

Using the Watermark Editor 29..................................................................................................................................................

Color management 31...............................................................................................................................................................

Importing photos 33.........................................................................................................................................

File import formats and settings 34............................................................................................................................................

Import photos from various sources 36.....................................................................................................................................

Import photos and video into a catalog 39.................................................................................................................................

Photo and video import options 41............................................................................................................................................

The Filename Template Editor and Text Template Editor 43....................................................................................................

Viewing photos 45...........................................................................................................................................

View photos 46..........................................................................................................................................................................

Browse and compare photos 50................................................................................................................................................

Setting Library view options 53..................................................................................................................................................

Managing catalogs and files 55.......................................................................................................................

Lightroom catalog basics 56......................................................................................................................................................

Create and manage catalogs 57................................................................................................................................................

Backup a catalog 60..................................................................................................................................................................

The Volume Browser 63............................................................................................................................................................

Create and manage folders 64..................................................................................................................................................

Keep folders and photos in sync 67...........................................................................................................................................

Manage photos 69.....................................................................................................................................................................

Maps 72...........................................................................................................................................................

Work with the Maps module 73.................................................................................................................................................

Organizing photos 76.......................................................................................................................................

Photo collections 77...................................................................................................................................................................

Grouping photos into stacks 81.................................................................................................................................................

Flag, label, and rate photos 84..................................................................................................................................................

Keywords 88..............................................................................................................................................................................

Metadata basics and actions 94................................................................................................................................................

Advanced metadata actions 97.................................................................................................................................................

Work with video in Lightroom 100..............................................................................................................................................

Finding photos in the catalog 101..............................................................................................................................................

Using the Quick Develop panel 104..........................................................................................................................................

Developing photos 105....................................................................................................................................

Develop module tools 106.........................................................................................................................................................

Working with image tone and color 110.....................................................................................................................................

Apply local adjustments 118......................................................................................................................................................

Enhanced Spot Removal Tool | Lightroom 5 121......................................................................................................................

Radial Filter | Lightroom 5 124...................................................................................................................................................

Upright tool - Automatic perspective correction | Lightroom 5 127............................................................................................

Retouch photos 131...................................................................................................................................................................

Retouch with the Spot Removal brush 138...............................................................................................................................

Develop module options 140.....................................................................................................................................................

Exporting photos 144.......................................................................................................................................

Export files to disk or CD 145....................................................................................................................................................

Post photos online using publish services 149..........................................................................................................................

Export to Hard Drive using Publish Services 156......................................................................................................................

Presets for export, and other settings 158.................................................................................................................................

External Editors 160........................................................................................................................................

External editing preferences 161...............................................................................................................................................

Open Lightroom photos in external applications 163.................................................................................................................

Slideshows 166................................................................................................................................................

Slideshow module panels and tools 167...................................................................................................................................

Specifying the slide layout 168..................................................................................................................................................

Adding overlays to slides 172....................................................................................................................................................

Playing and exporting slide shows 176......................................................................................................................................

Printing photos 179..........................................................................................................................................

Print module basics 180............................................................................................................................................................

Print module layouts and templates 182....................................................................................................................................

Print job options and settings 188..............................................................................................................................................

Photo books 190..............................................................................................................................................

Create a photo book | Lightroom 5 191.....................................................................................................................................

Create a photo book | Lightroom 3, 4 194.................................................................................................................................

Web galleries 197............................................................................................................................................

Web module panels and tools 198............................................................................................................................................

Web gallery layouts 199............................................................................................................................................................

Web gallery templates and settings 202....................................................................................................................................

Preview, export, and upload web photo galleries 204...............................................................................................................

Keyboard shortcuts 206...................................................................................................................................

Keyboard shortcuts 207.............................................................................................................................................................

What's New

1

What's New in Lightroom 5

2

Radial Filter
Enhanced Spot Removal tool
Upright - Automatic Perspective Correction
Smart Previews
Videos in Slideshows
Improved Book Creation
Lab Color Values Readout
Loupe Overlay: Grid
Loupe Overlay: Guides
Support for PNG files
True full-screen mode

Radial Filter

In photographs with busy backgrounds, the subject of your photograph can to get lost in the ambient colors and textures. Creating a vignette effect
is another way to focus attention, but only works if the focal point is in the center of the image.

The new Radial Filter tool in Lightroom 5 lets photographers emphasize the important part of an image by creating off-center vignette effects or
multiple vignetted areas to highlight multiple areas. Simply use the Radial Filter to draw an elliptical shape. You can adjust the portion outside the
ellipse by ensuring that the Invert Mask checkbox is unchecked. By checking the Invert Mask checkbox, you can make adjustments to the inside
of the ellipse.

You can adjust a number of parameters including exposure, contrast, saturation, clarity, and sharpness of the portions inside or outside the
marquee area.

(Left) The off-centered model seems to merge in with the background, especially due to the gamut of colors on the door and the model's attire.
(Right) Two, near-concentric Radial Filters are used - one, to tone down the saturation and clarity of the area around the model, and, another, to

highlight the model.

To the top

For more information, see Radial Filter in Lightroom 5.

Enhanced Spot Removal tool

To the top

Fix defects with irregular shapes

Physical imperfections (for example, wrinkles, scars, or blemishes) or unwanted elements (for example, people in a landscape, or accidentally
included elements) in images can reduce the overall impact of the photograph.

With the enhanced Spot Removal tool in Lightroom 5, it is easy to draw or 'paint' over these unnecessary elements, even if they are irregular
shapes. You can adjust the brush size and opacity to give you more control over the areas you are healing.

3

(Left) The camping scene is marred by the harsh luminescence from the light source in the tent.
(Right) The enhanced Spot Removal tool is used to paint over and replace the shape of the tent.

For more information, see the article on the enhanced spot removal tool.

Visualize Spots

While the Spot Removal tool enables you to remove visible imperfections, some flaws in the photo may not be visible in the normal view (for
example, sensor dust, or spots or blemishes on a portrait). The Visualize Spots option available with the Spot Removal tool enables you to see
smaller and less-visible imperfections. When you select the Visualize Spots checkbox, the image appears inverted. You can vary the contrast
levels of the inverted image to see imperfections more clearly. You can then use the Spot Removal tool in this view to remove any imperfections.

(Left) The Visualize Spots option provides an inverted image that you can use for a closer inspection for flaws and imperfections.
(Right) The pins or circles represent spot removal corrections.

For more information, see the article on the enhanced spot removal tool.

Upright - Automatic Perspective Correction

Upright ( Develop Module > Lens Corrections > Basic tab) enables you to automatically straighten image content. Upright automatically corrects the
perspective of the elements in a photograph. Upright has four settings that you can choose from:

Auto: Balanced level, aspect ratio, and perspective corrections
Level: Perspective corrections are weighted toward horizontal details
Vertical: Perspective corrections are weighted toward vertical details and level corrections
Full: Combination of full Level, Vertical, and Auto perspective corrections

You can apply one setting, cycle through the others, and then choose the setting that is best for your photograph.

(Left) The image on the left is a picture has severe perspective distortion.
(Right) The Upright mode - Auto has been applied to the image. The lines are straighter, and some cropping occurs.

For more information, see the article on the Upright tool.

To the top

To the top

Smart Previews

You can now easily work with images without having to carry the original files with you at all times. Store your original image files on an external

4

device, and generate smaller preview files called Smart Previews. Smart previews are stored in the same folder as your Lightroom catalog. If the
device that contains your original files is disconnected from your computer, Lightroom uses Smart Previews. In addition to being able to view the
photographs, you can edit Smart Previews. When you reconnect the device that contains the original files, all your edits to the Smart Previews are
automatically applied to the originals.

The status of an image that has a Smart Preview

For more information, see the article on Smart Previews.

Videos in Slideshows

Lightroom 5 introduces the ability to combine video with photographs and music to create rich slideshows.

Improved Book Creation

The Book Module has been improved to provide greater flexibility to customize book templates. Enhancements include:

Page numbers, and the ability to start numbering at any page.
Photo text boxes to caption photos and pages are now more accessible.
Template creation from customized pages, for reuse in other projects or pages.

For more information, see the article on creating a photo book in Lightroom 5.

Lab Color Values Readout

In the Develop module, the RGB value of the color below the mouse pointer is displayed below the Histogram. In Lightroom 5, you can now get
precise readings of Lab values for any color in your image. To view Lab values of a color:

1. In the Develop module, right-click / ctrl+click the Histogram.

2. In the context menu, select Show Lab Color Values .

3. Move the mouse pointer to any location on the open image. The precise Lab values are displayed below the histogram.

To the top

To the top

To the top

The L, a, and b values are displayed below the Histogram.

Loupe Overlay: Grid

A new visualization has been added to check if objects in your image are aligned or askew. The new Loupe Overlay features a resizable grid-like
overlay that is visible on the image. You can control the opacity of the overlay to ensure that it does not get in the way of your editing tasks.

To the top

(Left) Large grid, high opacity (Right) Small grid, low opacity

5

1. In the Library or Develop module, click View > Loupe Overlay > Grid.

2. Press and hold Ctrl / Cmd to display grid sizing and opacity options.

Grid options

3. To change the size of the grid, click Size, and then drag to the left or right.
Drag to left: Decreases the size of the grid.

Drag to right: Increases the size of the grid.

4. To change the opacity of the grid, click Opacity, and then drag to the left or right.
Drag to left: Decreases the opacity of the grid.

Drag to right: Increases the opacity of the grid.

5. To toggle the overlay on or off, press Ctrl + Alt/Cmd + O.

Loupe Overlay: Guides

A new guides feature (View > Loupe Overlay > Guides) has also been added. It allows you to position a movable crosshair anywhere on the
image. Hold Ctrl / Cmd, and then drag the intersection of the crosshair to move the guide.

Support for PNG files

Lightroom 5 includes full support for PNG files. When you open a PNG format file in Lightroom 5, any transparency is displayed as white color. If
you edit the PNG file in Photoshop, or export the file, the transparency settings are maintained.

Caution:

Images cannot be exported as PNG graphics.

True full-screen mode

In the Library or Develop modules, use the F key to toggle between application and full-screen view.

Note:

Features or functions that required pressing the F key can be accessed using the Shift+F key combination.

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

To the top

To the top

To the top

Workflows

6

Importing photos into Lightroom: Basic workflow

7

You must import photos into the Lightroom catalog to begin working with them. Importing tells Lightroom what photos are in the catalog, and
whether they are imported directly from a camera, hard drive, memory card reader, or other storage device. During import, you can choose either
to move or copy the photo files into a specific folder, or reference the photo files in their current location. As photos are imported, you can rename
them, apply Develop module adjustments to them, embed metadata and keywords, and even back up the original photos to a different folder.

Note:

Lightroom supports photos up to 65,000 pixels long or wide, up to 512 megapixels. For a complete list of supported file formats, see

Supported file formats.

After they are imported, Lightroom adds the photos to the catalog and starts building previews and cataloging metadata. Unless manually
removed, the previews and metadata stay in the catalog, even if you move the corresponding photos off your computer to archive them at a
different storage location. Thumbnail previews appear in the Grid view and Filmstrip, and folders containing the imported photos appear in the
Folders panel of the Library module. You can’t import the same photo at the same location into Lightroom multiple times unless you first delete the
photo from the catalog. See Browsing photos in Grid view and Create virtual copies.

Lightroom also offers an auto-import feature for automatically importing photos into the catalog from a specified folder. See Import photos

Note:

automatically.

The visual import window allows you to preview, select, name, and add information about the photos you want to import. To import photos into
Lightroom, follow these basic steps:

Connect the camera or memory card reader to your computer.

In addition to cameras and memory card readers, Lightroom imports photos from any folder on the hard drive, CDs or DVDs, and other storage
devices. You can also import photos from another Lightroom catalog or from Photoshop Elements.

To have Lightroom start automatically when you plug in a camera or card reader, choose Lightroom > Preferences (Mac OS) or Edit >
Preferences (Windows). In General, look under Import Options and select Show Import Dialog When A Memory Card Is Detected.

Select the location of the photos to import.

To bring photos into the catalog, do any of the following:

Click the Import button in the Library module.
Choose File > Import Photos And Video.
Drag a folder that contains photos or drag a group of photos into the Grid view of the Library module.

Use the Source panel on the left side of the import window to navigate to the folder that contains the photos you want to import.

Choose how to add the photos to your catalog.

In the center of the import window, choose whether to import photos by referencing them, by copying or moving them to a specified directory, or by
copying photos as Digital Negative (DNG) files. If you copy or move photos, specify where to put them using the Destination panel on the right
side of the window. See Import photos and video into a catalog.

Preview and select photos.

Using the previews in the center of the window, select the photos that you want to import.

(Optional) Back up your photos as they’re importing.

If you’re copying or moving photos into the catalog, specify whether to make a one-time backup of the original photos as they’re imported. See
Back up photos during import.

Select the type of previews to display.

Standard-size previews provide higher quality photos in the Grid view. Selecting Minimal uses the embedded previews in photos and initially
displays photos faster. See Specify initial previews when importing.

(Optional) Give your files a custom name.

When copying or moving photos into the catalog, Lightroom by default imports photos using their current filenames. You can customize the name
by choosing an option from the File Renaming pa

Cannot serve request to /content/help/en/lightroom/help/importing -photos-lightroom- basic-workflow.html on this server

Smart Previews | Lightroom 5

8

Advantages of Smart Previews
Creating Smart Previews
Working with Smart Previews
Delete Smart Previews

Importing photographs into your catalog establishes a link between the catalog and the physical file. The photograph can exist on an internal or
external drive. In previous versions of Lightroom you could edit images that were contained on drives connected to Lightroom.

With Lightroom 5, Smart Previews allow you to edit images that are not physically connected to your computer. Smart Preview files are a new
lightweight, smaller, file format, based on the lossy DNG file format introduced in Lightroom 4.

Advantages of Smart Previews

Smart Previews are much smaller than the original photos. You can free up disk space on devices with smaller storage capacities (for
example, SSD drives) by choosing to keep original files on a high-capacity external device (for example, NAS devices or external discs). For
example, 500 raw images from a high-end DSLR camera may occupy 14 GB of disk space. The Smart Preview files for the same images
amounted to 400 MB of disk space.

Continue to work with your Smart Preview files even when the device containing your original photographs is disconnected. You can perform
all edits that you would perform on the original file.

Automatically sync any edits made on Smart Preview files with your original files, as soon as the device is reconnected to your computer.
Once created, your Smart Preview files are always up-to -date. When your storage device is connected, any edits you make to the original file

are instantly applied to the smart previews as well.

Creating Smart Previews

There are several ways of generating Smart Preview files:

Import.

created for all the images imported into the catalog.

Export.

File > Export as Catalog, and then select the Build / Include Smart Previews checkbox.

On-the-fly.

> Build Smart Previews.

Note:

When you import new images into your catalog, select Build Smart Previews (Import dialog > File Handling section). Smart Previews are

When you export a set of photographs as a catalog, you can choose to build and include Smart Previews in the exported catalog. Click

You can create Smart Preview files on demand. Select the files for which you want Smart Previews, and then click Library > Previews

Smart Previews are stored in the <Catalog Name> Smart Previews.lrdata folder, located in the same folder as the catalog.

To the top

To the top

Working with Smart Previews

You can identify the Smart Preview status of a photograph based on the information displayed below the Histogram:

Original You are viewing the original image. No Smart Preview exists for this file.

To the top

9

Smart Preview You are viewing a Smart Preview. Lightroom cannot detect the device containing the original file.

Original + Smart Preview You are viewing the Original file. A corresponding Smart Preview exists.

Status icons displayed when multiple images are selected in Grid view (G):

A. Originals without Smart Previews
B. Originals with Smart Previews
C. Smart Previews only (Disconnected from Original)
D. Original file missing (normal preview displayed)

Delete Smart Previews

To the top

Do one of the following:

In the Library or Develop module, for a photo that has a Smart Preview, click the status Original + Smart Preview below the Histogram, and
then click Discard Smart Preview.

In Library or Develop module, click Library > Previews > Discard Smart Previews.

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

The Library module: Basic workflow

10

The Library module is where you view, sort, manage, organize, compare, and rate the photos in your catalog. It’s your home base for working with
photos after importing them into Lightroom.

Photos are displayed in the central area of the Library module in any of four views:

Grid view

your entire catalog or specific groups of photos for rotating, sorting, organizing, and managing. Options are available for viewing information about
photos, including their ratings, color labels, and Pick or Rejected flags in the cells. If you photographed a series of similar photos, they can be
neatly grouped in a stack with the thumbnail of the best showing. See Finding photos in the catalog and Grouping photos into stacks.

Loupe view

When you’re in the Grid or Survey view, double-clicking a photo displays the image in Loupe view.

Compare view
Survey view

active photo by clicking a different thumbnail, and deselect a photo in Survey view by clicking the X
The Library module contains buttons and commands for switching between views. See Switching between Grid, Loupe, Compare, and Survey

views. You can also display these views of the Library module in a second window, which you can view on a second monitor, if you have one. See
Displaying the Library on a second monitor.

The panels on the left side of the Library module are primarily for displaying specific photos. Use them to navigate and manage the folders that
contain your photos, to view your collections of photos, and to adjust the zoom level of your photos in Loupe view. See View the contents of a
folder and Photo collections.

The Library Filter bar at the top of the Grid view allows you to find photos by selecting categories of metadata; filtering by flags, ratings, and color
labels; and performing a text search. Being able to search for and find photos is important when you want to locate specific images, assemble a
group of photos into a slide show or web photo gallery, or print your photos on a contact sheet. See Find photos using the Library Filter bar.

The panels on the right side of the Library module let you view a histogram of the active photo, and view and add metadata and keyword tags to
photos. The Quick Develop panel lets you quickly apply tone adjustments to photos. The tone adjustments in the Quick Develop panel in the
Library module are the same as their counterparts in the Develop module. However, the Develop module has more precise controls for making
adjustments and corrections to the image. See Adjust images using the histogram, Viewing and editing metadata, and Using the Quick Develop
panel.

Depending on the view, the toolbar below the preview area contains controls for sorting, applying ratings, rotating photos, playing an impromptu
slide show, or viewing information about the photo. See Show controls in the Library module toolbar.

Like all modules in Lightroom, the Library module displays the Filmstrip along the bottom. Applying filters to show only certain photos in the
Filmstrip determines which photos appear in the Grid view. See Filter photos in the Filmstrip and Grid view.

Displays photos as thumbnails in cells, which can be viewed in compact and expanded sizes. The Grid view gives you an overview of

Displays a single photo. Controls let you view the entire photo or zoom in to see part of it. Zoom levels up to 11:1 are available.

Displays photos side by side so that you can evaluate them.

Displays the active photo with selected photos so that you can evaluate them. The active photo has a white border. Change the

in the lower -right corner of the thumbnail.

Adobe also recommends

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

Applying adjustments in the Develop module: Basic workflow

11

The Develop module in Lightroom includes controls for globally adjusting the color and tonal scale of your photos, as well as for making local
adjustments. All the adjustments you make in Lightroom are nondestructive. With nondestructive editing, your original file is not altered, whether
it’s a camera raw file or a rendered file such as a JPEG or TIFF. Your edits are stored in Lightroom as a set of instructions that are applied to your
photo in memory. Nondestructive editing means you can explore and create different versions of your photo without degrading your original image
data.

Because edits are stored in Lightoom as instructions, you do not need to save them in the traditional sense. When you print or export your photos,
for example, the adjustments are included. You only need to save your changes if you want them to be available to Adobe Bridge or Camera Raw.
See Synchronize Lightroom metadata with Camera Raw and Adobe Bridge.

The Develop module

A. Presets, Snapshots, History, and Collections panels B. Toolbar C. Histogram D. Photo Information E. Smart Preview status F. Tool strip G.
Adjustment panels

Photos in the following formats can be edited in Lightroom: camera raw (including DNG), JPEG, TIFF, and PSD. Applying adjustments to photos is
a subjective and individual process. Use the following steps as a guide for editing photos in the Develop module.

Select a photo to edit.

Select a photo in the Library module and press D to switch to the Develop module. To switch to a different photo in the Develop module, choose it
from the Collections panel or the Filmstrip.

Evaluate the photo.

Use the zoom controls in the Navigator panel to inspect your photo and the Hand tool to reposition the photo in the viewing area. When you move
the pointer over the photo, the RGB values under its position appear in the toolbar. Use the Histogram panel as a visual guide for measuring color
tones, as well as to preview shadow and highlight clipping. You can even drag in the histogram interface to make tonal adjustments to the photo.
See Adjust images using the histogram.

Make global color adjustments.

By default, the Develop module displays panels for making global adjustments to photos on the right side of the window. You can make Develop
module adjustments in any order, but a common approach to using these panels is to start at the top and work down. Starting with the Basic
panel, you can adjust the white balance, tonal scale, and color saturation of a photo, including Clarity and Vibrance. You can refine global color
and tonal adjustments in the Tone Curve and HSL/Color/B&W panels, and you create special effects or colorize monochrome photos in the Split
Toning panel. See Adjust image color and tone.

Reduce noise and apply sharpening.

Use the Detail panel to reduce noise and adjust the sharpness in a photo. Use the Lens Corrections panel to correct perspective distortions caused
by the camera lens. See Sharpening and noise reduction and Correct lens distortion and adjust perspective.

Use the Before/After button in the toolbar to see the results of your edits, or simply press \ to cycle between before and after views. Use the
History panel to return to any previous edit. Click the plus sign (+) in the Snapshots panel to capture any editing state that you can return to at
a later time.

Retouch and correct flaws.

At any time, use the Crop Overlay, Red Eye Correction, and Spot Removal tools to crop and straighten your photo and to remove red eye, dust,

and spots. To apply a postcrop vignette or film grain effect, use the options in the Effects panel. See Adjust crop and rotation, Retouch photos,

12

and Vignette and grain effects.

Apply local adjustments.

Color correct specific areas of a photo by using the Adjustment Brush tool or the Graduated Filter tool. See Apply local adjustments.

Apply adjustments to other photos.

You can apply edits from one photo to many others. For example, apply a set of edits to all of the photos from a specific shoot that require the
same global adjustments. You can copy and paste them, or synchronize them. When you copy or synchronize corrections, Lightroom allows you to
select the specific edits that you want to apply to the other photos. You can also use the Painter tool in the Grid view of the Library to apply
Develop settings from one photo to another. See Apply Develop adjustments to other photos.

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

Exporting photos: Basic workflow

13

In Lightroom, you do not save photos in the traditional sense. Instead, you export photos. You can export photos in a variety of file formats suitable
for a wide range of uses. For example, you can export photos as JPEGs to share online, or as TIFFs for a print publication.

When you export photos, you create new files that include Develop module adjustments and other changes you’ve made to the photos’ XMP data.
When exporting, options are available for specifying a photo’s filename, color space, pixel dimensions, and resolution. Export settings can be
saved as presets for reuse.

The Publish Services panel allows you to export and upload JPEG photos directly from Lightroom to photo-sharing websites. For example, see
Publish from Lightroom to Facebook.

To export photos from Lightroom, follow these basic steps:

Select the photos to export.

Select photos from the Grid view or the Filmstrip. See Selecting photos in the Grid view and the Filmstrip.

Export photos and choose a destination.

Choose File > Export or click the Export button in the Library module. Choose Export To > Hard Drive in the pop-up menu at the top of the dialog
box.

The number of photos being exported appears at the top of the Export dialog box.

To export to a Flash drive, choose Export To > Hard Drive, and in the Export Location panel, choose Export To > Specific Folder. Then, click
Choose and navigate to the Flash drive.

