Lightroom Typical Workflow Cheat Sheet

This workflow is a typical one for the beginning user of Lightroom.

Follow a workflow. You'll get better results in less time.

A - Connect Your Memory Card

1) Connect your memory card to your computer. Do one of the following.
• Camera: Turn your camera off, plug it into your computer, and turn the camera on.
• Card reader: Insert your memory card into the card reader. Plug the card reader into your
computer.
• Port: Plug your memory card into the memory-card port on your computer (not present on all
computers).
By default, Lightroom will open the Import window. If it doesn’t, go to the Library module and click
Import in the lower-left corner of your screen. Then, click on the memory card on the left side of your
screen.

B - Import Window
On the left side, Lightroom has selected the memory card.
In the middle, Lightroom displays the photographs on your memory card.
Photographs that have already been imported are grayed out.
You can remove the duds now, but you’ll probably prefer the method below.
2) If you don’t want to import the duds, do the following.
a) Press and hold the Ctrl key (Windows) or Cmd key (Mac).
b) Click on the duds.
c) Release the Ctrl or Cmd key.
d) Deselect the white arrow in the upper-left corner of one of the dud previews (thumbnails). All of
the duds are unchecked. They won’t be imported.
3) At the top of your screen, in the middle, click Copy.
(If the photographs were already in a folder in Pictures or My Pictures, you would click Add.)
(ICP students: If the photographs were already in a folder in the ICP Photos folder on your flash drive
or external hard drive, you would click Add.)
4) Next, choose the destination folder for the photographs.
(ICP students: Your destination folder is ICP Photos folder on your flash drive or external hard drive.)
Import the photographs into a single folder, such as Lightroom Photos. There’s no need to import
photographs into month-date folders. That’s because Lightroom has superior search features.
To make a Lightroom Photos folder, go to Pictures or My Pictures.
• Windows: Right click on a blank area in the window and select New > Folder, enter Lightroom
Photos, and click a blank area in the window.
• Mac: Open the File menu at the top of your screen. Click New Folder, enter Lightroom Photos,
and click a blank area in the window.
5) Click the top-right corner on your screen where you see To.
The destination menu will open.
6) Click Other Destination and navigate to the Lightroom Photos folder.
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Try the paths below.

• Windows: C: > Users > You > My Pictures or Pictures > Lightroom Photos
• Mac: Users > You > Pictures > Lightroom Photos
(ICP students: Your destination is the ICP Photos folder on your flash drive or external hard drive.)
7) Check the settings in the panels on the right side of your screen.
Once you’ve done so, you probably won’t have to check again.
(ICP students: Always check the settings when at ICP.)
• File Handling: Make sure Minimal is selected in the Render Previews menu. Otherwise, the
import will take a long time.
• File Renaming: Select Rename Files. Then, in the Template menu, select Date-Filename. Adding
the date to the file name prevents later problems.
• Apply During Import: Ignore this panel.
• Destination: In the Organize menu, select Into one folder.
8) Click Import in the lower-right corner of your screen.
• A timeline appears in the top-left corner showing the progress of the import.
• Lightroom displays the imported photographs.
• The memory card is ejected automatically.
Don’t format the memory card until after you’ve looked at some of the photographs enlarged in Loupe
view. Click on a preview (thumbnail). Then, click the Loupe-view icon below the previews or press e.
To go back to the previews, click the Grid-view icon below the previews or press g.

C - Remove the Duds

This writer suggests sorting the photographs into two categories: Best and Duds.
9) You can do so quickly by pressing p or x.
a) If needed, enlarge the previews using the Thumbnails slider below the previews.
b) Press the Caps Lock key. This enables Lightroom to jump from one preview to the next
automatically.
c) Left hand: Put your forefinger on the x key.
d) Right hand: Put your forefinger on the p key.
e) Press x if you don’t like the photograph. A black flag will appear.
f) Press p if you like the photograph. A white flag will appear.
(If you want to remove a flag, press the u key.)
g) When finished, press the Caps Lock key.
h) Look for the Sort menu below the previews. Select Pick in the menu. The white flag
photographs will float to the top. The black-flagged photographs will go to the bottom.
10) Do one of the following.
• Leave the black-flagged photographs at the bottom of the previews.
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• Drag them into a collection called Duds (described below).

