GetOrganzedInLightroom Optimized

C H A P T E R
THE LIBRARY
S E C T I O N
THE
LIBRARY
MODULE
Lightroom is a powerful manager of digital

photography. The heart of it is the Library
Module. Work in the rest of the modules begins
by choosing a photograph or a group of them
in the Library.
K E V I N
A M E S
S E C T I O N
1 |
T H E
L I B R A R Y
M O D U L E
DATABASE
WHAT HAPPENS IN THE LIBRARY MODULE?
Lightroom is at its core a database. It stores all of the information about a

photograph. From the camera settings at the time of exposure, to keywords,
copyright and creator info through all of the changes made in the Develop
module, face recognition and even GPS coordinates; Lightroom maintains and
retrieves these data on demand. Its very important to know that Lightroom is only
a database. It references photographs stored on hard drives. It does not store
photographs. There are NO photographs in Lightroom only information about
them. Importing photographs into Lightroom stores information about them. It
does not store the photographs themselves.
The Library module is the place where photographs are imported, sorted, ranked,
rated, flagged, selected, collected, adjusted and exported. There are chapters in
this eBook covering each of the myriads of happenings in the Library module.
SORTING
Choosing the hero
photograph from a
take is one of the most
important and
arguable challenging
jobs a photographer
performs in the Library
module. Ranking,
rating, flagging and
selecting are covered
in depth in the Making
Selects section.
A Sad StoryThere are NO PHOTOGRAPHS in Lightroom!
When the first version of Lightroom was introduced, a photographer imported all of
his work and personal photography into it. He was delighted to see how small the
Lightroom catalog was. He immediately deleted all of his photographs to free up
space on his (at the time) very expensive and almost full 1.5 terabyte RAID
holding 4-500 gigabyte drives. His work was gone. Forever. The moral of the story
is that Lightroom only references the photographs on a hard drive. It stores
information, metadata about the photographs, not the photographs themselves.
Ill say it again: THERE ARE NO PHOTOGRAPHS IN LIGHTROOM. There. Ive said
it three times. If this sounds redundant, it is because its very important. Believe it.
S E C T I O N
1 |
T H E
L I B R A R Y
M O D U L E
THE TOUR
The Library module screen is divided into
two sidebarsone on the right and one
on the left, an Image Display area,
Filmstrip and a Toolbar. The major parts
of the Library Module are:
A: Left Sidebars panels for working with
source photographs
B: Right Sidebars panels for adjusting
images; working with metadata &
keywords
C: Image Display Area set to Grid view.
D: Filmstrip
E: Toolbar
F: Identity Plate
G: Library Filter Bar
H: Module Picker
S E C T I O N
1 |
T H E
L I B R A R Y
M O D U L E
LEFT SIDEBAR PANELS

Navigatorshows the current selected photograph. Mouse over a folder in the
Folders panel to display the first photo in it.
Cataloga birds eye view of the contents of Lightroom
All Photographs shows the count of imported photos
All Synced Photographs is a count of photos synced using Lightroom Mobile
Quick Collection shows the number of photos in the Quick Collections
Previous Import displays the number of photos last brought into Lightroom.
Previous Export as Catalog shows the number of photos copied from
Lightroom to a new or different catalog.
Already in Catalog shows photos that are in from a previous import
Foldersshows the mounted volumes on the computer and the folders of
photographs that have been imported. Click the + sign for options of what is
shown. Choose Add Folder to create a new or to choose a folder to import.
Collectionsvirtual groups of photographs. The + sign adds a Collection Set, a
new Collection or a programmable Smart Collection Highlight a collection then
click the minus (-) sign to remove it.
Publish Services exporting presets and / or plug-ins to send photographs to a
set location on a hard drive or to upload to social media like Facebook or Flickr.
End Marksput your logo or other flourish in the space at the bottom of each
sidebar. Choose Lightroom (Mac) or Edit (Windows) > Preferences. Click the
Interface tab. Choose End Marks then Go to Panel End Marks Folder. Put your end
mark in the folder. Go back to Lightrooms Preferences > Interface > End Marks
then select your mark. It displays like mine.
S E C T I O N
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T H E
L I B R A R Y
M O D U L E
RIGHT SIDEBAR PANELS
Next is the Quick Develop panel. This is where initial tweaks to photographs are
made before refining them in the Develop module. This is a great place for
beginners. The Auto Tone button also is a quick fix. The single arrow buttons
increase / decrease Exposure by a third of a stop per click or .33 plus (right arrow)
or minus (left arrow.) All of the other settings increment by 5 plus or minus. The
double arrows in Exposure are for one stop increases or decreases. The other
choices get a 20 point plus or minus by click their respective double arrow button.
The Develop module offers much more finesse as well as many more options.
Quick Develop is offers a fast look at the Basic tab adjustments without sliders.
The right sidebar is all about adding info to photographs in the database.
It begins with the Histogram graphic showing the distribution of pixels by
brightness. Below that is the exposure info: ISO, Focal Length, Aperture and
Shutter Speed. Underneath this is the status of the photo and if it has a Smart
Preview. Select all of the photos in the Grid view to see a count of Originals without
Smart Previews and Originals + Smart Previews. If the external drive holding the
original photographs is disconnected, the number of thumbnails with Smart
Previews and the number missing them are displayed.
S E C T I O N
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T H E
L I B R A R Y
M O D U L E
There two panels that support keywords: Keywording and

Keyword List.
Keywording is the entry point. Add keywords in the entry window.
Separate multiple keywords with a comma. If a keyword already
exists in the Keyword list, it will appear as a highlighted suggestion.
Accept it by pressing Return.
The Keyword List is exactly that, a list of all of the keywords that
have been entered in the Lightroom catalog. Of course, the Adobe
engineers have made it super useful.
Once a keyword is entered in the Keywording panel or during
import it is listed in the Keyword List panel. It displays the number of
photos carrying a given keyword. Images with multiple keywords
have them highlighted in the Keyword List. Click the arrow to the far
right of a highlighted or checkmarked keyword to show all of the
photographs with that
keyword. Super useful for
finding specific photos
quickly.
S E C T I O N
1 |
T H E
L I B R A R Y
M O D U L E
LIBRARY MODULE MODES
The engineering team understands how important it is to go for the extra that
makes Lightroom special. Like the amplifiers in Spinal Tap, this is where Lightroom
goes to eleven. These settings are found above the preview in the Navigator.
There are five modes in the Library module: Grid (G), Enlarge (E), Compare (C),
Survey (N) and People (O). They are accessed with their keyboard shortcuts, in
the Toolbar or in Lightrooms Library menu.
Compare is the side-by-side view. Select what you think is the hero shot. Use the
arrow keys in this view to compare new photos to your select. When or if you find a
better choice, it can be promoted from candidate to select becoming the new
hero.
The Grid is the thumbnail view shown above. Enlargement fills the content with the
selected photo. Click a second time in this view to either fill, 1:1 (view actual
pixels) or enlarge the image to a previously chosen size.
Survey allows several photos to be seen in a larger view at the same time. Photos
not making the cut can be removed. The remaining pictures enlarge to fill the
space available.
S E C T I O N
ONE
CATALOG
Lightroom calls its database a catalog. There

is huge debate about the best way to
organize photographs. The debate is simply
one catalog or many. In my mind there is no
debate at all to this one. A single catalog that
uses all of Lightrooms many methods of
categorizing photographs makes the most
sense. Here comes the hedge on that
pedantic proclamationmost of the time. Ill
swing back to that one in a minute.
K E V I N
A M E S
S E C T I O N
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O N E
C A T A L O G
Think about your catalog of photographs as if it were your calendar. Answer this
question: How many calendars do you have? One. Right? Multiple calendars
mean missed appointments, to dos or (gasp) anniversaries. When all of the things
you have to do or remember are in one place, your single calendar; nothing gets
missed or forgotten. Your photographs are the same. If you maintain individual
catalogs, something is going to get overlooked or forgotten. Calendars, catalogs
and the Highlander have this saying in common: There can be only one
MAKE A TEMPORARY CATALOG
THE EXCEPTION IS TEMPORARY
Step Two: Launch Lightroom. Choose File > New Catalog
Ill illustrate this using a temp catalog I made during a trip to three countries in
Europe. Here, step-by-step is how I set it up.
Step One: Connect your traveling hard drive to your computer. Mine is a Drobo
Mini that provides serious protection against the failure of any of its four drives.
The exception to the there can be only one rule is a temporary catalog made on
a trip or a location shoot where carrying the one catalog isnt practical. The
temporary catalog has all of the advantages of Lightroom in a much smaller
space. As catalogs grow, so does their size. Especially when the 1:1 previews and
Smart Previews are counted. My Lightroom catalog has just north of 450,000
photos. Counting the previews its huge470 gigabytes. A new catalog has none
of the overhead initially.
Step Three: Name the catalog using a description of the project. I start my
catalog names with the initials LR for Lightroom and the version number. In this
case its from the Creative Cloud so the name starts with LRCC.
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S E C T I O N
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O N E
C A T A L O G
Lightroom creates a folder with the Lightroom catalog with the extension .lrcat It
also creates the preview data file. Its extension is .lrdata.
The presets folder contains all of the templates and presets in Lightrooms
modules. This folder appears in the LRCC folder created in step three. Launch
Lightroom by opening its folder then double clicking on the LRCC (Your Project
Description).lrcat.
BACKING UP
A location project that is managed by a temporary catalog follows the same best
practices of backing up photographs that is used in the studioalways maintain
three copies. If you have enough memory cards, that can be one of them. If not,
get a couple portable, bus powered USB drives from Western Digital and Seagate
are small, light weight and inexpensive. Use them to make exact copies of your
primary hard drive. I use a Drobo Mini for this job. Since Lightroom only references
the photographs in the catalog, the backups are not affected by changes unless
of course the photographer chooses Edit In Photoshop instead of Open as
Smart Object in Photoshop. The former places a copy in the same folder as the
original. The latter has to be saved using File > Save as.
Step Four: Open Lightrooms preferences by choosing (Mac) Lightroom >

Preferences or (Win) Edit > Preferences. Click the Presets tab, then check the box
next to Store presets with this catalog,
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S E C T I O N
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O N E
C A T A L O G
IMPORT A CATALOG
After the project like my European adventure is complete, I bring my temporary
catalog and its accompanying RAW files back to the studio. With my main
Lightroom catalog open, I choose File > Import from Another Catalog. When the
dialog opens I navigate to the Drobo Mini, my primary traveling drive and choose
the LRCC Kevin in Europe.lrcat. Lightroom creates a temporary catalog then offers
to either leave the photographs on the location drive (bad idea) or copy them to
the main photo archive. Thats my choice. Depending on the number of photos
and the size of the location catalog, the import can take a significant amount of
time. I usually leave this until the last thing of the day so Lightroom can work on it
overnight.
12
S E C T I O N
MANY
MANY
CATALOG
CATALOGS
S
Should I have a single Lightroom catalog or

should I have many? That was the the first
question I asked back in July 2006 when I
received a beta version of Lightroom. Like
many, I was sailing in uncharted waters.
K E V I VNA N
A EML EL SI
S E C T I O N
3 |
M A N Y
C A T A L O G S
At first, someone started a rumor and said Lightroom can handle a maximum of 15
thousand images before performance was affected. Everyone started to repeat
that rumor. This caused many, including myself, to split my images into several
Lightroom catalogs. Before we begin, let me take a step back for a moment and
explain what a catalog is.
WHATS A LIGHTROOM CATALOG?

Adobe describes a Lightroom catalog as a database that stores a record for each
of your photos that contains three key pieces of information about each photo:
A reference to where the photo is on your system
Instructions for how you want to process the photo
Metadata, such as ratings and keywords that you apply to photos to help you
find or organize them.
This means when you import photos into Lightroom, you create a link between the
photo itself and the record of the photo in the catalog. Then, any work you perform
on the photo such as adding keywords or an edit is stored in the photos
record in the catalog as additional metadata.
Lightroom never changes the actual photos captured by your camera. In this way,
editing in Lightroom is nondestructive. You can always return to the original,
unedited photo.
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S E C T I O N
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M A N Y
C A T A L O G S
A CASE FOR MULTIPLE CATALOGS
FLAWS WITH MULTIPLE CATALOGS
Being a generalist photographer, my photography spanned a wide range. One

week I would photograph a sporting event, the following week a childs portraits.
One catalog was sufficient until I started working with models.
As Lightroom developed, flaws with multiple catalogs grew, for example

When I searched for an image, I would have to open each catalog, Lightroom
cant span a search across multiple catalogs.
My modeling assignments ranged from simple head shots to building their

portfolios. Some of these images were not appropriate for all to see. By creating a
separate catalog, I could keep these images private. To ensure the Main catalog
opened when starting Lightroom, I changed the default preference, Load most
recent catalog to Prompt me when starting Lightroom found by clicking on
Preference under the Edit menu then click the General tab. This gave me the
option to open the correct catalog and to avoid embarrassment.
Having extra catalogs mean extra catalogs to backup, just one more task to
worry about.
Sometimes I would become confused and import images into the wrong
catalog.
When a major update rolls out, all catalogs have to be updated.
Synchronizing Publish
services such as Facebook
and Smugmug Hierarchy
become complicated. For
my work flow, this flaw
sealed my decision to
switch to a single catalog.
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S E C T I O N
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M A N Y
C A T A L O G S
SINGLE CATALOG SOLUTION

Since I switched to a single catalog solution my Lightoom experience has become
very simple. After a photo shoot, I fire up Lightroom, create a new folder and
import my images. Create a collection set of my favorite edited images then
upload them to a publishing service such as SmugMug and Facebook.
To solve my modeling dilemma, I created two new folder, Adult Models and
Children Models. I created sub folders with the names of the models under the
appropriate folder. Now when I browse for a model in front of a client, age
appropriate images are hidden.
Since switching to a single catalog solution, my workflow is fast and simple.
16
Its important to remember that Lightroom doesnt

have your photographs in it. Your photographs
reside on your hard drive, and Lightroom simply
references them. When I was a kid I went to the
library in my neighborhood and looked in the card
catalog for a book I wanted. The card in the catalog
had information about the book, and it told me
where to find the book. The book wasnt in the
catalog, it was on the shelf.
S E C T I O N
IMPORTING FROM A
MEMORY
CARD
This is like Lightroom. Lightroom is just a catalog of

your pictures. The pictures are actually on the hard
drive (the shelf). I recommend that you use
Lightroom to manage your pictures all the time. The
thing is, if you go into the neighborhood library and
move a book from one shelf to another, the catalog
isnt accurate anymore, and Lightroom is the same
way. If you move a picture file outside of Lightroom,
then Lightroom doesnt know where it is to
reference it any longer.
L E V I
S I M
S E C T I O N
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I M P O R T I N G
F R O M
M E M O R Y
C A R D
OPEN THE IMPORT DIALOGUE
Lightroom is so powerful for organizing and finishing your photographs, and the
first step is to import photographs into Lightroom. Personally, I usually need to
import pictures from a memory card I used in a recent shoot, so Ill show you how
to do that and walk you through the whole import dialogue.
Go to the File Menu and choose Import Photos and Video, or use the keyboard
shortcut Cmd+SHIFT+I (Ctrl+SHIFT+I). I use this shortcut all the time.
SET THE PREFERENCES

The first thing to do is make sure a couple of preferences are set that will make
importing a little simpler. Go to the Lightroom Menu and choose Preferences
(Edit>Preferences). In the General tab, make sure the option is checked to Show
import dialogue when memory card is detected. Also, check the box for Treat
JPEG files next to raw files as separate photos. If you dont check this second
option, Lightroom will ignore the JPEG files your camera creates when you set it to
record RAW+JPEG.
This is what the Import Dialogue looks like, but this is a condensed view, and I feel
the expanded view will serve you better. Click the arrow in the bottom left corner to
see more options.
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I M P O R T I N G
F R O M
M E M O R Y
C A R D
CHOOSE THE IMPORT SOURCE
CHOOSE WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR PICTURES
Basically, you start on the left, and work to the right. At the top left is says Select a
source, and the memory card you inserted will probably be the first tab on the left
under the title Devices. If its not already selected, click on the name of your
memory card; its usually named for the camera model you used (for some reason,
my Lumix GX7 always reads as No Name). Youll see all the pictures you made on
that card in a grid in the center.
In the center section you decide what to do with your pictures. At the top there are
four options: Copy as DNG, Copy, Move, Add, and the one selected has a brief
description of what it does immediately underneath. Lightroom recognizes that
your memory card is not a hard drive for longterm storage, so Move and Add not
available (see the chapter on Adding and External Drive). Heres what the other
options do.
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I M P O R T I N G
F R O M
M E M O R Y
C A R D
Copy: This option simply copies the files from the card to the hard drive. The
Copy and Copy as DNG options are the best because the files remain on your
card and a new version is now on the hard drive so youve got a solid backup
until you format the card in your camera. Some people have voiced concerns that
they dont trust Lightroom to copy all the files from the card, and so they first copy
the files to the hard drive using Finder or Explorer, then use the Add option to
include them in the Lightroom catalog. However, in six years of importing files
nearly everyday, Lightroom has never lost or missed a single one of my files using
the import dialogue. Save your paranoia for backing up your files and trust
Lightroom to import them.
Copy as DNG: New for Lr CC: This makes a new copy of the images from your
card on your computer or hard drive and converts RAW files to the Adobe DNG
file format. One advantage of this method is that DNG files are significantly smaller
than the cameras RAW format. I personally use this option every time. Only RAW
files are affected; JPEGs will still be JPEGs.
CHOOSE WHICH PICTURES TO IMPORT

Now that weve chosen to Copy as DNG, the center section can be used to
selectively import photographs. Most of the time, Im more interested in getting to
work on my pictures than I am in saving hard drive space, so I just import all the
images. However, you can choose to leave some of the pictures out of the import.
Theres a terrific new feature in Lightroom CC that makes this process much faster.
Previously, Lightroom converted the files to DNG as they were imported, and it
was much slower than simply copying the files form the card. Now, Lightroom
copies the files from the card to the hard drive, then when that is complete it
converts the files to DNG. This is much faster and since you can only import from
one source at a time, it allows you start another import sequence sooner. While the
files are converting to DNG you can still begin working with them as normal in
Lightroom.
Each thumbnail image has a checkmark in the top left corner. If its checked, itll
be included. Sometimes Ill quickly breeze through and uncheck images that are
obviously junktoo dark, out of focus, pictures of the sidewalkso that I dont
have to bother with deleting them later. You can click on the check box, or use
SPACEBAR to toggle the check box To see which picture is which more clearly,
use the Thumbnails slider in the bottom right corner to adjust the size of the
preview. You can also double click on an image or press the E key to go to the
Loupe view and see one image at a time. Press the G key to return to the Grid
view, or use the Grid view icon in the bottom left corner. E and G are two shortcuts
I use all the time in Lightroom.
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I M P O R T I N G
F R O M
M E M O R Y
C A R D
While in the Loupe view you can zoom in to check sharpness. Just use the slider
in the bottom right corner.
Id like you to know what each setting here is forbut I dont want to bore you. Ive
written my usual setting right up front in bold text, so if youd like you can just set it
and move on to the next setting and get started importing.
CHOOSE WHERE TO STORE YOUR PICTURES