(Optional) Choose an export preset.

Lightroom has several premade presets to make it easier to export photos to disk in specific file formats. For example, the For Email preset
generates a small, low -resolution JPEG image and automatically send the email from Lightroom. If desired, select any of these presets from the
left side of the Export dialog box and skip to Step 6. See Export photos using presets and Email photos from Lightroom.

Specify export options.

Specify a destination folder, naming conventions, and other options in the various Export dialog box panels. For example, you can opt to add the
exported photos to the current catalog. See Export files to disk or CD.

(Optional) Save your export settings.

To save your export settings for reuse, click Add to create an export preset. See Save export settings as presets.

Click Export.

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

Editing in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements: Basic workflow

14

You can edit photos using Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Elements, or another application from within the Library or Develop module in
Lightroom. Lightroom automatically uses Photoshop or Photoshop Elements as an external editor if you have either application installed on your
computer. You can designate other applications to function as external editors, as well as set file format and other options, in the External Editing
preferences. See Specify external editing preferences.

Lightroom provides several ways to edit photos in Photoshop CS4 or later. You can simply edit them in their current format, or open them as a
Smart Object. You can also merge a series of shots into a panorama, merge to HDR, or open two or more photos as one layered image in
Photoshop. When you save edits to a photo in Photoshop, Lightroom automatically imports the new photo into the catalog. See Open photos in
Photoshop Elements.

To edit your photo using Photoshop or Photoshop Elements from within Lightroom, you must have one of those applications installed on your
computer. Then, follow these steps:

Select a photo to edit.

In the Lightroom Library or Develop module, select the photo you want to edit. Then, choose Photo > Edit In > Edit In Adobe Photoshop or Edit In
Adobe Photoshop Elements. If you’re opening a camera raw file in Photoshop CS4 or later, Photoshop opens the photo directly. If you’re opening
a TIFF, JPEG, or PSD file, choose to open a copy of the photo with Lightroom adjustments applied, or open a copy of the original photo.

Edit in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.

Perform your desired edits in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, and when you’re ready to commit to them, choose File > Save.

Return to Lightroom.

Switch back to Lightroom. In the Library Grid view, a new version of your photo appears next to the original. The new photo contains the edits you
made in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. The original photo is untouched.

When saving from Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, be sure to turn on the Maximize Compatibility option so that Lightroom can read the

Note:

images. Photoshop CS3 and later automatically save PSD files from Lightroom with maximum compatibility.

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

Creating web galleries: Basic workflow

15

The Web module lets you create web photo galleries, which are websites that feature thumbnail images that link to larger versions of the photos.
The panels on the left side of the Web module in Lightroom contain a list of templates and a preview of their page layouts. The center pane is the
image display area, which automatically updates as you make changes, and also lets you navigate between the index and other pages in your web
photo gallery. Panels on the right have controls for specifying how the photos appear in the template layout, modifying the template, adding text to
the web page, previewing the web gallery in a browser, and specifying settings for uploading the gallery to a web server.

The Web module

A. Type of web gallery B. Template Browser C. Preview button D. Navigation buttons E. Panels for customizing layout and specifying output
options

Lightroom can create two types of web galleries:

Lightroom HTML gallery

Produces a web page of thumbnail images that link to pages with larger versions of the photos. Airtight layouts are HTML.

Lightroom Flash gallery

Produces a website with different views: a row of thumbnail images that display a larger version of the photos, and a navigable slide show. View
this gallery in a browser using Adobe Flash® Player.

To create a web gallery in Lightroom, follow these basic steps:

Select images from the Library.

In the Library module, select images in the Grid view or Filmstrip. Or select a folder or collection to display the photos to include in the web photo
gallery. See Selecting photos in the Grid view and the Filmstrip and Photo collections.

If you plan to modify your web gallery later, it is a good idea to assemble all of your photos into a collection, which preserves the photo order and
any custom settings you specify.

You can filter the photos in the Filmstrip of the Web module by clicking the Use pop-up menu in the toolbar and choosing All Photos, Selected
Photos, or Flagged Photos.

Go to the Web module.

The photos that you selected appear in both the Filmstrip and the work area in the center of the Web module.

Rearrange the photo order.

If you assembled your photos into a collection or if you’ve selected a folder that does not contain other folders, drag photos in the Filmstrip to
rearrange them in the order that you want them to appear in the gallery. See Rearrange web gallery photo order.

Choose a template.

Move your pointer over a template name in the Template Browser to see a small preview. Click a template name to select it for your web gallery.

Enter website information.

In the Site Info panel, type a title for your website, a title for your gallery, and a description. You can also enter your e-mail address so that visitors
to your gallery can click your name to send you an e-mail. See Add titles, description, and contact information to web photo galleries.

(Optional) Specify the web gallery appearance.

16

In the Color Palette panel, click the color box next to the element that you want to modify and choose a new color for it. See Choose colors for
gallery elements.

(Optional) Specify the gallery layout.

In the Appearance panel, modify the gallery layout by setting the Grid options (for HTML galleries) or choosing from the Layout menu (for Flash
galleries). For Flash galleries, you can also specify the size of the thumbnail images and the enlarged photo in the Appearance panel. See Specify
the appearance of Lightroom HTML galleries and Specify the appearance of Lightroom Flash galleries.

(Optional) Specify the text that appears with the photos.

In the Image Info panel, type or choose the metadata to display as the title and caption for each photo. Leave the Title or Caption boxes
unchecked if you don’t want text to appear under the photos. See Display photo titles and captions in web photo galleries.

(Optional) Add a copyright watermark.

Display a copyright watermark web gallery photos by selecting a watermark in the Output Settings panel. See Display a copyright watermark in
web photo galleries.

Specify the output settings.

In the Output Settings panel, specify the quality of the enlarged view of a photo and whether to apply output sharpening.

Preview your web gallery in a browser.

At the bottom of the work area, click Preview In Browser. Lightroom opens a preview of your web gallery in your default browser. See Preview a
web photo gallery.

Export or upload your web photo gallery.

After you finish your gallery, you can either export the files to a specific location or upload the gallery to a web server. In the Upload Settings
panel, choose Web Server from the FTP Server menu, or choose Edit Settings to specify settings in the Configure FTP File Transfer dialog box. If
necessary, consult your ISP for help with FTP settings. See Preview, export, and upload web photo galleries.

(Optional) Save the web layout and options as a template or as a web collection.

If you plan to reuse your web gallery settings, including layout and upload options, save the settings as a custom web template. Or save the
settings as a web collection to preserve a set of specific Web module options with a collection of photos. See Create custom web gallery templates
and Save web settings as a web collection.

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

Printing photos: Basic workflow

17

The Print module lets you specify the page layout and print options for printing photos and contact sheets on your printer. The left panels contain
a list of templates and a preview of their page layouts. The area in the center of the Print module displays the photos in a template. The right
panels contain controls for specifying how the photos appear in the layout; modifying the template; adding text to the printed page; and selecting
settings for print color management, resolution, and sharpening.

The Print module

A. Template and Collection browser B. Show Previous Page and Show Next Page buttons C. Page number D. Panels for specifying layout and
output options

To print photos from Lightroom, follow these basic steps:

Select the photos you want to print.

In the Library module, select the photos you want to print. In the Print module, you can also select photos in the Collections panel and the
Filmstrip. See Selecting photos in the Grid view and the Filmstrip.

Filter the photos in the Filmstrip of the Print module by clicking the Use pop-up menu in the toolbar and choosing All Photos, Selected Photos,
or Flagged Photos.

Choose the page size.

In the Print module, click the Page Setup button and choose a page size:

(Windows) In the Paper area of the Print Setup dialog box, choose a page size from the Size menu.
(Mac OS) In the Page Setup dialog box, choose a printer from the Format For menu. Then, choose a page size from the Paper Size menu.

Leave the Scale set to 100% and do all your image size adjustments in Lightroom.

Note:

If necessary, specify the page orientation before clicking OK.

Choose a template.

The templates included with Lightroom scale the photos to accommodate the paper size you choose. Grid templates let you print one or more
photos, all at the same size, on a page. Picture Package templates allow you to place one photo on a page in multiple sizes. Custom Package
templates let you print multiple photos at various sizes on one page. See Choose a print template.

(Optional) Customize the template.

For a grid layout, such as a 4-x-5 contact sheet, modify the template using the controls in the Image Settings and Layout panels. For example,
zoom to fill the photos in the cell, add a stroke border, and adjust margins and cell size. You can also drag the guides in the work area to resize
cells.

For Picture Package and Custom Package templates, you can drag cells freely in the work area and specify options in the Image Settings panel.
Use the Rulers, Grid & Guides panel to adjust the display of the work area. Use the Cells panel to add new cells or pages to the layout.

See Specify how photos fill an image cell, Specify rulers and guides, Modify page margins and cell size (Single Image/Contact Sheet layouts), and
Print borders and strokes in Picture Package and Custom Package layouts.

(Optional) Add text and other extras.

In the Page panel, specify whether to print a background color, your identity plate, and a copyright watermark. See Printing overlay text and

graphics.

18

Specify the print settings.

In the Print Job panel, do any of the following:

Specify a print resolution or leave the setting at its default (240 ppi). See Set print resolution.
Specify how color management is handled for your photos. Choose from the Profile and Rendering Intent pop-up menus. See Set print color

management.
Select whether to use Draft Mode Printing. See Print in draft mode.
Select whether to sharpen the photos for printing. If you select Print Sharpening, use the pop-up menu to choose how much sharpening to

apply. See Sharpen a photo for print.

(Optional) Save the print layout and options as a template or as a print collection.

If you plan to reuse your settings, including layout and overlay options, save the settings as a custom print template. Or save the settings as a
print collection to preserve a set of specific Print module options with a collection of photos. See Work with custom print templates and Save print
settings as a print collection.

Click the Print button and specify printer driver options.

Choose the printer and set the printer options before clicking OK (Windows) or Print (Mac OS). If Lightroom is managing the color, turn off any
color management in the printer settings.

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

Creating slide shows: Basic workflow

19

In the Slideshow module, you can create slide shows to present photos on screen with music and transitions. The left panels contain a list of slide
show templates and a preview of their layouts. The Slide Editor view in the center of the workspace displays the photos in a slide template. The
toolbar below the Slide Editor contains controls for playing a preview of the slide show, refining the selection, and adding text to the slides. The
right panels contain controls for specifying how the photos appear in the template layout, modifying the template, adding text to the slide layout,
and selecting playback settings.

The Slideshow module

A. Slide Editor view B. Template preview C. Slide show templates and Collections D. Playback controls E. Rotate and Add Text tools F. Panels for
setting layout and playback options

If you want to share a slide show or play it on another computer, you can export the slide show as an Adobe PDF file, which plays without music,
or as a video file, which includes music.

You can also play an impromptu slide show from the Library or Develop module. An impromptu slide show plays using the current template and
settings in the Slideshow module. This is a convenient way to view images at full screen and rate, rotate, or delete images in a folder using
keyboard shortcuts.

To create a slide show, follow these basic steps:

Select images from the Library.

In the Library module, select photos in the Grid view or Filmstrip. Or use the Folders or Collections panel to select a folder or a collection of photos
to use for the slide show. See Selecting photos in the Grid view and the Filmstrip.

Arrange the slide order.

Switch to the Slideshow module. If are using a collection or a folder with no subfolders as the source, drag the photos in the Filmstrip to arrange
them in the desired order. See Rearrange slide order and Randomize the slide order.

Choose a template in the Slideshow module.

Move the pointer over a template name in the Template Browser on the left side of the workspace to see a preview of the template. Click a
template name to select it for your slide show. See Choose a slide show template.

(Optional) Customize the template.

Customize your slide show by modifying the Options, Layout, Overlays, Backdrop, and Titles settings. For example, add a drop shadow; specify
whether to show your identity plate or a caption; and specify a color or image for the background. See Adding overlays to slides and Set the slide
background.

Save your modifications as a custom template if you want to use them again later. See Choose a slide show template.

Note:

Set playback options.

Set slide duration and transition options. You can also specify introductory and ending slides, and select a music playlist to accompany the slide
show. See Set slide and transition duration and Play music with a slide show.

Preview or play the slide show.

Click the Preview Slideshow button in the toolbar to display the slide show in the Slideshow Editor view. Click the Play button to play the slide show

20

as a full-screen presentation on your computer. See Preview a slide show and Play a slide show.

Export the slide show if you plan to share it.

Save your slide show as an MP4 video that can play with transitions and music or as a static PDF document that others can open. Click the Export
Video or Export PDF button. See Export a slide show.

(Optional) Save the layout as a custom template or as a slide show collection.

Save your slide show layout as a custom template so you can reuse it easily. Or save the slide show settings as a slide show collection. A slide
show collection lets you easily return to a specific set of slide show options for a collection of photos. See Create custom slide show templates and
Save slide show settings as a slide show collection.

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

Workspace

21

Workspace basics

22

Lightroom application interface
Managing panels and the screen view
The toolbar

Lightroom application interface

Lightroom is a complete toolbox for professional photographers, organized into modules. Each module focuses on a specific portion of the
photographic workflow: the Library module is for importing, organizing, comparing, and selecting photos; the Develop module is for adjusting color
and tone, or creatively processing photos; and the Slideshow, Print, and Web modules are for presenting your photos.

Each of the modules in the Lightroom workspace includes panels that contain options and controls for working on your photos.

The Lightroom workspace in the Grid view

A. Library Filter bar B. Image display area C. Identity plate D. Panels for working with source photos E. Filmstrip F. Module Picker G. Panels for
working with metadata, keywords, and adjusting images H. Toolbar

To the top

The Filmstrip, located at the bottom of the workspace in every module, displays thumbnails of the contents of the folder, collection, keyword set, or
metadata criteria that is currently selected in the Library module. Each module uses the contents of the Filmstrip as the source for the tasks
performed in it. To change the selection in the Filmstrip, go to the Library module and select different photos. See Viewing photos in the Filmstrip.

To work in Lightroom, first select the images you want to work with in the Library module. Then click a module name in the Module Picker (upper ­right in the Lightroom window) to begin editing, printing, or preparing your photos for presentation in an on-screen slide show or web gallery.

Hold down Ctrl+Alt/Command+Option and press a number from 1 through 5 to switch to any of the five modules.

The activity monitor displays over the identity plate when Lightroom is busy with a task.

To cancel a process, click the X beside the progress bar.
To switch and view another process in progress, click the triangle beside the progress bar

Managing panels and the screen view

You can customize the Lightroom workspace by displaying only the panels you want or by hiding some or all of the panels to maximize the display
of your photos.

To the top

Open or close a panel

Click the panel header. To open or close all panels in a group, Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command- click (Mac OS) a panel name.

Open or close one panel at a time

Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) on a panel header and choose Solo mode, or Alt- click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS)

on a panel header.

23

Solo mode applies independently to a set of panels. The triangle in the panel header is solid when not in Solo mode.

Scroll through a group of panels

Drag the scroll bar or use the scroll wheel on your mouse.

Show or hide panel groups

To show or hide a single panel group, click the Show/Hide Panel Group icon . A solid icon indicates the panel group is showing.
To show or hide both side panel groups, choose Window > Panels > Toggle Side Panels, or press the Tab key.
To hide all panels, including side panels, the Filmstrip, and Module Picker, choose Window > Panels > Toggle All Panels, or press Shift-Tab.

Set how panel groups show or hide automatically

Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the outside edge of the panel group (beyond the scroll bar) and then choose an option:

Auto Hide & Show

the pointer away from the panel.

Displays the panel as you move the pointer to the outside edge of the application window. Hides the panel as you move

Auto Hide

Manual

Sync With Opposite Panel

Hides the panel as you move the pointer away from the panel. You must open the panel manually.

Turns off automatic show/hide behavior.

Applies the same hide/show panel behavior to the left and right panels or to the top and bottom panels.

Resize the width of a panel group

Move the pointer over the inside edge of a panel group, and when the pointer becomes a double- arrow, drag the panel.

Remove or restore a panel from a group

If you don’t use a panel often, you can hide it from view.

Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) on any panel header in the group, and then choose the panel name.

Change the Lightroom screen mode

You can change the screen display to hide the title bar; the title bar and the menus; or the title bar, menus, and panels.

Choose Window > Screen Mode, and then choose an option.
When in Normal, Full Screen With Menubar, or Full Screen mode, press the F key to cycle through those three modes.
Press Ctrl+Alt+F (Windows) or Command+Option+F (Mac OS) to switch to Normal screen mode from Full Screen With Menubar or Full

Screen mode.
Press Shift+Ctrl+F (Windows) or Shift+Command+F (Mac OS) to enter Full Screen And Hide Panels mode, which hides the title bar, menus,

and panels.
When in Full Screen And Hide Panels screen mode, press Shift-Tab and then the F key to display the panels and menu bar.

Full Screen mode and Full Screen And Hide Panels mode in Mac OS hide the Dock. If you start Lightroom and do not see the Minimize,

Note:

Maximize, or Close buttons for the application, press the F key once or twice until they appear.

Turn off all settings in a panel

You can temporarily turn off all the settings in a panel of the Develop module or the filtering in the Filmstrip.

Click the Panel On/Off icon .

Dim or hide the Lightroom interface

Use Lights Out to dim or black out the Lightroom interface so that your photo stands out on screen.

Choose Window > Lights Out and then choose an option. You can press the L key to cycle through the three options.

Customize Lights Out in the Interface Preferences by specifying the dim level and screen color.

The toolbar

You can hide the toolbar or customize it in the Library and Develop modules to include the items you need.

To the top

Show controls in the Library module toolbar

Depending on which view is active in the Library module, the toolbar contains controls for browsing photos, applying metadata, starting an

24

impromptu slide show, rotating photos, and applying ratings, flags, or labels. The toolbar Info box displays the filename of the selected photo.

1. To show controls in the toolbar, choose any of the following from the toolbar pop-up menu:

View Modes

Lets you select Grid View, Loupe View, Compare View, or Survey View.

Painter

Sorting

Flagging

Rating

Color Label

Rotate

Navigate

Slideshow

Thumbnail Size

Zoom

Info

Compare

Label

2. (Optional) Choose a selected item in the toolbar pop-up menu to remove the control from the toolbar.

(Grid view only) Lets you apply keywords and other attributes quickly by dragging the Painter tool across photos.

(not available in Compare view) Specifies the sort direction or sorting criteria for displaying the photo thumbnails.

Assigns, removes, and displays a Pick or Rejected flag for selected photos.

Assigns, removes, and displays rating stars for selected photos.

Assigns, removes, and displays color labels for selected photos.

Rotates selected photos clockwise or counterclockwise.

Selects the previous or next image.

Plays an impromptu slide show of the photos.

(Grid view only) Sets the size of the photo thumbnails.

(Loupe view only) Zooms the view in or out.

Displays the filename of the selected photo.

(Compare view only) Displays options for zooming, swapping, and selecting compared photos.

(Survey view only) Displays Survey view label.

Show or hide the toolbar

Choose View > Show/Hide Toolbar or press the T key to toggle the toolbar on or off.

Change toolbar icons

On the right side of the toolbar, click the menu and select or deselect items to display in the toolbar.

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

Setting preferences for working in Lightroom

25

Open the Preferences dialog box
Restore preferences to default settings
Reset presets to their original settings
Restore prompts you chose not to display
Change the interface font size or the panel end marker
Change the language setting

You can set preferences to change the Lightroom user interface.

Open the Preferences dialog box

On Windows, choose Edit > Preferences.
On Mac OS, choose Lightroom > Preferences.

Restore preferences to default settings

1. Navigate to the following location:

Mac OS

Windows Vista, Windows 7

2. Drag the following file to the Recycle Bin (Windows) or to the Trash (Mac OS):

Mac OS

Windows

Note:

[username]/Library/Preferences/

Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Lightroom\Preferences\

com.adobe.Lightroom4.plist

Lightroom 4 Preferences.agprefs

See Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 preferences file and other file locations for more information on important Lightroom files.

Reset presets to their original settings

In the Presets Preferences, click any of the Restore buttons in the Lightroom Defaults area.

Restore prompts you chose not to display

In the General Preferences, click Reset All Warning Dialogs in the Prompts area.

To the top

To the top

To the top

To the top

Change the interface font size or the panel end marker

In the Interface Preferences, choose options from the Panels menus.

Change the language setting

Lightroom can display menus, options, and tool tips in multiple languages.

1. Choose Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Lightroom > Preferences (Mac OS).

2. In the General tab, choose a language from the Language pop-up menu.

3. Close Preferences and restart Lightroom.

The new language takes effect the next time you start Lightroom.

Adobe also recommends

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

To the top

To the top

Displaying the Library on a second monitor

26

You can open a window that displays a second view of the Library. This second window displays the photos that are selected in the Library
module, and uses the Library module view options that are specified in the primary Lightroom window for Grid and Loupe view. The second
window can stay open regardless of which module you’re working in, so it’s easy to view and select different photos at any time. If you have a
second monitor connected to the computer that runs Lightroom, you can display the second window on that screen.

When working with multiple windows, Lightroom applies commands and edits to the photo or photos that are selected in the main application
window regardless of what is selected in the second window. To apply a command to one or more selected photos in the second window, right­click (Windows) or Control- click (Mac OS) the selected photos in Grid, Compare, or Survey view in the second window and choose a command.

1. Click the Second Window button

The Library module in the main window, and the Loupe view in the secondary window (inset)

By default, the second window opens the selected photo in Loupe view. If you have a second monitor connected to the computer, the
second window automatically opens on that monitor in full-screen display. Otherwise, Lightroom opens a floating Secondary Display window.

2. To change the view mode of the Lightroom Library second window, right-click the Second Window button and choose an option from the

menu. Or, click Grid, Loupe, Compare, or Survey in the second window. If you have a second monitor, you can also select the Slideshow
option.

3. Specify view options.

Grid

Resize thumbnails by dragging the Thumbnails slider and filter photos using the Library Filter bar. See Find photos using the Library

Filter bar.

in the Filmstrip to open the second window.

Loupe

Choose Normal, Live, or Locked. Normal displays the most-selected photo from the primary window. Live displays the photo that is
under the pointer in the Filmstrip or Grid view in the primary window. Locked displays the selected photo even if you choose a different
photo in the primary window. In all Loupe modes in the second window, you can adjust the zoom level.

You can lock any photo by right-clicking (Windows) or Control-clicking (Mac OS) it in the main window and choosing Lock To Second
Monitor. Or select the photo and press Ctrl+Shift+Enter (Windows) or Command+Shift+Return (Mac OS). The photo that is currently locked
to the second monitor displays a second-window badge

Compare

Survey

Slideshow

second monitor. Click Play to play the slide show; click the slide or press Esc to end it. To override the current options in the Slideshow
module for Intro Screen, Pause On Intro, Ending Screen, and Repeat, select Override and then select the option.

4. (Available with a second monitor) Display the second window as a floating window by clicking the Second Monitor button in the main window
and deselecting Full Screen.

5. (Available in Full Screen mode on a second monitor) Click the Second Monitor button in the main window and choose Show Second Monitor
Preview to open a small floating window that lets you remotely control the second monitor display. Use the Second Monitor preview window
to toggle between Grid, Loupe, Compare, Survey, and Slideshow views on the second monitor. You can also use the Second Monitor
preview window to control playback of the slide show. The Second Monitor preview window is meant to be used when your second monitor

Offers the same functionality as the Compare view in the primary window. See Comparing photos in the Library module.

Offers the same functionality as the Survey view in the primary window. See Comparing photos in the Library module.