• Delete the black-flagged photographs.
11) If you want to delete the black-flagged photographs, do the following.
a) Press Ctrl + Backspace (Windows) or Cmd + Delete (Mac). The Confirm window opens.
b) Click Remove or Delete from Disk.
Caution! What’s the difference between Remove and Delete from Disk?

Remove Delete from Disk

Your photographs are removed from
Lightroom.
The photographs are still in My Pictures or
Pictures (ICP students: ICP Photos folder).
Your photographs are removed from
Lightroom.
The photographs are deleted from My
Pictures or Pictures (ICP students: From the
ICP Photos folder).

Again—if you click Delete from Disk—your black-flagged photographs are no longer on your computer.
They won’t exist anywhere.

D – Catalog Panel
After importing, Lightroom displays only the imported photographs.
To see all of your photographs, go to the Catalog panel on the left side of your screen. Click All
Photographs.
Click Previous Import to see only the photographs you imported the last time.

E – Collection Sets & Collections

The difference between collection sets and collections is confusing.
Let’s say you’re at a garage sale and you spot a shoe box. The label on the outside is Yosemite.
You look inside and find several envelopes. You open the Ice Climbing envelope.
In Lightroom:
• A collection set is like the label on the shoe box.
The icon for a collection set has a white label.

• A collection is like the Ice Climbing envelope. It contains photographs.

Collection Sets Collections

Collection sets contain collections. Collections contain photographs.

You can’t put photographs into a collection You can’t put a collection set into a
set. collection.
Only collections go into collection sets. Only photographs go into collections.

F - Make a Collection Set

Let’s make a collection set called Yosemite.
12) Do the following.
a) Look for the Collections panel tab on the left side of your screen.
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b) Click the + icon in the Collections panel tab.

c) Click Create Collection Set.
d) Enter Yosemite.
e) Click Create.
Look at the Yosemite icon.

It has a white label on it. That means it’s a collection set. Again, you can’t put photographs in a
collection set. You put collections in collection sets.

G - Make a Collection
Let’s make a collection inside the Yosemite collection set. We’ll call it Ice Climbing. This is where the
ice-climbing photographs will go.

13) Do the following.

a) On your keyboard, press Ctrl + a (Windows) or Cmd + a (Mac).
This command selects all of the previews.
b) Click the + icon in the Collections panel tab.
c) Click Create Collection.
d) Enter a name, Ice Climbing.
e) Select Inside a Collection Set.
f) Select Yosemite in the collection-set menu.

g) Select Include selected photos.

h) Click Create.
i) On your keyboard, press Ctrl + d (Windows) or Cmd + d (Mac).
This command deselects all of the previews.
There’s another way to get your photographs into a collection. Drag them.
Above, in step g, don’t select Include selected photos. Instead, do the following.
a) Click and hold on one of the previews. Be sure to click on the image, not on the gray border.
b) Drag the preview to the Ice Climbing collection. The other previews will follow along.
You could also create collections called Best and Duds.
Make the Yosemite collect set.
Then, make an Ice Climbing collection set (not a collection as done above).
Make the Best and Duds collections inside of the Ice Climbing collection set.
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H - Develop
14) Click on a preview that you want to edit and press Ctrl + ' (Windows) or Cmd + ' (Mac).
A virtual copy appears, denoted by a white turned-up corner. Virtual copies don’t take up any
appreciable space on your hard drive. Edit the virtual copy.
15) Press d to go to the Develop module or click it at the top of your screen.
16) Edit.
When editing, make global changes first. Global changes affect the entire photograph, such as white
balance and exposure.
(ICP students: Use the Develop Module Cheat Cards.)
Then, do local editing. Local editing affects parts of your photograph, such as burning and dodging
(darkening/brightening) with the Adjustment brush.
Finally, you go back to do some more global editing: sharpening and noise reduction.

Global Start with the Basic panel: WB and Tone.

Local Use the tools above the Basic panel, such as the Adjustment brush.

