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Participant
May 20, 2015
Open for Voting

P: Resizeable width of import side-panels

  • May 20, 2015
  • 12 replies
  • 857 views

Please allow the "Import" side panels to be width-resizeable (like the side panels in Library and Develop modes).User-defineable wider panels are useful for reading long folder names. Holding down ALT (Mac) while click-dragging the width works with the other side-panels, but not when importing.Lightroom 5.7.1. on Mac OSX.

12 replies

JohanElzenga
Community Expert
Community Expert
December 21, 2019
Merging can also be done by ‘Champions’, who are not working for Adobe. Adobe looks at the number of votes to determine whether or not a feature request is popular or not. This feature request has gotten a whopping six votes in five years...
-- Johan W. Elzenga
Califdan2
Inspiring
December 21, 2019
As you can see in the merged topic, this has been asked for many times going back at least 5 years.  So, other than merging topics, no - Adobe is not listening.  in fact, IMHO, they seem, to be very uninterested in working on much of anything to do with the Library Module except the most trivial and inconsequential items (e.g. color labels on collections) while ignoring very impactful requests.  

However, bringing these old requests back to the top of the list by posting is probably a good, but inconsequential, practice.

Just to be sure you are aware:  if you hover your mouse on a folder name a little popup will display showing the full file path and name.  Not a real solution to the problem but at least some saving grace.  You can also see the full folder name (but not path to it) for the active image in the Metadata panel depending on which "Metadata Set" you choose (e.g. Location or Exif + IPTC)


Known Participant
December 21, 2019


In Lightroom Classic (Mac for sure, probably Windows too), the right side of long folder names cannot be seen in the Source window during the Import process. Some of us organize our photos in multiple folders with long names. We need to be able to see those names completely -- not just the beginning of each name. Making the Source window adjustable for width, or at least adding the functionality of a slider to the bottom of the Source window, would address that problem. Adobe, are you listening? Users have been asking you to fix this for years.
Known Participant
December 20, 2019
I agree that the Source window needs to be adjustable for width. My folder names are quire long, and the distinguishing parts of the titles do not show up in the Source window. That makes it really difficult to quickly find what I am looking for. I have hundreds of these folders that I have to search through.

johnrellis
Legend
July 20, 2019
"If Adobe could fix this in the library module..."

Unfortunately, they haven't fixed it in Library on Windows either:
https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/lightroom-alt-drag-on-windows-doesnt-expand-library-panels-like-opt-drag-on-mac
Bob Somrak
Legend
July 20, 2019
I think the best workaround for the narrow side panels in Import is to use an already implemented tool in import, the top dropdown.  Just click the little up-down arrow and the following will appear.  Select "other source" and your OS folder selection dialog will appear and you can widen it all you want.  This works on the destination side also.  I agree the side panel width should be adjustable but this is a good workaround.  








M4 Pro Mac Mini. 48GB
Known Participant
July 20, 2019
Geez, people have been asking for the ability to change the width of the folders panel in the import dialog for 4 years, and nothing from Adobe?  #Sad. If Adobe could fix this in the library module, it should be easy to fix in the import module, too.
Inspiring
July 24, 2018
I just posted this on another Photography forum and someone suggested I come here to post a report.  I see this issues has been around for a while now but don't see that anything has been done.

What I posted on the other forum:
When I am in the Library module, I can hover my mouse over the area between the thumbnail panel and the mouse pointer turns into the resize symbol (little bar), thus allowing me to resize the side panel. Likewise in the Develop module.
However, when I am in the import module I can’t seem to resize the side panels. When I import I now add to a collection but some of my collection names are similar except for the last few characters and I’d like to resize the side panel (File Handling, Apply During Import,etc) so as to see the full names of all the collections available.
I see a workaround has been posted, but I'd 2018-07-24ill like to see this issue addressed if at al possible.   It is July 24th 2018 and I'm using the latest Lightroom Classic CC at this time (7.2).   Hoping someone from LR staff can chime in with whether this is something possible?
johnrellis
Legend
May 10, 2016
An easier workaround for a subfolder that's getting pushed too far to the right: Right-click the subfolder's parent folder and select Dock Folder.  That will compact the nested folder display quite a bit, and allow a lot more nesting:

johnrellis
Legend
May 10, 2016
"This is comes from the programmer's having written their own browser for the import dialog."

I don't think that's the cause, since the left-hand column of Library, containing the Folders panel, is arbitrarily expandable.

But I agree that the Import left column should be expandable.