(Available with a second monitor) Allows you to play a full-screen slide show of the currently selected folder or collection on a

in the Filmstrip and in the thumbnail in Grid view of the main window.

is not visible from your location.

6. To close the second window, click the Second Window button, or click it and deselect Show.

27

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

Personalizing identity plates and module buttons

28

You can personalize the Lightroom interface, slide shows, and printed output using identity plates that include your name and logo.

1. Do one of the following to open the Identity Plate Editor:

Choose Edit > Identity Plate Setup (Windows) or Lightroom > Identity Plate Setup (Mac OS).
In the Overlays panel of the Slideshow module or the Page panel of the Print module, click the Identity Plate preview and choose Edit

from the pop -up menu.

2. In the Identity Plate Editor, select one of the following:

Use A Styled Text Identity Plate

box.

Tip: (Mac OS) To create a multiline text identity plate, press Option+Return in the text box. Lightroom displays just the first line of an identity
plate to the left of the Module Picker. However, all lines appear when the identity plate is selected as an output overlay in the Slideshow,
Print, or Web module.

Uses the text you enter in the box with the font characteristics that you specify in the menus below the

Use A Graphical Identity Plate

into the box. The graphic can be a BMP, JPG, GIF, PNG, or TIFF (Windows) or JPG, GIF, PNG, TIFF, PDF, or PSD (Mac OS). The
resolution of graphical identity plates may be too low for printed output.

3. Choose Save As from the Enable Identity Plate menu, and give your identity plate a name.

4. To display your identity plate on the left side of the Module Picker, select Enable Identity Plate and choose one of your saved identity plates
from the menu to the right.

5. In the pop-up menus in the right side of the dialog box, customize the font, size, and color of the Module Picker buttons. The first color
picker box sets the color of the current module, and the second box sets the color for unselected modules.

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

Uses a graphic that is no more than 57 pixels high (Mac OS) or 46 pixels high (Windows) that you drag

Using the Watermark Editor

29

Create a copyright watermark
Manage copyright watermarks
Apply a copyright watermark to images

Create a copyright watermark

1. In any module, choose Edit > Edit Watermarks (Windows) or Lightroom > Edit Watermarks (Mac OS).

2. In the Watermark Editor dialog box, select a Watermark Style: Text or Graphic.

3. Do either of the following:

(Text watermark) Type the text under the preview area and specify Text Options: font, style, alignment, color, and drop shadow.
OpenType fonts are not supported.

(Graphic watermark) Click Choose in the Image Options pane and then navigate to and choose the PNG or JPEG that you want to use.

4. Specify Watermark Effects:

Opacity

Size

fill the height and width of the photo.

Inset

Anchor

Adjust the level of transparency of the watermark.

Proportional scales the watermark larger or smaller. Fit sizes the watermark across the width of the photo. Fill sizes the watermark to

Repositions the watermark horizontally or vertically in the photo.

Anchor the watermark to one of nine anchor points in the photo, and rotate the watermark left or right.

If you have trouble seeing the watermark on final images, experiment with a larger size or different position on the photo.

Manage copyright watermarks

In any module, choose Edit > Edit Watermarks (Windows) or Lightroom > Edit Watermarks (Mac OS).
If you have multiple photos selected in the Filmstrip, click the Left and Right navigation arrow buttons to preview the watermark on each

photo.
To save the current settings as a preset and exit the Watermark Editor, click Save. To save the watermark and continue working in the

Watermark Editor, click the preset menu (in the upper-left corner of the window) and choose Save Current Settings As New Preset. Type a
name in the New Preset dialog box and click Create.

To select a watermark, choose it in the preset menu in the upper-left corner of the window.
To edit a watermark, choose it in the preset menu and change the settings. Then, click the preset menu again and choose Update Preset

“[name].”
To rename a copyright watermark, choose it in the preset menu, then click the menu again and choose Rename Preset “[name].”
To delete a copyright watermark, choose it in the preset menu, then click the menu again and choose Delete Preset “[name].”

To the top

To the top

Apply a copyright watermark to images

For instructions on how to apply copyright watermarks to photos, see:

Export files to disk or CD
Display a copyright watermark in a slide show
Print photos with a copyright watermark
Display a copyright watermark in web photo galleries

Create custom watermarks for photos

How to create custom watermarks in

To the top

by Matt Kloskowski

Lightroom 3 or Lightroom 4 (03:52).... Read

30

More

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/learn-lightroom-3/c...

Adding a watermark to your images

Contribute your expertise to
Adobe Community Help

How to use the Watermark Editor in
Lightroom 3 or Lightroom 4 to protect your

images.... Read More

http://goo.gl/sQk0S

How to create the copyright symbol in Lightroom

How to create the copyright symbol to use in

a watermark (04:30).... Read More

http://goo.gl/OUuME

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

by Scott Kelby

Contribute your expertise to
Adobe Community Help

by David Marx

Contribute your expertise to
Adobe Community Help

Color management

31

About color management in Lightroom
Calibrate and profile your monitor
Install a color profile

About color management in Lightroom

Lightroom simplifies color management in your photographic workflow. You don’t need to choose color settings or color profiles until you are ready
to output your photos. To take advantage of Lightroom color management, you need to calibrate your computer monitor so that you are viewing
accurate color. See Calibrate and profile your monitor .

Color spaces, color profiles, and tonal response curves

It’s not necessary for you to understand how Lightroom manages color internally, but the following information may be useful in your workflow.
A color space describes a range or gamut of colors. Various devices in your photographic workflow have different color gamuts in which they can

record, store, edit, and output photos. A color profile defines a color space so that Lightroom knows how to manage and convert colors in your
photo.

The Library module stores all previews in the AdobeRGB color space. These previews are also used when printing in draft mode. Unless you
choose differently in the Soft Proofing panel, the Develop module displays photos in the ProPhotoRGB color space.

A color profile is also defined by a gamma value, or more accurately, its tonal response curve. The tonal response curve defines how tonal values
in the raw image are mapped. To provide useful information in the histogram and RGB value display, Lightroom assumes a gamma value of
approximately 2.2. More accurately, it uses a tonal response curve similar to the tonal response curve of the sRGB color space.

While Lightroom uses a tonal response curve to provide information for the histogram and RGB values, it manipulates the raw data before it is
tone mapped. Working in this linear gamma avoids many of the artifacts that can result in working with a tone- mapped image.

Output color profiles

When you print a photo in Lightroom, you can choose to convert the colors to more closely match the color space of the printer, paper, and ink you
are using. For information on working with printer color profiles, see Set print color management.

Lightroom automatically exports images in the Slideshow and Web modules using the sRGB profile so that the color looks good on the majority of
computer monitors.

To the top

Calibrate and profile your monitor

You can calibrate your monitor and create a profile that specifies its color characteristics using monitor profiling software and hardware.
When you calibrate your monitor, you are adjusting it so that it conforms to a known specification. Once your monitor is calibrated, the profiling

utility lets you save a color profile.

1. If you are calibrating a CRT monitor, make sure it has been turned on for at least a half hour. This gives it sufficient time to warm up and
produce more consistent output.

2. Set the ambient lighting in your room to be consistent with the brightness and color of the room lighting you’ll be working under.

3. Make sure your monitor is displaying thousands of colors or more. Ideally, make sure it is displaying millions of colors or 24-bit or higher.

4. Remove colorful background patterns on your monitor desktop, and set your desktop to display neutral grays. Busy patterns or bright colors
surrounding a document interfere with accurate color perception.

5. Calibrate and profile your monitor using third-party software and measuring devices. In general, using a measuring device such as a
colorimeter along with software can create more accurate profiles because an instrument can measure the colors displayed on a monitor far
more accurately than the human eye.

Note:

Monitor performance changes and declines over time; recalibrate and profile your monitor every month or so. If you find it difficult or

impossible to calibrate your monitor to a standard, it may be too old and faded.

Most profiling software automatically assigns the new profile as the default monitor profile. For instructions on how to manually assign the monitor
profile, refer to your operating system’s Help.

Install a color profile

To the top

To the top

Color profiles are often installed when a device is added to your system. The accuracy of these profiles (often called generic profiles or canned

profiles) varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. You can also obtain profiles from a custom profile service, download profiles from the web, or

32

create custom profiles using professional profiling equipment.

In Windows, right-click a profile and select Install Profile. Alternatively, copy the profiles into the WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\color
folder.

In Mac OS, copy profiles into the /Library/ColorSync/Profiles folder or the /Users/[username]/Library/ColorSync/Profiles folder.

Tip: By default on Mac OS 10.7 (Lion), the user Library folder is hidden. If you don’t see it in the Finder, press Option and click the Go menu.
Then, choose Library. See Access hidden user library files | Mac OS 10.7 Lion.

Note: After installing color profiles, restart Adobe applications.

Adobe also recommends

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

Importing photos

33

File import formats and settings

34

Set import and file-handling preferences
Supported file formats

Set import and file-handling preferences

You set import preferences in the General and File Handling panels of the Preferences dialog box. You can also change preferences in the Auto
Import Settings dialog box (see Specify Auto Import settings) and in the Catalog Settings dialog box (see Change catalog settings).

1. From the Lightroom main menu, choose Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Lightroom > Preferences (Mac OS).

2. In the General preferences, specify the following import options:

Show Import Dialog When A Memory Card Is Detected

memory card reader to your computer.

Ignore Camera- Generated Folder Names When Naming Folders

Treat JPEG Files Next To Raw Files As Separate Photos

Selecting this option imports the JPEG as a standalone photo. If selected, both the raw and the JPEG files are visible and can be edited in
Lightroom. If deselected, Lightroom treats the duplicate JPEG as a sidecar file, and the raw file appears with the raw file extension and +jpg.

3. In File Handling panel, specify the following options:

Import DNG Creation

size for imported DNG files. For more information on DNG files and DNG creation options, see Convert photos to DNG.

Reading Metadata

hierarchies.

File Name Generation

replaced.

Choose the type of file extension (upper-case or lower -case), Camera Raw version compatibility, and JPEG preview

Select the options to recognize a period ( . ) or forward slash ( / ) between keywords as designating keyword

Specify which characters and spaces in the filenames of imported photos are illegal, and determine how they’re

Allows the import dialog box to open automatically after connecting a camera or

Tells Lightroom to not use the folder names that your camera creates.

For photographers who capture raw + JPEG photos on their cameras.

To the top

Supported file formats

Lightroom supports the following image file formats:

Camera raw formats

Camera raw file formats contain unprocessed data from a digital camera’s sensor. Most camera manufacturers save image data in a proprietary
camera format. Lightroom reads the data from most cameras and processes it into a full-color photo. You use the controls in the Develop module
to process and interpret the raw image data for your photo.

For a list of supported cameras and camera raw formats, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_ps_cameraraw.

If you have trouble opening camera raw files in Lightroom, see Why doesn't my version of Photoshop or Lightroom support my camera?

Digital Negative format (DNG)

The Digital Negative (DNG) is a publicly available archival format for raw files generated by digital cameras. DNG addresses the lack of an open
standard for the raw files created by individual camera models, helping ensure that photographers will be able to access their files in the future.
You can convert proprietary raw files to DNG from within Lightroom. For more information about the Digital Negative (DNG) file format, visit

www.adobe.com/dng. You’ll find comprehensive information and a link to a user forum. Lightroom can import 32-bit DNG images.

TIFF format

Tagged-Image File Format (TIFF, TIF) is used to exchange files between applications and computer platforms. TIFF is a flexible bitmap image
format supported by virtually all paint, image-editing, and page-layout applications. Also, virtually all desktop scanners can produce TIFF images.
Lightroom supports large documents saved in TIFF format (up to 65,000 pixels per side). However, most other applications, including older
versions of Photoshop (pre -Photoshop CS), do not support documents with file sizes greater than 2 GB. Lightroom can import 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32­bit TIFF images.

The TIFF format provides greater compression and industry compatibility than Photoshop format (PSD), and is the recommended format for
exchanging files between Lightroom and Photoshop. In Lightroom, you can export TIFF image files with a bit depth of 8 bits or 16 bits per channel.

To the top

JPEG format

Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) format is commonly used to display photographs and other continuous-tone images in web photo

35

galleries, slide shows, presentations, and other online services. JPEG retains all color information in an RGB image but compresses file size by
selectively discarding data. A JPEG image is automatically decompressed when opened. In most cases, the Best Quality setting produces a result
indistinguishable from the original.

Photoshop format (PSD)

Photoshop format (PSD) is the standard Photoshop file format. To import and work with a multi-layered PSD file in Lightroom, the file must be
saved in Photoshop with the Maximize PSD and PSB File Compatibility preference turned on. You’ll find the option in the Photoshop file handling
preferences. Lightroom imports and saves PSD files with a bit depth of 8 bits or 16 bits per channel. To work with 32 -bit images in Lightroom, save
your file as TIFF.

CMYK files

Lightroom imports CMYK files but adjustments and output are performed in the RGB color space.

Video files

Lightroom imports AVI, MOV, MP4, and other digital video files from digital still cameras. For more information, see Work with video in Lightroom.

File format exceptions

Lightroom does not support the following types of files: PNG; Adobe Illustrator®; Nikon scanner NEF; files with dimensions greater than 65,000
pixels per side or larger than 512 megapixels.

To import photos from a scanner, use your scanner’s software to scan to TIFF or DNG format, and then import those files into Lightroom.

Note:

Adobe also recommends

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

Import photos from various sources

36

Import photos from a tethered camera
Import photos from Photoshop Elements
Import photos from a different Lightroom catalog
Import photos automatically

Import photos from a tethered camera

When selected Canon, Nikon, or Leica digital cameras are connected to the computer, you can import photos directly into a Lightroom catalog.
You can bypass the camera’s capture software and camera card.

Note:

For a list of cameras that can be tethered to Lightroom 4, see Tethered camera support | Lightroom 3, 4. If you’re having problems with

tethered import, see Troubleshoot tethered capture | Lightroom 3, 4.

To the top

Configure tethered capture settings

1. Choose File > Tethered Capture > Start Tethered Capture.

2. In the Tethered Capture Settings dialog box, specify how you want to import the photos:

Session

the session. You can name the subfolders after clicking OK.

Naming

convention that uses a numerical sequence, specify the Start Number. See Naming options and The Filename Template Editor and Text
Template Editor.

Destination

Information

3. Click OK to start the capture settings.

The session is the name of the folder that stores the captured photos. Select Segment Photos By Shots to create subfolders within

Choose a filenaming convention for the photos. Session Name - Sequence uses the name entered in Session. For any naming

Choose a location for the session folder.

Add metadata and keywords to the imported photos, if desired. See Apply metadata to photos when importing.

Capture photos from a tethered camera

The tethered capture window reads the shutter speed, aperture, ISO, and white balance from the camera’s settings. By default, Lightroom selects
and displays the most recently captured photo.

Choose a camera from the camera name pop-up menu.
Choose a preset to apply on import from the Develop Settings pop-up menu. See Apply Develop settings to photos when importing.
Click the Settings button in the lower-right corner of the window to edit capture settings.
Press Ctrl+T (Windows) or Command+T (Mac OS) to show/hide the tethered capture window.
If you are segmenting photos by shots, press Ctrl+Shift+T (Windows) or Command+Shift+T (Mac OS) to create a new shot.
Click the shutter release button in the tethered capture window to capture a photo. Or, press the camera’s shutter release button.
Choose File > Tethered Capture and deselect Auto Advance Selection if you do not want Lightroom to automatically select the most recently

captured photo.
Close the tethered capture window or choose File > Tethered Capture > Stop Tethered Capture to end the session.

To learn more about using tethered capture in Lightroom 3 and Lightroom 4, see these tutorials:

Import photos from a tethered camera, by Scott Kelby (video)
Integrated tethered shooting, from Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Classroom in a Book
Tethered shooting in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3, by Martin Evening
New feature: Tethered shooting, by Brian Reyman for Lightroom Secrets
Shooting tethered in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3, from the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Book for Digital Photographers, by Scott Kelby.

Import photos from Photoshop Elements

To the top

Lightroom detects if your computer has a Photoshop Elements catalog and can import photos and data from the PSE catalog into a new Lightroom

catalog. Lightroom imports photos and data from Photoshop Elements 6 through Elements 10 on Windows. Lightroom imports photos and data

37

from Photoshop Elements 9 and 10 on Mac OS.
See Going from Photoshop Elements to Lightroom on Adobe TV for tutorials on transitioning from PSE to Lightroom and understanding the

differences between the applications.

1. In the Library module, choose File > Upgrade Photoshop Elements Catalog.
The Upgrade Photoshop Elements Catalog dialog box displays the most recently opened Photoshop Elements catalog.

2. To choose a different PSE catalog, click the Photoshop Elements drop-down menu.

3. To change the destination of the new Lightroom catalog, click Change and navigate to a different folder.

4. Click Upgrade to import the PSE catalog into a new Lightroom catalog.

Import photos from a different Lightroom catalog

When you import photos from a different Lightroom catalog into the current catalog, you can specify options to handle new photos and photos that
already appear in the current catalog.

Note:

Catalogs from earlier versions of Lightroom, including Lightroom 4 Beta, must be opened and updated in Lightroom 4 before they can be

imported into another catalog. See Upgrade a catalog.

1. Choose File > Import From Another Catalog.

2. Navigate to the catalog you want to import and click Open (Windows) or Choose (Mac OS).

3. Specify the photos to import:

Under Catalog Contents, make sure the folders containing the photos to import are selected.
To select or deselect individual photos, click Show Preview, and click the box in the upper-left corner of any preview image. You can

also choose Check All or Uncheck All.

4. In the New Photos area, choose an option from the File Handling menu:

Add New Photos To Catalog Without Moving

Copy New Photos To A New Location And Import

Don’t Import New Photos

in the catalog) if it has the same, original filename; the same EXIF capture date and time; and the same file size.

5. In the Existing Photos area, do any of the following:

Replace metadata, Develop settings, and negative files to override all the settings in the current catalog. If you choose this option, you
can select the Preserve Old Settings As A Virtual Copy option to keep a backup. You can also select the Replace Non-Raw Files Only
option to avoid replacing raw negatives. If changes to raw negative files affect only metadata, selecting this option helps save time.

Replace metadata and Develop settings only to leave the negative files (the source photos) unchanged. If you choose this option, you
can select the Preserve Old Settings As A Virtual Copy option to keep a backup.

Replace nothing to import only new photos.
If photos in the current catalog are missing and can be found in the imported catalog, indicate whether you want to update the metadata

and Develop settings for this file. Select the Preserve Old Settings As A Virtual Copy option to keep a backup. If the photos missing in
the current catalog appear in the imported catalog, specify whether the missing files are copied and where they copied to.

6. Click Import.

Only photos that exist in the current catalog are imported. Lightroom determines a photo is a duplicate (already

Imports photos at their current location.

Imports photos to a new location. Click Choose and specify the folder.

To the top

Import photos automatically

The Auto Import feature automatically imports photos into a Lightroom catalog by monitoring a watched folder for photos and then importing them
into a destination folder in the catalog. After you specify auto- import settings, you can simply drag photos into the watched folder, and Lightroom
imports them automatically, allowing you to bypass the import window.

Auto Import is useful if Lightroom doesn’t support your camera for tethered import: You can use third-party software to download photos from your
camera to a watched folder.

If Lightroom starts automatically when you attach a camera or card reader to your computer and you want to turn off this functionality, change
your import preferences. See Set import and file-handling preferences.

To the top

Enable automatically importing photos

Choose File > Auto Import > Enable Auto Import.

Specify Auto Import settings

38

1. Choose File > Auto Import > Auto Import Settings.

2. In the Auto Import Settings dialog box, specify any of the following:

Watched Folder

empty. Auto Import does not monitor subfolders in a watched folder.

Chooses or creates the watched folder where Lightroom detects photos to auto import. The folder you specify must be

Destination

File Naming

Information

3. Select Standard from the Initial Previews menu to have Lightroom render previews of the imported photos rather than only using the
embedded previews in the photo files. See Specify initial previews when importing.

Chooses or creates a folder where the auto -imported photos are moved into.

Names the auto-imported photo. See Naming options.

Applies Develop settings, metadata, or keywords to auto-imported photos.

Set up watched folders

1. In the Auto Import Settings dialog box, click the Choose button next to Watched Folder.

2. Navigate to the location you want and do any of the following:

To create a watched folder, click Make New Folder and then overwrite New Folder to give the folder a name (Windows), or click New
Folder (Mac OS), give the folder a name, and click Create.

To select an existing watched folder, select the folder.

You cannot choose an existing folder that contains photos as a watched folder.

Note:

3. Click OK (Windows) or Choose (Mac OS).

Select a destination folder for auto-imported photos

When Lightroom detects photos added to a watched folder, the photos are moved into a destination folder and automatically imported into the
library.

1. In the Destination area of the Auto Import Settings dialog box, click the Choose button beside Move To.

2. In the Browse For Folders (Windows) or Open (Mac OS) dialog box, navigate to the location you want, and do any of the following:

To create a destination folder, click Make New Folder and then overwrite New Folder to give the folder a name (Windows), or click New
Folder, give the folder a name, and click Create (Mac OS).

To select an existing destination folder, select the folder.

3. Click OK (Windows) or Choose (Mac OS).

4. (Optional) Type a name for the destination folder in the Subfolder Name text box.

Apply Develop settings and metadata to auto-imported photos

In the Information area of the Auto Import Settings dialog box, do any of the following:

To apply Develop settings to auto-imported photos, choose a preset from the Develop Settings menu. See Create and apply Develop
presets.

To apply metadata to auto-imported photos, choose a preset from the Metadata menu. See Create a metadata preset.
To apply keywords to auto-imported photos, type in the Keywords text box. Use commas to separate the keywords.
To have Lightroom render previews of the imported photos rather than only using the embedded previews in the photo files, choose

Initial Previews > Standard.

Adobe also recommends

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

Import photos and video into a catalog

39

Set preview cache

The Lightroom import window
A. Preview area B. Source panel C. Toggle Minimal import D. Options and Destination panels

When you import photos and video into Lightroom, you work from left to right the import window. First, on the left, identify what photos you want to
import (the source photos). Then, in the middle of the window, choose how you want to import them into the catalog (add, move, or copy them).
Finally, on the right, specify where you want the files to be stored (the destination folder) and other options for the imported files.

When importing for the first time, it helps to think through how you want to organize your photos and where you plan to store them before you
import. This can help minimize the need to move photos later and possibly lose track of them in your catalog.

1. In the Library module, do one of the following:

Click the Import button.
From the main menu, choose File > Import Photos And Video.
Drag a folder with files or drag individual files into the Grid view.

2. Click Select A Source or From in the upper-left corner of the import window, or use the Source panel on the left side of the import window to
navigate to the files you want to import.

Note:

You can import files from a networked drive. Connected networks appear in the Source panel. To add a network location, click From
or Select A Source, choose Other Source, and navigate to the networked folder. On Windows, click the Plus button to the right of the Source
panel name and choose Add Network Volume.

3. In the top center of the import window, specify how you want to add the photos to the catalog:

Copy As DNG

Copy

Copies the photo files to the folder you choose, including any sidecar files.

Move

Moves the photo files to the folder you choose, including any sidecar files. Files are removed from their current location.

Add

Keeps the photo files in their current location.

Note:

The Move and Add options are not available when importing from a camera card.

4. Select the photos that you want to import from the preview area in the center of the import window. A check mark in the upper-left corner of
the thumbnail indicates that the photo is selected for import.

Copies camera raw files to the folder you choose and converts them to the Digital Negative (DNG) format.

