P: Custom Order lost with slight accidental movement of thumbnail in filmstrip

[Nick_13]

When sort order is set to date order, it then changes to custom order each and every time an image is edited in Photoshop

[alexpardi]

The sort order is "Custom Order".

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

No, this is the same old problem that we have been experiencing for years and years now.  Sort order is lost many times a day when working in LR, whether working just in LR or working back and forth in LR.  The only answer I can see is for Adobe to put a lock on the sort order.  (as they have not been able to find any other solution to this time excessive issue)

[alexpardi]

Well, it's different in that it only happens when the order is set to Custom: if I use File Name or Capture Time, the order is preserved.

[Bob Somrak]

Starting with Custom order an Edit In Photoshop will return the photo next to the original, not at the end.  This is with "Stack with Original" OFF.  Lr9.3 and macOS 10.15.6

[alexpardi]

That's exactly the problem: I have "Stack with original" ON, the PSD file is correctly stacked with the original file, but both files are moved to the end of the strip.

[Bob Somrak]

Not here.  If I have Stack with Original ON the PSD file and Original are still in the correct custom sort order.  

[johnrellis]

Alessandro,

How many photos are in the folder? Have you done many rearrangements of the custom order of the photos in the folder (such as dozens of insertions, moves, and edits in the custom order)?

[alexpardi]

Currently 373 photos (about half of which are PSDs).  And no, as soon as I switch from File Name order to Custom order the problems begin. But the number of photos may be relevant, as I just tried with a much smaller folder (12 images) and the order was maintained...

[johnrellis]

Had you ever reordered the photos in that folder any time before?

[alexpardi]

Yes. Though I just moved a few photos around in the small folder, and the problem didn't rise, so I tend to think that the number of elements is key.

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Do you use a mouse or Wacom (or similar) ?

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

My problem is date order is not maintained - converting to custom at any opportunity 

[johnrellis]

Alessandro, I suspect you may be tripping over another bug, where LR stops maintaining custom order in a folder or collection after a large number of moves and inserts:
https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/lightroom-major-bug-with-custom-sort-order

The bug isn't triggered by the number of photos in the folder or collection but rather by the number of moves and inserts to the custom order.

Here's a quick way to test:

1. Make a backup of your catalog.

2. In LR's Folders panel, select the problem folder and make sure Sort is set to Custom Order.

3. Select all the photos in that folder. 

4. Right-click the parent folder and do Create Folder Inside..., checking Include Selected Photos and naming the new folder "test". This will move all the photos from the problem folder into "test", preserving the existing custom order.

5. Delete the problem folder and rename "test" to have its name.

Does the problem still occur in the new version of the folder?

[johnrellis]

I updated step 4.

[alexpardi]

Well, yes, the problem still occurs, although the new stack raw+psd wasn't moved exactly at the end of the set, but 30 from last, before other stacks - although not all stacks were at the end of the filmstrip... There's definitely something strange going on.

PS - I'll be away in the next days, so I apologize in advance in case I won't be able to catch up with further replies

[johnrellis]

I just tested that workaround, and it no longer works in 9.3 for fixing corrupted custom order in folders, just in collections. The only way I've found to remove the corruption is by these steps for completely resetting the custom order:

1. Select the problem folder.

2. Set Sort to Capture Time.

3. Deselect all the photos, and then drag the first photo after the second one. 

This loses your previous custom order, but any further changes will be preserved (until the next time you encounter the bug).

I recommend you add a description of your issue to that other bug report:
https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/lightroom-major-bug-with-custom-sort-order?to...

Be sure to click Me Too and Follow in the upper-right corner.

[cb4-uk]

When I go into an external editor, and then come back into Lightroom Classic, it has changed the order of the filmstrip from whatever I previously had to "Custom Order"! I most definitely did not give it permission to do this, and it is intensely irritating if you are working through a series of images in a folder sequentially, and editing quite a few; I have to keep changing back to the original order typically Filename)

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Annoying, yes! The same happens when you view as Descending or Ascending Order, (which I always do) because the file you just created has the newest date, so it goes at the end (either top or bottom, depending). What I do is stack it with the original, then it goes back where it belongs (but you may have to change Sort Order from "Custom" back to Descending).

[cb4-uk]

I have File Name Order selected 98% of the time, and as the name of the new file created by the external editor is identical apart from a suffix, this should NOT change the order - the new file should simply appear alongside its progenitor. But no - LR changes the strip view to Custom Order - every single time! - and both the original and the new file appear together at the end of the strip. There is no reason for it to change to Custom Order.

[johnrellis]

Why conversations get merged:

https://feedback.photoshop.com/conversations/lightroom-classic/lightroom-auto-import-to-folders-orga... 

[Rick Spaulding -]

Updates to the Adobe Photography Products were released yesterday and include a fix for this issue. Please install the December update, restart your system and verify you are no longer experiencing the issue. Thank you for your assistance in reporting, providing additional information and, most of all, for your patience.