Lightroom Catalog - Complete Tutorial to Manage Your Catalog from Scratch

[@HOTTOMATOORNOT]

Well done! Simple and direct.

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed the video!

[@WillHamdan]

Best No BS explanation of LR Catalogs !

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Thanks so much, Will. Glad you enjoyed the video! 🙂

[@marcosny2010]

Andrea , I have been using Adobe products since de Photoshop beginning . Yor simple and direct on this video on Catalog is exceptional , best out there .

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Thank you very much for the comment. I really appreciate it, Marcos! Glad you enjoyed the video :) Ciao

[@chrismonsen]

Thank you so much ❤🙏🙏😊

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Thanks so much 😃 Ciao

[@colinclmnt]

Amazing video lot of information but very easily delivered. Thank you!

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Thanks so much, Colin! Glad you found the video useful.

[@robinbarnes3050]

Hi Andrea. Just found your video on managing Lightroom catalogs. Best thing i have seen yet. Well explained and easily understood. Thanks a lot.

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

That’s awesome! Thanks Robin for the comment, I’m really glad you enjoyed the video 😃 Ciao

[@sekaf4125]

Very glad I came across your video. I have a new M1 Mac and the very same external Sandisk 1 terabyte. I made that my home catalog. Excited to do it right after many many years not doing so

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

That’s great! Thanks so much for the comment, happy see you found the video useful :) Ciao 😃

[@thomassorensen9749]

been looking for a video that touched base on this title, definitely following

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Hey Thomas, thanks so much! I’m really glad you found the video useful 😃 Ciao

[@bokquay]

Hello Andrea, I found your video especially useful, you have explained it clearly and it is easily understood for one who wants to start Lightroom Classic from scratch. Thank you again.

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Super happy you found the video useful, and thanks so much for commenting 😃 Ciao

[@melvyncole]

Excellent. Thank you.

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed it :)

[@AprilHtayWin10]

Thank you very much. Very useful for me. Thanks again😀

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Thanks so much for the comment and glad you found the video useful! 🙂

[@JR-xn4gl]

I’ve been using LR for a number of years (but keeping out of the feature “weeds”), but still found this video illuminating. Bravo!

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Hi JR, thanks for your comment, I really appreciated it. Glad you found the video useful :) Ciao

[@HitchCollections]

Hello Andrea, i want to thank you for this awesome Video, Cheers mate 💯📸

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Glad you enjoyed the video :) Thanks a lot! Ciao

[@JG-qz6fq]

Very clear and concise explanation with good amount of detail while still being easy to follow. I'm new to LrC after using the newer stripped down Lr for about a year, this was the perfect place to start learning this new tool, thank you.

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Glad it was helpful, JG! Thanks so much for the comment :)

[@jonnyzhou8570]

I really hope I watched your video before my first time using LR! Efficient and professional! Thanks, bro!

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Glad you enjoyed the video, Jonny! Thanks so much :) Ciao

[@goldfinch2283]

Another great tutorial from you! Thanks 🙏👍

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Glad you enjoyed it, thanks so much :) Ciao

[@angiemartin7919]

Thank you so much! Your explanation was wonderful! I love your accent, and you are very handsome. Thank you!

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Thanks so much for the comment, Angie. Glad you enjoyed the video :) Ciao

[@DieterVanHolder]

I really enjoyed your teaching style and content quality! Thank you! New subscriber!

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Thanks so much Dieter, glad you enjoyed my videos. Much appreciated :) Ciao

[@dominichackl]

Clear & Understandable. This was very helpful. Thank you very much!

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Thanks Dominic, glad you found the video useful 😃 Ciao

[@alanevans9246]

Andrea, Great content, love your teaching style. Thanks and looking forward to more of your content. Keep Snapping!

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Hi Alan, thanks so much for the comment, very much appreciated. I'm really glad you found the video useful :) Ciao

[@oranjeegreen8388]

Can't wait for your next video, you explain things very properly.