Youve selected which pictures to include from the card, so now on the right side
of the dialogue you get to choose what happens as they import and where they
will reside on your hard drive.
Pro Tip: Right click in the dark gray area next to any of the tab headings and choose Solo Mode. This makes it so that only
one tab will show its options at a time. It may not sound like a big deal, but this makes it easier to find the right options and
reduces frustration. I choose Solo Mode for all my tool pallets in Lightroom, and I recommend that you do, too.
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I M P O R T I N G
F R O M
FILE HANDLING
M E M O R Y
C A R D
Alternatively, you could opt for 1:1 which is a full size, 100% preview that will
appear crisp and ready to view as soon as you click to zoom, but this takes up a
lot of space on the drive, and takes more time up front to generate. I rarely need to
have 100% previews for every picture. Standard is a good compromise because it
shows me a good preview immediately in the Loupe, but doesnt take up too much
space and the previews are ready quickly after the import is finished.
Build Previews: Standard After the pictures import, Lightroom will create a
preview of the file on the hard drive and this is what youll see on the screen.
Youve got four options, and these are simply related to the size of the picture you
see, and theyre in order from smallest to largest. The important thing about each
option is that it affects the speed at which things get done.
Choosing the Minimal preview makes the import process a little bit faster, but it
makes viewing and developing the picture slower because when you view the
picture in Loupe view or in the Develop Module Lightroom will have to generate a
bigger preview you can view at that size, which will take a few seconds. Its only a
few seconds, but it really slows down the process, especially when there are
hundreds of pictures to review.
Build Smart Previews: Unchecked Smart Previews allow you to make Develop
Module edits to images stored on a hard drive that are not connected to the
computer. This is really handy, and I use it often, but the previews will take up a lot
of space on your hard drive, so I recommend only generating them when youre
ready to use them. See the Chapter on Smart Previews
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M E M O R Y
C A R D
Make a Second Copy To: Unchecked This simply duplicates the files and saves
them in another location of your choosing. The idea here is that there is instantly a
backup version of your pictures. I leave this unchecked because I use a Drobo for
my destination drive, and it automatically makes a backup of the files and is so
simple to manage. If I check this option and backup to another drive, that drive
doesnt have all the changes I make to images applied, so if my primary drive fails
and I have to use the backup its a really tedious and possibly costly process to
get me back to the way things were before the failure. Using the Drobo, when a
drive fails, I just remove that drive and put a new one in, and nothing is lost on the
way and my catalog isnt fouled up and Im really not interrupted in anyway.
Add to Collection: Unchecked Ive never used this option, but maybe after you
read the chapter on Collections youll find a use for it.
Dont Import Suspected Duplicates: Checked This is really good. It simply

allows Lightroom to recognize pictures that youve already imported and stops
you from importing them again. There are two times I use this. First, if I neglected
to format my memory card in my camera after the last import, I now have pictures
on the card that I just made, as well as pictures Ive already imported, and
Lightroom will now only import the new ones. Second, I may, for keywording and
file naming purposes, sometimes choose to import pictures from one card into two
different folders. Unfortunately, that requires two import sessions. So after Ive
imported the first batch, those pictures wont be available for import when I initiate
the second import session. Pictures that are already in your catalog appear
grayed out and you cant click on them in the grid view.
You can control how big your Standard Previews are and
how much space they take up in the Catalog Settings
(Lightroom>Catalog Settings, Edit>Catalog Settings). You
can experiment with a few settings and see where your
tolerance for performance lies.
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I M P O R T I N G
F R O M
FILE RENAMING
M E M O R Y
C A R D
Template I usually use the Custom Name-Sequence template in the drop down
box. Click Edit at the bottom of the list, though, and youll find a whole lot more
options for customizing the name of your files.
Rename Files: Checked I like to rename my files as I import them. If youve read
Kevins chapter about Lightroom Organization, then you may want to follow his
advice on naming. Another way to do it is to name files by the date, or the name of
the place or people you photographed. Ive taken to adding my own name as a
precursor to the client name for one reason. In my work, Im often delivering files
to my clients which they use for marketing and advertising, which means its
inappropriate to have my own name signed on the image in a watermark or
signature. Using my name in the filename may at least ensure that the next person
hired at the company to look for a photographer will have access to my name
pretty easily.
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I M P O R T I N G
F R O M
M E M O R Y
C A R D
APPLY DURING IMPORT
Start Number: 1or not I usually start at number 1, but if Im importing the
second card full from a shoot, then I might choose to start at the number after the
last image on the previous card. If you change this, remember to change it back
to 1 next time you import; the Import dialogue remembers your previous settings
and uses them again until changed.
Develop Settings: My personal preset Any preset that Ive made in the Develop
Module can be applied during the import process. For instance, when shooting
Nikons, I usually set the in-camera Picture Style to Neutral. But, for RAW images,
Lightrooms default setting is to apply the Adobe Standard profile, which I dont
care for. In the Camera Calibration tab you can change this profile to the ones that
your camera has so that the image will look in Lightroom the same as it looks on
the back of the camera. Since I do this every time, I saved the setting as a preset
and can now select to apply that preset during import. This works for most
settings in the Develop Module (however, because it slows performance
significantly, I recommend not applying the Lens Correction settings during
import; apply it later to you favorite images). Youll see here that Im applying my
preset made especially for my GH4.
Extensions: Leave as-is Ive never bothered with this, but youve got options to
change the .jpg or .NEF or .CR2 or whatever file type your camera makes to
uppercase, lowercase, or leave it as-is.
Sample: I think its nice that they show a live preview of what the filename will look
like.
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I M P O R T I N G
F R O M
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Metadata: My Personal Preset This is really cool. Metadata is non-visual

information in your picture file. I said I use the filename to put my name in the
picture, but metadata is much better way to do it. You can include all kinds of
information about yourself, your copyright information, your contact information,
etc. Click the drop down menu and choose Edit Presets then just fill in the
blanks. Your camera already puts information about exposure, camera settings,
lens info, and even some copyright info, but its a good idea to add more complete
information during import so that its done no matter where your pictures end up
going. There is a lot of information available here; you can add the same fields to
any images within the Library Module once the import is done. You can even add
them during export, as may be more appropriate.
Keywords: Definitely During import you can add keywords to all the photographs
on your card, and you may want to do that generally here. Fortunately, you can do
it more specifically in the Library Module, placing keywords on only the relevant
images. See the chapter on Keywords to have your mind blown about how useful
these are.
26
S E C T I O N
4 |
I M P O R T I N G
F R O M
DESTINATION
M E M O R Y
C A R D
Organize: Into one folder Since Lightroom remembers your last settings, I usually
now use the Destination tab to choose where my photos will go. Again, Kevin
Ames has some great ideas for organization, and Im working to switch my
system. But to date, this is how I have done my organization. I have a master
folder of Pictures, then subfolders for each year, then subfolders for events/shoots.
Thats pretty much it because Ill use collections instead of further subfolders (See
Chapter on Collections) . So, I simply navigate on my drive to where I want the
pictures to reside; I often use the Into Subfolder check box to add the destination
under the year Im working in.
Super Simple method: Arrow at the top The simplest way to tell Lightroom where
you want your pictures to go is to click the black circle with an arrow in it and
navigate to the folder you want or make a new folder in the location you want. This
arrow has a drop down menu that includes your recent import destinations. I often
select Other Destination and navigate manually.
Now, just press Import.

Now youll be taken to the Library
Module, and youll see a progress
bar in the top left corner of the
window. This bar has an X right at
the end so you can cancel the
process if you realize you did
something unintended.
Otherwise, your pictures will now
materialize before your eyes.
27
S E C T I O N
4 |
I M P O R T I N G
F R O M
A QUICK SANITY SAVER

LIBRARY:CATALOG TAB: PREVIOUS IMPORT
A quick note about the view you see as your pictures import. You are seeing them
in a special collection called Previous Import which resides in the Catalog tab of
the Library Module. Its distinct from the folder they reside in because any pictures
you add, like exporting one of these new pictures as a jpeg file, will not show up
on this set of imageswhich really threw me for a loop when I first used
Lightroom. This Catalog tab is really handy. There have been times Ive assigned
the wrong folder during import (or export) and when I try to find them in the
Folders tab, its really tempting to freak out because they are lost. Take a breath,
go the Catalog tab and look for them in the Previous Import set. If youve already
imported some others, then click on All Photographs. The pictures you see will be
in order by date, so you can pretty quickly find the pictures your looking for. More
about searching for pictures in the chapter on Metadata.
28
M E M O R Y
C A R D
S E C T I O N
IMPORTING
FROM A
FOLDER
When making photographs in the studio I

shoot tethered into an external drive plugged
into an older MacPro on a rolling AnthroCart.
On location, tethered shooting is into an
external hard drive connected to a
MacBookPro. In both cases there is a folder
holding the shots.
K E V I N
A M E S
S E C T I O N
5 |
I M P O R T I N G
F R O M
IMPORTING FROM A FOLDER

Chances are you have images already in a folder and organized. These are easy
to import into Lightroom
I copy the folder onto my primary Drobo 5D set up with dual disc redundancy.
This means any two of the five drives in the Drobo can fail and my data is still safe.
Once the folder is copied to the main drive, follow these steps
Step One: Enter the Library module. Click Import or use the keyboard shortcut
Command (PC: Control) + Shift + I. The condensed dialog box looks like this: The
import process requires three decisions plus presets.
Step Two: Select the source by clicking on the double headed arrow at the left of
the dialog. When the source is a folder, Lightroom automatically picks Add as the
what to do. In this case, there are no destination options. The folder is already
where it needs to be so the To reads My Catalog.
Step Three: Add the metadata preset. The develop preset is the last one used.
Change it by expanding the condensed dialog by clicking the down arrow in the
lower left hand corner. Finally click Import.
30
F O L D E R
S E C T I O N
TETHERED
SHOOTING
Tethered shooting is the digital equivalent of

taking a Polaroid in the days of film. Back
then, Polaroids were used to check
composition, lighting, exposure and focus;
photographys big four. On a job it was
unthinkable not to pull a Roid.
K E V I N
A M E S
S E C T I O N
6 |
T E T H E R E D
S H O O T I N G
LIGHTROOM AND THE TETHERED CAMERA
Today, professional photographers shoot directly into a computer. The monitor

performs all of the functions that the Polaroid did back in the days of film. Now
every square inch of an image can be examined at full size or larger to check the
big four and now color as well. Thanks to calibration of monitors, photography can
finally be WYSIWYG what you see is what you get. This cant be achieved using
the screen on the back of the camera. These monitors can be calibrated. Frankly
they are just an indicator for those who believe that quality is the presence of an
image.
Most current Canon and Nikon along with a few Leica DSLR cameras can tether to
Lightroom. Click here for a list of supported cameras.
Note that as of this writing, Mac computers running El Capitan will not tether
Lightroom with Nikon cameras. This is due to a problem with Nikons SDK
(Software Development Kit) that has not been updated for El Capitan. It is Nikons
problem to solve not Apples nor Adobes.
Lightrooms tethering allows the shutter to be released from the computer.
However control of ISO, Shutter and Aperture settings are not supported. The
tether HUD does show the model of the connected camera along with the current
settings.
SETTING UP TETHERING IN LIGHTROOM

Begin by choosing File > Start Tethered Shooting The dialog is a bit confusing.
Here are the steps to get it right.
Step One: Start with the third section. This is where the destination for the camera
original files are stored. Click Choose then navigate to the hard drive that stores
your folders of RAW files.
Step Two: Go to the first section, Session Name:. This creates a new folder in the
destination folder. The reason the destination is in the third section is because
once its set you probably wont change it. Name the session. In this case its the
2889th project so it gets the prefix 2889-. The description is Model Testing. The
folder that will appear in Lightroom is named 2889-Model Testing.
The monitor displays the current capture from the camera.
33
S E C T I O N
6 |
T E T H E R E D
S H O O T I N G
Step Three: Naming is next. Ive created a preset that provides a field for custom
text, in this case 2889. The Start Number is 1. Above the preset is a Sample of
what the name of the first photo will look like. 2889-0001.DNG. DNG is the
extension for the sample only. No matter what camera or format you shoot with it
the Sample will always end in .DNG. Dont let this bother you.
The Tethered Capture Window appears. It shows the camera thats tethered to
Lightroom, the destination folder, the exposure information and a drop down menu
to choose a Develop preset. The big round button at the right is the shutter
release. Click it or press the spacebar to make an exposure.
Step Four: Add your metadata preset (Chapter 3 under Get Organized) and
Keywords. Click OK.
If the Library module is active, the first photo will appear in the Grid view.
34
S E C T I O N
6 |
T E T H E R E D
S H O O T I N G
Once the first photo appears in Lightroom, tap E to enlarge it then look at it. While
looking learn to actually see whats there. Heres a checklist for making certain
photographs measure up.
1. Composition: Are the elements in the photograph arranged well?
2. Lighting: Are the important details in the photograph visible?
3. Exposure: Is detail visible in the highlights? How about in the shadows?
4. Focus: Is the subject of the photograph sharp?
Once these questions are answered to your satisfaction, tap D to enter the
Develop module. An enlarged version will appear as will each subsequent
photograph you make. . Use the white balance tool (W) on a ColorChecker to
neutralize any colorcast
35
S E C T I O N
BACKING
UP ON
IMPORT
I dont erase my memory cards until I have at

least 2 copies of my photos. One of the best
time-savers is to let Lightroom back up your
photos on import.
N I C K
M I N O R E
S E C T I O N
7 |
B A C K I N G
U P
O N
Inside the import window, Lightroom makes it super-easy to create a second copy.
Its always best to make sure youre backing up to a second hard drive, rather
than another location on the same hard drive. This way, youre okay if something
was to happen to either drive.
I M P O R T
Look to the top right of the import window and choose the File Handling dropdown
menu.
37
S E C T I O N
7 |
B A C K I N G
U P
O N
The last option says Make a Second Copy To: with a dropdown arrow. Put a
checkmark in the box and click the dropdown arrow.
Choose where youd like to save a backup of your files and continue preparing to
import your files into Lightroom.
Thats it... youve now got a backup being made at time of import.
38
I M P O R T
S E C T I O N
USING
FOLDERS &
SUBFOLDERS
You can user folders, just like in a file

cabinet or on your computers hard drive to
keep your images organized.
K E V I N
A M E S
S E C T I O N
8 |
U S I N G
F O L D E R S
Normally, I work without any subfolders in Lightroom. When its time to sort
photographs I use Collections. Collections can have the same photo in several
places at the same time. This cant be done with subfolders since Lightroom
doesnt like duplicate images. Duplicates also take up a huge amount of space.
There is s comprehensive discussion of Collections and how to use them in our
next chapter.
FOLDERS
I assign a folder to each job or project. It gets a project name also know as a
serial number and a brief description of its contents. More on this in the section
called Using Serial Names later in this chapter.
The camera original photographs RAW or (shudder) JPEGs go here for cataloging
in Lightroom. Folders are where the RAW files from each project are stored on a
hard drive or in my case on a Drobo.
SUBFOLDERS
The only time I use subfolders is when a project is so large that it covers several
months or years. Subfolders get the four digit project number followed by the
shoot date then a brief description.
This structure manages shoots that contain many thousands of photographs made
over time. This is particularly useful when shooting a lot of time-lapse sequences.
Each one gets a subfolder. Each subfolder is a separate billing item on the invoice
the customer receives.
40
&
S U B F O L D E R S
S E C T I O N
Unless you are working with other

photographers in a network environment, the
first rule in creating a catalog is to develop a
structure
that makes
senseistotoyou. If
Unless you are working with other photographers in a network environment,folder
the first
rule in creating
a catalog
develop a folder structure that makes sense to you. If you are in a network you
environment
otherenvironment
photographers
are in a with
network
withthis
other
may get a little complicated causing you to compromise.
photographers this may get a little
complicated causing you to compromise.
A DIFFERENT TAKE ON FOLDER STRUCTURE
V A N E L L I
S E C T I O N
9 |
D I F F E R E N T
T A K E
O N
F O L D E R
S T R U C T U R E
Ive found it best to write a brief sentence that describes your type of photography
and what, where, or who you photograph. Review your sentence and look for a
common denominator.
Examples
Im a Portrait photographer whose clients include corporate professionals,
celebrities, as well as families.
Im a Nature photographer who travels to different locations photographing all
types of birds.
Im an independent Sports photographer specializing in portraits, team portraits
and games for all levels of sports.
DEALING WITH A CONFLICT
PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER
Pruitt Real Estate hired you to photograph 75 of their employees. One of their
employees is Chloe Garvin, a client of yours you have photographed before. Since
Pruitt Real Estate paid for the shoot, Chloes portrait is in the Pruitt Real Estate
folder. If she leaves the company, the image stays with the company, not her
Our portrait photographer photographs people, people associated with a

corporation and people associated with a family. A person has a first and last
name, corporations have a name as does a family. The common denominator is
name.
Louis Davis personally hired you to take his corporate portrait. Following our file
structure, you placed the image in a folder named Louis Davis with a sub folder
named year, month and day followed by a descriptions of the shoot; Louis
corporate portrait.
Create a subfolder inside the main folder I named my main folder Photography
and name the subfolder the clients name. Create a subfolder inside the clients
folder and name it the year, month and day of the shoot followed by a brief
description.
E:\Photography\Louis Davis\20140101 Louis Corporate Portrait
E:\Photography\Potter Family\20130411 Liam 4th Birthday
All is great, in fact it's so great he hired you to take a portrait of his family. After the
shoot you create a subfolder with the year, month and day followed by a
description; family portrait inside the Louis Davis folder.
In the event you photograph this person, corporation or family several times in the
course of a few years, you have each shoot organize.
E:\Photography\Louis Davis\20140307 Family Portrait
42
S E C T I O N
9 |
D I F F E R E N T
T A K E
O N
F O L D E R
S T R U C T U R E
SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHER
Our Sports photographer photographs a wide range of sports and sport teams.
The common denominator is the name of the sport and the name of the team.
Sounds simple, however our photographer photographs different levels; Club,
High School, College and Professional teams.The common denominator is level.
To keep our folder structure organized, the first folder is Sports followed by a
subfolder of the level of sport, High School Sports, followed by a subfolder of the
name of the sport, Lacrosse. Inside the Lacrosse subfolder is the Name of the
Teams subfolder. The final subfolder is the year, month and day of the shoot with a
brief description. This structure keeps multiple sports and multiple levels
organized.
Along with sport portraits, our photographer also photographs games. We need to
create a Games subfolder under the name of the sport. The final subfolder is the
year, month and day of the game followed by the names of the team.
E:\Photography\Sports\Professional\Lacrosse\Games
\20140909_FloridaLaunch_vs_BostonCanons
E:\Photography\Sports\High School Sports\Lacrosse\Melbourne High School
43
S E C T I O N
9 |
D I F F E R E N T
T A K E
NATURE PHOTOGRAPHER
O N
F O L D E R
S T R U C T U R E
The question for our nature photographer is which is more important, the location
of the shoot or the type of bird they photographed. Their answer will determine
which folder structure they use.
Our Nature photographer photographs all types birds. The common denominator
is name. However, our photographer travels the world photographing these birds
in different locations, another common denominator. Our nature photographer has
a few options. They can organize the folder structure starting with the name of the
bird followed by the location or start with the location followed by a subfolder of
the date and name of the bird. Adding the date enables the photographer to
photograph the same bird at the same location but on a different date.

If our nature photographer photographs several different types birds on the same
day and location using one memory card, they can import all images into one
folder then move the images into their proper folder.
These examples serve as a foundation for organizing a catalogs folder structure.
Remember, for the structure to be effective, it must make sense to you.
E:\Photography\Egret\201508006 Viera Wetlands

E:\Photography\Viera Wetlands\20100512 Limkin
44
S E C T I O N
10
ADDING AN
EXTERNAL
DRIVE
I like file trees. They just make sense. At a

glance I can see that this image is inside
this folder which is in this folder which on
this drive. Its clear and makes good sense.
Since I have lots of drives with picture files
on them, its also nice to see the drives
stacked up on the side in Lightroomit
makes it easy to see where Im working. Let
me quickly show you how to add hard drives
to the Lightroom catalog so you can get
organized, too.
K E V LI EN V IA M
S IE M
S
S E C T I O N
10 |
A D D I N G
A N
E X T E R N A L
D R I V E
WHATS A HARD DRIVE?

Youll find that you cant add a hard drive that doesnt have any pictures on it. If
youre planning to add files to it during export, you will see the drive available for
to export images onto.
THUMB DRIVES
PASSPORT DRIVES
I also travel with a couple of passport sized USB hard drives that do spin, but are
small enough to draw the power they need from the USB bus in the computer (no
external power required).
Ive got three or four kinds of hard drives included in my Lightroom Catalog. I often
use USB thumb drives for delivery to clientsthe kind of little storage that plugs
into the computers USB ports and doesnt have any moving parts.
46
S E C T I O N
10 |
A D D I N G
A N
E X T E R N A L
DROBO MINI
D R I V E
DROBO 5D
Next, I have hard drives like the Drobo Minithey are small enough to take with
me, but they are powerful enough that they need external power to spin the drives
and read super fast. The Drobo Mini is a perfect solution for travel because it
stores my files and backs them up so there are two copies so if one drive crashes,
the pictures are still safe.
Lastly, I have drives that are not intended for travel. Ive got a Drobo 5D on my
desk that has several terabytes of storage in a RAID configuration so everything is
protected from a hard drive crash. I also have another server set up in a similar
manner with everything backed up on multiple drives in a RAID. Trouble is, my
other server is both much larger physically than my Drobo and lacks the battery
backup that the Drobo 5D has built in. So these two servers stay at my office and
when I return from traveling my pictures end up getting moved to these.
47
S E C T I O N
10 |
A D D I N G
A N
E X T E R N A L
D R I V E
LETS ADD THE DRIVE
OPEN IMPORT DIALOG
Since its time for some more storage, lets add a drive so Lightroom can see it.
Unlike when you plug an SD or CF card into the computer, Lightroom does not
automatically launch the import dialog when you plug in an external hard drive.
There are two ways to get to the Import Dialog, File>Import Photos and Video,
or use the keyboard shortcut Cmd+SHIFT+I (Ctrl+SHIFT+I).
MAKE A PARENT FOLDER

Strange as it may seem, some people use computers for things other than making
pictures. Weird, right? Well, that just means that an external hard drive may have
something other than pictures on it. I recommend making a parent folder on the
drive with all your pictures in it. Then put all the folders with your images in them
inside this folder. I may get creative with my hard drive names, but this parent
folder is simply called Pictures on each of my drives. Im a simple guy in the
end.
If you dont see the expanded view of the Import Dialog, click the arrow in the
bottom left corner to see more options.
Name your Hard Drives

Personally, I like to name my hard drives. The C drive, or the E drive
is pretty boring for me. Plus, when using external drives, I often have
several from the same manufacturer, and its confusing trying to keep
them separated. Instead of Drobo 1, Drobo 2, etc., I like to give them
a name, and I like to use names of famous robots. You could use any
name you likemaybe name them for your uncles, or you childhood
pets, or your favorite teacherstrust me, asking a friend to hand you
that black hard drive isnt nearly as fun as saying, Please pass R2D2 over here.
48
S E C T I O N
10 |
A D D I N G
A N
E X T E R N A L
D R I V E
CHOOSE THE SOURCE
CHOOSE ADD
In the Import Dialog, start at the top left and use the Source menu choose the
source you want to import fromthe Pictures folder on your hard drive. Make sure
to check the box for Include Subfolders so that everything in that folder will be
included in the import.
Youll see that the only option in the center for what to do with your images is Add.
Thank goodness for that! I could really foul things up if other options were
available here.
Solo Your Tabs

Right click in the dark gray area next to any of the tab headings and
choose Solo Mode. This makes it so that only one tab will show its
options at a time. It may not sound like a big deal, but this makes it
easier to find the right options and reduces frustration. I choose Solo
Mode for all my tool pallets in Lightroom, and I recommend that you
do, too.
49
S E C T I O N
10 |
A D D I N G
A N
E X T E R N A L
D R I V E
CHOOSE WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR FILES

On the right side youll find two options for handling the files as they are imported.
Pay attention here: these settings stay as they were last time you imported, which
was probably from a memory card. When importing from a hard drive you need to
change these settings significantly, or youll really foul up and pictures that were
previously altered in Lightroom.
FILE HANDLING
Now yu need to decide what o do with your files on that new drive
Build Previews: Standard After the pictures import, Lightroom will create a
preview of the file on the hard drive and this is what youll see on the screen.
Youve got four options, and these are simply related to the size of the picture you
see, and theyre in order from smallest to largest. The important thing about each
option is that it affects the speed at which things get done.
Build Smart Previews: Unchecked Smart Previews allow you to make Develop
Module edits to images stored on a hard drive that are not connected to the
computer. This is really handy, and I use it often, but the previews will take up a lot
of space on your hard drive, so I recommend only generating them when youre
ready to use them. See the Chapter on Smart Previews
Choosing the Minimal preview makes the import process a little bit faster, but it
makes viewing and developing the picture slower because when you view the
picture in Loupe view or in the Develop Module Lightroom will have to generate a
bigger preview you can view at that size, which will take a few seconds. Its only a
few seconds, but it really slows down the process, especially when there are
hundreds of pictures to review. Alternatively, you could opt for 1:1 which is a full
size, 100% preview that will appear crisp and ready to view as soon as you click
to zoom, but this takes up a lot of space on the drive, and takes more time up front
to generate.
I rarely need to have 100% previews for every picture. Standard is a good
compromise because it shows me a good preview immediately in the Loupe, but
doesnt take up too much space and the previews are ready quickly after the
import is finished.
50
S E C T I O N
10 |
A D D I N G
A N
E X T E R N A L
D R I V E
APPLY DURING IMPORT

Develop Settings, Metadata, Keywords: Set them all to None and leave blank.
This is also different from what I suggested from importing from a card. You may
have already worked on these images in Lightroomsorted, rated, and even
developed themand applying any of these settings may alter what youve
already done. For instance, some of my drives have pictures from Nikon, Canon,
and Panasonic cameras on them, and Ive already made develop adjustments;
these develop settings could be completely ruined if I apply one of my import
presets.
Now just press the Import button at the bottom right of the window.
CONCLUSION
When the Import is finished, youll see your new drive added as a tab on the left
side in the Library Module and your complete file tree of any folders that
contained images will be available without any changes made. Youll be able to
click into any of your folders and have your pictures at your fingertips.
Dont Import Suspected Duplicates: Unchecked This is a change from what I
told you to do in the Chapter on Importing from a Memory Card. Id uncheck this
box here because were importing a file structure that you already had on your
drive, and if you had files here that are also elsewhere, thats ok. If we dont
include them in the import, they still exist on the drive, but will be orphaned from
Lightroom. Include them in the import so that you can see them and manage them
with all your other image files.
51
S E C T I O N
11

folder
structure
you. If
I am a keyboard shortcut (KBS) advocate and self proclaimed super user to
the point
that I that
havemakes
to thinksense
aboutto
which
menu a function is under when using a mouse to choose. Here are the ones
I use
you
aremost.
in a network environment with other
TEN KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
K E V I N
A M E S
S E C T I O N
11 |
T E N
K E Y B O A R D
S H O R T C U T S
Grid mode in the Library module
Loupe mode enlarges the most selected photo in the Grid mode
Survey mode puts only selected photos on the screen
F2
Rename selected photos
Cmd + Shift + I !
Ctrl+Shit+I
Import images
Full Screen Preview
Shift + Tab
Hides Lightrooms sidebars and filmstrip for more room
Shift + F
Cycle screen modes to create more display real estate
1-5
Star Rating
Cmd + / ! !
Ctrl+/
Display Keyboard Shortcuts!
53
S E C T I O N
12

thatabsolutely
makes sense
If
Many photographers are passionate about their naming conventions. Somefolder
insiststructure
that the date
musttobeyou.
in the
file name. Others agree but say the clients name and job description has to
be are
in itin
too.
Still others
want to addwith
the other
you
a network
environment
location to the file name.
USING SERIAL NAMES
K E V I N
A M E S
S E C T I O N
12 |
U S I N G
S E R I A L
N A M E S
FILE NAMING: THE VALUE OF SERIAL

NUMBERS
Adding all of this information might produce a file name like this one:
2015-09-27 Amy Patterson Beauty Portfolio Photographs at Kevin Ames
Photography Atlanta GA.CR2.
Really? Heres what a set of these files look like in the Finder and in Lightroom
Is all that information necessary???

