Lightroom IMPORT PHOTOS Explained

[@hughmccomb8494]

Great Presentation lovely to see a young man knows how to present himself and knows his subject! Thanks from an 83 year old as my my brain is like the Bermuda triangle. Information goes in and then never found again. Many thanks.

[@hypnoraythompson5824]

HaHa you took the words right out of my mouth mate. Thought I might be the only old fart on here.

[@hypnoraythompson5824]

What a bright well informed guy. You have just taught a 73 year old a thing or two. Thank you from across the pond ( UK)

[@brianckerr5544]

I really find this instructor very good. He speaks clearly and at a pace that permitted me to pause and check and then adjust my Lightroom settings as needed. Well done!

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Thank you, I appreciate the kind feedback!

[@andrewmcconnell2438]

I was struggling to get my head round LR catalogs, importing and collections but this video made everything absolutely clear - unlike other youtube tutorials! A masterclass in how to make a tutorial. Brilliant! Thank you for eliminating the stress that comes from the frustration of wasting hours watching instruction videos and being none the wiser - oh, and being told LR is simple use!

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

That’s awesome! So glad this video was helpful, and happy you learned how to import photos in Lightroom now!

[@collharti]

Top shelf presentation. Clearly spoken and with knowledge of the subject matter. A big plus...you never said; "guys"

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

KZbin, where everyone is What's Up Guys and people love to Smash That Like Button! Although, my most recent video thumbnail is a picture of me with a shocked expression, so I'm not exactly in a position to be smug about it...

[@jennychurchmouse]

Your videos are terrific - so clear, concise and to the point. And I love your cat too!

[@jmyers6670]

I'd just like to echo many of the comments here about the clarity and completess of these videos. I had spent much of today surfing videos about the Lightroom catalogs versus collections and how to set up LRC and import / add images. These presentations are superb. I learned more from them than from the numerous other videos that I reviewed today.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Thank you for saying so! I really appreciate it.

[@utubeagainalready]

I am blown away for someone your age to be such a great teacher! You have a great voice, a great speed and I don't get bored! Going right now to watch more! Subcribed!

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Very kind of you Tim, thanks! Glad you’re enjoying the videos.

[@bassnn911]

Ok, I have listened to several LR instructional videos on LR, but this was one of the best so far. You spoke clearly and explained better than anyone else has. Thank you so much. You have helped me so much with my LR cataloging nightmare.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

That is wonderful to hear! Glad it was so useful.

[@billbauer3950]

Finally found a clear presentation to understand the LR import process. Thank you

[@avs4365]

A s a long-term (often frustrated LR user) found this a clear, concise and very helpful tutorial. Informative presentation nicely paced. Thank you.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Excellent! Happy to hear it. Hopefully, importing your photos will be a smoother process now!

[@1upphilly267]

This Video series is so clear, helpful, and not insistent on practicing a lame stand up act. Thank you for these. It's a shame they don't show up in more searches for lighroom

[@kplohanda]

Such a satisfying explanation honestly! No BGM, no loud voice, not fast moving, not too slow, and cover merely what the title says with essentials :)

[@BURTBROWN]

Very nice straight forward vid that showed me a number of things I didn't know!!! Thanks!!!!

[@SuperPatBee]

very instructive tutorial. the cat jumping up on your worktable at the end... monumental!!! i had tears in my eyes from laughing.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Thank you! Yeah, that’s Mango. He noticed I was paying too much attention to the camera and not enough to him.

[@petertellermann6913]

Very helpful, nobody has explained it so well. You present and explain very clear and professional - congrats!!! Please continue, thanks a lot.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Thank you for saying so, Petra!

[@surflifeimages]

Great video. Super east to follow along with and explained clearly. Like other commenters said, I could pause and check my Lr, then continue. I switched from Affinity to Lr/Ps so the cataloging is something new. I'll be checking out the rest of your stuff... Thanks for helping all of us out.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Much appreciated, Mike! Glad you found it so easy to follow along. Good luck with Lightroom - it’s definitely a learning process, but very much worthwhile in the end.

[@michellelarter76]

Great video. I have been using Lightroom for several years and watched several tutorials and always found the filling system a challenge. Thank you for breaking it down into a simple and easy to follow tutorial.

[@Winston1248]

Thank You! Finally! Easy to follow, easy to understand, love your videos!

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Happy to hear it!

[@noflus1]

Thank you for explaining these basic functions very well. Some videos I just can't listen to or follow as my eyes and glaze over. Thank you again for your concise and well paced info.

[@jackwiegmann]

After watching 3 other videos about importing to LR, this is the one that makes it easy and simple to understand. I was having the most difficulty with the difference between "Add, Copy, and Move", because most creators didn't specifically mention what to do if you wanted to work with originals on a hard drive without removing them from the drive. Thank you thank you thank you!!!

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

You’re welcome! Glad it answered your questions.

