Adobe Lightroom is a great program to catalog, manage, edit and even publish photos. I myself have been somewhat resilient against adopting Lightroom in my workflow but after experimenting with it for a while I have to admit that it greatly improves my efficiency, especially with my travel photography collections. So if you are just starting out with Lightroom or considering purchasing it, here is a basic tutorial on how to import files into your catalog, and all the different options you will encounter. Understanding how Lightroom import function operates is essential because everyone has to use it to work with photos and it is one of the initial steps in anybody’s workflow.
When using import function in Lightroom, you can achieve several steps at once. Most importantly you can copy the files from your memory card to your primary storage device while adding the files to a Lightroom catalog. You can also make a second copy to another location as a backup, set an automatic renaming of files, add keywords and copyright data to the entire batch and even apply basic filters and effects, all during the import process. These options can significantly improve handling of large batches and reduce time spent on processing. Remember, however, that Lightroom Catalog file does not store actual images, but only collect information about their locations and applied changes. Therefore note the destination of your photos during import. Continue Reading