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Hi, thanks so much for your comment, I really appreciate it. Glad you found the video useful. Ciao :)

[@nmsgoncalves]

Awesome and awesome to see you're a Tolkien fan! Great video and very usefull.

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Hi Nuno, glad you enjoyed the video. Thank you! Yep, I'm totally obsessed with Tolkien 😄

[@luigiorru4752]

I would check twice and more the positive thumb. Top explanations.

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Thanks so much, Luigi! Glad you enjoyed the video :)

[@sethmaughan8079]

Thanks for making such a well put together video definitely deserves a sub 🤙🏽

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Thanks so much, Seth! Glad you found the video useful 😃 Ciao

[@lawrencesheridan413]

Thanks a million, big help... I can stop banging my head against the wall now 🤪

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Hi Lawrence, thanks so much for the comment and glad you found the tutorial useful! ps. Don't be too hard on yourself :) Ciao

[@michaelmcphee2930]

Dobro, very clear explanation. What do you do if your catalogue becomes corrupt and you've created a new one but the old one opens up on Start Up.

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Thanks so much, Michael! Glad you found the video useful. About your question, you need to close Lightroom. Hold down the key button "Alt/Opt" and click on the Lightroom icon. So that you can choose which catalog to load when Lightroom starts up. I hope this helps. Ciao :)

[@michaelmcphee2930]

@@AndreaLivieriPhoto Thanks so much for that. It worked very well. Appreciate the fact that you got back to me with your help. Buon Natale

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Ciao Michael, Buon Natale anche a te 😃

[@VagrantMachine]

Really glad I came across your page, content, and photography. Hopping back into photography after a hiatus due to solely focusing on my illustration/design studio. I missed it terribly, like a hole in my gut, and am glad I have stumbled upon some great folks (like yourself) to get rolling again. Grazie, è molto apprezzato!

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Hi, I'm glad you found my work interesting, I really appreciate that! Thanks so much and good luck with your photography :) Ciao

[@hasanali948]

You explain so well. Thanks. Could yo tell me how ro merge the catalogs?

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Thanks so much for the comment, and glad you found it useful. As for your question, the process is pretty easy: 1. Open Lightroom Classic and choose File > Open Catalog and select the catalog that you want as the master (or primary) catalog. This is the catalog you want to add photos to. 2. Choose File > Import From Another Catalog and navigate to the catalog that contains the photos you want to add from. 3. Click Open (Windows) or Choose (macOS). 4. In the Import from Catalog dialog, check the All Folders checkbox in the Catalog Contents section. 5. In New Photos > File Handling, set the pop-up to Add new photos to catalog without moving (if it’s available). 6. In the Changed Existing Photos section, set the Replace pop-up to Metadata and develop settings only (if available). 7. If some of photos are duplicated in more than one catalog, and you decided you want to keep both versions of the settings, check Preserve old settings as a virtual copy. This creates virtual copies of each of the different sets of settings, so you can go back through later and decide which to keep. 8. Click Import. I hope this helps. Ciao

[@hasanali948]

@@AndreaLivieriPhoto Thank you so much. This is extremely helpful.

[@smalltalk.productions9977]

very helpful to a brand new lightroom user. thank you for the effort and the sharing. how would you import an entire apple photo library (60k images w/keywords)?

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Thanks so much for the comment, and I'm glad you found to video useful. About the Apple Photos library, it's not smooth. With the previous iPhoto app, it was very easy to use the plugin integrated into Lightroom. But, with the new Photos app, it's not easy and there are some twists. I can suggest you a great video by @focusphotoschool which describes all the alternatives kzbin.info/www/bejne/hnepmoileKiYd80 . Ciao :)

[@h-dawg969]

Slightly off topic, but can you tell me what eye piece that is on your Sony Alpha? I somehow lost mine, and the one I bought is a cheap one that is coming off all the time. That one on your camera looks much better. Cheers

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Hi, I don't use Sony cameras ;)

[@alwaysinout]

Thanks

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

You’re very welcome! Ciao 😃

[@janicebutler442]

Should I create a new catalog for each photo session I do or make ONE folder / catalog for ALL of my photos, I keep an external HD where I house all of my raw files & edited files. Thank you, this was the best video I found to re-train myself on LR, I am a PS 100 % user, but I need to edit a bunch of photos at one time & I know LR can do that & PS cannot do that.