To filter photos in the preview, select one of the following:

New Photos

Excludes suspected duplicates and previously imported photos.

40

Destination Folders

(Available only when copying or moving photos into a catalog) Groups photos by their destination folder.

Select All Photos

Removes all filters.

Click the Loupe View button in the toolbar to zoom in to a single photo.
Click Check All or Uncheck All in the toolbar to globally select or deselect all photos in the folder.
Click the Sort pop-up menu in the toolbar to sort photos by Capture Time, Checked State, File Name, or Media Type (image or video

file).
Drag the Thumbnails slider to adjust the size of the thumbnails in the grid.
To select or deselect specific photos in a folder, click the box in the upper-left corner of the previews. Or, Alt-click (Windows) or Option -

click (Mac OS) anywhere on the thumbnail to select and deselect photos.

5. If you are importing photos by moving or copying them, specify where to put them: In the upper -right corner of the window, click To and
choose a location for the photos. Specify further options in the Destination panel:

The Destination panel shows a preview of the folder(s) where you are putting the images. Use the preview to help ensure that you are
importing the photos to your intended location.

Into Subfolder

Organize

Copies or moves the imported photos into a new folder. Type the name of the new folder in the text field.

Organize the photos in the new subfolder in one of three ways: preserve the original folder hierarchy of the source folder; create

subfolders by date; or put all photos into one folder.

Date Format

Choose a format for the dates.

6. Specify other options for the imported files using the panels on the right side of the window. See Specify import options.

7. Click Import.

Set preview cache

To the top

Lightroom renders three types of previews: thumbnails, screen resolution images, and 1:1 previews. 1:1 previews have the same pixel dimensions
as the original photos and display sharpening and noise reduction. All previews are stored in the folder where your catalog is located.

1. Choose Edit > Catalog Settings (Windows) or Lightroom > Catalog Settings (Mac OS), and then select File Handling.

2. Choose from the following menus:

Standard Preview Size

Specifies the maximum pixel dimension for the rendered preview. Choose the size that accommodates the display
you’re working with: select a standard preview size that is equal to or larger than the longest edge of your screen resolution. For example, if
your screen resolution is 1920 x 1200 pixels, choose Standard Preview Size > 2048 Pixels. If your screen resolution exceeds 2048 pixels,
Lightroom generates a 1:1 preview instead.

Preview Quality

Specifies the appearance of the previews. Low, Medium, and High are similar to the upper range of the quality scale for

JPEG files.

Automatically Discard 1:1 Previews

Specifies when 1:1 previews are discarded based on the most recent access to the preview. 1:1

previews are rendered as needed and can make the catalog preview file large.

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

Photo and video import options

41

Specify import options
Naming options
Import using presets
Import photos using fewer options

Specify import options

After you choose the photos you want to import (see Import photos and video into a catalog), use the File Handling, File Renaming, and Apply
During Import panels on the right side of the import window to specify options for the photos you are bringing into your Lightroom catalog.

To the top

Back up photos during import

If you’re copying or moving photos into the catalog, you can create a one-time copy, or backup, of the original photo files. In the File
Handling panel on the right side of the import window, select Make A Second Copy To and specify a location.

You still need to regularly back up your photos and catalog. For more detailed information on backing up Lightroom, see Backing up

Note:

the catalog.

Specify duplicate file handling when importing

Lightroom determines a photo is a duplicate of another file in the catalog if it has the same, original filename; the same EXIF capture date and
time; and the same file size. You can instruct Lightroom to disregard duplicate files when importing.

In the File Handling panel on the right side of the import window, select Don’t Import Suspected Duplicates.

Specify initial previews when importing

As photos are imported, Lightroom can immediately display a photo’s embedded preview, or display higher-quality previews as the program
renders them. Embedded previews are created by cameras and are not color managed, so embedded previews don’t match how Lightroom
interprets the camera raw files. Previews rendered by Lightroom take longer to generate but are color managed.

In the File Handling panel on the right side of the import window, choose an option from the Render Previews menu:

Minimal

needed.

Immediately display images using the smallest previews embedded in the photos. Lightroom renders standard- size previews when

Embedded & Sidecar

but is still faster than rendering a standard-size preview.

Standard

the Fit zoom level of the Loupe view. Specify the Standard preview size in the Catalog Settings dialog box. See Set preview cache.

1:1

Display previews as Lightroom renders them. Standard -size previews use the Adobe RGB color space and are what you see in

Display previews that are a 100% view of actual pixels.

Display the largest possible preview available from the camera. This option may take longer than a Minimal preview

Rename photos when importing

When copying or moving photos into the catalog during import, you can specify how the files are named.

1. In the File Renaming panel on the right side of the import window, select Rename Files.

2. If you choose a naming option that uses a custom name, type the name in the Custom Text field.

3. If you don’t want a numeric sequence to start with “1,” enter a value in the Start Number field.

Note:

For more information on custom names, see Naming options.

Apply Develop settings to photos when importing

Any Develop settings preset can be applied to photos as they are imported. This is especially useful for applying Develop settings to photos from
a camera for which you created a Develop preset.

In the Apply During Import panel on the right side of the import window, choose a setting from the Develop Settings menu.

For more information, see Create and apply Develop presets.

Note:

Apply metadata to photos when importing

In the Apply During Import panel on the right side of the import window, choose any of the following options from the Metadata menu:

42

To not apply metadata to photos during import, choose None.
To apply a set of metadata that you saved as a template, choose a metadata preset from the menu.
To apply a new set of metadata to photos while importing, choose New and enter the information in the New Metadata Preset dialog box.
To add keyword metadata to photos while importing, type the keywords in the Keywords text box. Use commas to separate the

keywords.

When adding metadata to photos, Lightroom doesn’t apply the data to proprietary camera raw files but to their sidecar XMP files.

Note:

Naming options

Lightroom uses the same naming options for importing, renaming, and exporting photos.

Custom Name (x of y)

imported. For example, 1 of 10, 2 of 10, 3 of 10, and so on.

Custom Name - Original File Number

filenames.

Custom Name - Sequence
Custom Name
Date - Filename
Filename - Sequence

specify.

Filename
Shoot Name - Original File Number

original filenames.

Shoot Name - Sequence

you specify.

Session Name - Sequence

the number you specify.

Names the photos using a name you specify.

Names the photos using the photos’ original filenames.

Names the photos using a custom name, followed by sequential numbers in relation to the total number of photos being

Names the photos using a custom name, followed by the numeric portion of the photos’ original

Names the photos using a custom name, followed by sequential numbers starting with the number you specify.

Names the photos using the creation (capture) date, followed by the photos’ complete original filenames.

Names the photos using the photos’ original filenames, followed by sequential numbers starting with the number you

(Import) Names the imported photos using the shoot name, followed by the numeric portion of the photos’

(Import) Names the imported photos using the shoot name, followed by sequential numbers starting with the number

(Tethered capture import) Names the photos using the session name, followed by sequential numbers starting with

To the top

Edit

Names the photos using the options you set in the Filename Template Editor. See The Filename Template Editor and Text Template Editor.

Import using presets

If you have certain configurations of import options that you reuse frequently, you can save them as presets to speed the import process.

To create an import preset, specify import options and then chose Import Preset > Save Current Settings As New Preset at the bottom of the
import window.

To apply an import preset, select it from the Import Preset menu at the bottom of the import window, and click Import.
To delete, update, or rename an import preset, select it in the Import Preset menu and then choose the appropriate command in the Import

Preset menu.

Import photos using fewer options

You can import folders of photos using a simplified import window that offers quick access to key import options, including presets. The minimal
import window does not display thumbnail previews.

1. Click the Show Fewer Options button

2. Click Select A Source on the left side of the window to choose the path for the photos you want to import.

3. In the middle of the import window, specify whether you want to Copy As DNG, Copy, Move, or Add the photos to the catalog.

4. Click To on the right side of the window and specify a destination.

5. (Optional) Apply a metadata preset, add keywords, and destination subfolder options.

in the lower -left corner of the import window.

To the top

To the top

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

The Filename Template Editor and Text Template Editor

43

Open the Filename Template Editor and choose presets
Open the Text Template Editor and choose presets
Create and save filename and text template presets
Rename filename and text template presets
Delete filename and text template presets

The Filename Template Editor and the Text Template Editor let you specify text strings for different uses. Using the Filename Template Editor, you
can use the text strings to name files as they’re being imported or exported. Using the Text Template Editor, you can use text strings to add
captions to photos in a slide show, add text overlays to photos being printed, and add titles and other text to web gallery pages.

A token is a text string that is replaced by the corresponding option you set. In the Filename Template Editor and the Text Template Editor, tokens
specify the content data that replaces the text string. Tokens save you the effort of manually typing content data and lets you leverage the data
already in the photo files.

The Filename Template Editor and the Text Template Editor include the following elements:

Preset

Chooses, saves, deletes, or renames presets.

Image Name

Specifies a text string option using the filename or folder name.

Numbering

Specifies three types of numbering: Import, which is a sequential number for each import operation; Image, which sequentially numbers each photo
that has been imported into the catalog; and Sequence, which numbers each photo in sequence, letting you choose a new Start Number each
time you import. (This element is not available in the Filename Template Editor when exporting photos.) Specify the starting Import and Image
numbers in the File Handling tab of the Catalog Settings dialog box. See Change catalog settings.

Additional

Specifies a text string option using the creation (capture) date and time, or Exchangeable Image Format (Exif) data. (This element is only available
in the Filename Template Editor when importing or auto-importing photos.)

Sequence And Date

Specifies a text string option using sequential numbers and creation (capture) date and time. (This element is only available in the Filename
Template Editor when exporting photos.)

Metadata

Specifies a text string option using IPTC or Exif metadata. (This element is only available in the Filename Template Editor when exporting photos.)

Exif Data

Specifies a text string option using Exif data. (This element is only available in the Text Template Editor, when creating slide shows, printing
photos, or creating web photo galleries.)

IPTC Data

Specifies a text string option using IPTC metadata. (This element is only available in the Text Template Editor, when creating slide shows, printing
photos, or creating web photo galleries.)

Custom

Uses the options you specify for the text string.

Open the Filename Template Editor and choose presets

1. Do any of the following to open the Filename Template Editor:
In the File Renaming panel on the right side of the import window, choose Edit from the Template menu when importing photos by

copying or moving files. See Rename photos when importing.
Choose File > Auto Import > Auto Import Settings, and then choose Edit from the File Naming menu in the Auto Import Settings dialog

box. See Specify Auto Import settings.
Choose File > Export, and then choose Edit from the Template menu in the File Naming area of the Export dialog box.

To the top

Choose Library > Rename Photo, and then choose Edit from the Template menu in the File Naming area of the Rename dialog box.

2. Choose a preset from the Preset menu.

44

Open the Text Template Editor and choose presets

1. Do any of the following to open the Text Template Editor:
In the Slideshow module, add text to the slide layout. Make sure that the text is selected in the work area, and then choose Edit from the

Custom Text menu in the toolbar. See Add text and metadata to slides.
In the Page panel of the Print module, select Photo Info, then choose Edit from the Custom Settings pop-up menu. See Print filename,

caption, and other information (Single Image/Contact Sheet layouts).
In the Web module, select Title or Caption in the Image Info panel, then choose Edit from the Title or Caption pop-up menu. See Add

titles, description, and contact information to web photo galleries.

2. Choose a preset from the Preset menu.

Create and save filename and text template presets

1. In the Filename Template Editor dialog box or the Text Template Editor dialog box, choose an option and then click Insert for as many

categories as you want. This action creates the text string.
For example, choose Filename from the Image Name menu and then click Insert. A token is added to the Example window just below the

Preset menu. Add one or as many tokens as you want.

2. To change a token, move your pointer over the token displayed in the Example window. Click the triangle to see more options, and then

choose an option from the pop-up menu.

3. To delete tokens, select one or more tokens in the window and then press the Delete key.

If you don’t want to save your token settings as a preset and want to use them immediately, skip the next step and click Done.

4. (Optional) To save your settings for reuse, choose Save Current Settings As New Preset from the Preset menu. In the New Preset dialog

box, type a name in the Preset Name field and click Create.

To the top

To the top

Rename filename and text template presets

1. In the Filename Template Editor or Text Template Editor, choose a preset from the Preset menu.

2. Choose Rename Preset from the Preset menu.

Delete filename and text template presets

1. In the Filename Template Editor or Text Template Editor, choose a preset from the Preset menu.

2. Choose Delete Preset from the Preset menu.

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

To the top

To the top

Viewing photos

45

View photos

46

Filmstrip
Loupe view
Grid view
Switching between Grid, Loupe, Compare, and Survey views

Filmstrip

To the top

About the Filmstrip

The Filmstrip displays the photos you are working on as you move between modules. It contains photos from the currently selected Library folder,
collection, or keyword set. Move between photos in the Filmstrip using the Left and Right Arrow keys or by choosing a different source from the
Filmstrip Source Indicator pop-up menu to the right of the navigation buttons.

Lightroom Filmstrip

A. Show/Hide Second Window button B. Go to Grid view C. Go Back and Go Forward buttons (to navigate modules) D. Filmstrip Source Indicator
and menu E. Source filter F. Show/Hide Filmstrip control

Hide or show the Filmstrip

Click the Show/Hide Filmstrip icon at the bottom of the Filmstrip.
Choose Window > Panels > Show/Hide Filmstrip.

Change the photos displayed in the Filmstrip

Choose an item in a panel on the left side of the Library module, or select criteria from the Library Filter bar, Keyword List panel, or Metadata
panel to choose photos.

Click the Source Indicator in the Filmstrip, and choose a new source from the pop -up menu. You can choose All Photographs, Quick
Collection, Previous Import, or a previously viewed source. Previously viewed Filmstrip sources are listed, unless you choose Clear Recent
Sources.

After you choose a source or sources, the Grid view also displays the photos that are displayed in the Filmstrip. If you select multiple folders or
collections, Multiple Sources appears in the Source Indicator.

If the Grid view does not display all photos when multiple sources are selected, choose Filters Off from the Library Filter bar.

Change the size of Filmstrip thumbnails

Place the pointer over the top edge of the Filmstrip. When the pointer changes to a double arrow , drag the Filmstrip edge up or down.
Double-click the top edge of the Filmstrip to switch between the last two sizes of thumbnails.

Scroll through photos in the Filmstrip

Drag the scroll bar at the bottom of the Filmstrip, click the arrows on the sides, or drag the top edge of a thumbnail frame.
Press the Left and Right Arrow keys to navigate through thumbnails in the Filmstrip.

Show ratings and picks in Filmstrip thumbnails

Choose Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Lightroom > Preferences (Mac OS), and click the Interface tab. In the Filmstrip area, select Show
Ratings And Picks.

Rearrange thumbnails in the Filmstrip and Grid view

Select a collection or a folder that does not contain any subfolders, and then drag a thumbnail to a new location.

Loupe view

47

To the top

Zoom an image

You can use the Navigator panel in the Library module or the Develop module to set the level of magnification for an image in Loupe view.
Lightroom saves the last level you used and lets you switch between that level and the current level when you click the photo with the pointer. You
can also toggle between four levels using the Zoom In and Zoom Out commands.

The settings remain in effect until you select a different zoom level in the Navigator panel or choose a new command from the View menu.

Note:

When two images are in Compare view in the Library module, setting a zoom level in the Navigator panel or choosing a zoom command

automatically displays the selected image in Loupe view.

Set the zoom levels for the pointer

1. In the Navigator panel, select either Fit or Fill for the first zoom level.

2. For the second zoom level, select either 1:1 (a 100% view of actual pixels) or choose an option from the pop -up menu.

Note:

Zoom levels for the pointer are also available in the secondary window.

Switch between zoom levels

To switch between the two zoom levels set in the Navigator panel, click the photo with the pointer or press the spacebar. The pointer
changes to the Zoom tool whenever it is possible to zoom in. You can also click the photo to switch between zoom levels in the secondary
window.

To switch between four zoom levels, press Ctrl-+ or - (Windows) or Command- + or - (Mac OS). If you choose a Zoom command from the
View menu, the level switches between the four settings in the Navigator panel (Fit, Fill, 1:1, and the option chosen from the menu).

To zoom the photo to the center of the screen, select Zoom Clicked Point To Center in the Interface Preferences.

Pan the image

When the photo is zoomed and parts are not visible, use the Hand tool on the photo or the pointer on the Navigator panel to move hidden areas
into view. The Navigator panel always displays the entire image with a frame overlay to represent the edges of the main view.

Note:

Panning is synchronized in the Before and After views in the Develop module.

Drag the Hand tool in the Loupe view to move the image. You can also pan with the Hand tool in the Loupe view in the secondary window.
Drag the pointer in the Navigator panel to move the image in Loupe view.
Click the pointer in the Navigator panel to move the image to that location in Loupe view.

Temporarily zoom in to pan the image

Press and hold the space bar to temporarily zoom in.
Press and hold the mouse button down to zoom in, and then drag in either the photo or the Navigator to pan the photo.

Display the Info Overlay on a photo

You can display information about a photo in Loupe view in the Library; in Loupe view or Before and After views in the Develop module; and in
Loupe view in the secondary window. You can display two sets of metadata and customize which information appears in each set.

Choose View > Loupe Info > Show Info Overlay, or choose the specific info set to display. Or, press the I key to display, hide, and cycle
through the info sets.

Change the info displayed in the Info Overlay

1. In the Library or Develop module, choose View > View Options.

2. If working in the Library, make sure the Loupe View is selected.

3. In the Loupe Info fields, choose the options you want to display for each set from the menus.

Grid view

To the top

Show photos in the Grid view and the Filmstrip

Lightroom provides many ways to show specific photos in the Grid view and the Filmstrip. The method you use depends on which photos you want
to see. The Catalog panel lets you instantly display all photos in the catalog or the Quick Collection, as well as the most recently imported photos.

Note:

You can also show photos in the Grid view and the Filmstrip by selecting folders, collections, keywords, or by searching for photos. You can

refine a selection by using the options in the Library Filter bar.

In the Catalog panel, select any of the following:

48

All Photographs

Shows all the photos in the catalog.

Quick Collection

Collection.

Previous Import

Other categories, such as Previous Export As Catalog, may also appear in the Catalog panel.

Shows photos in the Quick Collection. To learn about grouping photos in the Quick Collection, see Work with the Quick

Shows photos from the most recent import.

Navigate between photos

In the Library module, you navigate between images by selecting the previous or next photo.

In any view of the Library module, do one of the following:

To select the previous photo, press the Left Arrow key, click the Select Previous Photo icon in the toolbar, or choose Library >
Previous Selected Photo.

To select the next photo, press the Right Arrow key, click the Select Next Photo icon in the toolbar, or choose Library > Next Selected
Photo.

note: Make sure Navigate is chosen from the toolbar menu for the Select Previous Image and Select Next Image icons to appear.

Rearrange photos in the Grid view

In the Grid view, do any of the following to rearrange photos in the grid:

Click the Sort Direction icon in the toolbar.
Choose a sort option from the Sort pop-up menu in the toolbar.
If you have selected a regular collection or the lowest folder in a folder hierarchy, drag from the center of a thumbnail to sort in any order.

If you have selected a smart collection or a folder that contains other folders, User Order is not available in the Sort pop-up menu, and

Note:

you cannot drag to sort photos in any order.

View raw+JPEG photos

Some cameras capture raw and JPEG versions of photos. In order to view and work with the JPEG version of the photo, you must instruct
Lightroom to import and recognize the JPEG version as a standalone file. See Set import and file -handling preferences.

Change the thumbnail size in the Grid view

1. In the Grid view, choose Thumbnail Size from the toolbar menu.

The Thumbnails control is not available unless this option is selected.

2. Drag the Thumbnails slider.

Switching between Grid, Loupe, Compare, and Survey views

In the Library module, you can view thumbnails in the Grid view, a single photo in Loupe view, two photos in Compare view, or two or more photos
in Survey view.

In the Library module, do any of the following:

Click the Grid View , Loupe View , Compare View , or Survey View icon in the toolbar.
Choose View > Grid, Loupe, Compare, or Survey.
Choose View and then choose either Toggle Loupe View or Toggle Zoom View to toggle between the chosen view and the previous

view.
With one or more photos selected in the Grid view, choose Photo > Open In Loupe to switch to the Loupe view. If more than one photo is

selected, the active photo opens in the Loupe view. Use the Right and Left Arrow keys to cycle between selected photos in the Loupe
view.

To the top

For more information on comparing photos in Lightroom 3 and Lightroom 4, see Comparing similar photos , from Adobe Digital Imaging How-Tos.

Adobe also recommends

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

49

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

Browse and compare photos

50

Filter photos in the Filmstrip and Grid view
Selecting photos in the Grid view and the Filmstrip
Comparing photos in the Library module

Filter photos in the Filmstrip and Grid view

You can restrict, or filter, the photos displayed in the Filmstrip and the Grid view to photos with a specific flag status, star rating, color label, or kind
of file (master photo, vitual copy, video).

To the top

Apply filters

To filter the photos displayed in the Filmstrip and Grid view, do one of the following:

Choose File > Library Filters > Filter By [criteria].
Press \ to open the Library Filter bar at the top of the Library module. Select Attribute and then select icons to filter the display.
In the Filmstrip, click Filter, and then select icons to filter the display.

Set filters for the photos displayed in the Filmstrip and the Grid view.

A. Displays photos flagged as Picks or Rejects, or unflagged B. Displays photos with a specific star rating, or those higher or lower C.
Displays photos with one or more color labels

Learn More. George Jardine discusses how to organize photos and find them fast using the Filter Bar.

Control filter behavior for a folder or collection

By default, filter behavior is not sticky. If you apply a filter to a folder or collection and then navigate away from that folder or collection, the filter is
cleared when you return to the original location.

To control filters for a selected a folder or a collection, choose File > Library Filters and any of the following:
Enable Filters:
Turns on the last-used filters that were applied to the folder or collection.
Lock Filters:
Applies the current filters to subsequently selected folders or collections.
Remember Each Source’s Filters Separately:
Available when filters are locked. Applies the last-used filters for the selected folder or collection.
To make filters “stick” so that they are active when you return to a previously filtered folder or collection, choose File > Library Filters > Lock

Filters and then File > Library Filters > Remember Filters.

Selecting photos in the Grid view and the Filmstrip

You select photos in the Grid view that you want to work with in the Library or other modules. The photos you select are reflected in the Filmstrip.
Likewise, the specific photos selected in the Filmstrip are displayed in the Grid view.

When you select a photo, it becomes the active photo. You can select multiple photos, but only one photo at a time is the active photo. Selected
photos are indicated in the grid and the Filmstrip by a thin white border and a cell color that is lighter than unselected photos. The lightest colored
cell indicates the active photo.

When you have several photos selected, you can click any selected photo to make it active without deselecting the other photos. If you click a
photo outside the selection, it becomes the active photo, and all other photos are deselected.

When you have more than one photo selected in the Grid view and you make changes such as applying ratings, labels, or adding metadata, those
changes are applied to all of the selected photos.

To the top

When you have more than one photo selected in the Filmstrip and you’re in Loupe, Compare, or Survey view, changes such as applying ratings,

labels, or adding metadata are applied only to the active photo.

51

When multiple photos are selected, the lightest colored cell indicates the active photo.

You can also select or deselect flagged photos in the Grid view and the Filmstrip. See Select flagged photos.

Note:

1. (Optional) In the Library module, select items in the Catalog, Folders, or Collections panel to display the photos you want to use. If desired,

specify criteria in the Library Filter bar to narrow the selection.