[@Marios-d7v]

Great video Spencer. Loved the tip on the unrepeatable file name.:)

[@dongrall6897]

Very well presented! You definitely have a talent for speaking and the education of those willing to listen.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Much appreciated, Don!

[@crumpeteer6477]

Best explanation I've seen. Thanks

[@carolinezaramati9193]

Thank you for this very helpful tutorial. Very clear and easy to understand.

[@marcleemans3772]

Great video. Thanks from Belgium!

[@nb3140]

Great tutorial. I really like the way you explain the little details in these videos. Thank you so much for making this video.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Sure thing! I'm glad you liked it.

[@reynaldohernandez1425]

Thanks for this vid. You’re a great instructor!

[@dt..retired8462]

Greetings from UK. Spencer, As an 80 year old LR newbie, I have to say that your videos are the very best I’ve found. They really are helping me a great deal. I notice that they’re all 2 years old…are you planning to do any updated versions. Thanks again for taking the time to help beginners like me!

[@lillebrowning2231]

I was just searching KZbin for some lightroom information and your video popped up (awesome video by the way. You explain things very clearly without rushing through everything, and I actually thought I might be able to figure some things out!). About 5 years ago I started out using lightroom without doing any homework on how the program worked, and after 5 years of using it incorrectly I now have a huge disaster all over my computer with a million different catalogs! I do corporate headshots for my company as well as group photos around the building. I assumed every time I did a new shoot, I needed to make a new catalog (Yikes!!!). Needless to say I now have a catalog disaster all over the place and it would take a genius like you to fix it all! I decided to not use lightroom any more because I got too frustrated and just edit in Photoshop Camera Raw now. I really want to get back into Lightroom and use it the correct way, but now moving forward, I can't figure out how to start fresh and just make a brand new catalog, ignoring everything I've done the prior years when using Lightroom (the wrong way). When I launch lightroom, it automatically opens up an older catalog and I'm not sure how to get around that and start new with a clean slate. Can you help? I would greatly appreciate it! Also, does the Lightroom Catalog have to live on the actual hard drive or can it live on an external drive?

[@suzannemullaney3205]

This is so concise and easy to understand, thanks!

[@ozvilladolid]

So useful, thank you for taking the time to do this!

[@marc5117]

Great training!

[@chrisl6022]

Very helpful, thank you very much...

[@pierrefauteux6666]

Hi. Your videos are great! Super clear! I have a question tough. I am new to Lightroom and want to set everything properly at first. This is the way I normally work for my file managing. I always import all my photos directly on my OneDrive. This way, I have access to all of them, no matter the computer I work on (office, home, laptop). Also, I save space on all those computers, as I only upload the images I need to work on. Can I do the same while importing images on Lightroom? Meaning adding them in a folder located on my OneDrive? And then all the folders reorganisation that I would eventually do trough LRc would be done on my OneDrive?

[@六六大顺-b6e]

谢谢！

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

😄

[@PaulRamen]

great stuff, cheers

[@gopalkrishnapaikane7206]

Thanks for the tutorial. What if I Add photos to a collection in Lightroom and later change location of the actual file?

[@cannondale1100]

Do you have a tutorial showing how to keep photos off my computers hard drive and only on an external ssd to both save and work with the files? I’m newer to Lightroom and not sure how to implement this work flow. Thank you .

[@smalltalk.productions9977]

thank you for the effort and the sharing. is the renaming box only available when importing from a camera card or is renaming always an option within the import tab? thumbs up.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

It’s always an option! You can even batch rename photos after import using the file menu within Lightroom.

[@bkcampb]

Nice tutorial

[@michaelvail2446]

Thank you Spencer!

[@dangerspouse4741]

That was terrific. Thank you very much.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Sure thing! Glad you enjoyed it.

[@dangerspouse4741]

@@PhotographyLifeChannel Very much so. Very much so.

[@narjes6431]

Thank you for the informative video! I have a problem, my photos turn very saturated and contrasty when I import them into LR, I tried different ways to solve it but nothing changed, can you help?

[@Snowhead38]

Thanks for the videos Spencer they are a great help. I only have one slight issue, when importing from an SD card, my files are already organised on my Mac within the pictures folder, when I select the folder to import to, it then puts them into another 2 subfolders within the folder I imported to on my Mac, so I have to keep moving the pictures again

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Any chance you have “into subfolder” checked on the right-hand side of the import dialog, under Destination?

[@Snowhead38]

@@PhotographyLifeChannel ah yes I just watched the video over again, I didn’t select to organise ‘into one folder’ I’m all organised now. Thanks again. Subscribed !

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Glad that worked, and thanks for the sub!

[@colleenkl]

Can you explain how to bring images from "Photos" on Macbook Pro into Lightroom Classic? Do you first need to copy them to an external hard drive for example and then bring them into LR C?