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Hi Janice, thanks for the comment, and glad you found the video useful. I always suggest working with just one catalog. It's simpler and much easier to manage. For sure, Photoshop has many limitations when you need to work simultaneously on multiple images. In this regard, Lightroom makes your life much much easier :) Ciao

[@janicebutler442]

@@AndreaLivieriPhoto Thank you so much for responding so quickly. I do have a question about the catalogs, would you suggest making one catalog for each type of photography I shoot, I'm a portrait photographer & so I shoot Mini Sessions, Family Sessions, High School Sessions, etc. So would it make sense to setup a Family Catalog then add sub folders for each family I shoot, so on & so on ? I'm just thinking that for the sake of finding them later on, this might make it easier. BTW- Your website is fantastic, the photos are so crisp & clear it almost feels like I'm transported there too !! 👍

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

No worries, Janice! For my liking, I would lean towards one single catalog. Lightroom has Collections that help you to organize your images in a very sophisticated way. So, don’t just think about physical images location in the hard drive. Anyway, if you want to keep things simple, working with a folders structure organized by photo session it can makes sense for your needs. The workflow is a very personal thing :)

[@ksnmurthy4476]

Thanks for the tutorial. I have a doubt. If I create a new catalogue on my desktop and store all my RAW files, does it occupy space on my PC? Please clarify. Thanks again.

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Glad you found it useful. About your question, if you create and manage your catalog on your PC, and the raw images on an external hard drive, they won’t occupy space on your PC internal HD. I highly recommend to not store your raw files in the internal HD. Ciao

[@ksnmurthy4476]

@@AndreaLivieriPhoto thank you so much. So I create catalogue on desktop but I have to store all my RAW FILES in a folder on external hard disk.even post processed phots also. That’s what you mean?

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

@@ksnmurthy4476 No worries. The image adjustments are saved in your catalog file. The exported files (jpeg, tiff, psd) I suggest to keep them in the external HD.

[@ksnmurthy4476]

@@AndreaLivieriPhoto thank you so much for the clarification and advise.🙏🏽

[@janicebutler442]

@@ksnmurthy4476 reading your ? to Andrea & him responding to you is exactly why I found this useful, I have been working in ONLY PS & completely forgot how to bring my new photos into LR.

[@Rad_Travels]

Another reason you want to avoid saving LR catalogs on macOS Desktop or Documents folders is that users could have them *synced on iCloud*

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Yeah, absolutely, Rad. Thanks for the additional suggestion! :) Ciao

[@kchav10]

How do you edit the destination location to where you want your photos to copy to? I'm not able to click and edit the destination. :(

[@AndreaLivieriPhoto]

Hi Katie, once you've selected the source HD or the SD card, make sure to select "Copy To" on the top center panel. Then, on the right column you'll find the "Destination" tab where to set up the destination folder for your images. Ciao

[@tracylee.g.]

So I have a new heavy duty laptop and a light surface pro to edit photos on. Starting from scratch as onedrive created havoc & i did not understand lightroom at the beginning. So I created a different destination on new laptop, saved photos from sd card to external hard drive. I copied folder to surface pro. Did some editing but when I went back to laptop I had to redirect raws, wanted to sync, then catalog corrupted. Other than working from the catalog also kept on the same external drive (because I can't see another way round it ) is there a method/ answer to be able to work seamlessly on both devices (at different times of course). Dropbox too expensive for me. Does anyone else have / use onedrive for 2 devices? - keep catalog on 2 different machines. Help. Driving me nuts.

[@marcosny2010]

Correcting my text above , "Yor simple" it is not right, should be , "Your way to explain is simple......." and Thank you