Yes, it is necessary. Some of it is already in the file. The rest gets added when the
photos are imported. Heres the break down.
The Date: The camera adds it when the shutter is released.
The Subject: Its found in two places: If its in the folder name Lightroom adds it.
Put the description in the Headline field of your metadata preset. Lightroom adds
it to each file as its imported.
The Location: Put the location in the preset and youre set.
55
S E C T I O N
12 |
U S I N G
S E R I A L
N A M E S
Whats missing is a way to know right away what is missing.

Thats where the serial number comes in. Lets look at the
dictionary:
serial number |sril nmbr|
noun
a number showing the position of an item in a series, especially
one printed on paper currency or on a manufactured article for the
purposes of identification.
I add a serial number to everything I shoot. Every project. Every
job. Every vacation. Every bit of personal work. Every thing.
Each new project gets the next serial number in line. I put the
serial number on the folder the photos are in. Each photo gets the
serial number for its project in front of the image number and
extension. The example I showed above is now 2878-0341.CR2.
The folder Its in is named 2876-Amy Patterson Beauty Portraits.
Thats all I need. Everything else is in the metadata.
The serial number tells me that nothing is missing. Thats its job. A
missing number is a series is obvious. There is no way to tell if a
date is missing because nobody does a project every day. You
dont have to change your file naming if you really love it. Do
seriously consider adding a serial number followed by a dash to
the beginning of each folder containing your photographs.
56
S E C T I O N
12 |
U S I N G
S E R I A L
N A M E S
Add the same serial number and a dash to the front of the existing file name. I
keep a spreadsheet with my projects listed by serial number, date, description
and location. Once I look up a serial number, I plug it into the top of Lightrooms
Library Filter Bar and all the photos appear. If they are in different folders a right
click shows me where its located on my Drobo.
The Loupe View displays metadata. Set it up using Command (PC: Control) + J.
57
S E C T I O N
13

folder
structure
that makes
sense
When I first started using Lightroom in 2006, I was excited I could rename my
images
as I imported
them
into to you. If
my catalog. Up to this point, I used the default filename my camera provided;
followed
by a four with
youtypically
are in aDSC
network
environment
other
digit numbering sequence.
USING CUSTOM & SERIAL NAMES
V A N E L L I
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U S I N G
C U S T O M
&
S E R I A L
N A M E S
KEEPING THE FOUR DIGIT

NUMBERING SEQUENCE
Unhappy with the filename, I asked several photographers what naming

convention they used and why. I received lots of advice and settled on using my
name plus the four numbering sequence the camera provided. Example:
vanelli-0715. The rational; when a person performed an internet search on Vanelli,
my images would appear. This came at a price. Although I liked the idea I could
find my images on the internet, I had a hard time locating images outside of
Lightroom on my local computer. Once Google changed how images were index, I
searched for a better naming solution.
I've heard photographers suggest to always start the numbering sequence at zero
when importing your images into Lightroom. Example: Valley-of-Fire-0001.NEF.
This option could create duplicate filenames if you photograph a person or the
same location on a regular basis. I prefer to keep my cameras default numbering
sequence. I have about 197,000 photos in my Lightroom Catalog and have yet to
have a duplicate name.
GOOGLE SEARCH GUIDELINE

I turned to Google for advice. They suggested to make your filename a good
description of the subject matter of the image. This descriptive filename can give
Google clues about the subject matter of the image. For example, Valley-ofFire-0806.jpg is a lot more informative than DSC0806.JPG. This solution gave me
the best of both worlds. By giving my images a descriptive name, I could find
them outside of Lightroom on my local computer plus find them on the net.
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C U S T O M
&
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EXPORTING IMAGES
SUGGESTIONS
Now that I have my naming structure set, I keep the same structure when I export
my images. The only difference is the file extension. Example: Jaci
Schreckengost-6117.NEF becomes Jaci Schreckengost-6117.jpg when exported.
If I make multiple edits to an image, I add a version number after the sequence
number plus added information if I need it. Example: Jaci Schreckengost-6117-2BW.jpg. This tells me I edited the original file Jaci Schreckengost-6117.NEF twice
plus I made this copy Black and White.
PORTRAITS:
N A M E S
Full Name-sequence number

Delaney Goff-3497.NEF
EVENTS:
Year_Month_Day-sequence number_Team name_vs_Team name
2014_05_03-1005_Syracuse_vs_Colgate.NEF
LOCATION:
Year_City_State-sequence number
2015_Saint Augustine_FL-1030.NEF
ARTWORK:
Name of the art piece-original sequence number
The Aviator-0806.jpg
WILDLIFE:
Name-sequence number
Baby_Limpkin-0116.NEF
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S E C T I O N
14
EXPORTS
Im a bit of a nut, and I while I may seem pretty
carefree and easy going about many things, I
actually have a few systems that I stick to
religiously.
L E V I
S I M
S E C T I O N
14 |
E X P O R T S
Ive just found that things work best when i always do things the same way. Join
me for a shoot and youll definitely hear me say, If you close a bag, lock the bag.
Youll probably hear me say to put zippers in the middle so I always know where
they are, and I always remind myself to put one leg of a tripod downhill so it
doesnt tip easily. Well, join me for a Lightroom class and youll certainly hear me
say to use Lightroom to manage all your images all the time.
The first option at the top is Export To: with options for Email, Hard Drive, and CD/
DVD, as well as other plugins you have. I always choose Hard Drive. If its going in
an email, or onto a CD, I just manage that with my email application or CD burning
application.
ALWAYS USE LIGHTROOM,

ALWAYS ADD TO THIS CATALOG
If you always use Lightroom to view, edit, and move your images, then youll never
have any trouble with Lightroom losing track of images. This makes my workflow
simpler and keeps my stress levels downtherere few things that give me as big
a thrill of fear as seeing that little question mark on a folder indicating that
something is missing.
EXPORT LOCATION
Export settings are sticky, which means that whatever settings you choose this
time will be the same settings the dialog begins with when you open it next time. I
love this, because it means I can export individual images to the same place
really quickly as I go through a set of images. Its not the most efficient method,
but I often get excited about a few images and want to share them right away
while the rest of the pictures may not ever make it to a publicly viewable place.
Always using Lightroom includes making sure that all my exported images show
up in Lightroom, too. Let me show you how I use the Export Dialog to keep my all
my images under control all the time.
EXPORT DIALOG
A Quick Note About Exporting
Select the picture or pictures you want to export, then open the Export Dialog.
This is a keyboard shortcut I highly recommend you remember: Cmd+SHIFT+E. It
opens the Export Dialog and I use it several times each day. You could also go up
to the File Menu, or you could right click on an image and select Export, but the
shortcut is just that much faster, and a few seconds compounded over my last six
years of Lightroom use adds up to several hours saved.
Lightroom doesnt have a Save function; it only updates a

files metadata, and it wont apply Develop changes to the
original file. The only thing Lightroom can do to your
original image file is update the metadata, move it, or
delete it. If you want to send a picture to someone or post
it online with Develop edits, youve got to create a new
image file by exporting.
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E X P O R T S
Export To: Specific folder, Choose folder later, or Same folder as original folder. I
usually use the first option and the last option. For instance, when Im writing an
article for Photofocus.com, I usually gather several images in a single folder so
that I can find them easily for posting even if they are from separate folders on my
hard drives. If Im just exporting a few pictures to email to a client or to share on
social media, then I usually use the Same folder as original photo option and then
navigate to the folder when prompted by the email or web page to attache the
photos. The Choose button is how to select where your pictures will end up when
you select Specific folder.
Add to Stack I leave this box unchecked. I typically dont stack up my files in the
filmstrip. I like to see them all right before my eyes. Having said that, with
Lightrooms new abilities, I think it could be really useful to stack HDR sequences
and all the photos used in a Panorama.
Existing Files: This box is talking about what happens when you have a two files
of the same name in a single folder. I like the option Ask what to do because it
reminds me that this file already exists there. I usually then choose to Use Unique
Names.
Put in Subfolder In both cases above, I often use the check box to Put in
Subfolder. Then Ill choose a name like the subject of my article, or simply Email
or Facebook so its easy to find them in my folder structure. I can also easily find
these files to delete them when Im done using them.
Add to This Catalog CHECK THIS BOX! My workflow differs from some of the
other authors in this option. Like I said above, I use Lightroom to manage all my
image files all the time, which means new pictures created by export must be
added to the catalog or else I wont be able to manage them in Lightroom. The
new file maintains the original files metadata about creation time, so it shows up in
the filmstrip right next to the original files.
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E X P O R T S
I run into this when Ive exported one file, then gone on to another picture and
entered the Export Dialog and then just hit Enter to export with the same settings
as the last onewhich includes the same name. Lightroom is smart enough to
simply add a -1 to the end of the filename for me. Its quick and simple and gets
me moving on to the next picture quickly.
Which Folder?
If Im exporting several images from separate folders
(such as pictures gathered in a Collection) I may
mistakenly select Same folder as original photo as the
Export To: option, which will put all the new exported files
into their respective original folders, which makes them
really hard to find. In this case, I go the Library Module
and on the left side under the Catalog Tab theres a helpful
option called Added by Previous Export. Click here and
youll see a collection of all the new pictures you just
made, and you can select them all and drag them
together to a better folder location. Check out the other
options hereyou can bet Ive used them all when Ive
made a mistake. Whew! This little collection has saved me
a ton of trouble over the years.
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FILE NAMING
VIDEO
I usually check the box to Rename To: and then I select Custom Name-Sequence.
In the Custom Text field I enter a descriptive name, or a name that will help with
Search Engine Optimization (Im no specialist on SEO, but I understand that the
file name may help people find you when the image is shared onlinethings like
the subject of the photo, your own name, and the places you want to be
associated with may help drive traffic your way).
Its so cool that we can grade video and even edit clips in Lightroom. However, if
you dont check the box for Include Video Files, then when you export a video file
youll just get the same file you started withand that was really frustrating me for
a while!
Video Format. You can choose to export a file thats optimized for web and
mobile as a H.264 file. If you want the maximum image quality, a DPX image
sequence is a professional exchange format used in high end video work. The
Original, unedited file can also be saved for processing in another application.
Quality. If you choose to export an image sequence (DPX file) than you can
specify a frame rate of either 24, 25, or 30 frames per second. If recompressing
to a H.264 file than you can choose from four quality options. The least
compressed is Max, followed by High, Medium and Low.
I almost always include my name in the file name for one reason: sometimes down
the road itll be a lot easier to find me again to do more work. You never know
when a new marketing director will be hired and not know anything about who
made pictures previously. I figure this is one way I can make sure they know where
previous picture came from. The Sequence part just adds a number to the end of
the file name, and I can choose where that number starts. I leave Extensions set to
Lowercase so that the filename isnt SHOUTING at a reader.
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FILE SETTINGS
Quality: This setting is good to adjust because it has a huge impact on your file
size, and it can mean the difference between a file small enough to email, and one
that is just too large to manage. There are loads of article online about exactly
what settings have what impact. Ill just tell you that the visible difference between
90 and 100 is imperceptible, but the file size is a lot smaller at 90. Also, I usually
set it at 75 for sharing online and I cant see any degradation.
Image Format: I usually choose JPEG because Im usually generating a new file
to be shared with a client as a final image, or for sharing on social media. I will
often create a DNG file, too, which is powerful because it keeps the all the settings
I made in the Develop Module. This means that if I email you a DNG, and you
open in Lightroom or Adobe Camera RAW, youll see all the settings placed where
I put them, and you could make further adjustments to the original image yourself.
Its been a powerful teaching tool. DNG is also the only RAW format Lightroom will
export.
Color Space: This is a really important setting. If youre emailing a final image to a
client, or sharing a file online, choose sRGB. If you choose anything else, the
photo will probably look really terrible, and probably kinda green. The internet
sees color in sRGB.
If you choose DNG, then youll see that several of the following options are not
available.
Color Space relates to how many colors can be seen in your image, and the
difference between each of these three options is huge. But unless your sending it
to another imaging professional, use sRGB. If youre sending it to me, use
ProPhoto RGB because Ill be viewing it in Lightroom and Lightroom can interpret
that many colors. If you send it to a lab for printing, you may be able to use Adobe
1998, but you should consult with your lab first.
Limit File Size To: This is handy if youve been given specific guidelines for how
large an image file may beas with many online photo contestsotherwise, I
leave it unchecked.
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IMAGE RESIZING
using this number to compare the capabilities of cameras?). For instance, my 16

megapixel Lumix GH4 makes an image 4608 pixels wide by 3456 pixels high.
Now, if I tell Lightroom to export a new picture with dimensions great than that, it
will resize the image to become largerand it does a pretty good job! I could go
to Photoshop or onOne Perfect Resize, but for most work, Lightroom itself does a
pretty fine job of making a small picture larger. If you dont want Lightroom to
make the image larger (for instance, you might be exporting a batch of images all
at once, but some are cropped smaller than the output dimensions youve
specified) then you can check the Dont Enlarge box.
Resize to Fit: I often use this to resize images for sharing online, or for my clients
to share images online. There are options for Width and Height, Dimensions, Long
Edge, Short Edge, Megapixels, and Percentage. My most common choice is Long
Edge, and then I set the length to 2048 pixelswhich makes an optimal image for
sharing on Facebook, Instagram, and even Lightroom Mobile (which uses smart
previews created at this size). I also set the resolution to 72 pixels per inch when
sharing online.
OUTPUT SHARPENING
If Im exporting for print, I usually choose 240 pixels per inch and I uncheck the
box to Resize to Fit.
I always use this, and Ive had good results, even if Ive already sharpened in the
Develop Module (which I usually havent). Check the box to Sharpen For: and
choose the option that best fits your viewing intention; mine is usually set to
Screen, but if Im printing with a lab Ill choose Glossy Paper (yes, even if I choose
a Matte paper from my lab; I find that matte photographic paper from a local
store is usually just a textured glossy paper). If Im using a fine art paper either in
my own printer or with a labespecially those from ink jet printersIll choose
Matte Paper. Dont sweat it if you forget to change this option, though. When the
Amount is set to Standard its really not that big a difference between them to my
eyes.
You're camera makes a picture that is a certain number of pixels wide, by a

certain number of pixels high. Multiply these two numbers, and you get the
number of Megapixels your camera sensor records. Thats all that megapixels
meansthe size of the picture (isnt it silly, then, that camera companies have us
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WATERMARKING
If you see a big difference, then youre probably more skilled at sharpening than I
am, and have probably already sharpened your image in Develop Module,
Photoshop, or some other application, and you should uncheck the box :)
This is one of the best tools in Lightroom, and it helps answer one of
Photographers most often asked questions: how do I protect my copyright? Im no
lawyer, and Im not an expert on copyright (I recommend you to the many
excellent resources published by the American Society of Media Professionals at
ASMP.org for factual advice on copyright). However, even I know that sticking my
name and/or logo on an image is a good idea for two reasons.
METADATA
Remember, metadata includes a lot of information that you cant see in a picture.
Theres a lot to consider as you choose which things to Include. Since Im an
educator and I love to share my pictures and how they were made, Ive left mine
set to All Metadata, so if you use a metadata reader on my images on Photofocus
youll find all the information about how I made my picture including what camera,
exposure settings, and even if I used a flash. (To read metadata, I usually use
Jeffrey Friedls Exif viewer at regal.info/efix.cgi)
I dont even mind if you know where I took the image, and I dont use Lightrooms
person identification tools so Im not worried about the checkboxes for removing
those. I do check Write Keywords as Lightroom Hierarchy because, as I
discussed above, I want this new exported image to show up in Lightroom, and I
want the keywords associated with it to show up, too. Plus, these keywords may
help with SEO. What ever you do, I suggest you at least include your own
copyright info with the image.
First and foremost, it helps people find me, the creator of the image, without
having to look very far. The fact is, any image posted online is likely to be copied
and used somewhere elsesometimes harmlessly, and sometimes its outright
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E X P O R T S
theft. Most people, though, are not trying to rip you off, and if they share a
photograph online, what better way to let people know where it came from than to
have your name or logo in the corner of the image. To me, thats free advertising.
than a bright spot in a picture. When you post an image with big letters on it, I
cant enjoy the picture itself because all I can see is the word.
With that, click the checkbox that says Watermark: and then choose Edit
Watermarks from the drop down menu. If you choose the Simple Copyright
Watermark, Lightroom will use the information from your IPTC entries to tag the
image. If youve already made some custom watermark settings, those will be
available in the drop down menu, too. Watermarks cannot be applied to DNG files,
so the options are not available.
Second, it probably does help a copyright suit, if you ever pursue one to have
placed your name on the image. Its a lot harder for someone to claim innocence if
they had to actively remove your watermark from the picture before using it.
A bit of unsolicited advice: dont put your name in big letters across the middle of
an image you share on social media. Yes, it deters people from stealing it. But it
also deters people from enjoying it! Words steal the minds attention even faster
WATERMARKING EDITOR
This is a pretty self explanatory tool, and youd do well to spend a few
minutes playing with the different options. Its simple to create a text
watermark, with loads of options for fonts, colors, weights, placement
start by typing in the field underneath your image. I wish there was a
freehand placement option, but as it is you can get your watermark to
appear almost anywhere on the image by using the Anchor and Inset
options. Its good to note that the Watermark Editor window can be
resized as large as you like to see how your watermark will appear on the
preview image, and you can use the arrow keys at the top to cycle to the
next image if youve selected more than one for import. Your watermark
will appear with the same settings in all the images.
Text watermarks are fine, but on of the best things about tool is the
simplicity of adding a Graphic watermark. Just click on the word Graphic
at the top left and then find any jpeg or png file and you can use that as
your watermark.
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E X P O R T S
Make a watermark in Photoshop by creating a graphic and placing it on a

transparent background, then saving it a .png file. Lightroom will maintain the
transparent background in the watermark and youll have your logo looking great
on your images. Hit the save button in the bottom right corner to use this
Watermark again.
Consider the objective of your watermark and size it accordingly with the right
amount of opacity. Is its purpose to main attraction of your image? Or is it an
unobtrusive calling card ready when needed?
POST-PROCESSING
In my work, sometimes a watermark looks good in the bottom left corner, and
other times it looks best in the top left. I save a watermark with an indicator at the
end reminding me where it falls on the picture so that I can choose the right one
from the Export Dialog without entering the Watermark Editor each time. For
instance, Ive saved one watermark of my logo for each corner and they are called
Logo BL, Logo BR, Logo TL, and Logo TR (top right).
This is one tool Ive never used. I always leave the After Export: options set to Do
nothing, or Show in Finder. You can set it to open your new file in another
application; myself, if I m going to open it in a another application, I do it from
Lightroom so that the new file will be imported back into Lightroom when I close.
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GET ORGANIZED
C H A P T E R
S E C T I O N
THE
VALUE OF
METADATA
Metadata is a set of data that describes and

gives information about other data. In
photography, metadata contains valuable
information about a photo. Most digital cameras
automatically attach some basic information
about a file, such as height, width, file format,
and the time the image was taken.
V A N E L L I
S E C T I O N
1 |
T H E
V A L U E
O F
M E T A D A T A
THE VALUE OF METADATA

This is great, however, the real power of metadata is when data and information is
entered into the image file by users. Fortunately, Lightroom makes adding
copyright information, applying keywords or adding labels to an images metadata
easy. This information can be used to search and organize images in our
Lightroom catalog.
USER ENTERED METADATA

Tagging images, creating a rating system and adding keywords to images can be
time consuming. Disciplining yourself to add key information copyright
information, proper filenames, keywords to your images when importing them
will keep your photographs organize and cut down on the amount of time you
need to manually enter this information.
FILTERING MISSING METADATA

If you havent started adding metadata to your images, dont worry, Lightrooms
filter options will help you to find missing metadata so you can add this
information. You can search images that dont have copyright information, select
them all, then batch enter the information. The same can be applied to untitled
filenames. The key is to add information to an image that will help you to quickly
find them in the future.
Your search results will only be as good as the information you entered in the
metadata.
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S E C T I O N
ADDING
METADATA
ON IMPORT
Metadata is a set of standardized information

about a photo, such as the authors name,
resolution, color space, copyright, and
keywords applied to it. Lightroom makes adding
this information to our images very easy
especially when we import the images for the
first time. Open the Import dialog by clicking File
then select Import Photos and Video. The import
dialog box appears.
V A N E L L I
S E C T I O N
2 |
A D D I N G
M E T A D A T A
O N
I M P O R T
Step One: On the right side is the Apply During Import panel. Click the drop down
next to Metadata, and choose New or Edit if you have an existing preset.
Step Two: Type a name for the preset at the top, scroll down to the IPTC
Copyright section and fill it out.
COPYRIGHT METADATA
To create the symbol on a Mac, press Option+G.
You've already learned that s a good idea to add copyright information to your
images. This allows anyone viewing your image on the web or preparing the file
for print at a printing lab to determine who owns the copyright of the image and
what they can do with it. The copyright metadata can also supply information on
how to contact you if they need permission to use your photo. Most cameras have
this feature built in you may need to look through your camera's manual to find
where to add the information but Lightroom makes this task really easy by
creating a preset.
On a PC use the numeric keypad. Press and hold the Alt key then type 0169.
The Copyright Info URL field is used to provide a link to somewhere on your
website where you have posted specific rights and usage terms for your photos.
In the IPTC Creator section, add your name in the Creator field, and add as much
contact information as you wish. Make sure that it is sufficient that someone can
successfully contact you if they come across your photo.
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A D D I N G
M E T A D A T A
O N
I M P O R T
Step Three: When you are done, click Create.

