If you choose to add photos to your catalog, it means you have copied or moved your files in the right location on your computer’s hard drive already. You can select the type of Import on the tops of your screen. On the right-end side of the screen, you have a menu that changes according to the type of import you select. If you want the Import Dialog to open automatically when you insert a memory card in your computer, go to Lightroom > Preferences > General > Show import dialog when a memory card is selected. The ones in your memory card, external hard drive or on your Desktop. As you can see you have access to all the images on your computer. On the next screen (the Import Dialog) you’ll select a source on the left-end side and click on the folder you want to import. On the bottom left you’ll see the “Import…” button.
We need to import some images to start understanding how it works. When you open Lightroom, the first screen you see is the Library module, but nothing has been imported yet so the library is empty. Lightroom User Interface and Layout 2.1 Import Dialog The Develop module is where the fun stuff happens! 2. Here you will find sliders and menus to correct the exposure, sharpness, saturation, contrast and so forth. In the Develop module, you’ll perform the actual editing of your images. The Library module is where you will import photos, organize them and manage your catalog. These two are the modules where you’ll spend 99% of your time when using Lightroom. In this guide we’ll learn the first two, Library and Develop. Library, Develop, Map, Book, Slideshow, Print, Web. You’ll see the 7 Lightroom module names at the top right of the screen. 1.2 Lightroom Modulesĭifferent tasks in Lightroom are solved by using different modules.
You’ll learn enough by the end of this guide and you’ll have the knowledge to edit like a pro in Lightroom and to keep discovering new functionalities with time. In fact, you won’t even necessarily need to ever learn everything. One thing to remember is that you won’t need to learn the entire set of options, settings, and functions in one go.
It won’t take you long to familiarize yourself with Lightroom menus and it’s an important step to go through if you want to learn how to start editing in Lightroom.Įverything will look a bit dark and empty since you haven’t imported any photos yet. Trust me, there’s nothing to worry about, you’ll master Lightroom in no time. On the next screen, you’ll see a lot of menus, buttons, and functions.
Or if you feel confident with changing the destination folder and know how to do it feel free to expand the menu and choose your favorite destination in your computer’s hard drive.
We’ll see how to work with Lightroom Catalog in part 2.
I remember getting really confused since I thought I was going to be able to start my post-processing adventure immediately.īut remember, Lightroom is not only a photo editing program it’s also a tool for organizing your images, so at first it will ask you to create a new catalog and where to store it.įor now, you don’t really need to decide where to store your catalog, leave the software to decide the destination folder in your computer by clicking “Continue”. It can be daunting the first time you open Lightroom. You can always go back to previous states of your images. It works by changing a placeholder image to show you how your final creation will look like once you “Save as” or “Export” your final file, leaving the original untouched. Lightroom is a non-destructive editing software, that means, it won’t actually change your original files or move them from your computer. It’s used to create and manage catalogs of photos and to edit them. Lightroom is the most popular photo editing software on the market, made by Adobe. For now just know that if you want to have access to the complete set of tools, Lightroom Classic CC is the one you need use. I’ll dedicate another article to highlight the differences between the two. What is Lightroom? First of all, please keep in mind that we are going to talk about Lightroom Classic CC and not Lightroom CC.