You can also select photos using the Keyword List and Metadata panels. Click the arrow to the right keyword count or metadata

Note:

criteria. Photos that contain that tag or criteria display in the Grid view and the Filmstrip.

2. In the Grid view or the Filmstrip, do any of the following:
To select a photo, click a photo thumbnail.
To select non-contiguous photos in the Grid view or the Filmstrip, click the first photo and then Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click

(Mac OS) additional photos.
To select a photo and all photos between it and the active photo, Shift-click a photo.
To select all photos, choose Edit > Select All or press Ctrl+A (Windows) or Command+A (Mac OS).
To deselect all photos, choose Edit > Select None or press Ctrl+D (Windows) or Command+D (Mac OS).
To deselect all photos except the active one, choose Edit > Select Only Active Photo or press Shift+Ctrl+D (Windows) or

Shift+Command+D (Mac OS).
To change the active photo in a group of selected photos, click a different photo thumbnail.
To select a new active photo and deselect all other photos in a group of selected photos, click a photo’s grid cell border.
To deselect the active photo in a group of selected photos, choose Edit > Deselect Active Photo or press /. The next photo in the

multiple-photo selection becomes the active photo.
To deselect selected photos and select all the photos that were unselected, choose Edit > Invert Selection.

When you select multiple photos, the first photo you select is the primary selection (active photo), indicated by the brighter highlighted frame.

After selecting photos, add them to the Quick Collection to easily prepare them for printing, presenting in a slide show, assembling into a
web gallery, or exporting.

Comparing photos in the Library module

Lightroom lets you view large previews of one or more photos for tasks like picking out the best photo in a series. You can view side-by-side
previews of two photos in the Compare view, or view tiled previews of two or more photos in the Survey view.

In the Compare view, one photo is the select (active) and the other is the candidate. Using controls in the toolbar, you can swap the select and
candidate photos, zoom in and out of one or both views simultaneously, and specify when you’re done comparing.

In the Survey view, the selected (active) photo has a white border. You can designate the active photo by clicking it in the image display area. All
photos have a Deselect Photo icon

in the lower -right corner for removing the photos from the Survey view. (On the Mac OS, move the pointer

To the top

over the photo to see the icon.)

Both views provide access to rating stars, color labels, and Pick or Rejected flags for each photo. Both views also let you deselect photos to

52

narrow down the images under consideration. See Flag, label, and rate photos.
You can always switch between the Compare and Survey views while comparing photos. You can also display Compare and Survey views in a

second window on a second monitor. See Displaying the Library on a second monitor.

Compare photos in the Compare view

1. In the Grid view or the Filmstrip, select two photos and then do one of the following:

Click the Compare View icon in the toolbar.
Choose View > Compare.

Note:

If you only select one photo and then switch to Compare view, Lightroom uses the currently selected photo and either the last

previously selected photo or an adjacent photo in the Grid view or the Filmstrip.

2. Do any of the following to adjust the photo previews:
To zoom in or out of both photos simultaneously, make sure the Link Focus icon is displayed in the toolbar and then drag the Zoom

slider.
To zoom in or out of one photo, select the photo, make sure the Unlink Focus icon is displayed in the toolbar and then drag the

Zoom slider.

note: Clicking the toolbar icon toggles between Link Focus and Unlink Focus.

To synchronize the scaling of the candidate and the select photos, click Sync in the toolbar.

3. Set the rating stars, color labels, or Pick or Rejected flags for the photos.

4. Do any of the following to specify different selected and candidate photos:
Click Swap in the toolbar to reverse the selected and candidate photos.
Click the Select Next Photo icon in the toolbar (or press the Right Arrow key) to compare subsequent photos with the first selection.

Select Previous Photo to compare previous photos with the first selection. Press the Up arrow to replace the selected photo with the
current selection and replace the candidate selection with the next image.

Click the Deselect Photo icon in the lower-right corner below the photo.
Select the Candidate photo and then click Make Select in the toolbar.

5. Repeat steps 2 through 4 as needed.

6. Click a different view button to exit the Compare view.

Compare photos in the Survey view

1. In the Grid view or the Filmstrip, select two or more photos and then do one of the following:

Click the Survey View icon in the toolbar.
Choose View > Survey.

You can always add more photos to your comparison at any time by selecting them in the Filmstrip. Keep in mind that the previews in

Note:

the Survey view are smaller when more photos are selected. See Selecting photos in the Grid view and the Filmstrip.

2. In the Survey view, do any of the following:
To specify the select photo, click a photo in the work area or in the Filmstrip, or click the Select Previous Photo or Select Next Photo icon

in the toolbar.

Note:

Navigate must be chosen in the Survey view toolbar pop-up menu for the icons to appear.

To delete photos, click the Deselect Photo icon in the lower- right corner of a photo.
To rate, label, or flag photos, click the rating stars, color labels, and Pick or Rejected flags beneath the photos.

Adobe also recommends

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

Setting Library view options

53

Set Library view options for the Grid view
Change the Grid view options
Set Library view options for Loupe view
Change the Loupe view info overlay

Set Library view options for the Grid view

The Library View Options determine how photos look in the Grid view. You can specify different combinations of elements, ranging from showing
only thumbnails, to thumbnails accompanied with photo information, filters, and Rotation buttons.

1. In the Library module, choose View > View Options.

2. In the Grid View tab of the Library View Options dialog box, select Show Grid Extras to view information and icons in the photo thumbnail

cells. (Show Grid Extras is selected by default.)
Deselecting this option shows photo thumbnails with no additional information in the Grid view.

3. In the Options area of the dialog box, select any of the following items:

Show Clickable Items On Mouse Over Only

the cell. Deselecting this option means that clickable items are always displayed.

Tint Grid Cells With Color Labels

Show Image Info Tooltips

4. In the Cell Icons area of the dialog box, select any of the following items to appear in cells:

Flags

Makes Pick or Rejected flags available in the upper -left corner of the thumbnail cell.

Quick Collection Markers

Thumbnail Badges

Unsaved Metadata

File Needs To Be Updated icon

5. In the Compact Cell Extras area, select any of the following to appear in compact cells:

Index Number

Shows the order number of the photo in the Grid view.

Shows the Quick Collection marker in the upper-right corner of the photo thumbnail.

Shows thumbnail badges indicating which photos have keywords, cropping applied, or image adjustments.

When you’ve added metadata or keywords to a photo in Lightroom without saving the metadata to file, the Metadata

Displays the label colors in the background of each cell.

Displays a description of an item, such as a photo, badge, or pick flag, when you hold the pointer over the item.

appears in the upper-right corner of the cell area. See View unsaved metadata.

Shows clickable items, such as Rotation buttons and flags, only when the pointer moves over

To the top

Rotation

Top Label

Bottom Label

6. In the Expanded Cell Extras area, select any of the following to appear in expanded cells:

Show Header With Labels

from the menus.

Show Rating Footer

Use Defaults

7. From the Show Grid Extras menu, choose one of the following to set the size of the thumbnail cells in the Grid view:

Expanded Cells

Compact Cells

Makes Rotation buttons available.

Shows the top label you choose from the menu.

Shows the bottom label you choose from the menu.

Shows the header area of the thumbnail cell. The header area can display up to four labels that you choose

Shows the footer items you select.

Restores the Grid view options to their factory-set defaults.

Displays the most photo information available in the Grid view, including a header with up to four metadata labels.

Displays smaller cells with less photo information so that more thumbnails are visible in the Grid view.

Change the Grid view options

To the top

You can quickly change the Grid view options by choosing from the Grid View Style menu. The views are based on the default or custom view

54

options set in the Library View Options.

In the Grid view, choose View > Grid View Style and choose any of the following:

Show Extras

Shows or hides cell extras set in the Library View Options.

Show Badges

Compact Cells

Expanded Cells

Cycle View Style

Set Library view options for Loupe view

The Library View Options determine what information displays with your photos in the Loupe view. You can specify two different sets of
information.

1. In the Library module, choose View > View Options.

2. In the Loupe View tab of the Library View Options dialog box, select Show Info Overlay to display information with your photos. (Show Info

Overlay is selected by default.)
Deselecting this option displays photos with no information overlay in the Loupe view.

3. In the Loupe Info 1 and Loupe Info 2 areas of the dialog box, use the menus to choose what displays in the two Info Overlays in the Loupe

view. You can select up to three items in each overlay, including the filename, metadata, or no data.

4. Select Show Briefly When Photo Changes to briefly display the Info Overlays only when photos change in the Loupe view.

5. Under General area of the dialog box, select Show Messages When Loading Or Rendering Photos to display overlays in the Loupe view

during a process.

6. From the Show Info Overlay menu, choose Info 1 or Info 2 to select the currently active Info Overlays in Loupe view.

Shows or hides keyword tags, cropping, and image adjustment badges.

Shows compact cells in the Grid view.

Shows expanded cells in the Grid view.

Cycles through the different views available in the Grid View Style menu.

To the top

Change the Loupe view info overlay

In the Library module, choose View > Loupe Info and then choose any of the following:

Show Info Overlay

Info 1

Displays the Info 1 Overlay.

Info 2

Displays the Info 2 Overlay.

Cycle Info Display

Adobe also recommends

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

Displays the Info Overlay specified in the Library View Options.

Cycles through the two Info Overlay sets.

To the top

Managing catalogs and files

55

Lightroom catalog basics

56

Lightroom uses a catalog to track the location of files and remember information about them. A catalog is like a database that contains a record of
your photos. This record is stored in the catalog and contains data such as preview information, links that indicate where the photos are located
on your computer, metadata that describes the photos, and editing instructions applied in the Develop module. When you rate photos, add
metadata and keyword tags, organize photos into collections, or remove photos from the catalog—even when the original photo files are offline—
the settings are stored in the catalog.

All of this information enables Lightroom to give you flexibility in managing, identifying, and organizing photos. If you’re photographing on location,
for example, you can import photos into Lightroom on your laptop, and then move the original photos onto writable media or storage devices, and
continue organizing and managing your photos without worrying about filling up the laptop hard drive. You can then transfer the catalog to your
desktop computer, preserving the changes you make and keeping track of where the photos are stored. The catalog that you import with photos
from the on-location shoot would be a separate catalog from any other catalog that may be stored on the desktop computer.

Note:

Although you can view photos in both Lightroom and Adobe Bridge, the two applications behave differently. To view photos in Adobe
Bridge, your hard drive must contain the photos, or your computer must be connected to a storage media that contains the photos. This is
because Adobe Bridge is a file browser that only displays readily accessible photos. The Lightroom catalog is a database that keeps track of the
photos you import, so you can preview photos whether your hard drive contains the actual photos or not. To edit photos in Lightroom, however,
the software does need to be able to access the stored photos.

By default, Lightroom loads the most recent catalog. You can open a different catalog by choosing File > Open Catalog, or you can determine
which catalog is opened in the General preferences.

For more information on Lightroom catalogs, see Catalog FAQ | Lightroom.

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

Create and manage catalogs

57

Create a catalog
Open a catalog
Upgrade a catalog
Copy or move a catalog
Combine or merge catalogs
Delete a catalog folder
Change the default catalog
Change catalog settings
Optimize the catalog
Catalog tutorials

When you launch Lightroom and import photos, a catalog file (Lightroom Catalog.lrcat) is automatically created for you. The catalog tracks the
photos and their information, but it doesn’t contain the actual photo files themselves. Most people want to keep all their photos in one catalog,
which can have thousands of photos, but you can create separate catalogs for different purposes.

Create a catalog

When you create a catalog, you create a name for the folder, such as “Wedding Photos,” that includes a catalog file (such as “Wedding
Photos.lrcat”). This catalog file stores catalog settings. When you import photos, a new subfolder (such as “Wedding Photos Previews.lrdata”) is
created to store the JPEG preview images.

1. Choose File > New Catalog.

2. Specify the name and location of the new catalog folder, and then click Save (Windows) or Create (Mac OS).

Lightroom resets and displays an empty Library module, ready for you to import photos.

Open a catalog

When you open a different catalog, Lightroom closes the current catalog and relaunches.

1. Choose File > Open Catalog.

2. In the Open Catalog dialog box, specify the catalog file, and then click Open.
You can also choose a catalog from the File > Open Recent menu.

3. If prompted, click Relaunch to close the current catalog and relaunch Lightroom.

You can also change General preferences to specify which catalog is opened when Lightroom is started. See Change the default catalog.

Upgrade a catalog

You can open a catalog from an earlier version of Lightroom, including Lightroom 4 Beta, in Lightroom 4. When you do, you must upgrade it. The
old catalog remains untouched and the new, updated catalog contains all of the metadata associated the previous catalog and photos.

1. Do one of the following:

Start Lightroom 4 for the first time.
If you’ve opened Lightroom 4 previously, choose File > Open Catalog.

2. Navigate to the old catalog.lrcat file, and then click Open.

If you cannot remember where the old catalog is located, search for “lrcat” in the Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac OS). You may also
want to optimize and back up the older catalog before you upgade it.

3. If prompted, click Relaunch to close the current catalog and restart Lightroom.

4. (Optional) In the Lightroom Catalog Upgrade dialog box, change the destination for the upgraded catalog.

5. Click Upgrade.

To the top

To the top

To the top

Copy or move a catalog

To the top

Before copying or moving a catalog and preview files, back them up.

58

Note:

1. Locate the folder that contains the catalog and preview files. In Lightroom, choose Edit > Catalog Settings (Windows) or Lightroom >
Catalog Settings (Mac OS).

2. In the Information area of the General panel, click Show to go to the catalog in the Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac OS).

3. Copy or move the catalog.lrcat and Previews.lrdata files to the new location.

4. (Optional) Copy or move your image files to the new location.

5. Double-click the .lrcat file in the new location to open it in Lightroom.

6. (Optional) If Lightroom cannot find folders or photos in the copied or moved catalog, a question mark appears by folder names in the
Folders panel or in photo thumbnails in the Grid view. To restore folder links, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) a folder with a
question-mark icon and choose Find Missing Folder. To relink individual photos, see Locate missing photos.

Combine or merge catalogs

You can create a catalog from existing photos in Lightroom by selecting the photos and exporting them as a new catalog. Then, if desired, you can
merge the new catalog with another catalog. This is useful when, for example, you initially import photos into a catalog on a laptop computer and
then you want to add the photos to a master catalog on a desktop computer.

1. Select the photos you want to add to the new catalog.

2. Choose File > Export As Catalog.

3. Specify the name and location of the catalog.

4. Indicate whether you want to export the negative files and previews, and then click Save (Windows) or Export Catalog (Mac OS).
“Negative files” refers to the original files that were imported into Lightroom.

The new catalog contains the selected photos and their information. You must open the new catalog to view it.

5. (Optional) To combine catalogs, import the new catalog into another. See Import photos from a different Lightroom catalog.

Delete a catalog folder

When you delete a catalog folder, you erase all the work you’ve done in Lightroom that isn’t saved in the photo files. While the previews are
deleted, the original photos being linked to are not deleted.

Using Windows Explorer or Mac OS Finder, locate the catalog folder you created and drag it to the Recycling Bin (Windows) or Trash
(Mac OS).

Change the default catalog

To the top

To the top

To the top

By default, Lightroom opens the most current catalog at startup. This behavior can be changed to opening a different catalog or to always prompt
you to choose a catalog.

In the General preferences, choose one of the following from the When Starting Up Use This Catalog menu:

The file path of a specific library

Load Most Recent Catalog

Prompt Me When Starting Lightroom

Note:

You can also choose Other, navigate to a specific catalog file (.lrcat) and select it as the default library to open at startup.

Change catalog settings

1. Choose Edit > Catalog Settings (Windows) or Lightroom > Catalog Settings (Mac OS).

2. In the General tab, do any of the following:

Information

(Windows) or Finder (Mac OS).

Backup

backup file may help you recover your data. See Backing up the catalog.

3. In the File Handling tab, do any of the following:

Preview Cache

Provides information such as the location, filename, and creation date of the catalog. Click Show to view the file in Explorer

Specifies the frequency in which the current catalog is backed up. If a catalog file is accidentally deleted or becomes corrupt, the

Determines how Lightroom renders preview images. See Set preview cache.

Opens the catalog found at a specific file path location.

Opens the most recent catalog you’ve been working with.

Opens the Select Catalog dialog box at startup.

To the top

Import Sequence Numbers

59

Specifies starting sequence numbers for photos as you import into the catalog. Import Number is the first
number in a series that identifies how many import operations are performed. Photos Imported is the first number in a series that identifies
how many photos have been imported into the catalog. See The Filename Template Editor and Text Template Editor.

4. In the Metadata tab, select any of the following, and then click OK:

Offer Suggestions From Recently Entered Values

When you start typing a metadata entry that resembles a previous entry, one or more

suggestions appear as you type. Deselect this option to turn it off. Click Clear All Suggestion Lists to clear previous entries.

Include Develop Settings In Metadata Inside JPEG, TIFF, And PSD Files

Deselect this option to prevent Lightroom from including

Develop module settings in the XMP metadata of JPEG, TIFF, and PSD files.

Automatically Write Changes Into XMP

Select this option to save metadata changes directly to the XMP sidecar files, making the changes
visible in other applications. Deselect this option to save metadata settings only in the catalog. For information on saving XMP changes
manually, see About metadata and XMP .

Write Date Or Time Changes Into Proprietary Raw Files

This option controls whether Lightroom writes a new date and time to proprietary
raw files when you use the Metadata > Edit Capture Time command to change a photo’s capture time metadata. By default, this option is
not selected.

Optimize the catalog

To the top

After you have imported and removed a number of files, you may have to wait a significant amount of time while working in Lightroom. In such
instances, you should optimize your catalog.

Choose File > Optimize Catalog.

Catalog tutorials

To the top

For more on creating, managing, and using catalogs in Lightroom 3 or Lightroom 4, see any of these tutorials:

From laptop to desktop: synching catalogs on two computers by Scott Kelby
Using the Import From Catalog command by David Marx
Working with multiple catalogs (PDF) by Nat Coalson
Synchronize catalogs from the Learn By Video series
Backing up your catalog by Matt Kloskowski

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

Backup a catalog

60

Specify catalog backup frequency
Choose the catalog backup location
Check catalog integrity
Perform a catalog backup
Restore a backup catalog

Lightroom allows you to schedule regular catalog backups when you exit the software. Backups executed from Lightroom include only the catalog
file. You must manually back up your edited photos, previews, sidecar files, slide shows, web galleries, and exported photos outside Lightroom.

Performing frequent, regular catalog backups is only part of what should be a more comprehensive backup strategy. When formulating a backup
strategy:

Remember that the more frequently you back up your catalog and photos, the less data you stand to lose when a crash or corruption occurs.
If possible, store the backup copies of your photos and catalog on a separate hard disk from your working files.
Consider using dedicated backup software to automate the process and synchronize changes between your working and backup files.
If you’re worried that your backup files might be accidentally erased, create redundant backups on additional disks, or on read-only media

such as DVDs.
For greater security, store your backup disk in a separate location from yyour working disk, preferably off site or in a fire-proof safe.

Note:

Running Mac OS X Time Machine™ backup or restore operations while Lightroom is in use is not recommended.

Backing up your catalogs

Learn how to protect catalogs in Lightroom 3
and Lightroom 4 by backing them up

(02:53).... Read More

http://goo.gl/X56ba

by Adobe Press Learn by
Video

Contribute your expertise to
Adobe Community Help

Dealing with disasters

How to recover a backed up catalog in

Lightroom 3 or Lightroom 4.... Read More

http://goo.gl/83DIB

by Scott Kelby

Contribute your expertise to
Adobe Community Help

Specify catalog backup frequency

1. Choose Edit > Catalog Settings (Windows) or Lightroom > Catalog Settings (Mac OS).

2. In the Backup area of the General panel, choose an option from the Back Up Catalog pop- up menu:

When Lightroom Next Exits

Never.

Backs up the catalog the next time you exit Lightroom, and then the Back Up Catalog option switches to

To the top

Every Time Lightroom Exits

backed up.

Backs up the catalog every time you exit Lightroom, so changes from every working session are always

Once A Day, When Exiting Lightroom

Backs up the catalog the first time you exit Lightroom each day. If you exit Lightroom more than

once a day, additional changes are not backed up until the next day.

61

Once A Week, When Exiting Lightroom

not backed up until the next week.

Once A Month, When Exiting Lightroom

are not backed up until the next month.

Never

No backups are performed by Lightroom. (Not recommended.)

Backs up the catalog once a week. If you exit Lightroom more frequently, additional changes are

Backs up the catalog once a month. If you exit Lightroom more frequently, additional changes

Choose the catalog backup location

By default, catalog backup files are stored in a Backups folder. Backup files are in a folder named by the date and time the backup was performed:

Mac OS: /User home/catalog location /catalog name/Backups/YYYY-MM-DD HRMN/
Windows: C:\Documents and Settings\username\catalog location\catalog name\Backups\YYYY-MM-DD HRMN\

Note:

The time is represented by a 24-hour clock without a colon between hours and minutes.

You can change the location of the backup files, however.

1. Exit Lightroom when a catalog backup is scheduled.

2. In the Back Up Catalog dialog box, click Choose next to the Backup Folder path. Then, navigate to the new location.

Lightroom writes a new catalog every time it creates a backup. To save space on your hard disk, delete or compress old backup files.

Check catalog integrity

Lightroom lets you check for catalog corruption when you open or back up a catalog. Checking catalog integrity increases the time it takes to open
or back up a catalog, but reduces the risk of data loss.

To check for catalog corruption, do one of the following:

Exit Lightroom when a catalog backup is scheduled. In the Back Up Catalog dialog box, select Test Integrity Before Backing Up, and
then click Backup.

In the General panel of the Preferences dialog box, select When Starting Up Use This Catalog > Prompt Me When Starting Lightroom.
Start Lightroom. In the Select Catalog dialog box, select Test Integrity Of This Catalog, and then click Open.

To the top

To the top

Perform a catalog backup

1. Exit Lightroom when a catalog backup is scheduled.

2. In the Back Up Catalog dialog box, choose one of the following:

Backup

Skip This Time

Backup Tomorrow

Backup In One Week

Backup In One Month

Back up the current catalog.

Postpone the backup until the next time you quit Lightroom.

When you’ve opted to back up your catalog once a day, you can choose to postpone the operation for a day.

When you’ve opted to back up your catalog once a week, you can choose to postpone the operation for a week.

When you’ve opted to back up your catalog once a month, you can choose to postpone the operation for a month.

Restore a backup catalog

1. Choose File > Open Catalog.

2. Navigate to the location of your backed up catalog file.

3. Select the backed up .lrcat file and click Open.

4. (Optional) Copy the backed up catalog to the location of the original catalog to replace it.

Adobe also recommends

To the top

To the top

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

62

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

The Volume Browser

63

The Volume Browser in the Folders panel provides information about the storage resources for the photos you’re working with in Lightroom. The
Volume Browser displays the name of each volume that contains photos in the catalog, as well as information about the volume resource. For
example, it lets you see whether a volume is online or offline, and how much disk space is available. The Volume Browser updates dynamically as
you import and work with photos in Lightroom.

The colored LED to the left of the volume name indicates the availability of the resource:

10 GB or more of space is free.

Green
Yellow
Orange
Red

that the volume is full.

Gray

in Lightroom.

Less than 10 GB of space is free.

Less than 5 GB of space is free.