This preset will now show in the Apply During Import dialog as the default, and
this information will be applied automatically as you import new photos.
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S E C T I O N
ADDING
KEYWORDS
Keywords describe the contents of a photo. A

successful keyword workflow will help identify,
search for, and quickly find photos in a catalog
with thousands of images. Once applied,
keywords can be read by any application that
support XMP metadata. Lightroom provides
several ways to apply keywords to photos. You
can type or select them in the Keywording
panel, or drag photos to specific keywords in
the Keyword List panel. Once keywords are
added to an image, a thumbnail badge will
display when in Grid view.
V A N E L L I
S E C T I O N
3 |
A D D I N G
K E Y W O R D S
KEYWORDING PANEL
KEYWORD LIST PANEL
There are a few different methods of applying keywords to an image. Each

method requires that you select at least one photo. With an image selected, type
one keyword at a time in the small field that says Click here to add keywords.
Press enter to add the keyword to the white keyword box. Lightroom automatically
adds a comma to separate multiple keywords when using this method. You can
type directly in the keyword box, be sure to add a comma to separate each word.
When a keyword is added to an image, Lightroom stores the information in a list.

When you start to type a word, Lightroom displays a dropdown list with the
previous words you entered. This ensures the same spelling each time plus it
speeds up the process. These words can be found in the Keyword List Panel. You
can add, edit or delete keywords from this panel by right mouse clicking on a
word.
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S E C T I O N
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A D D I N G
K E Y W O R D S
CREATE KEYWORD SHORTCUTS

Keyword shortcuts let you quickly apply one or more keywords to multiple photos.
After you define the shortcut, you apply it to multiple images.
Step One: In the Library module, Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS)
on one keyword in the Keyword List panel and choose Use This As Keyword
Shortcut from the menu.
Step Two: In the Set Keyword Shortcut dialog box, type one or more keywords,
separating them with commas, and then click Save. A Plus sign (+) next to a
keyword in the Keyword List panel indicates that it is part of the current keyword
shortcut.
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A D D I N G
K E Y W O R D S
APPLY KEYWORDS USING SHORTCUTS

Step One: To apply the keyword shortcut, select one or more photos in the
Gridview .
Step Two: Click the small box next to the keyword shortcut in the Keyword List
panel. A checkmark with indicate the image has the keyword shortcut applied.
Step Three: To view the keyword for the selected images, go to the Keywording
Panel and select Will Export from the Keyword Tag dropdown menu.
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S E C T I O N
FILE
RENAMING
ON IMPORT
Giving our images descriptive filenames helps

keep everything organized both inside and
outside of Lightroom. The best time to rename
your files in when youre first importing them
into Lightroom.
N I C K
M I N O R E
S E C T I O N
4 |
F I L E
R E N A M I N G
On the right side of Lightrooms import window, toggle open the File Renaming
panel. Put a check where it says Rename Files to enable this feature. We can
choose one of Lightrooms built-in templates by clicking on the Template
dropdown or create our own custom template by clicking on Edit. Lets choose to
build our own template, so click on Edit.
O N
I M P O R T
Inside the Filename Template Editor, we can customize our template. If theres
anything already in the white box at the top, go ahead and delete it. Near the
bottom of the window, find Custom Text and click the Insert button. This will let us
add descriptive text to the beginning of our filename. Remember that were
building a template right now, so we dont want to add the actual text in here. On
the File Renaming panel, theres a box for our custom text that we can use each
time we import new images. Continuing on, I added an underscore by pressing
Shift-Hyphen on your keyboard.
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F I L E
R E N A M I N G
These images need to be kept in sequential order, so under numbering choose

the Sequence # dropdown and make sure it has 4 digits (0001). This is so we can
import up to 9999 images at one time without a duplicate image number. Click
Insert to add it to the template. Look up into the white space at the top of the
Filename Template Editor and make sure there isnt a duplicate number. If there is,
click on the blue box you want to delete and press Delete on the keyboard.
O N
I M P O R T
With Custom Settings selected as the Template, we can now add Custom Text.
2015-03-16_ND_Scout_
I like to add a reverse date (2015-03-16 or 20150316) and then the name of my
photo shoot. Adding a hyphen or underscore helps to separate words in the
filename, without putting spaces in the name. Lightroom will add the sequence
number at the end of your filename, so you wont need to put it in the Custom Text
box.
Lightroom gives us a sample filename on top of the white box. Take a look at the
example filename and make sure thats how you want it to look. If its good, then
click Done.
2015-03-16_ND_Scout_0001.nef
Double-check the sample text and make sure it looks good. If you cant see all the
text, hover your mouse over the sample text and a box will appear with your
filename. Before you click import, make sure to specify a destination for Lightroom
to import your images to. When you click Import, Lightroom will rename your
photos automatically.
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S E C T I O N
BATCH
RENAMING
Your images are already in Lightroom, and

youve never given them a descriptive name.
Lightroom has a built-in Rename Photos
command that gives you the same options as
when you first import your images.
N I C K
M I N O R E
S E C T I O N
5 |
B A T C H
R E N A M I N G
First select the images youd like to rename. A quick way to select all images is
using the keyboard shortcut Command or Control-A.
If theres anything already in the white box at the top, go ahead and delete it. Near
the bottom of the window, find Custom Text and click the Insert button. This will let
us add descriptive text to the beginning of our filename.
BUILDING THE TEMPLATE

From the Library menu, choose Rename Photos. A popup box will appear, asking
you to select a renaming preset. If youve never created a renaming preset, you
can choose one of the build-in templates or create your own. Creating our own
gives us the ultimate flexibility, so well build our own using the Edit option.
Clicking on Edit opens the Filename Template Editor.
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Remember that were building a template right now, so we dont want to add the
actual text in here. On the File Renaming panel, theres a box for our custom text
that we can use each time we import new images. Continuing on, I added an
underscore by pressing Shift-Hyphen on your keyboard.
These images need to be kept in sequential order, so under numbering choose

the Sequence # dropdown and make sure it has 4 digits (0001). This is so we can
import up to 9999 images at one time without a duplicate image number. Click
Insert to add it to the template. Look up into the white space at the top of the
Filename Template Editor and make sure there isnt a duplicate number. If there is,
click on the blue box you want to delete and press Delete on the keyboard.
Lightroom gives us a sample filename on top of the white box. Take a look at the
example filename and make sure thats how you want it to look. If its good, then
click Done.
With Custom Settings selected as the Template, we can now add Custom Text.
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I like to add a reverse date (2015-03-26 or 20150326) and then the name of my
photo shoot. Adding a hyphen or underscore helps to separate words in the
filename, without putting spaces in the name. Lightroom will add the sequence
number at the end of your filename, so you wont need to put it in the Custom Text
box.
Double-check the sample text and make sure it looks good. If you cant see all the
text, hover your mouse over the sample text and a box will appear with your
filename.
If everything looks good, then click Ok. Lightroom will quickly rename all the
selected images in the background.
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USING
COLLECTIONS
I love collections! Its hard to believe there was a

time when I didnt use them at all. Nowadays, I
cant even imagine my workflow without them.
They are simply the easiest way to stay
organized and keep my best work at my
fingertips. Let me show you how collections
work, then Ill show you the four ways I use
collections everyday.
L E V I
S I M
S E C T I O N
WHATS A COLLECTION?
Just select a picture or pictures you want to include in the collection and click the
+ button on the right side of the Collections Tab, then select Create Collection.
Vanelli already told you how to use Smart Collections (Chapter Link to Smart
Collections) and a Collection Set is simply a folder to hold more than one
collectionmore on this idea below.
Collections are like a little catalog of certain pictures, usually related by topic. You
can collect a lot of pictures here from different folders. The key thing is, Lightroom
doesnt make a new copy of your file to store in the collectionit just references
the original. Get it? A handy place to keep your best pictures without taking any
more space on your hard drives.
MAKE A COLLECTION FROM ANYWHERE

One of my favorite features of collections is that they are available anywhere in
Lightroomall the modules include the Collections Tab on the left side, and you
can make a new collection anytime.
Name the new collection anything you like (well talk more about this below). In
this case, Ill call it Jules since thats the client whose photos Im working with. I
might choose to include this in a Collection Set, but the set must already be
established. A reasonable set here might be Clients. Since Ive already got some
of the pictures for the collection selected, I do want to check the box Include
selected photos, but I wont choose to Make new virtual copies. An instance when
I will make new virtual copies is when Im preparing black and white versions of all
the photos; then I might call the collection, Jules BW. If I make any changes to
an image in a collection, those changes will show up in the main folder the Library,
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FOUR WAYS TO USE COLLECTIONS
which is why it may be a good idea to make new virtual copies if Im going to be
making changes to the pictures but still want to preserve an original edit.
1. PORTFOLIOS
Set as target collection is a handy option. If you click it, then anytime you press
the B key, the image youre looking at will be added to this collection. After my
initial sort of images, I might use this option to add my favorites from Jules shoot
to this collection. My normal operating procedure, however, is to have my
collection called Instagram set as the target collection. More on this below, too.
The number one way I think everyone should use collections is as a ready
portfolio, and believe me, your spouse will thank me for this. You know how it is,
you go on vacation, you make thousands of pictures, but only a handful are really
worth sharing. Then your friends come to visit and want to see your pictures. If
youre not using collections (or, worse still, not using Lightroom) then you have to
flick through your thousands saying things like, This was right before the really
good oneoh here it is.this isnt the one I wanted to show you, but I cant find
the best oneand now let me show you some from the second day of our trip
If it were me, Id be putting myself to sleep.
New for Lightroom CC, Sync with Lightroom mobile is now checked by default the
first time you create a collection. If you uncheck it, the setting is sticky and it will
be unchecked the next time you create a collection.
Now just click Create and youll have a new collection.
Levis Dirty Secret

Here it is, Im spilling my guts: my Collections Tab didnt
look so neat yesterday. I straighten it up and organized
things more neatly for the screen shots for this book.
(kinda like when you know guests are coming over and
you throw everything in the closet) I deleted some scrap
collections and several incomplete ones, and a bunch
that I had used briefly to gather some pictures for an
obscure project. But thats whats so cool about
collectionsyou can use them however you like, make a
mess, and then delete them at will. They dont affect your
Library structure in the least, and deleting a picture from a
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Do this instead. Create a collection for your trip, or for one of the locations on your
trip, and set it as the target collection. As you go through your photos, overtime
you see one you or your travel partners might want to show someone, just press
the B key and that picture will show up in your collection. Now when someone
says, Lets see your vacation pictures, youre ready to show the good stuff with
zero floundering and no one snoring.
I do the same thing with my portfolios. Anytime I make a landscape image that I
like, I click on it in the filmstrip and drag it to the Landscapes Collection. Same for
Portraits, Environmental Portraits, Dancers, etc. Now when someone says, Lets
see some of your landscape work, Ive got all my favorites ready to hand, no
sorting, no searching, no fumbling around. Collections make me look good.
You know whats even better? Click the little check box next to your landscape
collection and it will sync with Lightroom Mobile, so now your best landscapes can
be ready to hand on your mobile device, too.
Since were on the topic of Lightroom Mobile, its the second way I use
Collections, and for the last six months it has revolutionized the way I share
pictures on social media.
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2. INSTAGRAM
I love sharing pictures on social media, but Im a stickler about sharing finished
imagesI really dont share very many iPhone pictures. Instagram has become a
powerhouse of image sharing, but since photos can only be shared on Instagram
via a mobile device Ive been really slow to jump onboard. Others told me they
finish pictures in Lightroom, export them and then upload them to Dropbox, then
download them to their phone, then upload them to Instagram. Thats just too
many steps for me.
Heres what I do. Ive got a collection named Instagram that is synced with
Lightroom Mobile, and those pictures show up automatically on my phone. I leave
that set as my Target Collection and press B to add any pictures I want to share.
From Lr Mobile, I just save the image to my phone and upload it to Instagram. It
doesnt get much simpler. Now Im an Instagram fiend.
Theres a button in Instagram that shares my picture with Facebook, and Nicole S.
Young gave us a great method for sharing the picture from Instagram directly to
Twitter (http://bit.ly/1FRgjBe) so now all my major social media posts are covered
with one simple push from Instagram. I love this workflow.
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3. CLIENTS
Collections are a perfect place to keep pictures as you prepare a client
presentation. I certainly dont want my client to see any unfinished images or flubs.
I make a collection of the best images, and go to the collection to share the
pictures in person on a large TV or projection screen (more about this in the
Chapter on Presenting to Clients). Within the collection I can use flags, stars, and
colors to rate the images.
4. TO DOS
I also use collections to gather images that are favorites that I intend to finish
somedaywhen I have a little more time. I use my portfolio folders this way, too,
adding photos I know I like even though they arent quite finished yet.
My biggest categories of unfinished images, however, are Time Lapse, HDR, and
Panoramas. I just add all the pieces of these to their respective collections and
when I need a pano or HDR or time-lapse, Ive got some ready to finish off. Now
that Lightroom CC can stitch panoramas and HDRs, Im in heaven. This is a
feature Ive been dreaming of since my very first month using Lightroom. And can
you believe it generates a RAW files of each??? Its amazing, but thats a
discussion for another book.
Collections really free me to make a mess of my portfolios and refine them to
perfection without ruining my file structures. Theyre also a great way to get my
pictures online with minimal fuss. I love collections and I highly recommend you
start using them, too.
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USING
SMART
COLLECTIONS
Collections are a way to group photos

manually in one place for easy viewing or for
performing a variety of tasks. Smart Collections
take this powerful tool a step further by
automatically placing an image in a collection
based on rules that you define.
V A N E L L I
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For example, you can create a smart collection of all photos that have a five-star
rating and Portfolio as a keyword. Photos that meet the criteria are automatically
added to the smart collection.
Lets create a Smart Collection based on the first example.Click on the plus sign in
the Collection Panel to bring up the Smart Collection dialog box. Name the Smart
collection Model Portfolio and make sure Inside a Collection Set is unchecked.
Match all of the following rules.
CREATING SMART COLLECTIONS

An easy way to create Smart Collects is by writing a statement of what you want to
accomplish then apply rules to achieve the desired results.
I want a portfolio of my favorite model images based on a red label
representing my favorite images and a keyword Model.
I want a collection of my favorite image red label organized by year.
I want portfolio of Adult Female models based on the same keywords.
I want a collection of my favorite bird photos taken at the Viera Wetlands based
on keywords and red label.
Step One: Select Label Color from the first dropdown menu, is from the second
and red from the third.
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Step Two: Click the plus icon to add another rule.

Step Three: From the first dropdown menu select Other Metadata and choose
keywords, contains from the second and type Portfolio in the third field. Click
create when done.
Images appear based the rules we created in the Smart Collection: Model
Portfolio.
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CREATE SMART
COLLECTIONS TO
FIND MISSING
INFORMATION.
We can use Smart Collections to help us find
missing metadata in our catalog based on a few
rules. Once we have the images in our
collection, we can select all images and apply
the missing information.
A few examples could be :
Images that dont have copyright information
Collection of images based on untitled as the
filename.
Images that dont have keywords.
Lets create a Smart Collection to find all images
we forgot to include our copyright information.
As with the last example, Click on the plus sign
in the Collection Panel to bring up the Smart
Collection dialog box. Name the Smart collection
Missing Copyright Information and make sure
Inside a Collection Set is unchecked. Match all of
the following rules. From the first dropdown menu
select Other Metadata and choose Copyright
Status, is from the second and unknown from the
third. Click create when done.
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The Smart Collection is populated with all

images in our catalog that are not copyrighted.
Select all images using keyboard shortcut [PC]
Ctrl+a [MAC] Command+a then select your
copyright preset from the preset dropdown
menu in the Metadata panel. We could take this
a step further by adding another rule based on
the year the photo was taken and apply the
correct copyright year.
Once we add our copyright preset to all of the
images, the Smart Collect becomes empty
there are no photos in our catalog that match
the rule.
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SEARCHING
FOR
KEYWORDS
Ever have a hard time finding your stuff? The

use of keywords can make it much easier to
locate your stuff. You learned about adding
keywords in a previous section.
V A N E L L I
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F O R
K E Y W O R D S
The Library Filter bar at the top of the Grid view of the Library module offers three
modes for filtering photos: Text, Attribute, and Metadata. You can select and use
any one mode, or combine them to perform more complex filtering. Using
keywords, we are going to search over 200,000 images to quickly find our photos.
Step One: To perform a catalog wide search we need to start at the parent folder.
Step Two: From the Library Filter bar click Text.

Step Three: Choose Keywords from the Text dropdown menu, then Contains All
from the next dropdown menu.
Step Four: Enter keyword Astronaut in the search text field. Lightroom returns 176
images that matched our keyword search.
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ADDING A SECOND KEYWORD
We can narrow our search down further by adding a second keyword. In our
example, the search results returned a selected runner at a selected event.
Translating the search into english would read, Search my entire Lightroom
catalog for images that contain the keywords Astronaut AND Vanelli.. If we want
our keyword search to return any image that contains the keywords Astronaut OR
Vanelli, we would change Contains All to Contains.
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FILTERS
The Library Filter bar at the top of the Grid view

of the Library module offers three modes for
filtering photos: Text, Attribute, and Metadata.
You can select and use any one mode, or
combine them to perform more complex
filtering.
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F I L T E R S
FIND PHOTOS USING THE LIBRARY FILTER BAR

Example: We need to quickly search over 58,000 photos to find our best game
shots of the Ohio Machine a professional Lacrosse team we photographed. We
will use each filter option; Text, Attribute and Metadata, to find the images we
need.
TEXT
Allows you to search any indexed metadata text field, including filename, caption,
keywords, and EXIF and IPTC metadata.
Perform a similar search but this time filter on Captions that Contain Words and
type Ohio,Face off. Be sure to include a comma after multiple words. The filter
displays images that have the words Ohio and Face off in the caption field.
Step One: From the Library Filter bar click Text.

