Making the most of the import tool Lightroom
The Import dialog box in Adobe Lightroom 3 is a powerful tool that helps you organize and filter your raw from the get-go pictures. When used properly, you can save a ton of time to manage your photos once you're done with the real development process. Let's take a look at each function present in the Import dialog box and see how everyone can make use of Lightroom an easier experience.
Clicking Import opens a comprehensive dialogue with three panels:
· A tree of files files you want to import
· A space to display thumbnails of the photos you selected for import
· Destination Options, managing files and import settings
The third panel has several dropdown options allowing you to apply settings of your photos before importing. These options are Managing files, rename files, Apply During Import and Destination, discussed in detail below.
File Management gives you the ability to change the render size for faster loading thumbnails. You can also set the import action to avoid adding suspected image duplicates, as well as create an automatic backup of the images before importing them and make changes to them.
Rename files allows you to customize the name of your images on import. You can add or rearrange the parts of the file name as the prefix and sequence number.
Apply During Import has three parameters:
· Develop Settings Presets can apply post-processing of your images during import, reducing the time that you use when you start the actual development phase.
· Metadata lets you save predefined entries in your metadata useful to include information such as copyright and authors URL.
· The keywords can be entered in the box provided in the panel, which helps to sort and filter your files in the future as you go through them.
Destination offers easy to organize your imported into their specific folders in the drive way pictures. You can select a folder, and to simplify the creation of subfolders, there is a text box at the top of the drop down list you can use to type his name.
A couple of Extras
· At the bottom of the Import dialog box, you can save any changes you made to your import settings saved as a preset for future use.
· You can reduce the import dialog box by clicking the arrow in the lower left corner. This gives you a view of only items you might need to change in the future.
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