Less than 1 GB of space is free and the tooltip warns that the volume is nearly full. When less than 1 MB of space is free, the tooltip warns

Volume is offline and photos on that volume are unavailable for editing. When photos are unavailable, only low-resolution previews display

To change the information you see for a volume, right-click (Windows) or Control- click (Mac OS) the volume name and choose any of the
following:

Disk Space :
Displays used/total disk space on the volume.
Photo Count:
Displays how many photos in the catalog are on the volume.
Status:
Indicates whether the volume is online or offline.
None:
Hides all volume information.
Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) a volume name and choose Show In Explorer (Windows) or Show In Finder (Mac OS) to

open that volume in an Explorer or Finder window.
Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) a volume name and choose Properties (Windows) or Get Info (Mac OS) to view the

Properties (Windows) or Info (Mac OS) window for that volume.
To change the information provided by the colored LED next to the volume name, right-click (Windows) or Control -click (Mac OS) it and

choose one of the following:
Show Status:
Indicates whether a volume is online (green) or offline (gray).
Show Status And Free Space:
Indicates whether a volume is online or offline, as well as how full the resource is. Green indicates the volume is online and has plenty of

storage availability. Yellow/orange indicates the volume is online but getting full. Red indicates the volume is online but full. Gray indicates
the volume is offline.

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

Create and manage folders

64

Add new or existing folders
Create subfolders
Display root folder names
Add a parent folder
Move folders
View the contents of a folder
Locate missing folders
Rename folders
Delete folders

The folders that contain your photos are displayed in the Folders panel of the Library module. The folders in the Folders panel reflect the folder
structure on the volume itself and appear in alphanumeric order. Click the disclosure triangle to the right of a volume name to see the folders on
that volume. Click the triangle to the left of a folder to see any subfolders it contains.

Folders panel displaying folders and many photos they contain

You can add and move folders in the Folders panel, rename folders, and delete them. Changes you make to folders in Lightroom are applied to
the folders themselves on the volume.

Add new or existing folders

Whenever you import photos, the folders in which they are located are added automatically to the Folders panel. You can add folders and import
the photos they contain using the Folders panel.

1. In the Folders panel of the Library module, click the Plus icon (+) and choose Add Folder.

2. Do one of the following:
(Windows) In the Browse For Folders dialog box, navigate to the location you want, select the folders you want, and then click OK. Or,

navigate to the location you want and click Make New Folder. Type a name to replace the New Folder name.
(Mac OS) In the Choose Or Create New Folder dialog box, navigate to the location you want, select the folder you want, and then click

Choose. Or, navigate to the location you want and click New Folder. Type a name for the folder and then click Create. Then click
Choose.

3. If necessary, specify options in the Import Photos dialog box, and click Import.

If you have multiple copies of a folder and you want to change the location that Lightroom points to, right-click (Windows) or Control-click
(Mac OS) the folder and choose Update Folder Location.

Create subfolders

1. In the Folders panel of the Library module, select the folder in which you want to create the new folder. Then, click the Plus icon (+) at the

top of the Folders panel and choose Add Subfolder.

2. In the Create Folder dialog box, type the Folder name.

3. If photos are selected, determine whether you want to copy the selected photos to the new folder, and then click Create.

In the Folders panel, the new folder appears in the hierarchy you specified. The new folder also appears in Windows Explorer or Mac OS Finder.

You can tell if a folder contains subfolders by looking at the disclosure triangle to the left of the folder icon. If the triangle is solid, the folder
contains subfolders. If the triangle is faint and dotted, the folder doesn’t contain subfolders.

To the top

To the top

Display root folder names

65

In the Folders panel of the Library module, click the Plus icon (+) at the top of the panel and choose one of the following Root Folder Display
options:

Folder Name Only

Displays only the name of top-level folders in the Folders panel. For example, 2011.

To the top

Path From Volume

Users/[username]/Pictures/2011.

Folder And Path

Users/[username]/Pictures/2011.

You may need to drag the right edge of the panel to expand it to see the full path and name.

Add a parent folder

To add a new parent folder to the Folders panel hierarchy, select a top-level folder, right -click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS), and
choose Add Parent Folder.

Move folders

You can move folders into other folders in Lightroom. You cannot copy folders in Lightroom.

In the Folders panel of the Library module, select one or more folders and drag into another folder.

View the contents of a folder

Lightroom displays the number of photos in a folder to the right of the folder name. If you later add photos to a folder in the Explorer (Windows) or
Finder (Mac OS), you’ll need to import the new photos into Lightroom or synchronize the folder to update the number displayed in the Folders
panel.

In the Library module, do any of the following:

Select one or more items in the Folders panel.
Select a photo, and in the Metadata panel, click the right-pointing arrow next to the Folder field to display that photo’s folder.

Displays the full path and the name of top-level folders in the Folders panel. For example,

Displays the name of top-level folders followed by the folder’s path in the Folders panel. For example, 2011 -

To the top

To the top

To the top

By default, selecting a folder shows all photos in that folder and all subfolders in the Grid view and the Filmstrip. To show only the photos in
the selected folder, choose Library > Include Photos From Subfolders to deselect it.

Locate missing folders

If a folder is moved in the operating system instead of in Lightroom, the link between the catalog and the folder breaks, and a question- mark icon

appears on the folder in the Folders panel.

1. To restore the link, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) on the folder and choose Find Missing Folder from the context menu.

2. Navigate to the file path of the moved folder and click Choose.

Rename folders

1. In the Folders panel of the Library module, select a folder.

2. Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) and choose Rename from the menu.

3. Overwrite the folder name.

Delete folders

1. In the Folders panel of the Library module, select one or more folders and click the Minus icon (-). Or, right-click (Windows) or Control-click

(Mac OS) and choose Remove.

2. Click Continue in the dialog box.

The folder and its photos are removed from the catalog and the Folders panel. The original folder and photos are not deleted from the hard
drive.

To the top

To the top

To the top

Adobe also recommends

66

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

Keep folders and photos in sync

67

Synchronize folders
Locate missing photos

Synchronize folders

If the contents of a folder in your catalog don’t match the contents of the same folder on the volume, you can synchronize the two folders. When
you synchronize folders, you have the option of adding files that have been added to the folder but not imported into the catalog, removing files
that have been deleted, and scanning for metadata updates. The photo files in the folder and all subfolders can be synchronized. You can
determine which folders, subfolders, and files are imported.

Note:

The Synchronize Folder command does not detect duplicate photos in a catalog. Lightroom does not have a function that identifies

duplicate files.

1. In the Folders panel, select the folder you want to synchronize.

2. Choose Library > Synchronize Folder.

3. In the Synchronize Folder dialog box, do any of the following:
To import photos that appear in the folders but have not been imported in the catalog, select Import New Photos. If you select Show

Import Dialog Before Importing, you can specify which folders and photos are imported.
To remove photos that have been deleted from the folder but not from the catalog, select Remove Missing Photos From Catalog. If this

option is dimmed, no files are missing. (You can choose Show Missing Photos to display the photos in Grid view.)
To scan for any metadata changes made to the files in another application, choose Scan For Metadata Updates.

4. Click Synchronize.

5. If the Import Photos dialog box opens, confirm the folders and files you want to import, and then click Import.

If you have a missing folder that is also empty, use the Synchronize Folder command to remove it from the catalog.

Locate missing photos

To the top

To the top

Sometimes the link between the catalog and a photo breaks. When that happens, Lightroom displays a Photo Is Missing icon in image cells in
the Grid view and the Filmstrip. In the Develop module, Lightroom indicates that the photo is offline or missing. Links between a catalog and its
photos can break for a variety of reasons, including because photos are moved in the operating system instead of from within Lightroom, or
because photos are stored on an external drive that is offline. If the drive is offline, turn it on.

1. (Optional) In the Library module, choose Library > Find Missing Photos to display missing files in the Grid view.

2. Click the Photo Is Missing icon

A dialog box opens and displays the last known location of the missing photo.

3. Click the Locate button, navigate to where the photo is currently located, and then click Select.

4. (Optional) In the Locate dialog box, select Find Nearby Missing Photos to have Lightroom search for other missing photos in the folder and

reconnect them as well.

in a thumbnail cell in the Grid view.

Dealing with offline files

Learn what causes photos to go missing,
how to prevent it from happening, and how
to reconnect photos if you need to in
Lightroom 3 and Lightroom 4. (03:47)...

Read More

http://www.peachpit.com/podcasts/episode.aspx...

by Adobe Press Learn By
Video

Contribute your expertise to
Adobe Community Help

Adobe also recommends

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

68

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

Manage photos

69

Rename photos
Move photos to a different folder
Open a photo in its folder in the Library module
Open a file in Explorer or Finder
Rotate photos
Flip photos
Rotate or flip photos using the Painter tool
Remove photos from catalogs
Update photos changed by another application
Convert photos to DNG
Create virtual copies

Rename photos

1. In the Grid view or the Filmstrip in the Library module, select one or more photos and then choose Library > Rename Photo(s).

2. In the Rename Photos dialog box, choose an option from the File Naming menu. Choose Edit to specify a custom name using the Filename

Template Editor. See Naming options and The Filename Template Editor and Text Template Editor.
If you specify a naming option that uses a sequence, Lightroom numbers the photos sequentially. If you don’t want the numbering to begin

with “1,” type a different number in the Start Number box.

To quickly rename a single photo in the Library module, select it and type the new name in the File Name field of the Metadata panel.

Move photos to a different folder

1. (Optional) If you’re not moving photos to an existing folder, create a new folder. See Creating and managing folders.

2. In the Grid view of the Library module, select the photo or photos you want to move.

3. Drag the photo or photos to the destination folder in the Folders panel: Drag from the center of the thumbnail, not from the edge.

Note:

You cannot copy photos in Lightroom.

The photos are moved to the destination folder in Lightroom as well as on the hard drive.

Learn more. Watch this video for tips on moving photos to another folder: “Moving folders around after the fact”

Open a photo in its folder in the Library module

Select the photo and choose Photo > Show In Folder In Library.

The photo is selected in the Grid view and its folder is selected the Folders panel.

To the top

To the top

To the top

Open a file in Explorer or Finder

Select the photo and choose Photo > Show In Explorer (Windows) or Show In Finder (Mac OS).

The file is selected in an Explorer or Finder window.

Rotate photos

Photos imported into the catalog are automatically rotated if the Exchangeable Image Format (EXIF) data includes orientation metadata.
Otherwise, you can manually rotate photos.

In the Library module, do one of the following:

In Grid view, select one or more photos, move the pointer over a thumbnail, and click one of the rotate icons in the lower corner of any
cell. Or, choose choose Photo > Rotate Left or Photo > Rotate Right. All selected photos are rotated.

In Loupe or Survey view, click a rotate icon in the toolbar to rotate the active photo.

To the top

To the top

note: If the toolbar doesn’t show the Rotate icons, choose Rotate from the toolbar pop-up menu.

70

In Loupe, Compare, or Survey view, choose Photo > Rotate Left or Rotate Right to rotate the active photo.

Flip photos

1. In the Grid view or the Filmstrip of the Library module, select one or more photos.

2. Choose one of the following from the Photo menu:

Flip Horizontal

Flip Vertical

In Loupe, Compare, and Survey views, only the active photo is flipped.

Choose View > Enable Mirror Image Mode to flip all photos in the catalog horizontally along the vertical axis.

Flips photos horizontally along the vertical axis.

Flips photos vertically along the horizontal axis.

Rotate or flip photos using the Painter tool

1. In the Grid view, select the Painter tool in the toolbar, and then choose Rotation from the Paint menu in the toolbar.

Note:

If the Painter tool does not appear in the toolbar, choose Painter from the toolbar menu.

2. Choose the one of the Rotate or Flip options in the toolbar, and then click or drag across photos to apply the setting.

3. To disable the Painter, click the circular well in the toolbar. When disabled, the Painter icon is visible in the toolbar.

Remove photos from catalogs

1. Select one or more photos in the Grid view, or select a single photo in the Filmstrip in Loupe, Compare, or Survey view in the Library

module.

2. Do one of the following:
Press the Backspace key (Windows) or Delete key (Mac OS).
Choose Photo > Delete Photo(s).

Note:

When viewing a collection, pressing the Backspace key (Windows) or Delete key (Mac OS) removes the selected photo(s) from the
collection, not from the catalog, and no Confirm dialog box appears. To remove a photo from a collection as well as from the catalog, select
the photo and press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Delete (Windows) or Command+Option+Shift+Delete (Mac OS). See Remove photos from a collection.

3. In the Confirm dialog box, click one of the following:

Remove

Removes photos from the catalog but doesn’t send them to the Recycle Bin (Windows) or Trash (Mac OS).

To the top

To the top

To the top

Delete From Disk

If more than one photo is selected in the Filmstrip in Loupe, Compare, or Survey view, only the active photo is deleted.

Note:

Selecting photos and pressing the Delete key (Windows) or Forward Delete key (Mac OS, full -size keyboards only) also removes
photos from the catalog but doesn’t send them to the Recycle Bin (Windows) or Trash (Mac OS).

Update photos changed by another application

In the Grid view, Lightroom displays alerts in image cells when the photos in your catalog have been changed by another application. For example,
if a photo has a one -star rating in Lightroom, and the photo has been updated to a two-star rating in another application, you need to decide which
rating to respect. Both cannot co-exist together. Lightroom lets you resolve conflicting photo metadata by either overwriting its data in the catalog
with metadata from the photo or its sidecar XMP file, or overwriting the metadata in the photo file or sidecar XMP file with its stored data in the
catalog.

1. In the Grid view, click the alert icon in a cell.

2. In the Confirm dialog box, select one of the following:

Import Settings From Disk

Overwrite Settings

Do Nothing

photo or its sidecar XMP file.

Removes photos from the catalog and sends them to the Recycle Bin (Windows) or Trash (Mac OS).

To the top

Imports the metadata from the photo or its sidecar XMP file, which overwrites the photo’s data in the catalog.

Exports metadata from the catalog to the photo file and overwrites the data in the photo or its sidecar XMP file.

Takes no action. If you select this option, be sure that the photo’s metadata in the catalog doesn’t conflict with data in the

For more information, see Synchronize Lightroom metadata with Camera Raw and Adobe Bridge.

Convert photos to DNG

71

Lightroom lets you convert camera raw files

Cannot serve request to /content/help/en/lightroom/help/photos.html on this server

To the top

Maps

72

Work with the Maps module

73

View photos on a map
Navigate the map
Work with photos and GPS data
Save locations

View photos on a map

The Map module lets you see where your photos were captured on a Google map. It uses GPS coordinates embedded in your photos’ metadata
to plot the photos on the map.

Most mobile phone cameras, including iPhones, record GPS coordinates in metadata. If your camera doesn’t record GPS coordinates you can add
it in the Map module, or import a track log from a GPS device.

You must be online to use the Map module. Maps appear in the language that your default web browser uses, which may be different from the
language version of Lightroom that you’re using.

To see if a photo is tagged with GPS metadata, choose the Location preset in the Metadata panel of the Library or Map module. Then, look for
coordinates in the GPS field.

To the top

The Map module
A. Saved Locations panel B. Map Style menu C. Zoom slider D. Selected photo E. Map key F. Metadata panel

Navigate the map

To navigate the map in the Map module, do any of the following:

Double-click the map to zoom in to that location.
Drag the Zoom slider in the toolbar to zoom in or out.

note: The Map module also supports zooming using a mouse wheel and multitouch gestures on a trackpad.

Press Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) and drag in the preview area to zoom in to that area.
Drag the map to reposition it in the preview area.
Enter a location in the Search field in the upper-right corner of the preview area to go to that location.
Specify the map’s appearance by choosing an option from the Map Style menu in the toolbar.

Satellite

Displays satellite photography of the location.

Road Map

To the top

Displays roads and geopolitical borders and landmarks on a flat, graphic background.

Hybrid

74

Overlays roads and geopolitical data on satellite photography.

Terrain

A graphical representation of the landscape.

Light or Dark

A light or dark low- contrast depiction of road map data.

Work with photos and GPS data

To add GPS coordinates to photos (and add the photos to the map), do any of the following:

Drag photos from the Filmstrip and drop them onto the map.
Select one or more photos in the Filmstrip and Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) the map location.
Select one or more photos in the Filmstrip and right- click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the map location and choose Add GPS

Location To Selected Photos.

To see a thumbnail preview of photos at a certain location, click a photo pin.

Note:

Choose View > Show Map Key for an overlay that explains the photo pins.

Key to Map module preview pins

To the top

To remove GPS metadata from photos (and remove the photos from the map), do any of the following:

Select the photo’s pin on the map and press Delete.
Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the pin and choose Delete GPS Location.

Select the photo in the Filmstrip in the Map module and press Delete.
Click the GPS Tracklogs button and choose Load Tracklog to upload GPS data (a GPX file) from a third -party device.
The Location Filter shows you which photos in the Filmstrip appear on the map.

Visible On Map

Shows which photos in the Filmstrip are in the current map view.

Tagged/Untagged

Shows which photos in the Filmstrip are tagged or untagged with GPS data.

None

Clears location filters.

Note:

You can omit GPS metadata from photos when you export them. In the Export dialog box, go to the Metadata panel and choose Remove

Location Info.

Save locations

For photos captured within a defined proximity, you can create a saved location . For example, if you travel to Greece for a photo shoot for a client,
you can create a saved location that encompasses the islands you visited.

To the top

1. In the Map module, navigate to a location on the map and click the + button in the Saved Locations panel. The Saved Location panel is on

the left side of the Lightroom window.

2. In the New Location dialog box, enter a name for the location and select a folder to save it in.

75

Radius

Private

Defines a radius, in feet, miles, meters, or kilometers, from the center of the visible map area.

Removes all IPTC location metadata, including GPS coordinates, Sublocation, City, State/Province, Country, and ISO Country

Code, when photos in the saved location are exported from Lightroom.

3. Click Create.
The location appears on the map marked by a white circle, with one pin

4. When working with saved locations, do any of the following:

Select or deselect a location in the Saved Locations panel to view it on the map.

The Saved Locations panel in the Map module

To add photos to the location, do one of the following:

Drag one or more photos from the Filmstrip into the white circle in the map.

Select one or more photos in the Filmstrip and select the check box next to the location name in the Saved Locations panel.
To go to a location on the map, click the right-arrow button by the location name in Saved Locations panel.
To edit a location, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) it in the Saved Locations panel and choose Location Options.

Tip: You can also drag the pin at the top of the location circle in the map to adjust the radius. Drag the pin in the center of the circle to
move the location on the map.

To remove a location, select it in the Saved Locations panel and click the minus ( - ) button. Or, right-click (Windows) or Control-click
(Mac OS) it in the Saved Locations panel or on the map and choose Delete.

in the center and another pin on the perimeter.

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

Organizing photos

76

Photo collections

77

Types of collections
Work with collections and collection sets
Work with the Quick Collection
Work with smart collections
Export a collection as a catalog

For detailed instructions, click the links below.

Types of collections

Collections are a way to group photos in one place for easy viewing or for performing a variety of tasks. For example, photos in a collection can be
assembled into a slide show, contact sheet, or a web photo gallery. Once created, collections are listed in the Collections panel of every module.
They can be selected anytime you need them. You can create as many collections as you need.

A regular collection is a group of any photos you choose to put in a group.
Smart collections are collections based on rules that you define. For example, you can create a smart collection of all photos that have a five-star

rating and a red color label. Photos that meet the criteria are automatically added to the smart collection.
You can also create temporarily groups photos for certain tasks into the Quick Collection. Unlike regular or smart collections, there can be only one

Quick Collection at a time in the catalog.
Here are some things to keep in mind about working with collections:

Make sure that you understand the difference between catalogs and collections: Collections are groups of photos within a catalog.
Photos can belong to more than one collection.
You cannot stack photos in a collection.
You can change the sort order of the photos in a regular collection, but you cannot sort by User Order or drag photos to rearrange them in a

smart collection.
Removing a photo from a collection doesn’t remove the photo from the catalog or send it to the Recycle Bin (Windows) or Trash (Mac OS).
You can create collection sets to organize your collections.
You can explicitly save Slideshow, Print, and Web module settings as output collections. See Save slide show settings as a slide show

collection, Save print settings as a print collection, and Save web settings as a web collection.

To the top

For a video about using collections and keywords to organize your photos, watch Lightroom 2 basics: collections and keywords. The instructions
are for Lightroom 2 but also work for Lightroom 4.

Work with collections and collection sets

To the top

Create a collection

1. In the Grid view, select photos and do one of the following:
Choose Library > New Collection.
Click the Plus icon (+) in the Collections panel and choose Create Collection.

2. In the Create Collection dialog box, type a name in the Collection box.

3. If you want the collection to be part of a collection set, choose it from the Set menu. Otherwise, choose None.

4. Select the Include Selected Photos option.

5. Click Create.

The collection appears in the Collections panel with a photo-print icon
badge in the Grid view and the Filmstrip.

. Photos that are part of a collection display a Photo Is In Collection

Create a collection set

A collection set is a container that includes one or more collections. Collection sets give you flexibility in organizing and managing your photos. A

collection set does not actually contain photos; it only contains collections, including regular collections, smart collections, and output creations. A

collection set has a filing box icon .

78

1. In the Library module, do one of the following:
Choose Library > New Collection Set.
Click the Plus icon (+) in the Collections panel and choose Create Collection Set.

2. In the Create Collection Set dialog box, type a name for your collection set.

3. If you want the new set to be part of an existing set, choose the existing set from the Set menu. Otherwise, choose None.

4. Click Create.

5. In the Collections panel, drag any collection into a collection set folder to add it to the set.

Delete a collection or collection set

When you delete a collection, no photos are removed from the catalog or deleted from disk.

In the Collections panel, do one of the following:

Select a collection or collection set and click the Minus icon ( -).
Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) a collection or collection set and choose Delete.

Add photos to a collection

Drag photos from the Grid view to a collection in the Collections panel.

Identify photos in a collection

Photos in a collection display the Photo Is In Collection badge in the Grid view and the Filmstrip. Click the badge to see which collections
the photo is in.

note: Smart collections are not listed.

In a collection, Ctrl-click (Mac OS) or right-click (Windows) a photo and choose Go To Folder In Library to go to the folder that contains the
photo.

Remove photos from a collection

1. Select a collection in the Collections panel.

2. In the Grid view, select the photos and choose Photo > Remove From Collection, or press Delete.

Copy or move photos between collections

1. In the Library module, select a collection in the Collections panel.

2. In the Grid view, select photos.

3. To copy the selected photos, drag them to the collection in the Collections panel that you want to add them to.

4. To move the selected photos, delete the photos from the original collection after dragging them to the new collection.

Sort collections

In the Collections panel, click the Plus icon (+) and do one of the following:

Choose Sort By Name to sort collections alphabetically.
Choose Sort By Kind to sort collections by type.

Rename a collection or collection set

1. In the Collections panel, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) a collection or collection set, and choose Rename from the menu.

2. Overwrite the name of the collection.

Set a target collection

A target collection allows you to override the temporary Quick Collection. A target collection lets you make any permanent collection behave as a
Quick Collection for as long as it is targeted. Targeted collections are an easy way to quickly group photos together for further processing.

1. In the Collections panel, select the collection that you want to target.

Note:

A collection set cannot be a target.

2. Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) and choose Set As Target Collection.

A white plus icon next to the collection name indicates that it is targeted.

3. To add a photo to a target collection, select the photo in any module and press the B key.

79

4. To remove a photo from a target collection, select target collection, and then select the photo in the Grid view, and press the B key.

5. To turn off the target, select the collection, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS), and deselect Set As Target Collection.

Work with the Quick Collection

Use the Quick Collection to assemble a temporary group of photos to work with in any module. You can view the Quick Collection in the Filmstrip
or in the Grid view, and you can convert the Quick Collection to a permanent collection.

