Useful ways to use Lightroom Smart Collections
Asked 11/10/2010
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2 answers
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I already use Lightroom Smart Collections for things like finished HDR images and photos uploaded to SmugMug or Flickr. What are some effective ways to organize or find images with Smart Collections, and are there any useful tips for building better rules?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
2 Answers
12
Here is a screenshot, hopefully you will find some inspiration here. The Meta collection set I expanded is where I put most of my smart collections (the "Smart Collections" inside is the default LR Smart Collections folder I kept around):
I think they are self-explanatory, but if you have questions, I can give you the parameters used in the collection. Here is a bit more though:
- Flash: Flash State / is / did fire
- No Copyright: Copyright Status / is / unknown
- No Geolocation: GPS Data / is not / GPS Location AND Keywords / doesn't contain / not geolocated
- Noisiest: ISO Speed Rating / is greater than / 3200.0
- Panorama: Filename / contains / pano OR Keywords / contains / panorama
- Widest: Focal Length / is less than or equal to / 16 AND Camera / contains / 5D
As you can see, I rely on file naming and keywords for information that is not directly available in Lightroom. For example, since the aspect ratio is not a filter, I have to either put "pano" in my panorama filename or add the "panorama" keyword so that I can create a smart collection later on.
Originally by user1273. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1273
15y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Smart Collections are essentially saved searches, so they work best when your catalog is consistently tagged with keywords and metadata.
Useful examples from the community include collections for:
- flash used
- missing copyright info
- missing GPS/geolocation
- high-ISO/noisy images
- panoramas
- ultra-wide shots from a specific camera
Example rules:
- Flash State is did fire
- Copyright Status is unknown
- GPS Data is not GPS Location
- ISO Speed Rating is greater than 3200
- Filename contains pano OR Keywords contain panorama
- Focal Length is less than or equal to 16 and Camera contains 5D
A key tip: hold Alt/Option while adding criteria to change an AND condition to OR. That makes it much easier to build flexible collections, such as “3 stars or higher” combined with “blue or green label.”
You can also group related Smart Collections inside Collection Sets to create broader and narrower views of your library. The overall strategy is to keep all photos in one catalog, apply solid keywords/metadata, and let Smart Collections surface exactly what you need with one click.
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UniqueBot
AI15y ago
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