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Sort by capture date function not working properly

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Ray

Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2022
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46
Lightroom Version Number
12.1
Operating System
  1. Windows 10
The sort by capture date in grid view not working properly. The files have a capture date and were imported not scanned . I see that this is an old problem. Are there any new suggestions or solutions
Thankyou
Ray
 
Yes it is a long standing issue especially when you have more than one source selected.

You can try a few things that sometimes work

1) Swap a-z with z-a to reverse the order and then swap back

2) switch to another source then switch back

3) Change to another sort field (e.g. file name) then switch back.

4) clear the QC (quick collection), then put all the displayed images in the QC and view through the QC

Many times none of these work.
 
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There are a number of gotchas with LR capture time -- some are user mistakes and most are LR bugs. If Califdan's suggestions don't help, then very possibly we can identify the issue and likely workarounds:

1. In Library, do the menu command View > View Options and set Compact Cell Extras to:

1673757394970.png


2. Ensure the menu items View > Sort > Capture Time and > Ascending are checked.

3. Scroll until you identify two thumbnails that are not correctly sorted.

4. Post a full-resolution screenshot of the entire LR window.

5. For each of the two thumbnails, select the thumbnail and post a screenshot of the top part of the Metadata > EXIF panel, including the Date Time fields, e.g.

1673757751557.png
 
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There are a number of gotchas with LR capture time -- some are user mistakes and most are LR bugs. If Califdan's suggestions don't help, then very possibly we can identify the issue and likely workarounds:

1. In Library, do the menu command View > View Options and set Compact Cell Extras to:

View attachment 20184

2. Ensure the menu items View > Sort > Capture Time and > Ascending are checked.

3. Scroll until you identify two thumbnails that are not correctly sorted.

4. Post a full-resolution screenshot of the entire LR window.

5. For each of the two thumbnails, select the thumbnail and post a screenshot of the top part of the Metadata > EXIF panel, including the Date Time fields, e.g.

View attachment 20185
Thanks for your help
Hopefully I have followed your instructions correctly
Thanks Ray
 

Attachments

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    Full screen.JPG
    805.2 KB · Views: 39
  • Capture 2.JPG
    Capture 2.JPG
    55.3 KB · Views: 32
  • Capture 3.JPG
    Capture 3.JPG
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Very good, that clarifies what's happening. These two thumbnails are not sorting properly:

1673825169170.png


The first, Mute Swan 2.jpg, contains a capture date in its metadata (Date Time Original):

1673825316223.png

but the second, Common Ground-Dove 1.jpg, does not:

1673825388892.png


LR has a number of bad behaviors when a photo is missing a capture date, including sorting incorrectly. Adobe tried half-heartedly to fix these back in LR 7 but failed:
https://community.adobe.com/t5/ligh...ate-time-for-photos-and-videos/idi-p/12664084

At this point, I don't think they have the engineering skills on staff to fix it.

Were the photos like Common Ground-Dove 1.jpg downloaded from another service or edited in a program other than LR?

The workaround is to ensure all of your photos have valid capture dates stored in their metadata using the Edit Capture Time command. See this post for detailed instructions:
https://community.adobe.com/t5/ligh...ion-changes-capture-date/m-p/13474588#M306248
 
John, I just saw this and what an outstanding post! In my travel shooting, I sort everything after import and before editing by the date/time of the trigger pull. That is very important to me. I import my day's shooting each night into the same folder on the laptop while on the road and I by default sort the filmstrip by shoot time/date and then rename the files. It is important in my work that the shots remain in the order shot on the trip and that I don't get them mixed in with other days or that the order displays in some other way on the filmstrip after import.
I have never had a problem with that because I shoot with new cameras and import directly to LR so the meta doesn't get fouled or added to with intermediate saves or use in other apps. LR has no problem picking up on the real shot time in my workflow.
But this information is good to know. Victoria should put a paragraph in the book about this. Really good general LR knowledge.
Thanks!
 
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