Step Two: Choose Filename from the Text dropdown menu, then Contains from
the next dropdown menu.
Step Three: Type Ohio in the search text field. The filter displays 2216 images
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ATTRIBUTE
Example: Inside Lacrosse Magazine needs your best game photos. You created a
rating system where 5 stars are your best images and the yellow label is the best
of your best images.
Filters by flag status, star ratings, color labels, and copies. Filtering images based
on attributes gives us the ability to perform more complex filtering.
From the Library Filter bar click Attribute. Choose 5 stars as your rating and the
color Yellow for your label.
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METADATA
Provides up to eight columns of metadata criteria that you can select to
filter photos.
Lets continue with our previous example but this time, Inside Lacrosse
Magazine only wants only images from the July game.
Step One: From the Library Filter click on None to clear the filter we
previously applied.
Step Two: Clicking Metadata will reveal four addition filter boxes.
Step Three: You can customize each box by clicking on the title and
choosing a different metadata field from the dropdown menu.
Step Four: We want to click on date and choose July. Our filter returns
2283 images.
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COMBINING FILTERS
EXAMPLE OF USING FILTER RESULTS

FOR EDITING
While the Metadata filter is highlighted, click on the Attribute filters. Both filters are
now highlighted and the attribute options also available. Click on five stars and
yellow for color label. Your best of your best shots from the July game appears.
An outdoor sports game starting at 7pm has decent available light but by halftime,
the stadium lights are on and my ISO has to increase causing noise in my images.
Filtering on ISO metadata displays images based on my input. From here, I can
select only those images and apply noise reduction.
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C H A P T E R
GO MOBILE
S E C T I O N
A CATALOG TO GO
Having a single Lightroom catalog makes the most sense for the majority of Lightroom users, but that doesnt mean there
arent situations where having a smaller, possibly temporary, catalog is just the thing for a given project.
R O B
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UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF THE CATALOG

Before diving into how to create a catalog to go (and come back) I want to take a
step back and talk about the catalog file. It is in the best interests of every
Lightroom user to understand the role of the catalog, to know where it is located
on your system, and to understand how to protect and manage it over the long
term.
The Lightroom catalog file is the database where all of the work you do inside of
Lightroomfrom keywords to exposure adjustments and everything in betweenis
stored. You cant even open the Lightroom program without opening a catalog file.
Lets start with finding out (or confirming) where your catalog is located on your
system.
Go to (Mac) Lightroom > Catalog Settings / (Win) Edit > Catalog Settings to open
the Catalog Settings dialog box, and click the General tab. You can think of this
tab as a sort of dashboard about your catalog. It shows you where the catalog is
stored and the file name of the catalog that is open, along with when it was
created, when it was last backed up, when it was last optimized, and the file size
of the catalog file. You can even click the Show button to open a new (Mac) Finder
window / (Win) Windows Explorer window showing the actual folder that houses
your catalog file. By default Lightroom puts the catalog file in a folder named
Lightroom in your Pictures folder, but you can choose to have your catalog reside
in any folder on any locally connected drive (not on network drives).
I recommend clicking that Show button so that you can confirm the location of
your catalog and so that you can see the associated files that exist alongside your
catalog file.
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Lets discuss each of these files briefly so youll know what they do in the bigger
picture. You should note that the existence of some of these files depends on if
you use things like Smart Previews and Lightroom Mobile (both of which well
cover in the chapters that follow), so if you dont see all of these files on your
system it is OK. The most important file in that folder is the catalog, which has a
LRCAT file extension.
By default your catalog file may have the version number of Lightroom used to
create that catalog (such as Lightroom 5 Catalog), but Ill show you how to rename
an existing catalog file in a moment. This is the file we want to protect and backup
regularly. If you use Smart Previews you will also see a cache file with the same
name as your catalog, but with the words Smart Previews at the end, and with a
LRDATA file extension. This is where all Smart Previews are stored, and its size will
vary with how many Smart Previews youve created. All of the regular preview files
are stored in another cache file that also has the same name as your catalog file,
but just says Previews at the end, and it also has a LRDATA file extension. This
preview cache can get quite large over time as you import more and more photos
into your catalog. If you view this folder while Lightroom is open and running that
catalog you will also see a LRCAT-JOURNAL file and a LOCK file next to your
catalog. These are catalog maintenance files that automatically appear when the
catalog file is open and automatically vanish when the catalog is closed. If you are
using the Lightroom Mobile service you will also see a Mobile Downloads.LRDATA
file, which is where the photos added from your mobile device are stored. Note
that on Windows the LRDATA files look like folders, but there is no need to go into
them and look around.
RENAMING A CATALOG
I often hear from people who are using the most up to date version of Lightroom,
but have a catalog file named with an older version of Lightroom and it may also
have some other numbers in it, such as Lightroom 4 Catalog-2. They wonder if this
is a problem, and they want to know how to rename the catalog. First, it is not a
problem at all. You can call your catalog file anything you want to call it. Lightroom
doesnt care. However, if you want to rename it to something that makes more
sense to you, heres how:
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catalogs then choose Prompt me when starting Lightroom. This way you are
choosing the specific catalog file you want to open when you launch Lightroom. I
have seen a lot of confusion stem from the Load most recent choice because it
puts Lightroom in charge of determining which catalog to open, and that may not
be the one you had in mind when you launched Lightroom. The worst example of
this is when someone curiously opens an old backup copy of a catalog to check it
out, and then simply closes Lightroom. Guess which catalog opens automatically
the next time they launch Lightroom? Yep, the old backup copy, and if the user
doesnt realize this it can create a huge time wasting problem.
Step One: With Lightroom closed, go to the folder where the catalog resides
using your operating systems file browser; Finder on Mac, and Windows Explorer
on PC.
Step Two: Using your file browser you can rename the catalog file, but keep the
file extension the same (.LRCAT). Then rename the Preview cache and Smart
Preview cache (if applicable) the same way, but retain the word Previews and
Smart Previews in the name along with the original file extension.
So, for example if your catalog and preview cache was named:
Lightroom 4 Catalog-2.lrcat
Lightroom 4 Catalog-2 Previews.lrdata
And you wanted to change it to Lightroom Catalog, you would end up with:
Lightroom Catalog.lrcat
Lightroom Catalog Previews.lrdata
Step Three: Double-click the catalog file to open it into Lightroom. Now you can
give it a quick test drive to make sure all is well, and this writes the new catalog
name into the Lightroom preference file.
Important! Speaking of the Lightroom preference file. Here is one of the most
important things every Lightroom user can do to help them be in control of their
Lightroom experience. Go to (Mac) Lightroom > Preferences > General / (Win)
Edit > Preferences > General and change the Default Catalog setting to anything
other than Load most recent catalog. If you only use a single catalog file then just
select that specific catalog file to be the default catalog. If you use multiple
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EXPORTING A CATALOG
My primary workstation is a desktop computer. I consider this my home base, and

all work eventually ends up being managed by the single catalog that exists on
that machine. That said, my laptop is with me all of the time, and I keep a
Lightroom catalog on my laptop for all the work I am doing while away from home
base. Lightroom has the ability to export a catalog and the ability to import the
data from another Lightroom catalog. This catalog export and import functionality
is how you can transfer all of the data (i.e., all of the work you do inside of
Lightroom) between catalogs (with the exception of Publish Service connections,
which are not included). Heres how I transfer the work (and copies of photos)
between these two computers.
OK, now that understand the basics of the catalog, lets talk about how to export a
catalog for those times when you are on the go. The most common example is
when you are traveling and dont want, dont need, or just arent able to bring your
entire Lightroom library with you. Or perhaps you want to create a smaller catalog
of just the work for a specific client so you can take it with you to show them the
photos without having to bring all of your other work. Lets walk through a scenario
that I encounter all the time and explore the options youll want to consider.
Step One: Starting on my desktop workstation, identify all of the

photos I want to export as a portable catalog and transfer to my
laptop. The easiest way I have found to do this is to put all of
these photos into a new collection I make just for this purpose,
and I put that collection in its own (temporary) collection set.
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Step Two: With all of the photos for this project in a collection, right-click (ctrl-click
Mac), the collection and choose Export this collection as a catalog.
Do you need to be able to work on the photos in the Develop module?

Do you need to be able to export full sized copies?
Step Three: The Export as Catalog dialog will open, and it will display the number
of photos (and virtual copies if there are any) that will be included. We now have
some decisions to make that will determine how this dialog will be configured.
Are you only interested in viewing and modifying metadata?
Your reasons for exporting this catalog will drive your decision making process.
Here are the questions you want to consider:
OK, lets look at how your answers to those questions influence your catalog
export choices. If you are only interested in viewing and modifying metadata (such
as just wanting to be able to add keywords, titles, and captions while on a flight
home) then you only need to check the box for Include available
previews (and leave the others unchecked). This tells Lightroom
to only create a new catalog file containing all of the data about
the selected photos, and to create a preview cache containing all
of the existing previews for those photos. No photos are included.
You can open this catalog, view the previews, and modify
metadata as you wish. You wont be able to edit those photos in
Develop or export copies though.
If you want the ability to change metadata and be able to

continue editing in the Develop module, but you dont need to be
able to export copies then you can also check the Build / Include
Smart Previews box. I cover Smart Previews in greater detail in
the next chapter, but suffice it to say for now that the existence of
a smart preview gives you the ability to work in Develop without
having access to the original source photo. This is a more
compact option for times when you want to use Develop, but can
wait to do output until you return to home base.
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If you want to be able to do everything including export copies (even if for just
sending to an external editor) then you can leave Include Smart Previews
unchecked and instead check Export negative files. Negative files is Lightroom
code for copies of the source photos. This option requires the most disk space,
but it gives you the full set of options for working with Lightroom.
Step Five: Choose where you want this catalog (and its associated files) to be
created and give it a meaningful name.
I use an external drive for this purpose. Later you can choose to leave the
exported catalog on the external drive and work from there, or you can use the
external drive simply as a means to transfer the catalog and photos between
computers, which is what I usually do.
Now that we understand each of the options lets go back to the scenario.
Step Four: In my case I want to be able to modify metadata, work in Develop,
export copies, and use external editors, so I check the options for Export negative
files and Include available previews.
Step Six: Double-check your settings and click (Mac) Export Catalog / (Win)
Save) to start the process.
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An important point to keep in mind is that the process of exporting a catalog has
no effect on the originating catalog. Meaning you are not removing those photos
from your starting catalog. However, by starting in your master catalog like this
you are off to a good start with any of the work you have already done, and when
you return you can seamlessly import the data from the exported catalog back
into your original catalog preserving all of the work you did on the road.
Once the progress meter on the catalog export process is complete you can
safely disconnect the external drive from the starting computer and hit the road. If
you are planning to run the exported catalog from the external drive you are done.
The exported catalog is a fully functional catalog in its own right, and you can
open it into Lightroom via the File > Open Catalog menu or just double-click the
catalog file. You can even import new photos taken while on the road into this
catalog and later transfer those new photos back to your master catalog. You can
also treat this exported catalog as a temporary transfer station, and import the
data into an existing catalog on your second computer (laptop in my case), which
will go through next in the section on merging two catalogs.
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S E C T I O N
MERGING TWO CATALOGS

OK, now that I have the exported catalog along with the negative files on my external drive I can connect that drive to my
laptop and use the Import from another catalog function to transfer the data from the exported catalog to the catalog on
my laptop, and also choose to copy the photos (negative files) to a new location.
R O B
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S E C T I O N
2 |
M E R G I N G
T W O
C A T A L O G S
IMPORTING FROM ANOTHER CATALOG

The process of importing the data from one catalog into another catalog does not
change the catalog you are importing from. In other words, once I import the data
from the exported catalog into my laptop catalog I am still left with the exported
catalog on the external drive, and Ill need to clean that up later to avoid wasting
disk space or getting confused over what it contains. Well circle back to that later,
but for now lets look at the the steps for importing from another catalog.
Step One: With the external drive connected to my laptop, I open my laptop
catalog. This is the catalog that I want to import the data into.
Step Two: Go to File > Import from another catalog, then manually naviate to the
folder containing the catalog you want to import from, and select the catalog file,
and click Choose.
Merging is an Option
Note, as I mentioned earlier I could simply leave the
exported catalog on the external drive and work directly
from it while on the road. Theres nothing wrong with that
scenario. I prefer to import the data into the catalog I
already use on my laptop because that works best for my
needs.
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This opens the Import from Catalog dialog, which is reminiscent of the old
Lightroom Import dialog. It consists of a panel showing the Catalog Contents (the
folders containing the photos), a Preview window showing thumbnails (note the
Show Preview checkbox in the lower left needs to be checked to see thumbnails),
and sections in the lower-left for controlling how new and existing photos are
going to be handled.
When the catalog you are importing from contains photos that are not in the
catalog you are importing into those photos are treated as new, and you then have
the option to copy them to a new location, add them to the catalog without
moving, or not import them at all.
When the catalog you are importing from contains photos that are already in the
catalog you are importing into those photos are treated as existing, and you then
have the option to replace existing metadata and develop settings, replace
metadata and develop settings and negative files, or replace nothing.
If you are intentionally importing a catalog so that you
can bring in the changes you made, then you
definitely want to choose the option to replace
existing metadata and develop settings. Youd really
only need to replace negative files if you were
bringing in new versions of non-raw files that had
been edited outside of Lightroom. If you do decide to
replace existing metadata and develop settings you
also have the option to preserve the old settings as a
virtual copy, which can be useful if you want to
compare the original settings to the new settings you
are importing from that catalog.
Step Three: Configure the Import from Catalog dialog

for your situation. In my case I am only importing all
new photos and I want to copy them to my laptops
hard drive, so I just need to configure the File
Handling section for new photos and choose where I
want the copies to be located.
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Keep in mind that the negative files included with the exported catalog retain the
same folder structure as they did in their original location, and this folder structure
will also be mirrored in the new location you choose. If that doesnt work for your
current needs you can always use Lightroom to move the folders around after the
import is done.
Step Four: Click the Import button to start the process.
Once the import from catalog process is complete youll find the new photos have
been added and their folder will be shown in the Folders panel. Any collections
those photos belonged to will also exist in the Collections panel, and all of the
work you had done to those photos will have also been transferred. You can now
get to work on those photos right from where you left off in the original catalog.
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HOUSEKEEPING
As I mentioned in the beginning of this section, if you use this same
workflow and treat the exported catalog as a temporary transfer
mechanism then youll want to do some clean up once the import from
catalog process is complete. Now that the data has been transferred to
the catalog on my laptop and the photos have been copied to my laptops
hard drive I no longer have any need for the exported catalog and
associated negative files on the external drive, so I delete them as the last
step to regain that disk space.
As I work on those same photos on my laptop while traveling my intention
is that all of that work, plus any new photos I import during that trip will go
back to my main catalog on my desktop. When I return from my trip I
simply reverse the process by creating a new collection with all of the
photos I worked on plus all new photos added, then export that collection
as a catalog to an external drive, then connect that drive to my desktop
and import that catalog into my desktop catalog. In this way I ensure that I
retain all of the work I have done in both catalogs, and I am able to
transfer any new photos back to my home base.
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USING SMART PREVIEWS

As any good Lightroom user knows, your photos are never actually inside of Lightroom. Instead the Lightroom catalog file only
ever references where your photos are actually stored on your hard drive(s). Lightroom refers to each photo by storing the
complete path to each photo, from the volume name (Mac) / drive letter (Win) to the individual file name and every folder in
between, inside the catalog. As long as Lightroom can find a given photo at that path it is considered to be online and all of
Lightrooms capabilities are able to be applied to that photo.
R O B
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U S I N G
S M A R T
P R E V I E W S
However, there are times when in the normal course of everyday business, we
face scenarios where our photos are inaccessible to Lightroom because the drive
the photos reside upon is temporarily offline, such as a disconnected external
drive or when you are away from home and unable to access a network drive.
When a drive is offline, then Lightroom is unable to access the photos stored at
that location, and that results in severe limits to what Lightroom can do with those
offline photos. Lets take a look at the most common scenario, a disconnected
external drive.
The Volume Browser goes beyond showing the name to also showing a green
light that indicates the drive is online and has ample free space, as well as some
additional information about that volume (which you can customize via right-click).
If I click on the Volume Browser to display its contents I can see that all of the
folders on that drive are accessible too.
LIMITATIONS OF OFFLINE PHOTOS

I use a number of external and internal drives to store my photos, but I keep my
catalog on an internal drive. In my Folders panel I have four Volume Browsers,
which display the name of each volume (these would be drive letters on
Windows). The drive named External is my cleverly named external drive.
With the drive and its contents accessible I can work on my photos in any of the
modules, send copies to external editors, and utilize any form of output I choose
from Lightroom. If I look at the Histogram panel of the Library module I see it
displays Original Photo, which is just another indicator that these photos are
online.
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metadata. Lightroom has no problem with this, and this is indeed a benefit of
using Lightroom.
Now if I were to (safely) disconnect that drive from my computer a few things
change immediately. In the Folders panel we see the Volume Browser for that
drive has gone dark and question marks have appeared on all of the folders.
Glancing at the thumbnails we see an exclamation point icon has appeared above
each photo. Inside the Histogram panel Original Photo has been replaced by
Photo is missing. All of these messages are Lightrooms way of telling us that it
cannot access those photos.
However, if I were to switch to the Develop module my work comes to a full stop.
Aside from the Photo is missing message in the Histogram panel we now have a
message plastered over the photo saying The file could not be found, but most
importantly all of the Develop module panels are greyed out and unusable.
Lightroom needs to be able to access the source photo to work its Develop
magic. Similarly, if I tried to export a copy I would get a message saying Unable to
export. My external editor options would also be disabled. The fix in this situation
is an easy one as all I need to do is reconnect my drive and everything comes
back to life. But what if there was another option?
This is no cause for alarm because we know the reason why those photos are
offline, and because Lightroom has stored previews of each of those photos in its
cache file alongside the catalog we can still see the photos even when the
originals are offline. In fact, due to this database and preview cache paradigm we
can even go on with adding new titles, captions, keywords, and other types of
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A SMARTER OFFLINE WORKFLOW

You can create Smart Previews in several ways, and the choice will vary with your
individual workflow needs. If you know from the moment of import that you will
need to create Smart Previews you can choose that option right from the File
Handling panel of the Import screen. After import you can always choose to
create Smart Previews on an as needed basis via the Library > Previews > Build
Smart Previews menu. As you can see in that menu there is also an option to
Discard Smart Previews so that you can manage your disk space when you no
longer need them.
When Lightroom 5 was released back in 2013 it introduced us to the concept of

the Smart Preview. As I noted previously, Lightroom has been using a cache full of
photo previews alongside its catalog from the very beginning, and to an extent
these previews allow for a limited metadata-only offline workflow experience.
These new Smart Previews took that offline workflow to a new level by giving us
the ability to continue to adjust our offline photos in the Develop module, and even
have a limited export option, if the offline photos had Smart Previews. So, lets look
at what exactly Smart Previews are and and how to make them.
A Smart Preview utilizes the
lossy DNG file format to
create a smaller version, in
both pixel dimensions and
file size, of your original
source photo (video not
supported), and stores this
DNG file in a special Smart
Preview cache alongside the
catalog file. The lossy DNG
file format is used so that the
data required for editing in
develop can be retained,
and so that lossy file
compression (similar to JPG)
can be used to make the file
size smaller. In addition to
lossy file compression the
pixel dimensions of the
Smart Preview is set to 2540
pixels on the longest edge. As a result, a Smart Previews file size on disk is vastly
smaller than an original raw photo.
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If I go back to my example photo from before, that is back online, and build a
Smart Preview via the Library menu I see that the icon in the Histogram panel has
changed to Original + Smart Preview.
First, I can see that the Volume Browser has gone dark and that the folders all
display question marks indicating the drive is offline, but if I look in the Histogram
panel I see that the histogram itself is still live and below that it says Smart
Preview, with a tooltip indicating I can still perform adjustments. Switching to
Develop, I see that this is indeed still true.
This tells me that my source photo is currently online and that a Smart Preview
also exists for it. Now I can disconnect that drive again and see whats different
and what is still the same.
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From here I can proceed with my typical Develop workflow and as soon as I
reconnect the drive Lightroom will seamlessly associate the edits with the original
source photo again. It is important to keep in mind the reduced pixel dimensions
of the Smart Preview when editing, especially for tasks youd typically perform at
1:1 view (such as capture sharpening in the Detail panel). This is a small price to
pay for the freedom and flexibility the Smart Preview brings to your workflow. With
just this Smart Preview I was able to perform everything Id normally do, such as
lens profile corrections, chromatic aberration reduction, Adjustment Brush edits to
skin and teeth, cropping, and more.
[I can even export a copy, though it will be limited to 2540 pixels on the long edge
(or smaller if you crop).
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Using Smart Previews can give you a lot of flexibility to keep working when your
drives are offline, and because you can export (smaller) copies from them some
people even consider them to be a last-resort-when-in-a-real-pinch backup option
(but dont rely on that only!). If you are concerned about how much disk space
your Smart Previews are taking up you can go to (Mac) Lightroom > Catalog
Settings > File Handling / (Win) Edit > Catalog Settings > File Handling, and
check the live tally that is displayed there.
In my case I have 21 GB of Smart Previews that represents about 20,000 photos,

which is a pretty impressive savings in disk space. As I mentioned earlier you can
discard Smart Previews via the Library > Previews menu, but you can also click
the Smart Preview label in the Histogram panel to see a prompt that displays total
disk space taken by Smart Previews and the option to discard the selected
photos preview. This Smart Preview workflow can also be extended to the catalog
export and import functionality I discussed in the previous chapters.
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A LIGHTWEIGHT CATALOG-TO-GO
One other option to keep in your back pocket when you need to be mobile is that
you can export a catalog with Smart Previews instead of including your negative
files. This can be a powerful and lightweight workflow for keeping just a catalog
and Smart Previews on a drive, and still retaining all the flexibility of editing
metadata, Develop adjustments, and limited export. Heres how it works:
Step One: Create a collection of just the photos you want to export as a catalog
(collections arent required for catalog export, but I find it makes the process
simplest).
Step Two: Right-click the collection and choose Export this collection as a
catalog.
Step Three: In the Export as Catalog dialog, check the box to Build / Include
Smart Previews (including available previews is optional, but recommended since
Lightroom will have to re-render them from the Smart Previews if they arent there).
Choose where you want the catalog to be saved, give it a name and export.
Once the catalog export is complete you can take that catalog with you and
continue your work where you left off using the Smart Previews. When you return
you can reverse the process by using the File > Import from another catalog menu
to import the data from the exported catalog back into your original catalog.
Lightroom does all of the heavy lifting for you to ensure your data is transferred
back to the original source photos. It works really well when you are limited in disk
space while traveling or when you just dont need the entire source photos with
you. Give it a try!
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SELECTS
S E C T I O N
A GUIDE TO
AESTHETIC
Aesthetic is defined as being concerned with or

the appreciation of beauty. It also suggests a
style or underlying principles that guide an artist
or an artistic movement.
JUDGEMENTS
K E V I N
A M E S
S E C T I O N
1 | A
G U I D E
T O
A E S T H E T I C
Judging photographs, particularly our own photographs is a minefield fraught with

danger. Rating someone elses work can hurt their feelings to the point of
damaging a friendship. Ranking our own work involves the emotions we feel as we
remember the shoot. We remember magical moments during a shoot that colors
our rationality during an edit. We rationalize that the photograph is better than is
really is because of our feelings.
Once we understand this happens, that it is natural and human, we can begin to
look at our work dispassionately. My aesthetics include, lighting, exposure,
composition, color and story. This list reveals that I am process oriented. What is
your list?
LIGHTING
Does the lighting reveal the elements of the composition in a compelling or
evocative way? What is revealed? What is hidden?
This photograph of AJ is lit with her looking into a window. Two areas are revealed.
Her face and neckline form an inverted exclamation point that guides the eye to
the second reveal: her hands. Everything else is hidden in black. There is no hint
as to her shape, what it is shes wearing or where she is.
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EXPOSURE
The amount of light that produces an image on the sensor is one definition of
exposure. In my aesthetic, exposure is the combination of shutter speed, aperture
and ISO that reveals details in the highlights and shadows. I use an X-Rite
ColorChecker chart to set both neutral color and for setting a base exposure.
Once I have the base exposure, I adjust it to define the creative objective of my
photograph. The next photograph of AJ is made with the exposure adjusted using
the ColorChecker. Notice that her face is brighter, her eyes glow and there is detail
in the robe. The proper exposures shows the outline of her hair more clearly and
her left shoulder. A careful look shows the shape of her back as well.Composition
For me composition starts with the light. Directing the eye from AJs face to her
hands is a compositional act. How does my eye flow through the image? Where is
she looking? Would the piece work better if there were more space in front? Does
it add mystery? Composition is the expression of the elements in a space in a
pleasing way. I prefer to lock the camera on a tripod then adjust the elements in
the frame. I always give myself permission to shoot a bit loose to allow for
cropping.
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G U I D E
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COLOR
Color evokes emotion. Emotional connection with the view supports what the
photograph is saying. Blues are peaceful. They can be cold. They might be
depressing. Blue can suggest loyalty. Reds are powerfully intense. It attracts the
viewers attention. It is heat. It is love. Green talks to us of nature. It is relaxing.
Dark green can be masculine. Yellow is a happy color that attracts attention. It
shows optimism. Brown is the earth color. It can be sad or authentic. It can be
wistful. Purple is the color of kings and queens. It is luxurious. It denotes wealth
and polish. Then theres black and white. White is purity. It is clean. It is innocent.
Black is power. It can be submissive. Clerics favor black to show their surrender to
a higher power. Black can be evil. It can show authority. What does color say in
your photographs?
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S E C T I O N
1 | A
G U I D E
T O
A E S T H E T I C
STORY
Photographers love to talk about their images. Its fun and when viewers agree it
feels really great. Heres the question I keep in mind when Im selecting
photographs from a take: What will my photograph say when I am not there to
speak for it?
Look at this one. What story does it evoke for you? Story is a key aesthetic
judgment.
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S E C T I O N
1 | A
G U I D E
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A E S T H E T I C
J U D G E M E N T S
THE STORY I WROTE

