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Exit
1

Where is the Close function in Lightroom and how do I add more photos to an existing catalog?

Contributor ,
Aug 14, 2019 Aug 14, 2019

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Where is the Close function in the File menu for Lightroom?

Here is a screen shot of the File menu in Lightroom Classic. There is no Close function.

Now, here is the File menu in Photoshop. It has a Close function in the menu.

Where is the Close function in Lightroom?

Also, how do I add more photos to a Lightroom catalog that is open? I added more photos to the folder where a set of photos is stored and where I had imported these photos to Lightroom and saved them as a catalog. I now want these new photos to show up in the catalog that is open in Lightroom.

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correct answers 1 Correct answer

Community Expert , Aug 14, 2019 Aug 14, 2019

https://forums.adobe.com/people/John+Johnson+10  wrote

I browsed to the folder that I wanted to add photos to the open catalog, and all the photos in the open catalog at the bottom horizontal photo bar disappeared. Only the new photos from the folder where I wanted to import photos from were visible. No photos from the open catalog.

You did not lose any photos. What you see is normal.

Please look closely at the left side of the screen that you showed, under Catalog. Notice that the highlighted coll

...

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LEGEND ,
Aug 14, 2019 Aug 14, 2019

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Lightroom has the Exit option at the bottom of the menu. To add new images to Lightroom you use the import option in the Library module. It appears that you are a new user who might benefit from watching a few tutorials. Am I correct?

To add images to the catalog that are already in a folder that Lightroom already recognizes, you can use the "synchronize folder" option in the library module.

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Contributor ,
Aug 14, 2019 Aug 14, 2019

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You were careless in reading my question. I did not say where is the Exit function. I said where is the Close function. Both programs have an Exit function. That exits the program. The Close function closes the photo file I am working on but does not exit the program. I can then open another photo file. There is no Close function in Lightroom. Exit closes the Lightroom program. I don't want to Exit. I want to close the Catalog I am working on and open another one. This is inconsistency between the two programs, Photoshop and Lightroom. Not good.

I know how to Import photos, but that closes the Catalog that is open and creates a new Catalog. I just want to add images to an existing Catalog that is open. "Synchronize Folder" is a stupid title for a function of adding images. It should say "Add Images to the Catalog that is Open".

Lastly, under Library, take a look at the menu, shown below. The Synchronize Folder function is grayed out. So, I cannot use the Synchronize Folder function.

Lightroom works well when one can figure out where the functions are, but user friendliness is lousy. Very weak programming.

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Advocate ,
Aug 14, 2019 Aug 14, 2019

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A. File/Import Photos and Video... does NOT close active catalog and does NOT create a new catalog.

B. Right-click on folder in Library, select Synchronize.

C. Only one image can be displayed in the Develop module at any time. No "Close" is needed; to display another image, select it from the film-strip, go to Grid view and select another, or use the arrow keys.

Very weak thinking.

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Contributor ,
Aug 14, 2019 Aug 14, 2019

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Again you misinterpret. I am not talking about closing an image. I am talking about closing a catalog.

I opened a catalog, shown below:

Then, I went to File, Import Photos and Video:

I browsed to the folder that I wanted to add photos to the open catalog, and all the photos in the open catalog at the bottom horizontal photo bar disappeared. Only the new photos from the folder where I wanted to import photos from were visible. No photos from the open catalog.

I selected Import and only the photos from the new folder were now visible. None of the photos from the originally open catalog were visible in the horizontal photo bar at the bottom. So, the active catalog's original array of photos were gone.

I now find that I had to re-create the original catalog because the new photos were the only ones in the original catalog. None of the original photos were there. They had been deleted when I imported photos to the original catalog. I discovered this when I exited Lightroom, rebooted it, and opened the lrcat catalog in the original directory where it had been located. None of the original photos were in that catalog now. Only the new ones.

You are correct about the very weak thinking, but wrong about who it refers to.

There needs to be a new term in the world of programs: garbageware.

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Community Expert ,
Aug 14, 2019 Aug 14, 2019

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https://forums.adobe.com/people/John+Johnson+10  wrote

I browsed to the folder that I wanted to add photos to the open catalog, and all the photos in the open catalog at the bottom horizontal photo bar disappeared. Only the new photos from the folder where I wanted to import photos from were visible. No photos from the open catalog.

You did not lose any photos. What you see is normal.

Please look closely at the left side of the screen that you showed, under Catalog. Notice that the highlighted collection is "Previous Import." Those are the photos you just imported. Now look at the same list under "All Photographs." It says you have a total of 270 photos in the catalog. If you click that, you'll see all the photos you already imported.

LightroomClassic-All-vs-Previous-Import.jpg

The only reason it looks like photos disappeared is that Lightroom is currently showing you only the photos you just imported. At any time, you can click anything on the left side — a folder, a collection, Previous Import, or All Photographs — and you will see that no photos have been lost, they are all there.