To the top

Add photos to the Quick Collection

1. Select one or more photos in the Filmstrip or the Grid view.

2. In the Library or Develop module, choose Photo > Add To Quick Collection. In the Slideshow, Print, or Web modules, choose Edit > Add To

Quick Collection.

From any module, select a photo and press the B key. Or move the pointer over a thumbnail image and click the circle in its upper-right
corner.

View photos in the Quick Collection

In the Library module, select Quick Collection in the Catalog panel.
In the Filmstrip Source Indicator menu, choose Quick Collection.

Remove photos from or clear the Quick Collection

1. Display the Quick Collection in the Filmstrip or Grid view.

2. Select one or more photos in the collection.

3. In the Library or Develop module, choose Photo > Remove From Quick Collection. In the Slideshow, Print, or Web modules, choose Edit >

Remove From Quick Collection.

From any module, select the photo and press the B key. Or move the pointer over a thumbnail image and click the circle in its upper-right
corner.

Convert the Quick Collection to a collection

A Quick Collection can be saved as a collection. You have the option of clearing the Quick Collection after saving it.

1. In any module, choose File > Save Quick Collection.

2. In the Save Quick Collection dialog box, type a name in the Collection Name box.

3. Specify one of the following actions:
Select Clear Quick Collection After Saving to clear the Quick Collection after it’s saved as a collection.
Deselect Clear Quick Collection After Saving to preserve the Quick Collection after it’s saved as a collection.

4. Click Save.

Work with smart collections

A smart collection is a collection based on metadata criteria that you specify. Smart collections automatically include all photos that meet the
criteria. You don’t manually add or remove photos from a smart collection.

Lightroom includes a set of five default smart collections: Colored Red, Five Stars, Past Month, Recently Modified, and Without Keywords.

To the top

Create a smart collection

1. In the Library module, do one of the following:
Choose Library > New Smart Collection.
Click the Plus icon (+) in the Collections panel and choose Create Smart Collection.

2. In the Create Smart Collection dialog box, type a name for your smart collection.

3. If you want the smart collection to be part of an existing set, choose the set from the Set menu. Otherwise, choose None.

4. Specify the rules for the smart collection by choosing options from the pop-up menus.

Note:

The rules used to define searchable text conditions for smart collections are the same as the rules used to search for text with the

Library Filter bar. For definitions, see Search for photos using the Text filter.

5. (Optional) Click the Plus icon (+) to add additional criteria. Click the Minus icon ( -) to remove criteria.

6. (Optional) Alt -click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) the Plus icon (+) to open nested options that let you refine criteria.

7. Choose to match all or any of the criteria from the Match menu.

80

8. Click Create.

Lightroom adds the smart collection to the Collections panel and adds all the photos in the catalog that meet the specified rules. Smart collections
have a photo-print icon with a gear in the lower-right corner

.

Edit smart collections

You can change the criteria and rules for a smart collection at any time.

1. Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) a smart collection in the Collections panel and choose Edit Smart Collection.

2. Choose new rules and options in the Edit Smart Collection dialog box.

3. Click Save.

Note:

You cannot sort by User Order or drag photos to rearrange them in a smart collection.

Share smart collection settings

You can share smart collections by exporting smart collection settings and then importing those settings into a different catalog. Lightroom applies
a .lrsmcol filename extension to smart collection settings files.

Exporting a smart collection exports the rules for the smart collection. It does not export the photos that are in the smart collection.
When you import smart collection rules, Lightroom creates the smart collection to the Collections panel and adds any photos in the catalog that

meet the smart collection criteria.

To export a smart collection, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) it in the Collections panel and choose Export Smart Collection
Settings. Specify the name and location of the exported smart collection settings file and then click Save.

To import a smart collection, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) it in the Collections panel and choose Import Smart Collection
Settings. Navigate to and select a smart collection .lrsmcol settings file and click Import.

Export a collection as a catalog

You can export a collection of photos as a new catalog. When you create a catalog from a collection of photos, the settings in the photos are
exported to the new catalog.

Note:

Exporting a smart collection as a catalog adds the photos in the smart collection to the new catalog. It does not export the rules or criteria

that constitute the smart collection.

1. Select the collection or smart collection that you want to use to create a catalog.

2. Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the collection name and choose Export This Collection As A Catalog.

3. Specify the name, location, and other options for the catalog, and then click Save (Windows) or Export Catalog (Mac OS).

To the top

Adobe also recommends

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

Grouping photos into stacks

81

About stacks
Stack photos
Unstack photos
Add photos to a stack
Expand and collapse stacks
Remove or delete photos from a stack
Rearrange photos in a stack
Split a stack into two stacks
Automatically stack photos by capture time

About stacks

You can create stacks to group a set of visually similar photos together, making them easy to manage. Stacks are useful for keeping multiple
photos of the same subject or a photo and its virtual copies in one place, and they reduce clutter in the Grid view and the Filmstrip.

For example, you may want to create a stack to group multiple photos of a portrait session taken with the same pose, or for photos taken at an
event using your camera’s burst mode or auto-bracket feature. When you take photos this way, you end up with many similar variations of the
same photo, but you usually only want the best one to appear in the Grid view or the Filmstrip. Stacking the photos lets you easily access them all
in one place instead of having them scattered across rows of thumbnails.

When grouping photos in a stack, the photos are stacked according to their sort order in the Grid view, with the active photo at the top of the
stack.

A stack is collapsed when stacked photos are grouped under the thumbnail of the top photo in the Grid view or the Filmstrip. A stack is expanded
when all photos in a stack are visible in the Grid view or the Filmstrip.

Collapsed stack (top) and expanded stack (below)

To the top

Here are a few tips for working with stacks:

Any Develop adjustments, ratings, flags, or color labels applied to a collapsed stack affect only the photo at the top of the stack.
If you select a photo in a stack and add it to a Quick Collection or collection, only the selected photo is added, not the entire stack.
When you search for photos, the top photo in a stack shows the number of photos in the stack in the upper-left corner.

The top photo in a stack displays the number of photos in a stack

To the top

Stack photos

1. In the Grid view or the Filmstrip in the Library module, select the photos you want to stack.

82

2. Choose Photo > Stacking > Group Into Stack.

Note:

you selected first.

Note:

Stacked photos must be located in the same folder.

The stacked photos are arranged contiguously and display stacking order numbers in the upper-left corner of their thumbnails. The top
photo in the stack is “1,” the next photo is “2,” and so forth.

If you select two stacks and choose Photo > Stacking > Group Into Stack, only the top photo from the second stack is moved into the stack

Unstack photos

1. In the Grid view or the Filmstrip in the Library module, select the thumbnail of a collapsed stack. Or, if the stack is expanded, select any

photo in the stack. You don’t have to select all photos in the stack.

2. Choose Photo > Stacking > Unstack.

Add photos to a stack

1. In the Grid view or the Filmstrip in the Library module, select the stack and one or more photos that you want to add to the stack.

2. Choose Photo > Stacking > Group Into Stack.

Expand and collapse stacks

Expanding a stack displays all the photos in the stack. When you collapse a stack, all the photos are grouped under the thumbnail of the top
photo. The number of photos in the stack is displayed in the upper-left corner of the thumbnail.

In the Grid view or the Filmstrip in the Library module, do any of the following:

To expand a stack, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) a collapsed stack and choose Stacking > Expand Stack, or click the
stacking number displayed in the upper-left corner of the photo. You can also select a collapsed stack and choose Photo > Stacking >
Expand Stack.

To expand all stacks, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) any photo and choose Stacking > Expand All Stacks, or select any
photo and choose Photo > Stacking > Expand All Stacks.

To collapse a stack, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) a photo in the stack and choose Stacking > Collapse Stack, or click
the stacking number in the upper-left corner of the photo. You can also select a photo in the stack and choose Photo > Stacking >
Collapse Stack.

To collapse all stacks, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) any photo and choose Stacking > Collapse All Stacks, or select
any photo and choose Photo > Stacking > Collapse All Stacks.

To the top

To the top

To the top

Remove or delete photos from a stack

Removing photos from a stack keeps them in the Lightroom catalog. Deleting photos from a stack removes them from both the stack and the
catalog. Using the Delete Photos command, you also have the option of removing photos from the catalog and deleting them from the hard drive.

1. In the Grid view or the Filmstrip in the Library module, expand a stack.

2. Select one or more photos in the stack and do one of the following:
To remove photos from the stack, choose Photo > Stacking > Remove From Stack.
To delete photos from the stack, choose Photo > Delete Photos. You can also right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) a

thumbnail and choose Delete Photo from the menu.

Removing or deleting a photo from a stack containing only two photos unstacks the photos.

Rearrange photos in a stack

In the Grid view or the Filmstrip in the Library module, select a photo in an expanded stack and do any of the following:

To make it the top photo, choose Photo > Stacking > Move To Top Of Stack.
To move it up in the stack, press Shift -Left bracket, or choose Photo > Stacking > Move Up In Stack.
To move it down in the stack, press Shift-Right bracket, or choose Photo > Stacking > Move Down In Stack.

To the top

To the top

Split a stack into two stacks

83

To the top

Photos within a stack can be grouped into a new separate stack using the Split Stack command. When split, the original stack contains the
remaining photos that were grouped into a new stack.

1. In the Grid view or the Filmstrip in the Library module, expand the stack.

2. Select the photos you want grouped in a different stack.

Note:

The Split Stack command is not available if you only select the top photo in a stack.

3. Choose Photo > Stacking > Split Stack.

Automatically stack photos by capture time

To the top

Lightroom can automatically stack photos in a folder based on their capture time. You specify a duration between capture times to create a new
stack. For example, suppose you specify 1 minute for the duration. All contiguous photos with capture times less than 1minute apart are grouped in
one stack. A new stack is created when the next contiguous photo has a capture time that is 1 minute or more later than the previous photo’s
capture time. In turn, the new stack groups contiguous photos with capture times less than 1 minute apart from each other, and so forth.

You can specify a duration between capture times of 0 seconds to 1 hour. Specifying shorter durations creates more stacks. Specifying longer
durations creates fewer stacks.

1. Select a folder in the Folders panel.

Lightroom auto-stacks all photos in the folder regardless of which photos are selected in the content area or the Filmstrip.

2. Choose Photo > Stacking > Auto-Stack By Capture Time.

3. In the Auto-Stack By Capture Time dialog box, drag the Time Between Stacks slider to specify the minimum duration between capture times

that creates a new stack.

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

Flag, label, and rate photos

84

View ratings, flags, and labels
Set rating stars
Flag or reject photos
Set labels and color groups

For detailed instructions, click the links below.

View ratings, flags, and labels

In the Library module, photos can display rating stars, flags, and color labels, depending on the view options you set.

Note:

Slide shows can display photos with rating stars. See Display ratings in a slide show.

In the Library module, do any of the following to show ratings, flags, and labels:

To show flags and labels in the thumbnail cells of the Grid view, choose View > View Options. Then, in the Grid View tab of the Library
View Options dialog box, select Flags and Tint Grid Cells With Label Colors. To display rating stars, choose Rating from the Top Label or
Bottom Label menu.

To show ratings, flags, and labels in the toolbar in the Grid or Loupe view, choose one or more of the following from the toolbar menu:
Rating, Flagging, or Color Label.

Ratings, flags, and labels are always available beneath photos displayed in the Compare and the Survey views.

Note:

Set rating stars

When assigning ratings to files, you can award from zero to five stars. Rating stars can be set or displayed in any view of the Library module.
Once photos are rated, you can click a rating filter button in the Filmstrip or in the Library Filter bar to display and work on photos that you’ve rated
with a specific number of stars. See Filter photos in the Filmstrip and Grid view and Find photos using the Attribute filters.

With one or more photos selected in the Grid view, or with a single photo selected in the Filmstrip in Loupe, Compare, or Survey view,
choose Photo > Set Rating. Then, choose a rating from the submenu.

note: If more than one photo is selected in the Filmstrip in Loupe, Compare, or Survey view, the rating is applied only to the active photo.

Press a number from 1 through 5 to set the rating. Hold down Shift and press the number to set the rating to select the next photo.

In the Compare and Survey views, you can click one of the five dots under the photos to assign rating stars. Clicking the first dot assigns one
rating star, clicking the second dot assigns two rating stars, clicking the third dot assigns three rating stars, and so forth.

To the top

To the top

Set rating stars in thumbnails in the Grid view

1. In the Grid view, select one or more photos.

2. Click one of the five dots below the thumbnail in a cell.

Clicking the first dot assigns a one-star rating, clicking the second dot assigns two rating stars, clicking the third dot assigns three rating
stars, and so forth.

Note:

To display rating stars in compact thumbnail cells, choose Bottom Label > Rating in the Library View Options. To display rating stars

in Expanded thumbnail cells, select Show Rating Footer in Library View Options. See Set Library view options for the Grid view.

Set rating stars using the Painter tool

1. In the Grid view, select the Painter tool in the toolbar, and then choose Rating from the Paint menu in the toolbar.

Note:

If the Painter tool does not appear in the toolbar, choose Painter from the toolbar menu.

2. Specify the rating in the toolbar, and then click or drag across photos to apply the rating.

3. To disable the Painter, click the circular well in the toolbar. When disabled, the Painter icon is visible in the toolbar.

Set rating stars in the Library toolbar

With one or more photos selected in the Grid view, or with a single photo selected in the Filmstrip in Loupe or Survey view, click a rating star
in the toolbar.

Clicking the first dot assigns a one-star rating, clicking the second dot assigns two rating stars, clicking the third dot assigns three rating

stars, and so forth. If more than one photo is selected in the Filmstrip in Loupe or Survey view, the rating is applied only to the active photo.

85

Note:

For rating stars to appear in the toolbar, choose Rating from the toolbar menu. See Show controls in the Library module toolbar.

Set rating stars in the Metadata panel

1. With one or more photos selected in the Grid view, or with a single photo selected in the Filmstrip in Loupe, Compare, or Survey view,

choose Default, All, Minimal, or Quick Describe from the pop-up menu at the top of the Metadata panel.

2. In the Metadata panel, click one of the five dots next to Rating.

Clicking the first dot assigns one rating star, clicking the second dot assigns two rating stars, clicking the third dot assigns three rating stars,
and so forth. If more than one photo is selected in the Filmstrip in Loupe, Compare, or Survey view, the rating is applied only to the active
photo.

Change ratings

In the Library module, do any of the following to change rating stars in either the thumbnail cell, toolbar, or Metadata panel:

Click a different rating star to increase or decrease the rating. Clicking a one-star rating removes the rating.
Choose Photo > Set Rating, and then choose a different rating or whether to decrease or increase the rating.

You can select photos and press ] to increase the rating or press [ to decrease the rating.

Remove ratings

With one or more photos selected in the Grid view, or with a single photo selected in the Filmstrip in Loupe, Compare, or Survey view,
choose Photo > Set Rating > None. If more than one photo is selected in the Filmstrip in Loupe, Compare, or Survey view, the rating is
removed only from the active photo.

You can also click the stars in a thumbnail cell, in the Library toolbar, or in the Metadata panel to remove ratings. If a photo has a five-

Note:

star rating, for example, click the fifth star to remove the rating. If a photo has a four -star rating, click the fourth star to remove the rating, and
so on.

Flag or reject photos

Flags designate whether a photo is a pick , rejected , or unflagged. Flags are set in the Library module. Once photos are flagged, you can click
a flag filter button in the Filmstrip or in the Library Filter bar to display and work on photos that you’ve labeled with a particular flag. See Filter
photos in the Filmstrip and Grid view and Find photos using the Attribute filters.

Flag states are not saved to XMP. They are not visible or available outside of the Lightroom catalog.

In the Library module, do one of the following:

Select one or more photos in the Grid view, or select a single photo in the Filmstrip in Loupe, Compare, or Survey view. Then, choose
Photo > Set Flag and choose the flag you want. If more than one photo is selected in the Filmstrip in Loupe, Compare, or Survey view,
the flag is applied only to the active photo.

Select one photo in the Grid view or the Filmstrip and press the letter P to flag the image a pick or the letter X to mark it as rejected. Hold
down Shift and press P or X to set the flag and select the next photo. Hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) and press the
Up Arrow or Down Arrow to increase or decrease the flag status, respectively.

(Grid view only) Click the Flag icon in the upper-left corner of the photo thumbnails to apply or remove the Pick flag. Photos with a Reject
flag appear dimmed in the Grid view.

note: To show or set flags in the thumbnail cells of the Grid view, make sure that Flags is selected in the Grid View tab of the Library
View Options dialog box. (Choose View > View Options.)

(Compare and Survey views only) Click the Pick or Rejected flag below the photos.

To the top

Flag photos in the Library toolbar

With one or more photos selected in the Grid view, or with a single photo selected in the Filmstrip in the Loupe or Survey view, click the
desired flag in the toolbar. If more than one photo is selected in the Filmstrip in Loupe or Survey view, the flag is applied only to the active
photo.

To show or set flags in the toolbar, choose Flagging from the toolbar menu.

Note:

Flag photos using the Painter tool

1. In the Grid view, select the Painter tool in the toolbar, and then choose Flag from the Paint menu in the toolbar.

2. Specify the flag status in the toolbar, and then click or drag across photos to apply the flag setting.

Quickly unflag or reject photos

86

The Refine Photos command causes unflagged photos to be flagged as rejected, and picked photos to be unflagged.

1. In the Grid view, select photos.

2. Choose Library > Refine Photos.

3. Click Refine in the Refine Photos dialog box.

Select flagged photos

In the Library module, do any of the following:

To select flagged photos in the Grid view or the Filmstrip, choose Edit > Select Flagged Photos.
To deselect unflagged photos in the Grid view or the Filmstrip, choose Edit > Deselect Unflagged Photos.

Set labels and color groups

Labeling photos with a certain color is a flexible way to quickly mark a large number of photos. For example, suppose you’ve just imported a large
number of photos and are viewing them in the Grid view. As you review each new photo, you can label the ones you want to keep. After this initial
pass, you can click the color label filter buttons in the Filmstrip to display and work on photos that you’ve labeled with a particular color. See Filter
photos in the Filmstrip and Grid view and Find photos using the Attribute filters.

In the Library module, do one of the following:

Select one or more photos in the Grid view, or select a single photo in the Filmstrip in Loupe, Compare, or Survey view. Then, choose
Photo > Set Color Label and choose a label from the submenu. If more than one photo is selected in the Filmstrip in Loupe, Compare, or
Survey view, the label is applied only to the active photo.

(Grid view only) Move the pointer over the Color Label icon at the bottom of the thumbnail cell and then click a color label.

note: To show or set color labels in thumbnail cells, select Include Color Label in the Grid View tab of the Library View Options dialog
box. (Choose View > View Options.)

(Grid, Compare, or Survey view only) Click a color label icon below the photos.

To the top

Set color labels in the Library toolbar

With one or more photos selected the Grid view, or with a single photo selected in the Filmstrip in Loupe or Survey view, click a color label in
the toolbar. If more than one photo is selected in the Filmstrip in Loupe or Survey view, the label is applied only to the active photo.

To show or set color labels in the Library module toolbar, choose Color Label from the toolbar pop-up menu.

Note:

Set color labels using the Painter tool

1. In the Grid view, select the Painter tool in the toolbar, and then choose Label from the Paint menu in the toolbar.

Note:

If the Painter tool does not appear in the toolbar, choose Painter from the toolbar menu.

2. Select the color label in the toolbar, and then click or drag across photos to apply the label.

3. To disable the Painter, click the circular well in the toolbar. When disabled, the Painter icon is visible in the toolbar.

Edit color label sets

You can assign names to color labels in the Edit Color Label Set dialog box. The name is then added to the photo’s metadata when you apply the
label.

1. In the Library module, choose Metadata > Color Label Set > Edit.

2. In the Edit Color Label Set dialog box, type a name next to a color.

3. (Optional) Choose Save Current Setting As New Preset from the Preset menu, type a name in the Preset Name text box, and then click

Create.

4. Click Change.

Delete or rename color label sets

1. In the Library module, choose Metadata > Color Label Set > Edit.

2. In the Edit Color Label Set dialog box, choose a preset from the Preset menu.

3. Do any of the following:
To delete the preset, choose Delete Preset [name of preset] . Click Delete in the alert dialog that opens.
To rename the preset, choose Rename Preset [name of preset]. Type a name in the Preset Name text box, and then click Rename.

Adobe also recommends

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 Tutorial | Working with Basic Filters

87

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

Keywords

88

About keyword tags
View keyword tags
Create keyword tags
Add keyword tags to photos
Copy and paste keyword tags
Remove or delete keyword tags from photos or the catalog
Import and export keywords
Create and apply keyword shortcuts
Add or remove keywords using the Painter tool
Keyword sets
Check and correct keyword spelling (Mac OS)
Type special characters (Mac OS)

For detailed instructions, click the links below.

About keyword tags

Keyword tags are text metadata that describe the important contents of a photo. They help you identify, search for, and find photos in the catalog.
Like other metadata, keyword tags are stored either in the photo file or (in the case of proprietary camera raw files) stored in XMP sidecar files.
Once applied to photos, keywords can be read by Adobe applications such as Adobe Bridge, Photoshop, or Photoshop Elements, or other
applications that support XMP metadata.

Lightroom provides several ways to apply keyword tags to photos. You can type or select them in the Keywording panel, or drag photos to specific
keyword tags in the Keyword List panel.

In the Grid view, photos with keyword tags display a thumbnail badge
You can add, edit, rename, or delete keyword tags at any time. When creating or editing keywords, you can specify synonyms and export options.
Synonyms are related terms for keyword tags. When you select photos that contain keyword tags with synonyms, the synonyms appear in the
Keywording panel when Keyword Tags > Will Export is selected.

Keyword tags can contain other, nested keyword tags. For example, the keyword tag animals might contain the keyword tags dogs and cats. The
keyword tag dogs, in turn, might contain Australian Shepherd, Border Collie, and so on.

Keyword tags can also be organized into groups called keyword sets. By choosing a specific keyword set, relevant keyword tags are more
accessible. This is especially useful as you add more keyword tags to the catalog.

For more about creating and using keywords, watch Keywords from the Learn by Video series.

. All keyword tags in the catalog are viewed in the Keyword List panel.

View keyword tags

All the keyword tags in the catalog are viewed in the Keyword List panel. Each keyword tag displays the number of photos containing it.

In the Library module, do any of the following:

To view the keyword tags in the catalog, expand the Keyword List panel.
To view keyword tags for one photo, select it in the Grid view or in the Filmstrip in Loupe, Compare, or Survey view and look in the

Keyword Tags area of the Keywording panel. Or look at the Keyword List panel: A check mark to the left of a keyword tag in the Keyword
List panel indicates that the selected photo contains that tag.

To view keyword tags for more than one photo, select the photos in the Grid view and look in the Keyword Tags area of the Keywording
panel. An asterisk appears to next to the keyword tags not shared by all the selected photos. In the Keyword List panel, a minus sign to
the left of a keyword tag indicates the tag is not shared by all selected photos.

To the top

To the top

Create keyword tags

1. With one or more photos selected in the Grid view, or with a single photo selected in the Filmstrip in Loupe, Compare, or Survey view, do

any of the following:

Type in the field labeled Click Here To Add Keywords in the Keyword Tags area of the Keywording panel. Then, press Enter (Windows)
or Return (Mac OS). Skip the rest of the steps in this procedure.

To the top

Note:

Click the Plus icon (+) in the Keyword List panel.