Its just before dusk. Soft, warm light from a window with sheer curtains illuminates
the woman regarding her self in a full-length mirror. She knows preparation is
everything. The important rendezvous later that evening runs through her mind.
She knows the outfit she has picked is pedestrian. It is a considered choice
designed to reveal little to those she will meet. Her lingerie, on the other hand,
reminds her of her bloodline and the cultured competence it represents. She is
confident. She knows, when its over, the evening will be hers.
Every element in the photograph supports my story. Do I know what other viewers
story will be? No. Do I expect them to know the story I wrote? Not at all. My story is
the foundation for the elements presented. To answer your question this is the
only time Ive shared a photos backstory.
LIGHTING
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L E V I
S I M
SWITCHING VIEWS
By now youve probably figured out that you can see an individual picture or you
can see lots of pictures in a grid. But did you know youve got five different views
available in the Library Module?
I use two of them daily, one of them several times each week, one other
occasionally, and a new one that may prove valuable as a huge time saver.
Let me show you how to get to each view and a few key functions available in
each view.
S E C T I O N
2 | S W I T C H I N G
V I E W S
THE GRID
NAVIGATOR TAB
Press the G key from anywhere in Lightroom and youll find yourself in the Grid
view with all the pictures from the filmstrip below laid out in a grid. This is a fast
way to browse through your images and you can select multiple pictures here and
apply a function to them all at once.
Next thing for using the Loupe is that pressing the Z key will zoom in on your
picture, and Space Bar does the same thing; press it again to zoom out. How
much does it zoom? Well, that depends on the options youve chosen in the
Navigator tab. There are four options, and you choose two to toggle between. The
first two are Fit and Fill. The way this works is you choose one of these options,
and that will be the default zoom amount when you zoom out using the Z key or
the Space Bar. Fit sizes your picture so the entire image is visible between all the
tool bars on the top, bottom, left and right. Fill will zoom in until the picture fills the
space vertically, leaving some cutoff on the left and right. Click in the center of the
picture and drag it around to see the parts missing.
The other zoom option is 1:1 or 1:Whatever. This option determines how zoomed
in the picture will be when you press Z or Space Bar. 1:1 is 100%, and matches
the pixels of your monitor to the pixels of the picture. For instance, if you use a
medium format camera with 80 megapixels, then zooming in to 1:1 will appear to
zoom in a lot more than when you use camera with fewer megapixels. This is
where the other option comes in. Click on the drop down menu next to the second
ratio and youll see options from 1:16 to 11:1. If theres a 1 on the left side, youre
setting it to zoom in to less than 100%. If the number on the left is greater than 1,
youll be zooming in much more than 100%. If you zoom past 100%, say 11:1,
then youll be enlarging the pixels of the picture to your view, so dont expect the
picture to appear sharp.
THE LOUPE
The first view I use all the time is the Loupe view, which is the single image view.
The first thing to know about the Loupe is that you can get here from anywhere in
Lightroom by pressing the E key. Youll see your image show up nice and big,
filling the window between the tool panes.
I leave mine clicked on Fit and 1:1; however, when I used to use the 36 megapixel
D800, I would often set the second option to 1:2 so that I could see the image
closer, but also have some sense of what part of the picture I was viewing. If
youre in the Grid view, clicking one of these options or the Space Bar will bring
you into the Loupe view
.
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MAKING SELECTIONS
You can select multiple individual pictures by pressing and holding Cmd (Ctrl) and
clicking on each picture you want to select.
Before you can do anything to pictures in the Grid view, youve got to select some
pictures. Select one by clicking on the picture, or on the gray border around it,
and select all by pressing Cmd+A (Ctrl+A). You can select a bunch of pictures in
a row by pressing and holding the Shift key and clicking on one picture and then
another; everything in-between the two will be selected. (Selected pictures appear
with a lighter gray border)
Now that youve got some pictures selected, you can use the toolbar to do some
pretty cool stuff. Right next to the Thumbnail slider is a drop down menu that
reveals and hides several options; turn on the ones you want to use. (I keep the
Painter and the Sorting and Thumbnail Size options handy; I use keyboard
shortcuts for the rest, but you can certainly use the buttons onscreen if you like).
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V I E W S
THUMBNAILS
Change the size of the Thumbnails in the grid using the slider in the bottom right
corner of the windowif you dont see the Thumbnails slider, press the T key to
reveal the toolbar.
You can also alter what details you see on the thumbnails. Press the J key to
change the view from very simple to including badge details to including more
info like the file name and pixel dimensions. I typically have mine set to the full info
view, and you can see all the options in the View Menu at the top of the screen:
View > Grid View Style
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V I E W S
PAINTER
SORTING
The Painter is amazingly handy. It takes whatever settings you choose and applies
them to an image in the Grid. Check out the drop down menu next to the word
Paint. I most often use it for applying Keywords and for adding images to the
Target Collection. Just click on the spray paint can icon, then choose what you
want to do form the Paint: dropdown menu. Whichever option you choose will give
you different options to the right. For Keywords, I just enter the words in the space
and then click on the pictures that match those words.
The tool I used most in the Grid view is Sort. For some reason, when Lightroom
imports my pictures, its default is to show the pictures as they were added,
instead of as they were shot, which can be quite different. To make sure youre
seeing pictures in chronological order, click the drop down menu next to the word
Sort and choose Capture Time. Sometimes I use the other options, as well.
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S E C T I O N
V I E W S
SURVEY VIEW
The Survey view allows you to see multiple pictures all at once that are not
necessarily grouped together in the Grid view. I use this to help me make a choice
between several similar picturesseeing them side by side and removing other
clutter is a powerful way to choose the best image; I use this same method with
my clients in sales sessions (See the chapter on Review Session for a client) .
You can get into Survey mode from anywhere in Lightroom by pressing the N key,
or by clicking on the icon in the Loupe or Grid views.
In this case, I need some pictures of the instructor looking dynamic and friendly. I
can quickly see that the first two Ive selected arent as good as the othersshes
not smiling as much in those, so I can click the little X in the corner of the picture
to remove them from my selection, and the others fill in the space.
Select multiple pictures form the filmstrip or grid and enter Survey view, and I like
to hide the side panels to see each picture a little largerjust click the < arrow on
each side of the screen. Ive selected these 7 pictures, which are not in a row in
the filmstrip, and now I can see them side by side to decide which best serve the
purpose I need them for. The one with a white outline is the picture Ive got
actively selected.
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Now Ive got three good pictures I can use. I can also reorder them by clicking on
one and dragging it in between two others. I often use Survey for narrowing down
similar expressions in portraits, too.
Lastly, you can alter the flag or star rating of a picture in Survey view by clicking
the flags and stars underneath the pictures. Press one of the icons at bottom right
to switch views, or press E for the Loupe, or even D to head into the Develop
Module from here.
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COMPARE VIEW
Compare view is pretty cool and has excellent functionsI just wish I needed it
more (C is the shortcut key). Like Survey, its useful for narrowing down your
selections. You start by selecting a bunch of pictures. The one on the left is the
one you compare all the others to, and whichever one you click on will be in the
left spot, called the Select, and you use the arrow keys to cycle through each
picture in your selection, called the Candidate.
If you want to zoom in and compare them close up, theres the Zoom slider on the
left side; the lock makes them zoom to the same magnification and position, or
you can unlock it and zoom them individually. Sync makes them both pop to the
same place if youve unlocked them.
The idea is that the best pictures stays on the left, and the less good one gets
cycled out. When the one on the right is better than the one on the left, you use
the icons on the bottom right of the screen to swap the places.
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V I E W S
PEOPLE VIEW
This option is new to Lightroom CC, and Im still finding the right way to use it in
my workflow. Basically, it gathers pictures together based on the faces it can
recognize in the image, which is pretty neat, but, like Compare view, it may not fit
my workflow. However, the more I think about it, the more I see some uses for it.
Enter the People view using the icon at the bottom of the screen, or by pressing
the O key (P is already taken for flagging a picture as a pick, think in O as the
shape of someones face).
Like Survey, you can alter the ratings or drop a picture from your selection with the
icons under each picture.
Its a really cool tool, but Survey seems to fit my use a little better. Try it out and
see if it works better for you.
Lightroom begins automatically recognizing faces and stacking pictures together

with the same faces; the same picture will be in multiple stacks if it has multiple
people in it; double click on a stack to see all the pictures in it. Now, just click on
the ? under each stack and enter the name of the person shown. now each stack
moves in to the category at the top of Named People. Lightroom now uses that
name as a keyword, so over time, I could search the whole catalogue for people
based on their names and Lightroom finds them for me. Thats pretty cool.
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V I E W S
Lightroom even gathers the people it thinks it

knows and puts a ? after their names to ask its
correct, and you just click the check mark or the
x. Again, very cool!
The thing about pictures of my daughter is that my Drobo is littered with them
everywhere; they could have been made at any time, and on any number of
cameras. I may walk in the door after a shoot and see her doing something
photographable and add a frame or two of her to the the same memory card from
the shoot. People view can help me gather these pictures from all over my hard
drives and have them handy when its time to make an album.
The thing is, I pretty much know who my clients

are, and I keep them organized by name in the
folder tree, so Im not usually trying to search for
anyone by namebut maybe I will start doing it.
Im thinking of three instances when it could be
really useful: weddings,
big family groups, and
finding my own kids
pictures.
Like I say, Im refining my workflow to try to include this tool. Its not perfect and
sometimes still includes a boulder or a tree as a face, but its pretty incredible that
this caliber of tool is now in Lightroom.
For weddings, Im thinking

itll be handy because itll gather all the pictures of the bride
together, or the grandma, etc, and when I show the bride
pictures she could ask me to see all the pictures with her
and the groom and the grandma, and I could do that using
the keywords instead of searching around in the grid view.
Similarly with family pictures, I often photograph three or
four generations together. Im quite good with names and
will know everyones names the by the end of a shoot; but if
you ask me three months later (which is often how long it
takes a big family to get their orders together) I may have
forgotten a few names. If I use the People view to name
everyone right after the shoot, then itll make me look like a
more attentive and caring photographer because I can
review everyones names before the sales session.
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S E C T I O N
USING
FLAGS
Once we imported our photos to our catalog, we

need to quickly review each image and select
our favorites. The trick is NOT to make this a
time consuming task. One option is to use the
Flagging system to temporarily select your
favorite images. Its important not to get hung up
on an image. If you have to ask, should I flag
this? you took too long. Flag the image and
move on to the next.
V A N E L L I
S E C T I O N
3 | U S I N G
F L A G S
This doesnt mean you are going to process every selected image or delete the
non selected images. It simply allows you to quickly scan your photos and select
as many as you want. Once they are selected, make a collection called Selects
and drag the images into this collection.
After the collection is created, take your time and narrow down your selects again.
This is a great opportunity to gather input from your client. Have them help you
with this second stage. The final selects are images you plan to process so create
a second collection called Images to Process and drag the images into this
collection. The images are now in both collections. Once you process your image,
create a third collection called Final and drag the edited image into this collect.
This time, remove the image from the Images to Process collection. The goal is
to not have images in the Images to Process collection.
FIRST ROUND SELECTS

For our example, we will use images from a Senior Portrait shoot. Start by viewing
your images in the Librarys Grid mode. Select the Library module, then choose
Gridview (G) found at the bottom left of the thumbnails. Use the thumbnail slider
(found at the bottom right of the thumbnails) to increase or decrease the size of
the thumbnails for easy viewing.
Highlight the first image by clicking on it. Use the left or right arrow keys on your
keyboard to maneuver between images. When you find an image you like, click
the flag icon found at the top left of the thumbnail image or press P on the
keyboard. To unflag an image click the flag icon again or press the tilde key (~)
found on the top left of the keyboard below the ESC key.
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F L A G S
CREATING COLLECTIONS
Name this set Senior Portraits. Leave the Inside a Collection Set checkbox
blank and click Create.
Working in the Collections Panel, click the + icon and select Create a Collection
Set.
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F L A G S
If by chance one of the collections isnt inside your collection set, simply click and
drag it to your clients collection set.
Right click on the new Senior Portraits collection set and create a new Collection
Set with your clients name. For location, check Inside a Collection Set and
choose Senior Portraits. Click Create.
We are going to filter our selects and place them in the Selects collection. Click
on your clients name in the Folders panel. Select the Attribute tab and filter based
on Flag. Click Edit and from the dropdown menu choose Select All.
You now have two collection sets; Senior Portraits and your clients name. Click the
arrow icon to see the tree structure you just created. From here, we will create 3
collections inside your clients set; Selects, Images to Process and Final.
Right click on your clients name and create a Collection (not collection sets)
and name the new collection the date of the shoot plus Select. For example:
20131130 Select. For location, check Inside a Collection Set and choose your
clients name. Click Create. Repeat this for Images to Process and Final.
Ensure each is saved inside the clients name collection set under location.
Click and drag the selected images to the clients select collection. While the
images are still selected, unflag the images by selecting the Flag icon. To unselect
all images, click edit and from the dropdown menu choose Select None.
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SECOND
ROUND SELECTS
Working in the clients Selects
collections, narrow down your
choices to images you want to
process. These are the best of your
best images. This is a good time to
have the client choose the images
with you. Use the same procedure
we did in First Round Selects to
Flag images you want to process.
Flag these images and drag them to
the clients Images to Process
collection. The images are now in
two collections, Selects and Images
to Process. At this point, we can
clear our Flags by selecting all
images Click Edit and from the
dropdown menu choose Select All
unflag the images by selecting
the Flag icon.
S E C T I O N
ADDING
STARS
Flags, stars, and labels are three different

ways to select and refine images for you
final edit. In my opinion, stars offer the most
flexibility to rate your images from the first
selection to the final version. Flags can be a
great solution if youre looking to quickly
mark your favorite images, but arent as
useful as you continue to cull down your
selection. With the ability to rate using up to
five stars, we can implement a systematic
approach as we narrow our selection from
the first star to the fifth star.
N I C K
M I N O R E
As I cull through my images and select our favorites on the first pass, Ill
rate with one star. The quickest way to assign one star is by pressing the
number 1 on the keyboard. You can also choose the Photo menu, navigate
down to Set Rating, and select the star youd like to assign. When
assigning more stars, we can increase the rating with the close bracket
key ] or decrease the rating with the open bracket key [.
Rather than reject the images I dont like, I just wont give them a one star
rating. This way, youre never at risk for deleting images you might need at
a later time.
After the first pass, it might be necessary to narrow the selection down just
a bit more. This is where both two and three star rankings come in. On the
right side of the filmstrip, choose the Filter dropdown and select Rated. To
sort by one-star photos, click on the first star. By default, Lightroom will
show images greater than or equal to one star. Once sorted, cull the
second pass using a two-star rating (press 2 on the keyboard), and as we
get to the third pass, use a three-star ranking (press 3 on the keyboard).
Prepping for edit, sort the images to just show images greater than or
equal to three stars, assuming you made three rounds of selects. If you
only made one round, then sort by one star. If youve used two rounds of
selects, then sort by two stars.
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4 |
A D D I N G
S T A R S
STAR LOGIC
One Star - First Selections
Two Stars - Second Pass
Three Stars - Images to Edit
Four Stars - Currently editing or edited but not worthy of being 5 stars
Five Stars - Final images
KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
If youve kept up with the math, we still have two stars to use to rate our edited
images. Four star images should be images youve edited and are happy with, but
not quite amazing five-star images. Then your five-star images are the final
portfolio-quality; the very best images from that shoot.
1 - 1 Star
2 - 2 Stars
3 - 3 Stars
4 - 4 Stars
Easy Portfolio Updates
5 - 5 Stars
Added bonus: Whenever you need to update your portfolio, select All
Photographs from the Catalog menu on the left and then sort by five
stars. Instantly, youll have only the very best images bubble up to the
top for you to add to your portfolio.
0 - Remove all Stars
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4 |
A D D I N G
S T A R S
QUICKLY RATE YOUR IMAGES WITH

AUTO ADVANCE
Take this one step further and dim the lights to better focus on each image. Simply
press L on the keyboard once to dim to 80% darkness, twice to dim to black, and
a third time to return to normal. You can also change the Lights Out mode from
the menu bar. Choose Window, > Lights Out, >t Lights Dim or Lights Out.
Typically, the first pass of your images shouldnt take very long. The idea is to rate
any image that looks decent from the shoot and is in focus or workable. To speed
up the rating process, we can enable Auto Advance to advance the preview
image after we give it a star. Enabling Auto Advance is as simple as choosing the
Photo menu and selecting Auto Advance. As you cull through the images, press
the number 1 if you like the photo and press the number 0 if you dont.
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S E C T I O N
PICKING
FLAGS OR
STARS
When Im culling a shoot and finding the

best pictures, I use stars. I know a lot of
people say you should just use flagsif its
good, it gets flag, if not it gets nothing.
Thats a simple systemand its the same
one I use, but I use stars instead of flags
and Ill show you why.
L E V I
S I M
S E C T I O N
5 |
P I C K I N G
F L A G S
HOW NOT TO USE STARS

Youve can label a picture as 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 stars, and theres a strong temptation
to go through and label each picture with a rating so that 1 star is the worst picture
and 5 stars is the best. Dont do that. We dont need to label garbage or rate every
picture. Simply go through the pictures quickly, right hand on the arrow keys, left
hand on the 1 key. If the picture is one you might like to look at again or potentially
share, it gets 1 star. Dont waste yourself deciding how not terrible each picture is
with its own rating.
SECOND PASS, 2 STARS

Now Ill activate the filter to show only the 1 star
pictures and go through the pictures again quickly
and possibly add a second star, or maybe just
remove the first star. If I find a picture that is
possibly the best picture Ive ever made in my
entire life, Ill step it up to 5 stars so that it could be
included in a Smart Collection if I ever wanted to
find all my best pictures immediately.
Now that all the decent pictures have 1 star and a
few favorites have 2 stars, I could come back to
this folder at any future date and delete everything
without any stars and be comfortable knowing that
Im not throwing away anything valuable. After I
deliver finished pictures to my clients, I can safely
delete the leftovers, and I think you should do this,
too. I sometimes imagine my posterity cursing my
name while trying to sort through thousands of
terabytes of pictures that will be sitting around on
drives by the time I die. Why didnt the old man
ever delete anything?!
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O R
S T A R S
S E C T I O N
5 |
P I C K I N G
F L A G S
SO, IF YOU USE IT LIKE FLAGS, WHY NOT

USE FLAGS?
The thing about flags is that they are tied to the Lightroom catalog. I learned this
when I was trying to use two different catalogs to look at the same pictures. I had
a desktop computer I was doing my photofinishing on, and a laptop I was selling
from. Id import the finished
pictures onto the laptop, but there
would be no flags included. Flags
stay in the catalog, and dont
follow the picture file. Stars are
written in the metadata of the
picture itself. In fact, I can add a
star to a picture in the camera,
and the star will show up in
Lightroom. Stars will show up in
any app the picture may be
viewed with in the future,
including my online galleries. This
is why I switched to using stars
and have given up on flags.
My system is really similar to
using flagsI just use stars
instead because they travel with
the picture. Maybe this will work
for you, too.
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O R
S T A R S
S E C T I O N
CLIENT
REVIEW
SESSION
If youre like me, then youve got a disease, and

this particular ailment keeps you from not
making pictures. For me the sickness is so
strong that I had to quit my job because I was
so distracted thinking about how Id photograph
my co-workers that I couldnt focus on what they
were saying in meetings.
The geniuses behind Lightroom must have
relatives like us, because theyve built in a
powerful way to present and sell pictures to
clients. Without these tools, I reckon my family
would be living on the streets because I cant
imagine howd Id have made a living the last
few years.
L E V I
S I M
S E C T I O N
6 | C L I E N T
R E V I E W
S E S S I O N
BIGGER TRULY IS BETTER
Lightroom makes it simple to share pictures with your clients face to face on a
nice big secondary display (see the next section). The fact is, if you show big
pictures then you can sell big pictures. Nonetheless, Ive messed up quite a few
times while refining my sales presentation. Let me share some tips for success
Ive learned along the way that may help beginners to advanced users.
People deserve to have large artwork adorning their walls. Whether you selling
portraits to a family or fine art to designer, the larger you show the pictures the
more impact they will have. People can easily order an 8x10 because its a size
that has been sold for decades and frames abound. Helping people realize that
8x10 is quite small is your job. For best results, use a huge TV or project your
pictures onto a wall/screen.
Ive had good results with 52 TVs or larger. Ive tried a 47 inch, but its not as
powerful as a little larger. The good news is these TVs have come way down in
price. the bad news, that price is still pretty high. However, if you shop the sales,
you can get a decently large TV for about $500, and Im pretty sure you could
make that up with in a couple of sales sessions (this isnt a sales training course;
you should learn how to help people make purchases from a sales professional
thats an even better investment than a large TV).
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R E V I E W
BUT ONLY IF IT LOOKS GREAT

