Design Center Tutorial
Apply metadata, keywords, and presets as you import photos
Applying metadata, keywords, and presets
The Information to Apply section (Figure 1) in the Import Photos dialog box allows you to apply adjustments or metadata to all images as they are imported. The Develop Settings drop-down contains the develop presets found on the Presets list in the Develop module (Figure 2). The presets included with Lightroom, as well as any new ones you create, are available from this list. This allows you to apply adjustments to the images as you import them. For example, if you want to convert all of the images to a grayscale version as they’re being imported, you could select the Grayscale Conversion preset included with Lightroom from the list. I generally prefer not to apply develop settings during import, but there are situations when you want to do exactly that, so this is a nice feature to have available.
Figure 1: The Information to Apply section allows you to apply metadata or image processing to your images as they are imported.
Figure 2: The Develop Settings drop-down allows you to apply adjustments to images as they are imported.
The Metadata drop-down list allows you to apply a metadata template to the current import (Figure 3). This is helpful for applying values within metadata that you want to affect all images you are importing. A good example of this is copyright information. It is a good idea to add copyright details for all images you import. Those details aren't specific to a particular photo shoot, but rather to all images you capture.
Figure 3: The Metadata drop-down allows you to apply a metadata template to the images being imported.
To apply metadata to images during import, you must first define a template. If you haven’t already done so, add a new template by selecting New from the drop-down.
This will bring up the New Metadata Preset dialog box (Figure 4). Start by entering a meaningful name for the preset in the Preset Name field. This may be as simple as entering your name, but it should be something that will make it clear what sort of information you are applying to the images.
Figure 4: The New Metadata Preset dialog box allows you to define preset metadata that can be applied to images during import.
Next, enter values for the desired fields. As you do so, the check box to the right of the fields that you have added text to will automatically be selected. If you want to remove a particular value, you can simply clear the check box. You can also toggle complete sections of fields by selecting or clearing the check box for the section name above each section.
As you’re entering values, be sure the information you’re adding will be applicable to all images you import. For example, I would never add a value for Rating here because I wouldn't want to apply the same rating to all images being imported.
After you've entered all the information you want to be added to the metadata for all imported images, click the Create button. The preset you created will then be selected on the drop-down in the Import Photos dialog box, and available on the dropdown for all future imports.
Note: The metadata presets you create in the Import Photos dialog box can also be used to apply metadata to images later in the Library module.
The Keywords textbox allows you to assign keywords to all of the images in the shoot. Although you may need to apply individual keywords to the images within the shoot after the import, this option is an efficient way to apply the keywords that are common to all images being imported. To apply keywords, simply enter them in the Keywords text box, separated by commas.
Finally, the Render Standard-Sized Previews check box allows you to have Lightroom create previews for your photos as they are imported. Otherwise only thumbnails and previews included with the original images (if at all) are utilized, box so previews will be available more quickly as you work with your images in Lightroom, even though this causes the import operation to take a little longer. The Show Preview check box at the bottom of the Import Photos dialog box will open a new section of the dialog box, providing a preview of the images you are currently importing (figure 5). You can select individual images to import by selecting the check box in the top-left corner for each image. Buttons are also provided at the bottom-left of this new section to Check All or Uncheck All images. Only checked images will be imported. The slider at the bottom-right allows you to adjust the size of the preview images in this section of the dialog box.
Figure 5: When you select the Show Preview check box at the bottom of the Import Photos dialog box (left), a Preview area will be added to the dialog box (top of next page), allowing you to view images and specify which should be imported.
Where to go from here
For more information about Photoshop Lightroom, see the following:
- Photoshop Lightroom Design Center
- Photoshop Lightroom Getting Started Guide (PDF, 6.8M)
- Import your photos into Lightroom, by Matt Kloskowski
