- Getting started
- Lightroom is your digital notebook
- The import process
- Importing photos from a digital camera
- Importing images from a hard disk
- Importing via drag and drop
- Evaluating photos before importing
- Images that are already imported
- Importing to a specific folder
- Importing from a watched folder
- Tethered shooting
- Viewing imported photos in the work area
- Review questions
- Review answers
Review answers
When importing photos from a camera or memory card, the images need to be copied to a more permanent location, as memory cards are expected to be erased and reused. Copying or moving images also might be useful when you want Lightroom to organize the files into a more ordered folder hierarchy during the import process. Images that are already arranged in a useful way on the hard disk or removable media can be added to the library catalog in their current locations.
The Digital Negative (DNG) file format is a publicly available archival format intended to address the lack of an open standard for raw files generated by cameras. Converting raw files to DNG in Lightroom will help ensure that you’ll be able to access your raw files in the future even if the original proprietary format is no longer supported.
Once you’ve created import presets to suit your workflow, you can speed up the import process by using the Import dialog box in compact mode. Use your import preset as a starting point, and then modify the settings as required.
When shooting tethered into Lightroom, you can see the images much larger on your computer screen than on the LCD on your camera, allowing you to adjust your camera settings as you shoot to reduce the amount of postproduction work needed.
You can choose from the many options in the Library View Options dialog box (View > View Options) to customize the information Lightroom Classic displays for each image in the Grid and Loupe views. For the Loupe view and thumbnail tool tips, you can define two sets of options and then press the I key to switch between them. From the View > Grid View Style menu you can switch between Compact or Expanded Cells and activate or disable the display of information for either style.