If you get a big screen but the color is bad, then its not a good tool. The settings
as set at the factory are made to catch peoples eye in the store and they are too
contrasty, sharp, and saturated. If you leave the screen on the default settings,
youll constantly be saying to your client, Im sorry, it really looks much better on
my screen.
Id recommend using a monitor calibration tool to calibrate both your monitor and
the second display. Ive used tools from Spyder and X-Rite and have been very
satisfied. If you cant use a calibration tool, or if youre not able to calibrate the
screen (I often show at someone elses home and at the mercy of their own TV),
then Ive had good luck setting the TV to the Cinema or Movie setting; these are
usually a little more subdued and softer and give a pretty good result as a preset.
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S E S S I O N
S E C T I O N
6 | C L I E N T
R E V I E W
6 TIPS ON THE MECHANICS

Im still assuming youve read the previous chapter on how to use the Second
display, so please read that before you ask me how some of these things work; Im
going to tell you what to do here, not how or why.
1.CULL YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS30 TOPS

This is what I call editing. Editing a paper or a book is removing everything that
doesnt need to be there, and youve got to do that before your client comes. This
sounds like common sense, but Im telling you because at my first review session
on a big screen with a client I hadnt already culled anything (what was I
thinking?!). I dont know how she managed to suffer through it, but three hours
later my client and I had finally chose the pictures she wanted to print (and shes
still a recurring client for me today, bless her heart). Dont put your clients through
this kind of torture. Ive photographed hundreds of families and fouled up plenty of
sessions by showing too many pictures. I recommend narrowing a family shoot
down to 30 pictures, maybe 60 if its a big family. If youre like me, then youre
shooting hundreds of pictures in a session, but trust me on this: edit it down to 30.
2. SHOW FINISHED PICTURES

Now that youve got it narrowed down to a manageable number of pictures, you
need to be sure to show these as their best. Personally, I do color and exposure
adjustments similarly to all in a shoot so they look like a cohesive body of work. I
touch up blemishes where its necessary for closeups, but I may leave heavy edits
for after the client has chosen their favs, though Ill finish several of my own
favorites to completion (and the thing is, these are the ones they should buy; if its
not a favorite of yours, why would you even show it? 30 pictures, people!)
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S E C T I O N
6 | C L I E N T
R E V I E W
3. CREATE A COLLECTION
Create a new collection for these favorite photos. I usually name it for the client.
When they come over, this is where they will see the pictures; there wont be any
others showing the filmstrip that distract them. In fact, you may want to rename the
pictures in the collection so that they are in a sequential order and the clients
wont ask to see the others that arent listed (select them all then press F2 to
rename).
4. SHARE THE PLAN AND HAVE PAPER

Before you start showing any pictures, you need to tell your client what the
process is. One of the most powerful ways is to start with a slideshow of the
pictures set to excellent music (I highly recommend a $10 song from
www.SongFreedom.com for thisthen you can even offer the slideshow as a
product). This can be made right in the Slideshow Module, or with other tools like
ProShowWeb.com. I like to give an overview and tell them well go through them
one by in a minute, but first enjoy the show and remember
how fun it was
when we made the pictures.
Next, youre going to go through the pictures one by one. I use Survey view (Shift
+N) on the Second Monitor to do this, with all the tool bars and menu bars hidden
and the background set to dark gray or black. Be ready with a pad of paper to
take notesthere are lots of apps and things, but theres nothing that separates
you from a client faster than using a device to take a noteits bad enough we
have to use a computer to do the presentation. Use paper and a pen that you
know works well and youll have a better experience.
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6 | C L I E N T
R E V I E W
5. RATE AND MOVE ON
S E S S I O N
Often Im trying to help my client decide between two good choices. Since Im in
Survey view on the second screen, I can highlight more than one image in my
thumbnails and those will show up side by side on the screen. I can even reorder
them in the Survey screen and show better options side by side, then use the X in
the corner of the image to remove it from the screen. Its a powerful way to see
that one picture is markedly better than the other.
Now that youve shared the slideshow, youre ready to go through the pictures one
by one. At this stage, Im still not ready to talk about products specificallythis is
a culling stage. As we go through if they like the picture at all, I give it one star and
move on. Now set the filter to show only those pictures with at least one star. Then
well go through again and raise the favorites to two stars. Now were ready to start
thinking about which pictures will hang where and what sizesuse that pen and
paper for notes. I may even need to do one more round to get down to the three
star pictures.
I also use the Survey display to show three pictures that go well togethera
triptych of 3 5x7 prints is a great way to display multiple pictures, and it helps my
client to be able to choose similar pictures that they still want to have.
6. MAKE VIRTUAL COPIES AND COLOR CODE

Dont forget that you can make a Virtual Copy of a photograph and finish it
differently or crop it differently. Just press Cmd+ to make a virtual copy. I often
end up ordering a large print of a group picture, plus 8x10s for grandparents and
maybe a 5x7 for the desk at work. Each of these is a virtual copy cropped
differently.
One other tool I like to use is the color labels. Like stars and flags, these are just
another way to filter your pictures. I use them two different ways, depending on my
needs. The first way might be to identify to whom a print will be delivered. If Ive
made pictures for an extended family, then I might assign the red label (press the
6 key) to grandma and grandpa, and yellow (7) to Susans family, while Joes
family gets all the greens (8). Of course, it only goes up to blue (9), so it may not
work for a large family.
The other way Ive had success using color labels is to use the color as a print
size. Red for 4x6, yellow for 5x7, green for 8x10, and blue for enlargements.
These are just two ways to use the ratings, but there are lots of way to use them.
Find a system that works for you, and remember all the tools at your finger tips.
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S E C T I O N
USING A
SECOND
SCREEN
What does it mean for me to have professional

software? It means it does things that make my
work as a professional easier, but I think the
same tools should be intuitive enough that any
passionate people can take advantage without
having a degree in the software specifically.
Lightroom is just such a tool, and one of my
favorite features is the Secondary Display. Let
me show why I love it and how to use it.
L E V I
S I M
S E C T I O N
7 | U S I N G
S E C O N D
YOU DONT NEED A SECOND MONITOR

TO USE IT
S C R E E N
CUSTOMIZE THE SECONDARY DISPLAY

The functions in the Secondary Display are the same as they are for the main
Library view (see the chapter on Switching Views)including all the filter options
in Grid view and all the compare and survey functions. Survey is the one I use the
most, but I also like to use the Grid view in the second screen window.
I love that Adobe has made this tool work for you even when you dont have a
second monitor attached to your computer. Currently, I only own a laptop
computer, and I dont have a second monitor on my desk at all (thats another
story about my daughter and a toy and an insurance claim). But since the
Secondary Display works as a window, I can use it on my laptop as a helpful tool,
or drag it over to a TV I plug into, or, if youre an Apple user, you can even use it
with Apple TV as a second monitor and show the Secondary Display that way.
I like to customize the Secondary Display so that my photographs look their best.
There first thing I set is the background color. Just right click on the background
next to your picture, and youll see several options, just like for your main screen. I
used to prefer Dark Gray with Pinstripes, but I recently learned that the pinstripes
option was actually a performance hog, so for Lightroom CC the engineers
removed the option, but added the Darker Gray. I like this one because my black
and white images stand clear of the background.
I always activate the Secondary Display by pressing Shift+N, but you can access
it by pressing Shift and any of the shortcut keys to change viewsShift+E for
Loupe, Shift+G for Grid, Shift+C for Compare, and Shift+N takes you to the
Survey view. If you do have a second monitor attached, then the window will
appear on that screen; if youre only using one monitor, youll get a new window on
top of your Lightroom window which you can move or resize as usual.
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S E C O N D
You can also make your image larger in the window by clicking on the arrows at
the top and bottom of the window to hide the tool bars. Dont worry, theyll show up
if you hover your mouse at the top of bottom of the screen.
One thing useful setting available in the Loupe view is the option for Normal, Live,
and Locked.
Normal shows the same picture youve selected on your main screen and
changes as you change that selectionjust like normal.
Live is interesting because it shows a preview of the picture you mouse is on in
the main screenas you move through the thumbnails it changes the picture
and effectively gives you a large preview, which is pretty cool and very useful
for simply comparing the picture on the main screen to another in the filmstrip.
Locked locks the view on the Second Display to the picture it was on when you
locked it. I like this option for keeping a favorite picture on that screen while
doing something else on my main screenif someone happens by my office,
perhaps, or if Im doing something to a picture before sharing it on the second
screen with another viewer, this option keeps my working view hidden, showing
only the picture I locked it on. Thats also very cool.
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S E C T I O N
7 | U S I N G
S E C O N D
USING THE SECOND DISPLAY LIKE A BOSS
S C R E E N
I only wish I could get the Presets tab to show up on the right side, then this would
be perfect. As it, I just toggle the Second Display on and off by pressing Shift+G
as needed.
Besides the above tips, and the whole chapter on review sessions for clients, Ive
got a pretty powerful way to use the Second Display which will help speed up
your workflow.
Give it shot, and I think youll find that navigating this way and keeping your
Develop window open is a powerful way to work.
Press Shift+G to get the Grid view

showing on the Second Display window.
Do this even if you dont have a second
monitor. Use this window as your picture
browser, and keep your main screen set
in the Develop Module. You can browse
pictures quickly in the little window, using
filters and ratings, and keep your
processing going in the main window.
This is so great for speeding things
alongno more popping out to the grid
view, just keep in on the side of your
main screen. Resize the window to fit
over the lefthand pallet by dragging on
the corners of the window (it wont
squeeze down as narrow as the lefthand
tool pallet, but it leaves enough room).
You can hide the thumbnails at the
bottom of the Develop window with the
arrow, and activate the filter features in
the Second Display by pressing Shift+\ .
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SOLVING PROBLEMS
C H A P T E R
S E C T I O N
3-2-1
BACKUP
Its hard to put a price tag on years of memories

you captured in photos or the hours of video you
took that still brings a smile to your face. Ask
yourself, what are my photos worth? If youre a
professional photographer; someone who sold a
print or charged for service, this question gets
easier. How much would I lose if I lost
everything on my hard drive. You get my point;
we need a bulletproof backup plan, hardware
that is safe, simple and expandable, and last,
easy configurable software to manage it all.
V A N E L L I
S E C T I O N
1 | 3 - 2 - 1
B A C K U P
3-2-1 BACKUP
CONCEPT
STORE ON TWO DIFFERENT MEDIA

The first step is to decide what type of media you plan on using for your backup.
Let me start by saying DVDs are gone (they also start to disintegrate after a few
years). Sorry, not up for discussion. [insert smiley face]. But seriously, the Store
on two different media concept isnt about choosing two different TYPES of
media. It means to make two identical copies of your files stored on two separate
devices. This way, if you have a hardware failure, you can recover using the other
device. I suggest using two external storage systems.
Create three copies of your files

Store on two different media
Keep one backup copy offsite.
The 3-2-1 Backup concept has
been around for years and is
foolproof (a big advocate worth
checking out is Peter Krogh).
So, if its foolproof, why are so
many frustrated people (I was
one of them) calling recovery
companies to ask them, no
begging them, to retrieve their
precious files? In order for the
3-2-1 Backup to be foolproof, you
actually have to follow the simple
steps correctly to build a set it and forget it backup.
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S E C T I O N
1 | 3 - 2 - 1
B A C K U P
DONT MISUSE THE WORD BACKUP
WHICH ONE DO I USE AND WHEN?
The process of backing up, refers to the copying and

archiving of computer data so it may be used to
restore the original after a data loss event.
Syncing: creating two identical copies that is updated both ways. If a file or
change is detected on drive A, drive B is updated. If a file or change is detected
on drive B, drive A is updated. If you delete a file, both are deleted. This is great if
you make changes on both drives. For our purpose this ISNT RIGHT for us.
Mirroring: creating two identical copies that is only updated one way. PERFECT
for us. We want our second drive to be the same bit for bit. If the main drive fails,
we swap and use the mirrored drive until we rebuild a new one. No downtime. This
is the reason I recommended using two external storage systems earlier.
Thats what I thought until I deleted a file on my main hard drive and couldnt find it
on my BACKUP drive. I chose to use file syncingas my backup format. Okay, so
I fix that by selecting FULL BACKUP. I looked at my new backup drive and
couldnt read it. To save space, FULL BACKUP compressed my files and the only
way I could see them was with the software that was provided.
Copying: selecting all files from one hard drive and copying them to the other.
There is no link. If you change something on drive A, drive B never sees it. Use
this when you are giving away copies.
My final step was to mirrorthe drive. That worked great until I manually saved files
to the mirror drive. The software deleted them on the next sync. Have I painted a
frustration scenario?
Backup: create a compressed copy of every file; deleted files, multiple changes
to that file, every file you ever created. As you can imagine this will require more
storage than your original hard drive and it can only be read or restored with
software. This is a perfect format for offsite backup. It can also be used for a
dedicated system that is only used for backing up your system but remember the
last part of our foolproof 3-2-1 plan? Have a stored copy offsite.
RECAP
MIRROR two external hard drives that are updated automatically when a change
is made. There are plenty of free utilities that can do this, I recommend SyncBack
from 2BrightSparks for PC and CarbonCopyCloner for Mac..
Purchase an OFFSITE BACKUP PLAN with online access. I use CrashPlan from
Code42 because its perfect for my Drobo 5N, but there are plenty of other offsite
backup companies.
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S E C T I O N
AVOID
LOSING
FILES
We know its a great idea to shoot to two cards

at once. We know not to format a card until the
files are backed up to at least three places. We
know that making backups nightly is the right
thing to do. We know that naming files when
importing them is important. We know better
than to copy the DCIM folder to the desktop and
reformat the card because its the only one we
have. Doing what we know to do is smart. Not
doing what we know is stupid.
K E V I N
A M E S
S E C T I O N
2 |
A V O I D
L O S I N G
F I L E S
HOW TO AVOID LOSING FILES
Carry one set of cards yourself. Give the other set to an assistant
Its really simple. Avoid doing stupid things. A stupid thing is something that, in the
back of our minds we know we must do but choose not to do.
Use smaller memory cards. Breaking a shoot up over several cards minimizes
loss should one of them fail.
WHEN SHOOTING
Buy the best cards possible. I use Hoodman RAW cards exclusively.
Use floating water and dust proof cases to store memory cards. I use and
recommend Gepe Card Safe Extremes for both SD & CF cards.
Shoot tethered into an external drive connected to your computer and have the
camera record the take on a memory card too.
If possible shoot to two memory cards at the same time. Most pro cameras can
do this. Most amateur cameras cannot.
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S E C T I O N
2 |
A V O I D
L O S I N G
F I L E S
AFTER THE SHOOT
DURING POST PRODUCTION
Immediately download the cards by importing into Lightroom
Use a serial number prefix followed by a dash for each projects folder. Include
a description of the project in the folder name.
If you dont back up your files every day, use Lightroom to import to a second
hard drive during import. There are now three copies: 1-on the card, 1-on the
primary data hard drive and 1-on the secondary drive.
Use the same serial number as a file name prefix followed by a dash.
If there is an offsite location, take the secondary back up there.
When sending work to Photoshop from Lightroom, highlight the photo, right
click, then choose Edit in Open as Smart Object in Photoshop. This embeds a
copy of the original RAW file in a new Photoshop document
Wait to reformat the card until you have made two backups of the primary data
hard drive. If you do this nightly, the cards are available for formatting the next
morning.
ONGOING BEST PRACTICES

Write the date on a hard drive when its put in service.
Remember, all hard drives fail!
Use RAID devices to protect against drive failures. I use Drobo 5Ds with 6
terabyte hard drives.
If possible, use dual disk redundancy with the RAID. The Drobo 5D has this
feature. It means two of the five drives can fail at the same time and the data on
the RAID is still safe.
Back up data every night. Software can do this automatically. I use Carbon
Copy Cloner to handle the task on my Macs. Try SyncBack as a Windows
solution.
Keep a backup copy offsite.
Update the backup copy at least once a week.
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S E C T I O N
BACK-UP
A MAC
DRIVE
If you use a Mac, your computer includes

built-in software to make it easier to backup
an entire hard drive. The process is a little
complex, but very worth it.
K E V I N
A M E S
S E C T I O N
3 |
B A C K - U P
M A C
BACKING UP TO A SECOND (OR THIRD)

HARD DRIVE ON THE MAC
D R I V E
MY SOLUTION:
CARBON COPY
CLONER 4
Making a copy of a one hard drive to another is not difficult. The method is not
obvious either. The first impulse is to Command + A to select all of the files then
drag them to the new hard drive. This is not the way to do it. While the Macs
Finder tools are quite good, they are not the best for making perfect copies. Even
if they were, they are quite hard to automate.
Mike Bombich wrote the original

CCC back in 2002 when Apple
was transitioning to OS X from 9.
Then it was donation-ware. Now
its in version 4 already updated
for OS X 10.11 El Capitan. Its
really affordable at $39.95. I use it
every day. Actually, my MacPro
does. Its really a hands-off piece
of software.
NEEDED FEATURES
A robust backup system has a lot of requirements and a few nice-to-haves.
Heres my list.
It must be able to accurately copy even files that are locked or in use on a
computer.
It must be able to copy only new files to save time.
A BRIEF OVERVIEW
It must have a way back to recover a previous version.
The manual that comes with Carbon Copy Cloner is sort of straight forward. As
always, I suggest you read it first. This suggestion, by the way, is like using your
seatbelt. Its really not an option. If you dont, I really like that CCC does almost
everything from the main dialog box. Best of all, right there at the bottom of the
main window is a Use Simple Settings button. Its a great place to start.
It must have scheduling options to set backup times.

It absolutely must work over a network.
It must be cost effective.
It would be very nice for it to be able to create bootable copies of drives.
It would be nice, too, if it could make a perfect copy of an existing drive every
time.
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S E C T I O N
3 |
B A C K - U P
M A C
D R I V E
Task two is copying a selected set of new files to a volume on a networked Drobo.
This happens automatically after the first task completes.
Task three finishes the job by copying the rest of the new files to as second
volume on the same Drobo in Task 2.
All of the tasks run consecutively without any help from me. Once CCC tasks are
scheduled, they run automatically.
CCC REPORTS
Carbon Copy Cloner keeps a log of tasks and their status. The screenshot below
tells the tale of what happened last night. The last task to run is at the top. It
reports that the folder Projects was successfully copied from my primary drive
(Ames 5D1) to the networked volume DroboPro-02 at 4:36 in the morning on
October first, 2015. The time it took was 36 minutes, 15 seconds to copy 2.64
gigabytes of photos. Carbon Copy Cloner is very picky about how it determines
what to copy. It also uses a very precise method of making the copies. It just takes
time. Im sleeping and really dont worry about it. Look at the entry for Ames5D1 >
Ames5D2. It took these two Drobos only 26 minutes and 25 seconds to copy
25.44 gigs thanks to their Thunderbolt connections.
A WALK THROUGH CCC