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Yes - you need to copy the images to something like an external drive, so that you can see them in the file structure itself (AKA in Finder). Once you know where they are on your hard drive, you can start following the steps in this video.

[@AnnieUgg]

if I click uncheck all then want 100 more to be checked, how can I do it without checking the box for each one? Shift click doesn't seem to work. thanks

[@evanoshea9506]

So helpful gah damn

[@swedefarms]

Thank you! :)

[@silviasanchez648]

I have a question about the copyright section, I see two options Public Domain and Copyright. Is there any way to choose Creative Commons? Very useful and interesting video as always! Thanks Spencer.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Good question Silvia! Don't know how I missed it until now, sorry about that. By default, you can't add Creative Commons to an image, but I did find a third-party Lightroom plugin to do so if it's important for your work: regex.info/blog/lightroom-goodies/creative-commons

[@guiwald]

This is a tutorial for Lightroom Classic, I am looking for an explaination of the import feature of Lightroom. I cannot find the option in Lightroom (NOT lightroom classic) when importing photos NOT to copy to the local database. So if I import from my external HDD where are my photo, that will copy them on my internal HDD. Any idea how to get the same "Add" option than in Lightroom classic? Thanks!

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

In Lightroom CC, all your photos must be stored on Adobe's cloud, and therefore there aren't going to be the same import setting options. It's one reason why I don't particularly like Lightroom CC and find Lightroom Classic the better option for most photographers.

[@guiwald]

@@PhotographyLifeChannel Thank you for the explanations! Indeed I figured out that I won't use lightroom CC :) Thanks for your good work!

[@welshman2081]

Hi when I load an SD card I write in the day's shoot, name, or location, sample (Derwent water, ) this goes to my Elements Catalog when I import in LR 5 I lose the location name on each Photo etc, Question! What do I do to have the name also on the Photo in LR

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

One possibility is to highlight all the photos in question, and in the “keywords” section in the library module, type in the location. You only have to type it once, and it applies that keyword to every photo you’ve highlighted. (You can highlight multiple photos by shift + clicking.) If you’re referring instead to the file name of the photos, Lightroom won’t remove any existing file names unless you tell it to do so under the file name section of the import dialog. If this is what’s happening for you, I recommend that you check and change your default file name import settings.

[@alwaysinout]

Thank you

[@Alex-ve4hn]

Was this the Photography Life chanel? What happened to the rest of the videos?

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Yes it was, but all those videos are now live here instead: kzbin.info/door/jgg6xqjLd65lNC7MWNs9OA Hope this helps!

[@michaellaren1]

Why would you use copy over add?

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Add wouldn’t be a good idea for photos that are on external media like a memory card or flash drive (if Lightroom even lets you pick add in the first place) because when you remove the device, you won’t be able to access those photos in Lightroom any more. Copy instead duplicates the photo and places the duplicate at your chosen location on your hard drive. (Move does the same as Copy but deletes the image from the original location.)

[@michaellaren1]

@@PhotographyLifeChannel Thanks for your fast response! It allows me to select it when I use a flash drive. Is it bad to always use LR when my flash drive is connected? Is the risk of crashing my drive higher when I do? I always used copy without noticing and did not know why there were always copies on my hard drive. I need al the space and it annoyed me I cannot delete it. I only work in LR at home so I always have my flash drive next to me.

[@laurelb8372]

Does LR 10 import the same way

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Yes, importing is all the same in the newest version. Adobe hasn’t changed it significantly in many years, which is perfectly good in my book. If it ain’t broke, and all that 😄

[@laurelb8372]

@@PhotographyLifeChannel thank you. Very clear instructions.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

@Ozi Box - Sure thing, cheers!

[@iggybeauchance7406]

Nicely glossed over 'Build Presets' . Still looking for info on 'Embedded and Sidecar'.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Building the develop presets is something you have to do outside the import dialog (specifically in the develop module), and it’s really not related to the topic of the video, hence why I glossed over it. No need to be rude about it. If you have existing presets, you can apply them upon import, which is all that matters for this video. “Embedded and Sidecar” means that Lightroom will check your image to see if there’s already a preview attached (usually the camera’s embedded JPEG preview) and will display that rather than rendering one of its own initially. But Lightroom will still render its own preview eventually to replace it. So, I don’t see much reason to pick “Embedded and Sidecar,” unless you need inaccurate but instantaneous temporary previews for some sort of work where you’re on a really tight deadline.

[@ttp2856]

After years of using LR I've finally got my head around certain functions which I've just ignored until now! Thanks to you. Just one quick question, When importing my images, one preset that I have set up is to apply lens profile during import (lens corrections in the develop module). This saves on time having to to do it later. The software will recognise which lenses have been used and apply the appropriate profile. Seems to work for me! I can't understand why this isn't set up as standard. Thoughts?

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

That's a good way to import photos, I agree. I do the same and also keep chromatic aberration corrections turned on, plus sharpening and noise reduction reset to zero.