Global Use the Detail panel for sharpening and noise reduction. All
photographs need sharpening. Only high-ISO photographs need
noise reduction.

17) You may want to make another virtual copy as you work.
If so, select the original virtual copy. Then, press Ctrl + ' (Windows) or Cmd + ' (Mac).
For example, make a second virtual copy when you’re:
• About to convert a color photograph to black-and-white. Make a second virtual copy and then
convert it to black-and-white.
• Going to make a print. Make another virtual copy and tweak it so it prints better.

I - Color Labels

A color label is when the preview image is outlined with a color.

You can use the colors to convey the state of the photograph, such as:
• Red = Best of the best
• Yellow = Editing not done
• Green = Ready to print.
• Blue = Black-and-white version
The color labels make it easy to spot these photographs.
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They can be sorted by the color label, too. For example, let’s say you use green to denote photographs
that are ready for printing.
Back in the Library module, right click on one of the previews.
(Mac users: If your mouse doesn’t have a right click, press and hold Ctrl and left click.)
Select Set Color Label > Green.
Then, open the Sort menu below the previews. Select Label Color.
The green-labeled photograph goes to the top of the previews, for easy access.
You can press a number key to make color labels.

Red 6

Yellow 7

Green 8

Blue 9

Purple None

None 0

J – Export
Export your photographs to make JPEGs for sending to a lab.
Create a folder in My Pictures or Pictures called Lightroom Exports.
(ICP students: Make the Lightroom Exports folder on your flash drive or external hard drive.)
If you’re sending photographs attached to an e-mail, scroll down to step 21.
18) In the Library module, select the photographs that you want to export.
• All of them: If you press Ctrl + a (Windows) or Cmd + a (Mac), all of the previews are selected.
To deselect all of the previews, press Ctrl + d (Windows) or Cmd + d (Mac).
• This one and that one: Press and hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Cmd (Mac). Click on the
previews. Release the Ctrl or Cmd key.
• Previews next to each other: Press and hold down the Shift key. Click on the first preview in the
row and then the last preview in the row. Release the Shift key.
19) Click Export in the lower-left corner of your screen.
The Export window opens.
Check the settings in each section. Once you’ve done so, you probably won’t have to check again.
(ICP students: Always check the settings when at ICP.)
• Export Location: In the Export To menu, select Specific Folder. Then, click Choose. Navigate to
the Lightroom Exports folder you made above. Try the paths below.
• File Naming: Deselect Rename To.
Windows: C: > Users > You > My Pictures or Pictures > Lightroom Exports
Mac: Users > You > Pictures > Lightroom Exports
(ICP students: Your destination is the Lightroom Exports folder on your flash drive or external hard drive.)
• Video: Ignore this section.
• File Settings:
Image Format = JPEG
Color Space = sRGB
Quality = 100%
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Deselect Limit File Size To.

• Image Sizing:
Deselect Resize to Fit.
Resolution: Use 72 ppi for web sites and 300 ppi for printing.
• Output Sharpening: Digital photographs don't look sharp because they're made from square
pixels. A curve can't look sharp when there are little corners of pixels sticking out. Sharpening
creates an optical illusion (an increase in contrast) along the edges of curves.
Sharpen For: Make the appropriate selection in the menu.
Amount: Use Standard for landscapes, and Low for portraits.
• Metadata: Select All.
• Watermarking: Deselect Watermarking.
• Post-Processing: In the After Export menu, select Do Nothing.
20) Click Export in the Export window.
You’re photographs will appear in the Lightroom Exports folder.
21) If you’re e-mailing the photographs, do the following.
a) In the Library module, select the photographs that you want to export.
b) Click Export in the lower-left corner. The Export window opens.
c) On the left side of the Export window, look for the Lightroom Presets menu
d) Select For Email.
e) Click Export in the lower-right corner of the Export window. The E-mail window will open.
f) Usually, Lightroom automatically selects your default e-mail client (program).
g) Enter the recipient’s address and the subject.
h) Click Send. Your e-mail client will open.
i) Add a message.
j) Click Send in your e-mail-client window.

Congrats—you’re all done!

© 2014 Jim Beecher