The CCC dialog box (shown above) starts with the Tasks at the top left sidebar.
Below that is a list of all of the volumes mounted on my MacPro. Click on a task to
display it in the main window.
The screenshot shows the first task make an exact copy of the Primary Drobo 5D
to the second one. Carbon Copy Cloner knows which files are new. Those get
copied to the second drive. Its important to note here that using Drobos is not
required. This will work with single drives in external housings.
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S E C T I O N
3 |
B A C K - U P
M A C
D R I V E
NOTIFICATIONS
MY RESPONSIBILITIES
Carbon Copy Cloner reports success three ways: a green light next to each
logged task, a note at the bottom of the History window and with a notification.
When I sit down at my MacPro in the morning, there is a notification waiting from
CCC right on the screen. I click on it an get an instant update that the previous
nights backups had completes.
I have to initially set up Carbon Copy Cloner. Its really easy. I have to make sure
the network server is running. That machine is an old iMac with a Drobo
connected to it. When the power fails (once or twice a year,) I have to restart the
iMac. Thats it. CCC picks up where it left off, even if Ive been away for a few
days.
I have to replace hard drives. I put the date-month and year-a drive goes into
service. If its still running after five years, I replace it with a fresh one. The used
drives go into older Drobos that act as another layer of backup. Should one of
them fail, the Drobo tells me and I replace it.
What I love is how absolutely simple this backup system is. Its reliable and
practically trouble free.
185
S E C T I O N
BACK-UP
A PC
DRIVE
A Set it and Forget it automated backup

workflow ensures your files are safely copied
to a second hard drive allowing quick
access to your files without disturbing your
workflow in the event of a drive failure.
V A N E L L I
S E C T I O N
4 |
B A C K - U P
P C
D R I V E
BACKUP USING FILE HISTORY
Microsoft has included a basic backup and restore program with their Windows
10 operating system. It only takes about 15 minutes to configure a backup for your
files giving you peace of mind. To access the backup application from the start
menu open the Settings app and go to Update & Security > Backup.
Before you start using File History to backup your files, you need to first select
where your backups are saved. The simplest solution is to connect an external
drive, such as a USB drive, or for a better bullet proof solution, connect a Network
Attached Storage (NAS) drive such as Drobo 5N. There are other choices, but
these two provide the best options to help protect your files against a crash or
other PC problems. Click Add a drive and choose your option. File History is now
archiving your data. An on/off slider will now appear under a new heading called
"Automatically backup my files."
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S E C T I O N
4 |
B A C K - U P
P C
D R I V E
SELECT BACKUP FOLDERS
EXCLUDE THESE FOLDERS
By default, Windows File History will backup all the folders in your User folder. To
add other folders to File History, or to remove some, click on More options under
the on/off slider and scroll down to Backup these folders and click Add a
folder.Select the folder you want to add and click Choose this folder.
Scroll down to Exclude these folders and click Add a folder.Select the folder you
want to exclude and click Choose this folder.
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S E C T I O N
4 |
B A C K - U P
P C
D R I V E
SET BACKUP SCHEDULE
RESTORE A FILE
Now that we have chosen which folders to backup, we need to select when to
start the backup. From the Backup my files dropdown select Daily.and choose
Forever from the Keep my backups dropdown menu. To run your first backup,
click Backup now.
If you want to retrieve a lost file from a previous backup, scroll down to the bottom
and click Restore files from a current backup. This will open a new window, where
you can browse through your entire backup by folder, preview your files to check
youve got the correct version, and restore a file to its original location.
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S E C T I O N
4 |
B A C K - U P
P C
D R I V E
OTHER OPTIONS
Windows backup utilities is a good, free solution, however it is basic. If you want
more control of your backup workflow, consider purchasing backup programs
such as 2BrightSparks SyncBack Pro or Acronis True Image. These paid
programs offer a much powerful backup and synchronization option.
190
S E C T I O N
BACKING
UP WITH
SMUGMUG
My Drobo is peace of mind. Its got all my

pictures redundantly stored and ready to
access anytime. However, what if my office
burns down, or theres a leak in a water pipe
over my desk, or what if my kid spills Kool-Aid
inside my Drobo? Ive got to have a place in the
Cloud where my pictures are protected and
safe, and for me that place is my SmugMug
account.
L E V I
S I M
S E C T I O N
5 |
B A C K I N G
U P
W I T H
WHY SMUGMUG?
S M U G M U G
Not only that, but SmugMugs service give me lots of abilities I wouldnt get with
another cloud service. My SmugMug site is my website where I send clients and
where I run my e-commerce, and it even lets me deliver a .zip file to my clients
with all their pictures included. I honestly dont know how I could do business
without my SmugMug site.
SmugMug is my choice for four reasons. First of all, all the subscription plans
include unlimited storage so I dont have to be too choosey with what I push up to
my albums. I can include pictures of the kitchen sink and it doesnt cost me any
extra.
Lastly, using Lightroom with SmugMug saves me some steps in the workflow.
SmugMug only stores jpegs. So, normally Id have to export all my pictures as
jpegs, then go to SmugMug and upload them, and if I make additional edits or
want to add pictures,
Secondly, SmugMug has excellent customer service. They have live chat for
problem solving all day long, and they respond to emails in the after hours really
quickly. They take good care of their employees and their employees take good
care of me. Ive enjoyed working with them for several years, and am just
impressed. The good service seems to start right at the top and trickles down to
me.
I have to export those files and upload them again. Using the Lightroom plugin, I
just add all the pictures I want into a collection, and click publish and Lightroom
converts them to jpegs and publishes them all at once. Bet of all, if I make
additional changes to an image or want to add more pictures to a gallery, I just do
it in Lightroom and press publish again and they magically show up on Mug with
the changes and in the correct order. Its really simple and simplifies the workflow.
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S E C T I O N
1.
5 |
B A C K I N G
U P
W I T H
AUTHORIZE THE PLUGIN
S M U G M U G
To get started, go to the Publish Services tab in the Library Module. SmugMug is
one of the included services, so you can just slick on the word Setup on the right
side of the tab, which will open a window. Click the Authorize button on the right
side under the SmugMug Account tab in the window.
Using SmugMug with Lightroom is just like using a Collections. You create a new
gallery just like a collection and can add pictures the same ways, too. The
structure you create in Lightroom will be the same organization SmugMug shows
on your site.
Youll then get a prompt asking you to authorize your SmugMug account. Click
Authorize again, and it will launch a web browser.
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S E C T I O N
5 |
B A C K I N G
U P
W I T H
Login to your SmugMug account, then the SmugMug page will tell you the
authorization is complete.
S M U G M U G
Now, go back to Lightroom and click the Done button. Lightroom will begin
synching your SmugMug hierarchy (your folder structure) from the website to your
Lightroom catalog.
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S E C T I O N
5 |
B A C K I N G
U P
W I T H
Now youll see that the file structure in the Catalog looks just like your structure on
your webpage. If there are already pictures on your site, you can also right click
on the SmugMug tab and choose Edit Settings and then choose to Sync Pictures.
S M U G M U G
This will take some time, but it will search your Lightroom catalog to find the
pictures that match the ones online and populate the collections. If you havent
populated SmugMug yet, then you can get started and do it straight from
Lightroom.
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S E C T I O N
5 |
B A C K I N G
U P
W I T H
S M U G M U G
2. CREATE A FOLDER AND GALLERIES
3. PRESS PUBLISH
I typically organize my galleries by years with sub categories and then clients
under those. Just right click on the SmugMug tab and choose Create Folder, then
you can right click on that folder and choose Create Gallery.
With pictures in the gallery, just click publish from the Grid view, or right click on
the gallery and choose Publish Now. You can add more pictures to this collection
and publish again anytime. You can also right click on the gallery and choose to
Edit Settings which includes changing the url where the pictures will be
(especially helpful if you misspelled the gallery name). In the Grid view, you can
click on the url at the top of the page next to the Publish button to go to the page
online, or right click on the gallery and choose Show on SmugMug.
I usually try to have a bunch of the pictures I want to include in the gallery
selected when I create it, but you can always drag and drop pictures from the
Grid view or from the filmstrip, or even set the gallery as the Target Gallery and
press the B key to add pictures on the fly.
I push all my finished pictures up onto SmugMug. Its a great place to back up the
full resolution jpegs, and its a terrific place to share with clients or even sell prints
and products. I find the integration with Lightroom to be flawless, and the service I
get from SmugMug to be beyond compare. I highly recommend using SmugMug
to back and share your photographs, too.
196
S E C T I O N
BACKING
UP WITH
CRASHPLAN
I cant remember the last time Ive printed my

images. Its great to share them online
I love to share my images online, but cant
remember when I last printed any of them. In a
totally digital world, the importance of backing
up your life cant be understated.
N I C K
M I N O R E
S E C T I O N
6 |
B A C K I N G
U P
W I T H
BACKING UP TO THE CLOUD - CRASHPLAN
C R A S H P L A N
family plan lets me back up data on up to ten computers to their centralized online
storage system. If youre going to be using CrashPlan to back up photos at your
business, then maybe the business plan is right for you.
Fundamentally, having a secure backup means having at least three copies of

your data. Two copies should be local, as working local is always the fastest way
to access your data. The third copy should be off-site. Its not easy to find a spot
to leave a hard drive and keep it updated, so a great third place is the cloud. Tons
of services like Dropbox, Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive offer a file system
in the cloud. The downside is that its reliant on you to copy files into their system.
Its time to automate your backup, so you dont have to worry.
Its a very quick and easy setuptheres really just four steps: Install, Setup an
Account, Choose your Files, Start the Backup.
My favorite means of backing up to the cloud is through CrashPlan. Their service

is easy to use and their mission is simple: well protect your digital life, so you can
get back to whats important in real life. I have two desktop computers and two
laptops, so I opted for their family plan. At the time of writing this, the family plan
price is about $150 per year for 2-10 computers and unlimited file storage. The
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S E C T I O N
6 |
B A C K I N G
U P
W I T H
Once youve downloaded and installed the software, youll create a free CrashPlan
account that all your backups will be associated with. After youve made an
account, CrashPlan will take you to the dashboard where you can choose the files
youd like to backup. Locate the Files section near the middle of the screen.
CrashPlan is smart enough to know where your home folder is on your computer.
This will includes your Documents Folder, Pictures Folder, Movies Folder, and
more, but it may not know where your pictures are stored if youre using an
external hard drive. Click the Change button and a popup will load a list of your
computer files and hard drives. Simply put a checkmark in front of the drives or
folders you want to back up, then press Save.
C R A S H P L A N
Now that youve chosen which files to back up, well need to specify a destination
to back those files up to. The whole point of using CrashPlan is to backup to
Crash Plan Central, so click on Destinations from the menu on the left. Click the
last tab that says Cloud and choose Start Backup. CrashPlan will scan the files
youve chosen to back up and give an estimated time. We are backing up via the
Internet, so it might take a while depending on how many files you have and how
fast your connection speed is. Its not uncommon to see weeks or months.
Thats it! CrashPlan has a background app that runs without you ever needing to
touch it. Whenever youre not active on the computer, it will connect to the server
and start backing up your files, automatically.
200
S E C T I O N
BACKING UP A CATALOG
Nothing gives me a thrill of terror up my spine like the nonchalant messages a computer gives when something has gone terribly
wrong. Launching Lightroom and seeing a message like, This catalog is corrupted and youre totally out of luck is one of the
worst things that could happen to my professional life. Fortunately, the engineers at Lightroom understand this, and theyve given
us a simple way to prepare for just such an instance: automatic backups.
L E V I
S I M
S E C T I O N
7 |
B A C K I N G
U P
C A T A L O G
MAKE IT AUTOMATIC
Step 2. Under Backup choose Everytime Lightroom Exits.
The process to backup is pretty easy.

Step 1. Heres what you do. Go to the Lightroom menu (PC: Edit Menu) and
choose Catalog Settings, then go to the General tab.
I know what youre thinking, I dont want to wait overtime I exit Lightroom for it to
back up the catalog. I dont either, but when I quite Lightroom is gives me the
option, and sometimes I choose to let it backup. If I set it for every week, or every
month, then Im sure at that time Id also be in a hurry and not do it, and then
Murphys Law would make sure I had a problem immediately. I dont do it every
time, but I do it frequently, and the reminder helps me remember to do it every
time Im not in a hurry. Oh, and I always back it up before I go on a trip.
202
S E C T I O N
7 |
B A C K I N G
U P
C A T A L O G
BACKING UP YOUR CATALOG ISNT

BACKING UP YOUR PICTURES
BACK UP YOUR HARD DRIVE

Having a backup of your catalog is also useless if you dont back up your hard
drive. Backing up the catalog makes a backup file in the Lightroom folder in your
Pictures folder. It doesnt magically save everything if you have a problem with
your computer itself. I use Time Machine on my Mac to backup the hard drive,
which includes the Lightroom backup.
You gotta remember: Lightroom doesnt have you pictures in it. Backing up the
catalog doesnt back up your pictures. It just makes a backup of the settings
youve create for all your pictures. If you havent exported a jpeg or written the
changes into .xmp or .dng files, then a damaged catalog means youve lost all
your edits, but your original picture files are unchanged.
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S E C T I O N
ROUND-TRIP WORKFLOW
My workflow starts and ends with Lightroom, but its not uncommon for me to jump into Photoshop or another plugin to help
enhance my work. Its easy to edit externally using the Edit In function. When you need to work in another program, just right-click
and choose Edit In, then select your intended program. Plugins like the onOne Suite or HDR Soft Photomatix will also have
options here if you have the applications installed.
N I C K
M I N O R E
S E C T I O N
8 |
R O U N D - T R I P
W O R K F L O W
LIGHTROOM TO PHOTOSHOP ROUND-TRIP

WORKFLOW
To go directly into Photoshop when editing an image, you can also use the
keyboard shortcut, Command-E or Control-E. Lightroom will apply the develop
settings and bring your image into Photoshop and label the file as a -Edit, with a
PSD extension.
External editing has its own settings page in the Lightroom preferences menu. On
a Mac, choose the Lightroom, then click Preferences. On a PC, choose the Edit
menu, then click Preferences. When the dialog box appears, select the third tab
labeled External Editing. The most important option here is the first section, Edit in
Adobe Photoshop CC. From the File Format menu, Adobe gives you the option to
choose a high-resolution TIFF image or a PSD file. TIFF images are easier for
Lightroom to handle with metadata, but PSD files give the ultimate flexibility when
jumping between both Photoshop and Lightroom. I recommend choosing
Photoshop.
Now you can make any changes youd like, then when youre done in Photoshop,
simply click File > Save and Lightroom will update the file in your catalog.
The second time you choose to edit an image in Photoshop, a popup box will
appear giving you three choices: Edit a Copy with Lightroom Adjustments, Edit a
Copy, or Edit Original. Editing a copy with Lightroom Adjustments will make
another copy of this image and label it Edit-Edit. This flattens Lightrooms
adjustments into a new Photoshop file. Editing a copy will open another version of
the image, without applying the most recent Lightroom adjustments. Lastly, editing
the original file will open up the TIFF or PSD that we originally edited and preserve
any work or layers created in Photoshop. Tasks like masking and combining
images, retouching skin, or adding special effects warrant editing the original file,
as part of maintaining a non-destructive workflow.
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S E C T I O N
BULLETPROOF
BACKUP
SYSTEM
The workflow is simple. We use our computer to

store and run programs that saves data to an
external hard drive which is mirrored to a local
external hard drive. The mirrored drive then gets
backup and transported offsite either physically
or by using an online backup service to
complete the final fail-safe plan.
V A N E L L I
S E C T I O N
9 |
B U L L E T P R O O F
B A C K U P
S Y S T E M
DISASTER SCENARIO
ORGANIZING WHERE TO STORE YOUR FILES
Scenario 1: Theexternal hard drive fails, we use the local mirrored drive as the
new working drive and the replacement drive gets rebuilt as the new mirrored
drive. Zero downtime.
Computer: Store any file that can be re-installed
Scenario 2:The drives are stolen or destroyed in a catastrophes. We restore from

the offsite service using a seed drive.
Program files
Operating System
Scratch disk, paging files or virtual memory
Scenario 3: We delete an important file. Restore just that file from our offsite
backup using their online tools.
Your computers hard drive doesnt have to be large but it does have to be fast. A
smaller 250 GB solid state drive will yield a better performance than a 4TB 5400
rpm drive. You only need space for the operating system, program files and virtual
memory used by your operating system and programs such as Photoshop. In the
event of a hard drive failure and you DONT have a backup system, you only lose
time by having to re-install programs. With this in mind, files that dont have to be
re-installed to work such as program preferences, plugins, actions and presets
should be stored on an external drive.
Following a 3-2-1 backup plan and building our system around it will prevent
these disaster scenario from happening.
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S E C T I O N
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B A C K U P
S Y S T E M
External Hard drive: Store any file that was created or cant bereplaced
Network Backup drive: Mirrored copy of your external drive
Photos
A network backup drive is ideal but an identical external drive will work.
Remember, this is going to be the drive you will use in case your main external
drive fails. We need to mirror or synchronize this drive not perform a backup.
Most backup programs compress files and keep deleted files separate. Thats
great for the next step but not for the local backup. SyncBack is great for
mirroring and keeping both drives synchronized.
Videos
Music
Documents
Presets or actions
Downloads
Cloud Storage (Dropbox, Google Drive, Adobe Cloud)
The computers hard drive is the brain, an external hard drive is the heart. The
external hard drive should store any file that was created or cant be replaced.
For such an important role, we need to choose reliable hardware that will grow
with us. Starting with a small 1TB drive can fill up fast and a 4TB drive sounds
like a lot, but it doesnt allow us room to grow.
Offsite backup: Compressed version of your backup stored offsite with online
access.
CrashPlan
Carbonite
Backblaze
Acronis TrueImage
Memeo AutoBackup
SpiderOak
There are many choices for online backups. Compare which company has the
best features youre looking for. If the price is right and they have great
customer care, use them. Alan Henry from lifehacker wrote a great article on
the Five Best Online Backup Services.
Depending on the amount of data you have, it may take months to back up.
An alternative is seeding. Seeding is when the company sends you a hard
drive and you copy your data sending it back to them. Its faster but it may
cost extra.
208
S E C T I O N
9 |
B A C K U P
SIMPLE SOLUTION:$136.00
S Y S T E M
AFFORDABLE SOLUTION ON A BUDGET:

$423.00
Ideal for: Typical users,College Kids, my Dad. 1TB drives are plenty for word
documents, music and cell phone photos. If using this setup with a Laptop, save
$68.00 byusing your internal drive as your main working drive. You have to
bediscipline and sync your drives plus backup to Dropbox or Google Drive. This
setup isnt Bulletproof but is better than nothing.
Ideal for: Running a very small Home based business, Weekend photographers,
Photographers getting started in the business.Photographers add$120.00 for the
solid state drive. Youll thank me later when editing in Photoshop or Lightroom.
Adding a Network Attached Storage (NAS) such as Drobo 5N or Synology for
about $499.00 to $599.00 allows your storageto grow as you grow.
$ 0.00 Computer: work with the drive you have
$120.00 Computer:Samsung 840 EVO 250GB solid state drive
$68.00 Main working drive:WD My Passport Ultra 1TB Portable External USB
3.0 Hard Drive
$109.00 Main working drive:WD My Passport Ultra 2TB Portable External USB
3.0 Hard Drive
$68.00 Local mirrored drive: WD My Passport Ultra 1TB Portable External USB
3.0 Hard Drive
$109.00 Local mirrored drive:WD My Passport Ultra 2TB Portable External USB
3.0 Hard Drive
$ 0.00 Offsite:Built in software with WD Passport to Dropbox or Google Drive
$150.00 Offsite: CrashPlan with online access

$55.00 SyncBack
209
S E C T I O N
9 |
B A C K U P
MY PERSONAL BULLETPROOF BACKUP

SOLUTION: $1363.00 BASE PRICE
S Y S T E M
MY REASONING
I purchased the Samsung solid state drive because of their reputation and at the
time, the price was right. I use Seagate 7200 RPM hard drives for the same
reason. 7200 RPM drives are recommended for faster performance. Drobo has
been my choice for data storage for years. Several years ago I received a Drobo
FS to evaluate. I fell in love withit and kept it. Since then, I have grown my storage
needs around Drobo, upgrading from the FS to the 5D and 5N units. Drobos are
self-healing, self-managing and even self-optimizing. Exactly what I need. Ive had
offers from other NAS companies to try it, like it, keep it over the years; a nice
perk as a professional photographer and educator, but I choose to stay with
Drobo.
Ideal for: Professional photographers, Mission critical business where downtime is

not an option, Users that want a storage solutionto grow as they grow. I grew my
10TB system over the years.Currently I have fourSeagate Desktop 3 TB HDD
SATA 6 Gb/s NCQ 64MB Cache 7200 RPM in each Drobo. Each drive cost
$102.00 bringing the total cost to $408.00 per unit adding $816.00 to the overall
storage solution. The best part of this solution,Drobo takes the up front guess
work out of determining the amount of capacity Irequire. I buy the capacity Ineed
today, and when Ineed more storage, I simply replace mysmallest drive with a
larger one and immediately use that capacity in seconds.
$ 60.00 Computer: 120GB Samsung solid state drive
$599.00 Main work drive : 10TB Drobo 5D connected via usb 3
$499.00 Local mirrored drive : 10TB Drobo 5N connected to the network via
ethernet
$150.00 Offsite: Crashplan with online access
$ 55.00 SyncBack
210
About This Book
2016 Think Tap Learn
A Photofocus Guide:
Get Organized in Lightroom

ISBN 978-1-939638-05-2
By Kevin Ames, Rob Sylvan, Levi Sim, Vanelli,
and Nick Minore
For more information contact thinktaplearn@gmail.com
All images Copyright Kevin Ames, Rob Sylvan, Levi Sim, Vanelli, and Nick Minore
All Rights Reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or

transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or
other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of
the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews
and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
ccxi
For the latest in photography news, techniques, and inspiration visit Photofocus
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C H A P T E R

Lightroom is a powerful manager of digital

WHAT HAPPENS IN THE LIBRARY MODULE?

Lightroom is at its core a database. It stores all of the information about a

A Sad StoryThere are NO PHOTOGRAPHS in Lightroom!

LEFT SIDEBAR PANELS

RIGHT SIDEBAR PANELS

There two panels that support keywords: Keywording and

LIBRARY MODULE MODES

Lightroom calls its database a catalog. There

MAKE A TEMPORARY CATALOG

THE EXCEPTION IS TEMPORARY

Step Two: Launch Lightroom. Choose File > New Catalog

Step Four: Open Lightrooms preferences by choosing (Mac) Lightroom >

Should I have a single Lightroom catalog or

WHATS A LIGHTROOM CATALOG?

A CASE FOR MULTIPLE CATALOGS

FLAWS WITH MULTIPLE CATALOGS

Being a generalist photographer, my photography spanned a wide range. One

As Lightroom developed, flaws with multiple catalogs grew, for example

My modeling assignments ranged from simple head shots to building their

SINGLE CATALOG SOLUTION

Its important to remember that Lightroom doesnt

This is like Lightroom. Lightroom is just a catalog of

OPEN THE IMPORT DIALOGUE

SET THE PREFERENCES

CHOOSE THE IMPORT SOURCE

CHOOSE WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR PICTURES

CHOOSE WHICH PICTURES TO IMPORT

CHOOSE WHERE TO STORE YOUR PICTURES

Dont Import Suspected Duplicates: Checked This is really good. It simply

APPLY DURING IMPORT

Metadata: My Personal Preset This is really cool. Metadata is non-visual

Now, just press Import.

A QUICK SANITY SAVER

When making photographs in the studio I

IMPORTING FROM A FOLDER

Tethered shooting is the digital equivalent of

LIGHTROOM AND THE TETHERED CAMERA

Today, professional photographers shoot directly into a computer. The monitor

SETTING UP TETHERING IN LIGHTROOM

The monitor displays the current capture from the camera.

I dont erase my memory cards until I have at

You can user folders, just like in a file

Unless you are working with other

A DIFFERENT TAKE ON FOLDER STRUCTURE

DEALING WITH A CONFLICT

Our portrait photographer photographs people, people associated with a

E:\Photography\Louis Davis\20140101 Louis Corporate Portrait

E:\Photography\Potter Family\20130411 Liam 4th Birthday

E:\Photography\Louis Davis\20140307 Family Portrait

E:\Photography\Sports\High School Sports\Lacrosse\Melbourne High School

DEALING WITH A CONFLICT

E:\Photography\Egret\201508006 Viera Wetlands

I like file trees. They just make sense. At a

WHATS A HARD DRIVE?

LETS ADD THE DRIVE

OPEN IMPORT DIALOG

MAKE A PARENT FOLDER

Name your Hard Drives