- Getting started
- Organizing folders
- Using collections to organize images
- Taking your collections on the road
- Using flags and ratings
- Adding metadata
- Tagging faces in the People view
- Organizing photos by location
- Finding and filtering files
- Reconnecting missing files and folders
- Review questions
- Review answers
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Organizing folders
Each time you import an image, Lightroom creates a new catalog entry to record the file’s address and lists the folder in which it is stored—and the volume that contains that folder—in the Folders panel in the left panel group.
In the Folders panel, you can organize your photo library at the most basic level by rearranging files and folders on your hard disk without ever leaving the Lightroom Classic CC workspace; you can create or delete folders at the click of a button and move files and folders by simply dragging them.
When you use the Folders panel to move a photo between folders, Lightroom will delete the image file from its original location and update the library catalog with the file’s new address. Lightroom maintains a single catalog entry for each photo you import, so a master image cannot be duplicated in separate folders or added to the catalog twice.
Creating subfolders
In this exercise you’ll use the Folders panel to begin organizing the photos in the Lesson 4 folder into categories by separating them into subfolders. You’ll use two methods of creating a subfolder.
Click the Lesson 4 folder in the Folders panel; then, Ctrl-click / Command-click to select the four images of the Eiffel Tower in the Grid view.
In the Folders panel header, click the Create New Folder button (
) and choose Add Subfolder from the menu. Make sure the Show Photos In Subfolders option is activated.In the Create Folder dialog box, type Architecture as the name for the new subfolder, activate the option Include Selected Photos, and then click Create.
TipFrom the 2018 release of Lightroom Classic CC, you can now mark those folders you work with frequently as Favorites, making it easy to assess them quickly via the Favorite Sources menu in the header of the Filmstrip. Simply right-click / Control-click a folder in the Folders panel and choose Mark Favorite; the folder icon will be marked with a star at the lower right.
In the Folders panel, expand the Lesson 4 folder to see the Architecture folder nested inside. The image count for the new subfolder shows that it contains the four images that you selected in step 1.
With the Lesson 4 folder still selected in the Folders panel, select the remaining eight images.
Right-click / Control-click the Lesson 4 folder and choose Create Folder inside “Lesson 4” from the context menu. Type Vacation as the folder name, activate the Include Selected Photos option, and then click Create. Click the Vacation subfolder to see the eight images you selected in step 5.
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Tip
As your catalog grows, the Folders panel can become more and more difficult to navigate. Managing your folders may help to an extent, but when you need to find a folder quickly, you can type its name in the Folders panel search box, right below the panel header.
Making changes to a folder’s content
When you rearrange files and folders in the Folders panel the changes are also made on your hard disk. Inversely, the Folders panel needs to be updated to reflect any changes you make to the location, name, or contents of a folder from outside the Lightroom Classic CC workspace. In this exercise you’ll experience this first hand by deleting an image in Windows Explorer / the Finder.
Tip
To rename a folder in the Folders panel, right-click / Control-click its name and choose Rename from the context menu. Be aware that when you rename a folder in the Folders panel, the change affects the folder on the hard disk.
Click the Lesson 4 folder in the Folders panel. Right-click / Ctrl-click any of the photos of the Eiffel Tower in the Grid view or the Filmstrip, and then choose Show In Explorer /Show In Finder from the context menu.
The Explorer / Finder window opens. Note the Architecture and Vacation subfolders inside the Lesson 4 folder. Right-click / Ctrl-click the image file DSC_3899.jpg inside the Lesson 4 folder and choose Delete / Move To Trash from the context menu.
Switch back to Lightroom Classic CC. In the Grid view, the thumbnail of the image that you deleted in the Explorer / Finder window now has an alert badge in the upper right corner of its grid cell. This indicates that there is still an entry for the image in the library catalog but the link to the original file is broken. When the image is selected, the missing photo alert also appears below the Histogram.
Click the missing photo badge. A dialog box opens offering you the option to locate the missing file and reestablish its link to the catalog. Click Cancel.
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As you deleted the file intentionally you should now remove it from the library catalog. You can remove a missing photo from your catalog by selecting its thumbnail in the Grid view or the Filmstrip and pressing Alt+Backspace / Option+Delete or by choosing Photo > Remove Photo From Catalog. Don’t remove the photo from the catalog yet—if you’ve done so already, choose Edit > Undo Remove Photo From Catalog. In the next exercise you’ll learn a different technique for updating the catalog by synchronizing folders.
Synchronizing folders
When you synchronize the folders in the Lightroom Classic CC catalog with the folders on your hard disk you have the option to remove catalog entries for files that have been deleted, import photos that have been added to your folders, or scan for files with updated metadata.
You can specify which folders and subfolders will be synchronized and which new images you want added to your library.
Make sure that the Lesson 4 folder is still selected in the Folders panel.
Choose Library > Synchronize Folder.
In the Synchronize Folder “Lesson 4” dialog box, the import options are unavailable, indicating that there have been no new photos added to the Lesson 4 folder. Activate the option Remove Missing Photos From Catalog (1), disable Scan For Metadata Updates, and then click Synchronize.
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Tip
The Import New Photos option in the Synchronize Foldersdialog box automatically imports any files that have been added to a folder without yet having been added to your image library. Optionally, activate Show Import Dialog Before Importing to choose which of those files you wish to import. Activate the Scan For Metadata Updates option to check for files with metadata modified in another application.
The missing image is removed from your catalog and its thumbnail is no longer displayed in the Grid view; all the remaining links between your library catalog and the Lesson 4 folder on your hard disk have been restored.
