More than 3 years have passed since the release of Lightroom mobile, but I know many of you still haven’t had time to investigate where the mobile apps fit in the Lightroom ecosystem, and more importantly, how they can help in your workflow, so in this series of blog posts, we’ll explore the mobile apps… Click to continue
Lightroom Mobile Infographics
Trying to find your way round Lightroom mobile? This free set of Lightroom Mobile Infographics shows exactly what all the buttons, sliders and switches actually DO. New features are usually tested on the iPhone first, and then rolled out to iPad and Android too, so we’ll use the iPhone version for the infographics. If you… Click to continue
How do I rearrange existing photos into a new dated folder structure?
Last week, we discussed how to create, rename and delete folders, and how to move photos between folders. If you’re moving to a dated folder structure, Lightroom won’t create the folder structure automatically, but it can help. Here’s how: Create your new dated folder structure in the Folders panel. Month folders inside of year folders… Click to continue
How do I reorganize my Folders panel?
Lightroom only automatically organizes photos (for example, into dated folders) while importing, but if your existing folder structure is a mess, you can tidy it up manually by creating, moving, renaming and deleting folders and photos. While Lightroom doesn’t care where the photos are stored, it does make it easier to back up and move Lightroom.… Click to continue
How do I copy metadata or edits between photos?
In last week’s post, we identified all of the duplicate photos in your catalog and deleted many of them. There may still be some duplicate photos left, whether these are real files on the hard drive or virtual copies created during the merge process, with edits you don’t want to lose. For example, you may… Click to continue
How do I clean up duplicate photos?
Over the last few weeks, we’ve been learning how to merge multiple catalogs into a single catalog. In the process, you may have ended up with a load of duplicated photos that you now need to clean up. But it’s not just merging catalogs that can introduce duplicates. Importing photos with Don’t import suspected duplicates unchecked, or importing… Click to continue
Merging Catalogs – Stage 4 – Cleanup
In the last few posts, we’ve been merging multiple catalogs into a single new Master catalog. Once the photos are all in a single catalog, you can finish cleaning up. Fix Missing Photos If any photos are still marked as missing, now’s the time to track down the originals and relink them. It’s important to… Click to continue
Merging Catalogs – Stage 3 – Using Import from Another Catalog to Merge
In the last post, we finished gathering information about the catalogs and created a plan of action. With all of the information to hand, you’re ready to start merging catalogs. Open Lightroom and go to File menu > New Catalog. This will become your new Master catalog, so give it a sensible name and choose the location… Click to continue
Merging Catalogs – Stage 2 – Prepare Catalogs for a Clean Merge
In the last post, we figured out which of your multiple catalogs you want to merge into your new Master Catalog. There’s a little more preparation work to do, which will help to avoid problems later, and then we can go ahead with the merge. Stage 2 – Prepare Catalogs for a Clean Merge Based on… Click to continue
Merging Catalogs – Stage 1 – Identifying Catalogs
In the last post in the series, we gained an overview of the process of merging multiple catalogs into a single Master catalog. The first task is to identify which catalogs contain metadata you want to keep. The easiest way to do this is to make a list or spreadsheet of all the catalogs, something like this: (Click… Click to continue
Merging Catalogs – The Overview
Some weeks ago, we discussed the arguments for and against multiple catalogs. Perhaps you’ve unintentionally ended up with multiple catalogs, because you opened a backup catalog and continued working in it, or you’ve started a new catalog each time you’ve upgraded Lightroom. If you have metadata and edits scattered across multiple catalogs, you won’t want to lose all of… Click to continue
How do I clean up my keyword list?
In the previous post, we learned how to start keywording from scratch, but many Lightroom users have already added a few keywords, so this week, we’ll do some cleanup. How do I edit an existing keyword? If you want to edit a keyword, perhaps to correct the spelling, simply right-click on the keyword in the Keyword… Click to continue
How do I assign keywords to my photos?
Having decided how you’ll keyword your photos and whether to use a flat list or hierarchy, you can either start by building your keyword list in the Keyword List panel and then apply these keywords to your photos, or you can start keywording the photos and allow your keyword list to build gradually. Adding your… Click to continue
Should I use flat or hierarchical keywords?
In the last post, we were talking about the kind of keywords to add to your photos, but this week, let’s talk about the pros and cons of flat vs. hierarchical keyword lists. On the left, we have a single long flat list of keywords, and on the right, a hierarchy of keywords nested inside other… Click to continue
What kind of keywords should I assign to my photos?
In previous weeks, we’ve discussed the benefits of keeping all of the photos in a single catalog and using Lightroom’s tools to organize them. For the next four posts in the series, we’re exploring keywords. Keyword tags are text metadata used to describe the content of the photo. Unlike collections, keywords can be stored in the metadata of… Click to continue