89

Commas, semicolons, and pipes ( | ) are not allowed in keywords, as they are used to delimit keyword lists. Keywords cannot end

with an asterisk ( * ). Keywords and synonyms cannot start or end with a space or tab character.

2. In the Create Keyword Tag dialog box, type a name for the keyword tag.

3. Type synonyms for the keyword tag. Use commas to separate the synonyms.

4. Select any of the following options:

Put Inside “[keyword tag]”

under the selected keyword tag so that it is contained by the higher -level tag.

(Available if an existing keyword tag is selected when you create a keyword tag) Nests the new keyword tag

Add To Selected Photos

Include On Export

Export Containing Keywords

Export Synonyms

If more than one photo is selected in Loupe, Compare, or Survey view, keywords are added only to the active photo.

To automatically nest new keywords under a particular higher-level tag, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the higher-level tag in
the Keyword List panel and choose Put New Keywords Inside This Keyword. A dot appears next to the parent keyword, and all new tags
become children to that keyword until you deselect the option in the context menu.

Applies the keyword tag to the selected photos.

Includes the keyword tag when exporting photos. When this option is deselected, the keyword tag is not included.

Includes higher-level keyword tags that contain the keyword tag when exporting photos.

Includes synonyms associated with the keyword tag when exporting photos.

Edit keyword tags

1. In the Library module, right- click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) a keyword tag in the Keyword List panel, and choose Edit Keyword

Tag from the menu.

2. In the Edit Keyword Tag dialog box, type any changes to the keyword tag name, add synonyms, or set any of the following keyword tag

options:

Include On Export

Export Containing Keywords

Export Synonyms

Includes the keyword tag when exporting photos. When this option is deselected, the keyword tag is not included.

Includes higher-level keyword tags that contain the keyword tag when exporting photos.

Includes synonyms associated with the keyword tag when exporting photos.

Rename keyword tags

1. In the Library module, right- click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the keyword tag in the Keyword List panel, and choose Rename from

the menu.

2. Overwrite the keyword in the box and then click outside the box to commit the change.

Add keyword tags to photos

The Keywording panel of the Library module lets you add keyword tags to photos by either typing a new keyword tag or applying keyword tags
from a keyword set. You can also add keyword tags to photos by dragging photos to keywords in the Keyword List panel. And you can apply
keyword tags to photos using the Painter tool. See Add or remove keywords using the Painter tool.

When you add keyword tags to photos, the changes are stored in Lightroom, but the keywords aren’t saved to the files unless the Automatically
Write Changes Into XMP option is selected in the Catalog Settings dialog box. To save the keywords to the files manually, choose Metadata >
Save Metadata To File.

1. To apply keywords to more than one photo at a time, select them in the Grid view. Or, select a single photo in the Filmstrip in Loupe,

Compare, or Survey view.

Note:

If more than one photo is selected in the Filmstrip in Loupe, Compare, or Survey view, the keywords will be added only to the active

photo.

2. Do any of the following:
Type keyword tags in the field labeled Click Here To Add Keywords in the Keyword Tags area of the Keywording panel. Separate

keyword tags using commas.
Click a keyword tag in the Keyword Suggestions area of the Keywording panel. Keyword suggestions are based on a variety of criteria,

including existing keywords applied to the selected photo and to other photos captured within a relatively close period of time.
Click a keyword tag from a keyword set in the Keyword Set area of the Keywording panel.
Click the target box to the left of a keyword tag in the Keyword List panel. A check mark indicates the selected photo contains that

To the top

keyword tag.

(Grid view only) Drag selected photos to keyword tags in the Keyword List panel. Or, drag a keyword tag from the Keyword List panel to

90

When keyword tags are added to photos, the Keyword List panel updates to reflect the total number of photos that use the tag.

the selected photos.

Keyword tags can also be added to photos as they are imported into Lightroom.

Note:

Copy and paste keyword tags

1. In the Grid view, select the photo with the keyword tags you want to copy.

2. In the applied tags area of the Keywording panel, select the keyword tags. Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) and choose

Copy.

3. Select the photos in the Grid view to which you want to add keyword tags.

4. Click in the applied tags area of the Keywording panel and the right -click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) and choose Paste.

Remove or delete keyword tags from photos or the catalog

With one or more photos selected in the Grid view, or with one photo selected in the Filmstrip in Loupe, Compare, or Survey view, do any of
the following:

To remove keyword tags from photos, choose Keyword Tags > Enter Keywords in the Keywording panel. Then, select one or more
keyword tags in the text box in the panel and delete them. If more than one photo is selected in the Filmstrip in Loupe, Compare, or
Survey view, the keyword tags are removed only from the active photo.

To permanently delete a keyword tag from photos and the catalog, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the keyword tag in
the Keyword List panel and choose Delete from the menu. You can also select keyword tags and click the Minus icon ( -) at the top of the
Keyword List panel.

note: If you accidentally delete keyword tags, immediately press Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Command+Z (Mac OS) to undo the deletion.

To automatically delete any unused keyword tags from the catalog, choose Metadata > Purge Unused Keywords.

Note: Deleting keywords using the Purge Unused Keywords command cannot be undone.

When keyword tags are removed from photos, the Keyword List panel updates to reflect the total number of photos that use the tag.

To the top

To the top

Import and export keywords

Importing and exporting keywords lets you share the keyword tags you created to identify photos. For example, keywords can be exported from
one catalog and imported into another catalog on the same or a different computer. You can also import keywords from other applications, such as
Adobe Bridge 2.1. Lightroom imports keyword lists saved as plain-text files. If the list contains special characters, the list must be tab-delimited
and saved in UTF-8 format.

Exporting keywords writes the keyword tags to a text file. When you create or edit keyword tags, you can specify whether to include them during
the export. When you import keywords from a text file, they become keyword tags in the catalog and appear in the Keyword List panel.

In the Library module, do any of the following:

To import keywords into the catalog, choose Metadata > Import Keywords, navigate to and select the text file or catalog file containing
keywords, and then click Open (Windows) or Choose (Mac OS).

To export all exportable keywords from the catalog, choose Metadata > Export keywords, select a location for the keywords file, and then
click Save.

Create and apply keyword shortcuts

Keyword shortcuts let you quickly apply one or more keywords to multiple photos. After you define the shortcut, you apply it using the Add
Keyword command in the context menu, or by using the Painter tool. See Add or remove keywords using the Painter tool.

1. In the Library module, do one of the following:
Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) one keyword tag in the Keyword List panel and choose Use This As Keyword Shortcut

from the menu. Skip step 2.
Choose Metadata > Set Keyword Shortcut.

2. In the Set Keyword Shortcut dialog box, type one or more keyword tags, separating them with commas, and then click Set.

Lightroom provides hints as you type. To choose a keyword hint, click it in the pop-up list.

To the top

To the top

A Plus sign (+) next to a keyword in the Keyword List panel indicates that it is part of the current keyword shortcut.

91

3. To apply the keyword shortcut, select one or more photos in the Grid view or the Filmstrip, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS),

and choose Add Keyword [Name Of Keyword Tag] .

Add or remove keywords using the Painter tool

Once you’ve specified the keywords for the keyword shortcut, you can quickly apply the keyword shortcut to photos using the Painter tool.

Note:

If the Painter tool does not appear in the toolbar, choose Painter from the toolbar menu.

1. In the Library module, do one of the following:
Choose Metadata > Enable Painting.
In the Grid view, click the Painter tool icon in the toolbar.

When the Painter tool is enabled, the pointer becomes a painter icon and the Painter icon is no longer visible in the toolbar.

2. If necessary, choose Keywords from the Paint menu in the toolbar.

3. If necessary, type the keyword or keywords you want to add or remove in the toolbar field.

4. Do any of the following:
To apply a keyword shortcut to a single photo, click the photo using the Painter tool.
To apply a keyword shortcut to multiple photos, click and drag across the photos in the Grid view.
To remove a keyword shortcut, press Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) to change the Painter tool to an eraser. Click the photo again,

or click and drag across multiple photos, with the eraser.

Tip: Filter the photos in Grid view by clicking the white arrow at the far right of the keyword in the Keyword List panel so that only the
photos containing the keywords you want to remove are displayed.

5. To disable the Painter, click the circular well in the toolbar. When disabled, the Painter icon is visible in the toolbar.

Keyword sets

To the top

To the top

As you add increasing numbers of keyword tags to the catalog, it’s important to create keyword sets so you can easily access relevant keyword
tags. For example, you can create keyword sets of up to nine keyword tags for certain events, locations, people, or assignments. Keyword sets do
not change how keyword tags are written to the photo’s metadata. They simply provide different ways to organize keyword tags. Keyword tags can
belong to more than one keyword set.

Create keyword sets

In the Library module, do any of the following:

To convert the Recent Keywords set into a saved keyword set, click the Keyword Set pop-up menu in the Keywording panel and choose
Save Current Settings As New Preset. Type a name for the keyword set and click Create.

To include specific keyword tags in a keyword set, make sure that a keyword set is chosen in the Keywording panel. Then, either choose
Keyword Set > Edit Set in the Keywording panel or choose Metadata > Keyword Set > Edit. Type or overwrite keyword tags in the text
boxes, and choose Save Current Settings As New Preset from the Preset menu. In the New Preset dialog box, type a name for the
keyword set and click Create.

Choose keyword sets

In the Keywording panel of the Library module, choose a keyword set from the Keyword Set pop-up menu:

Recent Keywords

Outdoor Photography

Portrait Photography

Wedding Photography

Displays the most recently used keyword tags.

Displays keywords associated with nature photography.

Displays keywords associated with portrait photography.

Displays keywords associated with wedding photography.

Edit keyword sets

1. In the Library module, choose Edit Set from the Keyword Set pop-up menu in the Keywording panel.

2. In the Edit Keyword Set dialog box, type keyword tags in the text boxes. Overwrite or select and delete keyword tags that you don’t want to

include in the keyword set.

3. (Optional) To create a keyword set, choose Save Current Settings As New Preset from the Preset menu. Then, in the New Preset dialog

box, type a name for the keyword set and click Create.

In the Library module, choose Edit > Special Characters.

92

4. Click Change to update the keyword sets.

Rename or delete keyword sets

1. In the Library module, choose Edit Set from the Keyword Set pop-up menu in the Keywording panel.

Note:

The Edit option isn’t visible if Recent Keywords is chosen in the Set pop-up menu.

2. In the Edit Keyword Set dialog box, choose the keyword set from the Preset menu.

3. Do one of the following:
To rename the keyword set, choose Rename Preset “Name Of Keyword Set” from the Preset menu.
To delete the keyword set, choose Delete Preset “Name Of Keyword Set” from the Preset menu.

Check and correct keyword spelling (Mac OS)

When you check the spelling of keyword tags, Lightroom questions any words that aren’t in its dictionary. If a questioned word is spelled correctly,
you can confirm its spelling by adding the word to the dictionary. If a questioned word is misspelled, you can correct it.

Note:

These instructions are for Mac OS X v. 10.6. Spell- check commands and options in other versions of Mac OS X may vary.

1. In the Library module, click in the Keyword Tags text box of the Keywording panel.

2. Choose Edit > Spelling > Show Spelling And Grammar.

3. (Optional) Choose a language from the pop-up menu in the Spelling and Grammar dialog box. This is the language for the dictionary

Lightroom uses to check spelling.

4. As Lightroom finds unfamiliar words and other possible errors, click one of the following:

Ignore

Continues the spelling check without changing the text.

Learn

Stores the unrecognized word in the dictionary, so that subsequent occurrences are not flagged as misspellings.

Define

Looks up the word in the dictionary.

Guess

Suggests possible corrections for the word.

Find Next

Change

Continues the spelling search.

Corrects a misspelling. Make sure that the correctly spelled word is in the text box and click Change.

To the top

Highlight misspelled words (Mac OS)

1. After entering keyword tags in the Library module, click in the Keyword Tags text box of the Keywording panel.

2. Choose Edit > Spelling > Check Spelling.

The first misspelled word in the text box is highlighted.

3. Control- click the highlighted word and choose one of the following:

Suggested spelling corrections

the spelling.

Lightroom lists suggested spelling corrections at the top of the context menu. Choose a word to correct

Ignore Spelling

Learn Spelling

You can also choose Spelling And Grammar > Show Spelling And Grammar from the context menu to open a dialog box for more

Note:

options.

Continues the spelling check without changing the text.

Stores the unrecognized word in the dictionary, so that subsequent occurrences are not flagged as misspellings.

Check spelling as you type (Mac OS)

Lightroom can automatically check the spelling as you type keyword tags. When you misspell a word, it’s underlined.

1. In the Library module, click the Keyword Tags text box of the Keywording panel.

2. Choose Edit > Spelling > Check Spelling While Typing.

Type special characters (Mac OS)

To the top

For more information on creating special characters, consult the Mac OS Help.

93

Adobe also recommends

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

Metadata basics and actions

EXIF

94

About metadata and XMP
View photo metadata
Add and edit IPTC metadata
Change the photo capture time

For detailed instructions, click the links below.

About metadata and XMP

Metadata is a set of standardized information about a photo, such as the author’s name, resolution, color space, copyright, and keywords applied
to it. For example, most digital cameras attach some basic information about a file, such as height, width, file format, and the time the image was
taken. Lightroom also supports the information standard developed by the International Press Telecommunications Council (IPTC) to identify
transmitted text and images. This standard includes entries for descriptions, keywords, categories, credits, and origins. You can use metadata to
streamline your workflow and organize your files.

File information is stored using the Extensible Metadata Platform (XMP) standard. XMP is built on XML. In the case of camera raw files that have a
proprietary file format, XMP isn’t written into the original files. To avoid file corruption, XMP metadata is stored in a separate file called a sidecar
file. For all other file formats supported by Lightroom (JPEG, TIFF, PSD, and DNG), XMP metadata is written into the files in the location specified
for that data. XMP facilitates the exchange of metadata between Adobe applications and across publishing workflows. For example, you can save
metadata from one file as a template, and then import the metadata into other files.

Metadata that is stored in other formats, such as EXIF, IPTC (IIM), and TIFF, is synchronized and described with XMP so that it can be more
easily viewed and managed.

To the top

Specify where to write metadata changes

Lightroom automatically writes adjustments and settings metadata to the catalog. You can also instruct Lightroom to write the changes to XMP. In
order for changes made in Lightroom to be recognized by other applications, metadata must be written to XMP.

1. Choose Edit > Catalog Settings (Windows) or Lightroom > Catalog Settings (Mac OS).

2. Click the Metadata tab, and then do either of the following:
To write adjustments and settings metadata to XMP, select Automatically Write Changes Into XMP.
To write adjustments and settings metadata only to the catalog, deselect Automatically Write Changes Into XMP.

If you don’t write adjustments and settings metadata to XMP automatically, you can select a file and choose Metadata > Save Metadata To File.

Save metadata changes to a file manually

To manually save metadata changes to a photo in Lightroom, do one of the following:

Select one or more photos in the Grid view of the Library module and choose Metadata > Save Metadata To File(s), or press Ctrl+S
(Windows) or Command+S (Mac OS).

Click the Metadata File Needs To Be Updated icon in a thumbnail in the Grid view of the Library module, and then click Save.
If you’re working with a DNG file, choose Metadata > Update DNG Previews & Metadata to save metadata changes to the file and also

generate a preview based on the current raw processing settings.

View photo metadata

In the Library module, the Metadata panel displays the filename, file path, rating, text label, and EXIF and IPTC metadata of selected photos. Use
the pop -up menu to choose a set of metadata fields. Lightroom has premade sets that display different combinations of metadata.

With one or more photos selected in the Grid view, or with a single photo selected in the Filmstrip in Loupe, Compare, or Survey view,
choose any of the following from the pop-up menu at the top of the Metadata panel:

Default

All Plug-In Metadata

name, and folder are displayed.

Shows the filename, copy name, folder, rating, text label, and a subset of IPTC and EXIF metadata.

Displays custom metadata created by third-party plug -ins. If you don’t have any plug- ins installed, filename, copy

Shows the filename, file path, dimensions, and EXIF camera metadata such as Exposure, Focal Length, ISO Speed Rating, and Flash.

To the top

If your camera records GPS metadata, the information appears as EXIF metadata.

95

EXIF and IPTC

Shows the filename and basic IPTC metadata: Contact, Content, Image, Status, and Copyright metadata.

IPTC

IPTC Extension

Large Caption

Location

Minimal

Quick Describe

Camera, Title, Caption, Copyright, Creator, and Location.

In the Metadata panel, if an IPTC metadata field displays an arrow, clicking the arrow is a quick way to find and view all photos containing
the specific metadata.

If multiple photos with different metadata settings are selected, the metadata fields display <mixed>. To show the metadata for the photo
that’s targeted (active) within the selection, choose Metadata > Show Metadata For Target Photo Only. If more than one photo is selected in
the Filmstrip in Loupe, Compare, or Survey view, the Metadata panel displays metadata only for the active photo.

Add and edit IPTC metadata

Metadata is added to photos by entering the information in the Metadata panel. Premade metadata sets make it easy to make all or only a subset
of the photo’s metadata available for adding or editing.

Note:

Choosing a metadata preset, copying and pasting metadata from another photo, and synchronizing metadata are quick ways to add

metadata to photos that will share the same metadata.

1. With one or more photos selected in the Grid view, or with a single photo selected in the Filmstrip in Loupe, Compare, or Survey view,

choose a metadata set from the pop- up menu at the top of the Metadata panel. See View photo metadata.

2. Do any of the following:
To add metadata, type in a metadata text box.
To add metadata from a preset, choose a metadata preset from the Preset menu.
To edit metadata, overwrite an entry in a metadata text box.
To perform a related action, click the action icon to the right of the metadata field. For example, to view all photos with the specified

label, click the icon to the right of the Label field.

Tip: Separate fields are available for sending e-mail and for jumping to a website link. By clicking the link to the right of Website, for
example, you can open the browser to the specified website.

Shows the filename, size, type, location, metadata status, as well as all EXIF and basic IPTC metadata.

Shows the filename and IPTC metadata for model and artwork releases and other types of licensing rights.

Shows a large caption edit box and the copyright box.

Shows the filename, copy name, folder, title, caption, and location fields, including GPS coordinates.

Shows the filename, rating, plus Caption and Copyright metadata.

Shows the filename, copy name, file path, rating, and the following EXIF and IPTC metadata: Dimensions, Date Time,

To the top

If more than one photo is selected in the Filmstrip in Loupe, Compare, or Survey view, the metadata is added only to the active photo.

Change the photo capture time

Sometimes you need to change the capture time for your photos. For example, you might need to change the capture times if you traveled to a
different time zone and didn’t change your camera’s date/time setting before you started photographing, or if you imported a scanned photo into
Lightroom, the photo would contain the creation date of when it was scanned, rather than when it was taken.

In order to save an edited capture time to a raw photo, you must enable the option in the Catalog Settings dialog box. See Change catalog
settings.

Changing the capture time changes the Date Time Original EXIF metadata in the Metadata panel. For most cameras, Date Time Original and Date
Time Digitized are the same, so Date Time Digitized changes, too. The Date Time metadata indicates the last time the photo was updated and is
not affected when you change the capture time.

Note:

The Edit Capture Time command cannot be undone by pressing Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Command+Z (Mac OS). You would need to use the

Revert Capture Time To Original command.

1. With one or more photos selected in the Grid view, or with a single photo selected in the Filmstrip in Loupe, Compare, or Survey view, do

one of the following:

Choose Metadata > Edit Capture Time.
In the Metadata panel with EXIF information displayed, click the arrow in the Date Time field.

To the top

2. In the Edit Capture Time dialog box, select the type of adjustment:

96

Adjust To A Specified Date And Time

Changes the capture time to the date and time you specify.

Shift By Set Number Of Hours (Time Zone Adjust)

Changes the capture time by the number of hours you add to or subtract from the

original time.

Change To File Creation Date For Each Image

Changes the capture time in the camera EXIF data to the file creation date. If you select

this option, skip step 3.

3. In the New Time area of the dialog box, do one of the following:
If you selected Adjust To A Specified Date And Time, type a new date and time in the Corrected Time text box. You can also select the

date and time values and then use the Up or Down Arrow buttons to increase or decrease the values.
If you selected Shift By Set Number Of Hours, choose a value from the pop-up menu to adjust the time forward or back.

Note:

If more than one photo is selected in the Grid view, Lightroom changes the capture time for the active photo by the specified
adjustment. (The active photo is previewed in the Edit Capture Time dialog box.) Other photos in the selection are adjusted by the same
amount of time. If more than one photo is selected in the Filmstrip in Loupe, Compare, or Survey view, the capture time is changed only on
the active photo.

4. (Optional) To revert the capture time back to the original, select the photos in the Grid view or the Filmstrip and choose Metadata > Revert
Capture Time To Original.

Adobe also recommends

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

Advanced metadata actions

Metadata Was Changed Externally

97

Copy and paste metadata between photos
Synchronize metadata between photos in the catalog
Synchronize Lightroom metadata with Camera Raw and Adobe Bridge
Metadata panel actions
Create and apply metadata presets

Copy and paste metadata between photos

Copying and pasting metadata from one photo to selected photos provides a fast way to add information and IPTC metadata to photos. Using the
Copy Metadata and Paste Metadata commands saves you the effort of repeatedly typing the same metadata into photos.

1. In the Grid view, select a photo that you want to copy metadata from and choose Metadata > Copy Metadata.

2. In the Copy Metadata dialog box, select the information and IPTC metadata that you want to copy, and then click Copy.

3. Select photos in the Grid view, and choose Metadata > Paste Metadata.

Synchronize metadata between photos in the catalog

Specific metadata in selected photos can be synchronized with metadata in another photo. This provides a fast way to add information and IPTC
metadata to photos. Synchronizing metadata saves you the effort of repeatedly typing the same metadata into photos.

1. Select a photo in the Grid view that has metadata that other photos will synchronize to. This becomes the active photo.

2. Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) to select photos that will synchronize with the active photo. Shift-click to select contiguous
photos.

3. Do one of the following:

Click the Sync button below the panels on the right.
Choose Metadata > Sync Metadata.

4. In the Synchronize Metadata dialog box, select the metadata that you want and then click Synchronize.

Note:

The metadata you select to synchronize overwrites existing metadata in the selected photos.

5. (Optional) Choose Metadata > Enable Auto Sync or click the Enable Auto Sync switch on the Sync button to automatically apply metadata
changes to all selected photos as you edit.

To the top

To the top

Synchronize Lightroom metadata with Camera Raw and Adobe Bridge

By default, Lightroom metadata is saved to the catalog file. For Camera Raw, Photoshop, and Adobe Bridge to view changes to Lightroom
metadata, including Develop module adjustment settings, metadata changes must be saved to XMP in Lightroom. When you save metadata to a
raw file, the changes are saved in an XMP sidecar file. With other file types, the metadata is saved in the file itself.

Note:

Keyword hierarchies created in any of these applications are preserved, and no data is lost, even though they might not appear in one or

more of the applications. Versions earlier than Camera Raw 4.1 may not recognize some of the Develop module adjustments made in Lightroom.

Automatically save metadata changes to photos in Lightroom

The easiest way to make sure that Adobe Bridge and Camera Raw see metadata changes made in Lightroom is to automatically save those
changes as you work.

1. Choose Edit > Catalog Settings (Windows) or Lightroom > Catalog Settings (Mac OS).

2. In the Metadata tab, select Automatically Write Changes Into XMP.

View unsaved metadata

Lightroom displays three types of icons in the Grid view of the Library module to identify unsaved metadata:

Metadata File Needs To Be Updated

Indicates unsaved metadata changes made to the photo in Lightroom.

To the top