We covered last week, and now we’ll dive into Lightroom Classic.
Organizational Tools
I include the import process as part of the Library because that is your first opportunity to keep yourself organized and moving in the right direction, so let’s start there. The Library module includes the import process because it is the first chance to get organized.
Import Window
You may have read that the primary job of the import was to create records in the catalog about each photo imported. However, the secondary task of importing is to copy or move photos into a location of your choice. This is your job, and you need to ensure that LrC does not place photos in an unwanted location. You have two options on the Import window to determine where your photos are placed. You can choose Copy as DNG or Copy, Move or Add from the first option along the top of your screen.
Copy and Add are the two most popular choices. Copy is the option to choose if your photos come from a memory-card. Copy as DNG includes the conversion of raw photos into DNG. This is not relevant to this article, however. Add if your photos already exist in the exact location you desire (because they were placed there by you outside of LrC).
Move. Move is not recommended for safety concerns because it includes a copy followed by a deletion from the original location. Copy is a safer option for importing, and once you have successfully completed the copying operation, you can manually delete any source files on the original drive. Move is not available when the source photo is on a memory stick, so you can only use it when your source photos are stored on a hard disk.
The only choice that you have to make is the Destination panel when choosing Copy. Add selects the photos already at their final destination, so Destination is not displayed.
You have two options when configuring the Destination panel. First, you need to decide where you want to store the photos and then how you want to organize them at that location. You want to select a location for ALL the photos that are being imported. The default option in the Organize menu is By date. You can change this by selecting a different date format from the drop-down list below.
It is a nice feature that the By date option can be fully automated. The creation date for each photo is used to create folders in the destination panel. Dates alone may not be enough to help you find your photos in the future. This limitation can be overcome by renaming date-based folders (using the Folders Panel) after import to include meaningful information in addition to the date. So I can save time by automating the folder creation, while also getting the benefit of adding dates to each folder to sort them in a meaningful manner within the Folders Panel.
If you are happy with the Organize menu option Into one folder, don’t stop using it. I understand the advantages of custom-naming your folders and know that many people use this option.
I also recommend that you standardize the top-level folder for all newly imported pictures. In my case I copy all photos into a folder within the Pictures folder on my internal drive, with the same top level parent folder selected (and LrC creating the subfolders). So I don’t need to think about where to place photos right now, and can create an import pre-set that includes all of the settings from the Destination panel. Over time, I’ve used the Folders panel in order to transfer folders from the internal drive to an external drive that is larger.
Create an import preset by configuring all import settings desired (in all panels), and then clicking the Import Preset menu at the bottom of the screen. Choose Save Current Settings As New Preset. These import presets can be created as many times as necessary to suit your workflow. This is a great way to save time and ensure consistency. You can choose the preset you want for each import job. LrC will do the rest after a visual confirmation.