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Global Nomad
Participant
February 27, 2019
Answered

Importing Images

  • February 27, 2019
  • 2 replies
  • 508 views

I am having a very frustrating experience with the import of 7 images into a collection set in LR. If I go to the folder on the my external hard drive, I can see the 7 images. If I open Collections and try to drag these photos from my hard drive location to the collection set; Montenegro/Kotor/2018.09.11, the photos will not open into the collection set 2018.09.11. The images just bounce back to their location on the hard drive.

If I use the LR import function, the 7 images are grayed out as if to tell me they were previously imported.

How I got into this mess is that I setup all the collection sets from my travels photo shoot in the library module prior to importing them. I then went to import module and checked import into collection. Thinking that the collection sets would show up that I setup in the library module, and they were not, I went ahead and created new collection sets. Once they are imported, the 7 files were in another collection set that did not go into the correct collection sets I had previously setup in the library module. So I removed the files that were in the wrong collection set from the catalog library with the intent of importing them again, this time by dragging them from the hard drive location to the collection set in the library module. And this is were things went awry.

I've have gone back and restored the last 3 backups and that has not corrected the problem. I don't want to go back any further because of the fear of over writing files I have already edited. I know you can drag files from you hard drive location to your collection sets, but I had this older work flow working for me, and hadn't changed to just drag and drop. If I take these 7 image files to any other collection sets, the different location collection set highlights blue. Telling me that there maybe something probably wrong with the collection sets I had set up in the library module. I have deleted and recreated the collection sets but to no avail. I can't seem to understand what the problem is?

I would appreciate hearing from any one that knows what maybe going on and how to correct this issue.

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer dj_paige

    I know you can drag files from you hard drive location to your collection sets,

    No you can't. You can only drag photos into a collection (and you can't drag photos into a Smart Collection or a Collection Set), adn then only from Lightroom and not from your hard disk.

    By the way, re-importing photos never fixes anything. It only makes things worse.

    2 replies

    Rob_Cullen
    Community Expert
    Rob_CullenCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    February 28, 2019

    I believe you have a totally wrong understanding of how Collections work in Lightroom.

    Collections are NOT physical locations where you can move or import photos. 'Collections'  are not Folders.

    checked import into collection.

    You can 'add' photos to a Collection when you Import, but you import them into a FOLDER and Lightroom will also make a 'list' of the photos in a Standard Collection.

    As stated by dj_paige​  you cannot 'add' photos to a Collection SET.-not possible. Collection SETS can only contain other Collections.

    So I removed the files that were in the wrong collection set from the catalog library

    The wrong thing to do. No need whatsoever to remove photos from the Catalog! You just needed to -

    1. select ALL the files in the 'wrong' Collection

    2. Create another Collection [+] with [include selected photos]

    3. Specify a SET to place the new 'correct' Collection.

    4. Delete the 'wrong' Collection.

    https://www.lightroomqueen.com/create-collections/

    How to create photo collections in Lightroom Classic CC?

    https://improvephotography.com/45214/lightroom-folders-vs-collections-simple-explanation/

    Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.3, Photoshop 27.5, ACR 18.3, Lightroom 9.3, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.3 .
    G
    Global NomadAuthor
    Participant
    February 28, 2019

    You provided me with enough links to re-educate myself on collections, collection sets and folders. Thank you for taking the time to respond to my issue.

    dj_paige
    dj_paigeCorrect answer
    Legend
    February 28, 2019

    I know you can drag files from you hard drive location to your collection sets,

    No you can't. You can only drag photos into a collection (and you can't drag photos into a Smart Collection or a Collection Set), adn then only from Lightroom and not from your hard disk.

    By the way, re-importing photos never fixes anything. It only makes things worse.

    G
    Global NomadAuthor
    Participant
    February 28, 2019

    You're absolutely right, removing images from the catalog brings on a lot of problems and I learned my lesson from doing this.

    Thanks for taking the time responding to my issue. I’ve done a lot of reading on collections and folders. My problem is that I don’t spend enough time working with LR and when I do go back to it, I forget much of the program’s do’s and don’ts.

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