Importing to Collection but Defaults to All Photos

[exhaustino]

Why when I import photos to a collection does Lightroom Classic default to "All Photos" instead of the collection I just created? Are there any settigns to change this?

[Sean McCormack]

 Normally Import does one of two things, jump to the Previous/Current Import collection in Catalog, or stay at your current location. This is set in Preferences 

If you mean that you've created a new collection with selected images, then Lightroom will go to. If you're dragging to a collection, Lightroom should stay at the current location in the Catalog. 

[richardplondon]

Yes there is an option within the Destination panel of import, to ALSO add all these photos (it is all or nothing) to a new Collection, or a pre-existing one. LrC does not switch to show this Collection; because it is following your preference setting as described already.

You can instead make a new Collection from Previous Import view, and check an option to add selected images then. Can be all (Ctrl+A), or not all, of your newly imported photos so that's a bit more flexible. LrC does then switch over to show this brand new Collection. It amounts to roughly the same amount of work either way.

So far as dragging photos into Collections, if each time you did so LrC automatically switched to show the Collection concerned, you would then always need to switch back again before you could continue with the organising task. I am glad it just stays where it was, for this type of action.  

[dj_paige]

Every photo you import goes into "All Photographs". They can also go into a collection at the time of import. You select that option in the Import dialog box, on the right under File Handling.

[exhaustino]

Thank you for all of your responses. I realize I was a bit vague so here's some more info...

To clarify, my process is:

- drag photos from Finder to LRC

- import window opens

- create a collection to import these selected photos into via the import window

- click import

- LRC starts importing to the collection and brings me to "All Photos" instead of the collection that the photos are being imported into

- I then scroll through hundreds of collections to find the collection and edit there 

OR

- I don't realize it didn't go to the collection and edit in "All Photos" which causes issues later finding HDR and pano images

So to recap, this is an issue because sometimes I do not realize this and I end up creating HDRs and Panos that go into the "all photos" instead of the collection that they should be in. LAter when I look for them I cannot find them or I re-edit photos. It's equally my fault and equally unintuitive workflow. So I am wondering if there is a solution to change this default behavior and have the program go to the collection imported to every time.

[dj_paige]

I am wondering if there is a solution to change this default behavior and have the program go to the collection imported to every time.

Not that I know of.

There is (I think, I am at work and can't check) a way to search for collections by name, so you don't have to scroll through hundreds of collections to find the one you want. There is also a way from "All Photographs" to "jump" to the collection that a photo is in if you turn on badges. https://greylearningblog.com/meaning-of-thumbnail-badge-icons-in-lightroom-classic/

[Sean McCormack]

If you right click on an imported photo, you can select 'Go To Folder in Library'. In Grid with larger cells (Press J to cycle through cell sizes) you should see badges on the bottom right of the thumbnail. The rectangle is the collections badge. Click this to see the collections the photo is in. 

[DdeGannes]

At exhaustino,

Just a thought for your reflection, in Lightroom Classic the Collections are not Folders it's just data stored in the Catalog file, they do not contain actual image files or copies of image files. The image files are in the folders of your computer.

Image files can be placed in multiple collections.