8
USING PHOTOSHOP LIGHTROOM 2
The Lightroom workflow
The Filmstrip, located at the bottom of the workspace in every module, displays thumbnails of the contents of the
folder, collection, keyword set, or metadata criteria that is currently selected in the Library module. Each module uses
the contents of the Filmstrip as the source for the tasks performed in it. To change the selection in the Filmstrip, go to
the Library module and select different photos. See “
Viewing photos in the Filmstrip
” on page 41.
To work in Lightroom, first select the images you want to work with in the Library module. Then click a module name
in the Module Picker (upper-right in the Lightroom window) to begin editing, printing, or preparing your photos for
presentation in an on-screen slide show or web gallery.
Hold down Ctrl+Alt/Option and press a number from 1 through 5 to switch to any of the five modules.
Importing photos into Lightroom: Basic workflow
You must import photos into the Lightroom library to begin working with them. Importing tells Lightroom what
photos are in the library, and whether they are imported directly from a camera, hard drive, memory card reader, or
other storage device. During import, you can choose either to move or copy the photo files into a specific folder, or
reference the photo files in their current location. As photos are imported, you can rename them, apply Develop
module adjustments to them, embed metadata and keywords, and even back up the original photos to a different
folder.
Note:
Lightroom supports photos up to 65,000 pixels long or wide, up to 512 megapixels. Lightroom does not support
CMYK images. For a complete list of supported file formats, see “
File formats
” on page
31.
After they are imported, Lightroom adds the photos to the library and starts building previews and cataloging
metadata. Unless manually removed, the previews and metadata stay in the library, even if you move the
corresponding photos off of your computer to archive them at a different storage location. Thumbnail previews appear
in the Grid view and Filmstrip, and folders containing the imported photos appear in the Folders panel of the Library
module. You can’t import the same photo into Lightroom multiple times unless you first delete the photo from the
library. See “
Browsing the Grid view
” on page 44 and “
Create virtual copies
” on page 62.
Note:
Lightroom also offers an auto-import feature for automatically importing photos into the library from a specified
folder. See “
Importing photos automatically
” on page
39.
The Import Photos dialog box allows you to preview, select, name, and add information about the photos you want to
import. To import photos into Lightroom, follow these basic steps:
1.
Connect the camera or memory card reader to your computer.
In addition to cameras and memory card readers, Lightroom imports photos from any folder on the hard drive, CDs
or DVDs, and other storage devices. You can also import photos from another Lightroom catalog or from
Photoshop
Elements (Windows).
2.
Select the photos to import.
To bring photos into the library, do any of the following:
•
Click the Import button in the Library module.
•
Choose File
> Import Photos From Disk.
•
Choose File
> Import Photos From Device.
•
Drag a folder that contains photos or drag a group of photos into the Grid view of the Library module.
If necessary, navigate to the folder that contains the photos and click Choose.
Updated 03 September 2009