Based on what we see in your screen shots, no images are missing, there is no need to keep creating catalogs. You simply need to change which set of photos is currently being viewed. Don't panic if the film strip is empty; if the folder you selected contains no images, then the filmstrip should show no images.

Lightroom is not unusual, compared to current software. Many newer programs work this way now, where they use a database where you can manage many photos or files at once. It sounds like you are used to older programs like Photoshop and Word, where you open and close individual documents. You don't have to do that in Lightroom; all photos are always available for you to work on. That's the advantage. As you gain experience, you'll learn how you can take advantage of this to process many photos, in bulk, much faster than a program like Photoshop where you have to open photos one at a time.

Keep an open mind and stick with it, and you'll get there. You called it "garbageware," but remember that this software is a favorite of many working professionals.

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Advocate ,
Aug 14, 2019 Aug 14, 2019

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Only the new photos from the folder where I wanted to import photos from were visible. No photos from the open catalog.

I selected Import and only the photos from the new folder were now visible.

You get what you ask for.

Very weak eyesight?

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Community Beginner ,
Aug 15, 2019 Aug 15, 2019

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You sound very entitled. How about (1) explaining yourself properly the first time, (2) respecting people who take the time and make the effort to help you?

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LEGEND ,
Aug 15, 2019 Aug 15, 2019

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When new images are imported to Lightroom, Lightroom displays only those imported images. However, if you go to the library module you will see in the left hand panel that you can display all of the previously imported folders, and you can choose any of those folders. All of those images are still being referenced in the catalog. The last images imported are referenced at the top of the list under "Previous Import". Lightroom isolates your import and allows you to focus on just those images, but everything that you have imported previously is still in the catalog and completely and perfectly accessible. You just need to learn how to use the catalog because that is the only file Lightroom opens.

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LEGEND ,
Aug 14, 2019 Aug 14, 2019

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In Lightroom there is no need for a close function because the images are never "open". The only file Lightroom opens is the catalog. The catalog references where the images are located on the hard drive on your computer, and keeps a record of what you have done to those images. You have the capability to freely move from one image to another, but you cannot close the work on any image because that isn't how Lightroom functions. I apologize for my misinterpretation of what you were looking for.

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LEGEND ,
Aug 14, 2019 Aug 14, 2019

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Although multiple catalogs are not recommended, if you want to close one catalog and open another, you would use the menu command

File->Open Catalog

which actually does close one catalog before opening another.

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Community Expert ,
Aug 14, 2019 Aug 14, 2019

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https://forums.adobe.com/people/John+Johnson+10  wrote

I know how to Import photos, but that closes the Catalog that is open and creates a new Catalog. I just want to add images to an existing Catalog that is open.

Importing does not close the catalog and create a new one. It adds the images to the current catalog. My catalog contains close to 200,000 images. I can assure you that I did not import all of them at the same time!

The reason why you think that is (probably) because Lightroom can switch to the ‘Current Import’ collection when you start importing new images. That means you only see those freshly imported images, but the ones you imported earlier are still there. Just select ‘All Photographs’ at the top of the left panel to see all photographs in the catalog. By the way: after the import has finished, the name ‘Current Import’ changes to ‘Previous Import’.

https://forums.adobe.com/people/John+Johnson+10  wrote

"Synchronize Folder" is a stupid title for a function of adding images. It should say "Add Images to the Catalog that is Open".

Lastly, under Library, take a look at the menu, shown below. The Synchronize Folder function is grayed out. So, I cannot use the Synchronize Folder function.

“Synchronize Folder” is not the standard way of adding images to the current catalog. So no, the name you suggest would be far worse than the current name. ”Synchronize Folder” is a special function that compares the selected folder with what Lightroom knows about that folder. If you manually added images to that folder then Lightroom does indeed suggest that it can import these, if you removed images from the folder then Lightroom will suggest that it removes these images from the catalog. That means this does what the name suggests: synchronize the folder with the catalog info about that folder.

The reason why that menu is dimmed in your screenshot is most likely because you did not select a folder. Instead you have a collection selected, such as the ‘Previous Import’ collection I mentioned earlier. In that case Lightroom cannot synchronize a folder because it does not know which folder you want to synchronize.

-- Johan W. Elzenga

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Community Expert ,
Aug 14, 2019 Aug 14, 2019

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By the way: the reason why Lightroom does not have a ‘Close’ menu is simple. Lightroom cannot run without a catalog. Photoshop can run without having any open image, so for Photoshop the ’Close’ menu and the ‘Exit’ menu are two different things. But because Lightroom cannot run without a catalog, in Lightroom they would be the same thing. Closing the catalog means exiting Lightroom.

-- Johan W. Elzenga

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