Skip to main content
F
Fitzgabbro
Participant
July 22, 2018
Question

Filtering by hierarchical keywords

  • July 22, 2018
  • 4 replies
  • 1045 views

I have been using hierarchical keywords in Lightroom, and I now want to filter my photos using the upper level of the hierarchy. For example, I have the following tags:

rocks

     sedimentary

          sandstone

          etc...

     igneous

          ...

     metamorphic

          ...

This works great for adding keywords, as I can simply type in "sandstone" and "sedimentary" and "rocks" automatically get added. However, when it comes to searching my photos, I'm stuck. I want to view all my photos of rocks, but filtering by the keyword "rocks" turns up no photos (perhaps because the other keywords only get properly added on export). Is there an easy way to select all photos with any keywords within a particular hierarchy?

This topic has been closed for replies.

4 replies

F
FitzgabbroAuthor
Participant
August 6, 2018

Sorry for not replying earlier, I was expecting to get an email if anyone replied but that didn't happen.

I found out what was causing the problem. In the library filter box (above the grid), I had the keywords view set to flat. There is a tiny button at the top right of the keywords column that lets you change this. Changing it to hierarchical fixed this, so that filtering by a parent included all the child keywords. 

Ian Lyons
Community Expert
Ian LyonsCommunity Expert
Community Expert
July 22, 2018

Have you tried changing the filter to 'Show all keywords inside matches'?

JohanElzenga
Community Expert
JohanElzengaCommunity Expert
Community Expert
July 22, 2018

AFAIK, that only affects filtering in the keyword list, not filtering images by keywords.

-- Johan W. Elzenga
stewartr43936066
stewartr43936066
Participating Frequently
July 22, 2018

Is it possible that you have the 'Export Containing Keywords' box unchecked on your 'lower' keywords (eg sandstone and sedimentary)? I have a very similar process to yours but it only works if this box is checked.

stewartr43936066
stewartr43936066
Participating Frequently
July 22, 2018

Sorry, ignore that, I mis-spoke. I just went back and did a check and in my scenario, where I have

Cars

     AC

          AC Cobra

it behave exactly as expected. Click on AC Cobra gives me all the cobras, AC gives all AC models and Cars gives everything. How exactly are you filtering? By selection in the RH pane or with a smartAlbum?

JohanElzenga
Community Expert
JohanElzengaCommunity Expert
Community Expert
July 22, 2018

Filtering on 'Rocks' should work fine. That's the whole idea about hierarchical keywords. If you only entered 'sandstone' as keyword, then Lightroom should know this is a photo of a rock because of the hierarchy. Can you show a screenshot that shows the active filter and the keywords list?

-- Johan W. Elzenga
Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices