File Name Order

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Mike Myers

Mike Myers

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For the longest time, I've been meaning to post a question about importing photos from a memory card. It used to always have a long list, with the default setting being something useless to me, so I'd always have to change it to "File Name".

When I started to enter this thread, I only saw choices for
  • Capture Time
  • Checked State
  • File Name (apparently set to the default)
  • Media Type
  • Off

So, first question, did Lightroom just fix this issue?

Next question, if I somehow fixed it not knowing what I did, how did I "did" it? :)

A third question is What does Checked State mean?
 
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I have no idea what 'issue' should have been fixed, but I've never seen a long list. This is the sort order of the thumbnails, so what else do you remember seeing as an option?

'Checked State' is whether you checked an image for import, or unchecked it so it won't be imported.
 
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The option that used to pre-selected, on MacBook Pro running Sierra, was 'added order' which seemed useless. Lots of people talking about this on internet, but no suggestions. Today, first time ever, it came up as the list I posted above, with 'file name' pre-selected. As far as I know, I haven't changed anything.

If it changes back to the way it has looked for a year, I'll do a screen capture.
 
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I think you are confusing two views. 'Added order' is not a sort option in the import dialog (and AFAIK it never was, because that would be the same as Capture Time). It's a sort option in the 'Current Import' collection that is displayed when you've started the import. Older versions of Lightroom always switched to this collection as soon as the import had started, in Lightroom 6 you can decide (in the preferences) whether you want that to happen or not. The Current Import collection still defaults to Added Order.
 
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Aha! Yes, that is what I was trying to explain, but I worded it incorrectly. After importing the images has finished, the sort order has been "Added Order". So, every time, I need to select "File Name" so the photos are arranged in what seems to me to be a logical order, so the order is how the images were taken (mostly, file name).
 
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Mike Myers said:
Aha! Yes, that is what I was trying to explain, but I worded it incorrectly. After importing the images has finished, the sort order has been "Added Order". So, every time, I need to select "File Name" so the photos are arranged in what seems to me to be a logical order, so the order is how the images were taken (mostly, file name).
Click to expand...

If you are in the 'Current Import' collection (that changes to 'Previous Import' at the moment your import has finished), you'll find that 'Added Order' is the default. I don't think that has changed. During import, it makes sense that this is the default. Images are imported in a random order, so when you use any other sort order, you'll see that newly imported images are added all over the place. Only 'Added Order' will neatly add the last imported image(s) at the end of the grid. As soon as your import is finished, 'Added Order' no longer makes sense. 'Capture Time' or 'File Name' makes much more sense now, but the sort order of this collection does not suddenly change all by itself.
 
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Aha. I've learned a lot from this discussion.

Your last sentence says it all. When everything is done, the newly imported images are scattered around in random order, and every time I need to then change the sort to "file name". Why could that not be the final sort when Lightroom shows me the newly imported photos?

It's not a major problem. It just takes seconds. Still, it's an annoyance. Unless there is a valid reason to avoid doing this automatically, why can't the program do it for us? As a user, it makes no difference to me as to which images got imported from my memory card into Lightroom first, or last. If I took several bracketed shots of the same thing, I would certainly rather see them as a group.

Again, no biggie. Just (for me) a minor annoyance.
 
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Mike Myers said:
Aha. I've learned a lot from this discussion.

Your last sentence says it all. When everything is done, the newly imported images are scattered around in random order, and every time I need to then change the sort to "file name". Why could that not be the final sort when Lightroom shows me the newly imported photos?
Click to expand...

Because Lightroom does not change the sort order all by itself. Imagine that it did. You are working on a couple of images and all of a sudden they disappear from sight, because the import has finished and so Lightroom changed the sort order. I don't think you would be happy with that either...
 
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When I viewed the images I just imported, I don't see any other images, just the ones that had just finished importing. That's the only change I'm asking for. Any other images are not visible in that window, at least on my computer.

In practical terms, I often look over the images I just imported (maybe the last day's shooting from my camera), and I organize them, then delete any that were mistakes, that I took again. I rarely delete in the camera. If I just imported 80 images, maybe 20% get deleted right at the start.

I don't want to change anything else - only do automatically what I have to do manually almost every single time I import from a memory card.

It's not a big deal, and I'm not going to lose any sleep over it, but it's an annoyance - and in the past, I thought images were missing, until I realized that they just weren't in the right order.
 
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It all depends on how many images you imported. If you import 100 images, you may already be selecting and culling before the import has finished. If suddenly one of the last images in the grid jumps all the way to the front or vice versa (because Lightroom spontaneously changes the sort order when the import is finished), Adobe would probably get a lot more complaints than they get now.

Anyway, it is as it is. Learn to live with it, or file a feature request in the appropriate place.
 
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I never delete images until the import is completed, regardless of whether it is a dozen, or hundreds.

Anyway, best way to avoid complaints from anyone, add the choice to "preferences", so everyone gets what they want.

If you search on the internet, you'll find a lot of people saying the same thing.

I'll search out the "appropriate place".

Thanks!!
 
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Mike Myers said:
When I viewed the images I just imported, I don't see any other images, just the ones that had just finished importing. That's the only change I'm asking for. Any other images are not visible in that window, at least on my computer.

In practical terms, I often look over the images I just imported (maybe the last day's shooting from my camera), and I organize them, then delete any that were mistakes, that I took again. I rarely delete in the camera. If I just imported 80 images, maybe 20% get deleted right at the start.

I don't want to change anything else - only do automatically what I have to do manually almost every single time I import from a memory card.

It's not a big deal, and I'm not going to lose any sleep over it, but it's an annoyance - and in the past, I thought images were missing, until I realized that they just weren't in the right order.
Click to expand...

I'm using LR5. I find when I import images, the screen I end up with when all the images have imported is in some order, mostly to do with the directories I have selected, but it is a bit variable within that. However, all I do is select the images' top level folder in the left panel and as instantly as matters to me, all images jump into my preference, which is time taken order. Using file name would not work for me as I run 'off the end' ie 9999 comes before 0001. Clicking (selecting) the top folder in the Library's left panel seems pretty easy to me. I'll be importing 100s or 1,000s at a time.
 
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I just took five photos while sitting at my desk, and using LR6, imported them into an existing folder on my computer, which already had several photos in it.

The import process finished, and all I see is those five new photos I just imported - I don't see the previous photos, which is good, as I'm only concerned right now with the five photos I just imported. My goal is to weed out the bad ones and delete them.

The photos are usually displayed in random order that probably makes sense to Lightroom, but they are rarely in the order in which I took the photos. At the bottom of the screen, it says SORT: Added Order.

To get these new photos arranged in the order in which I took them, I always need to change the "Sort Criteria" to "File Name". Most of the time, if I kept trying to photograph something until it looked the way I wanted, my last photo is the one I'm likely to want to keep.



Every time I add new photos, I need to change this. It's not a big deal, and it's not really an issue, but I don't understand why anyone would care about the order in which Adobe Lightroom imported the images from my SD card to my computer? As long as they all got there, what possible difference could that make?

(There are a lot of other things being discussed up above - I'm only trying to make this one small change, while looking at the photos I just imported onto my computer, so I can work ONLY on them. At this point, I don't need to see any other photos in that folder - should I wish to do so, I would click on the folder itself, but that's not what this discussion is about.)
 
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This is because you are looking at the 'Current Import' collection (that changes to 'Previous Import' when the import is done). When Lightroom imports images, they are imported in a random order, probably determined by how they were written to the card (file are written in segments all over the place, not as one nice chunk in the order you took them). Lightroom therefor uses 'Add Order' as default, because otherwise the images would be added all over the place and it would be difficult to work with them while the import of the remaining images is still taking place. In all other collections and folders you can set the sort order and it will stick, but not in this collection.
 
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Er, what you described, is my problem, not the reason: "images would be added all over the place and it would be difficult to work with them while the import of the remaining images is still taking place." They are added all over the place, and I never work with them until I put them in order.

I don't work with anything while the import is still taking place, and since the images are splattered all over in random order, even if I was looking for something, there's no idea of when that image might show up. Yep, as you noted, the order in which the images are imported might likely be based on how they were written to the memory card, but that doesn't mean Lightroom has to use that non-order. Maybe it will save a tenth of a second on importing time, but I'll spend more than that placing them into the proper order, which I *always* do after an import, just so I can see for myself that everything is there. I never work on anything until they are put in order.


I suppose "added order" might be useful for other purposes, like maybe when viewing images that came from different cameras over a long period of time, but it's silly to use it when importing images from a single SD memory card. Why not give the user the ability to select the order he or she prefers? Then everyone would be happy.
 
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Mike Myers said:
Why not give the user the ability to select the order he or she prefers? Then everyone would be happy.
Click to expand...

This has been requested over and over and over.... but to-date this has been ignored by Adobe.

Also.... if we analyse this and other forums you will find that this causes confusion and support issues repeatedly. I am in favour of having an option to select your preferred sort sequence for the import process.
 
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I'm not talking about the view after the import has finished, I'm talking about the view during the import process. If images are added to a view that is sorted by 'Added Order', the new images will appear neatly at the end of the grid. If the view is sorted any other way, they will appear all over the place. That is why the default sort order of this collection is 'Added Order'. You may not like it, but that is the explanation.

If you don't like it, choose another collection, choose the destination folder, or change the sort order.
 
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Gnits said:
I am in favour of having an option to select your preferred sort sequence for the import process.
Click to expand...

A lot of us are, and Adobe have been made aware of that in no uncertain terms. But until Adobe change things, you (Mike) either have to accept the situation or find another way round it. Personally, all my imports are automatically added into a static workflow collection, which is what I work from. That collection is set to "Capture Time", and doesn't change. You can even change the default import behaviour so that LR doesn't automatically switch to the "Current/previous import" collection, instead it leaves you in the source that you were using when you started the import.
 
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Gnits said:
It is good to understand the rationale for this. Thanks.

I always then revert to a view which is sorted by capture time.
Click to expand...

I think most people would do that. Like Jim, I always add the images to a static collection (sorted by filename), and work in that collection.
 
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I completely agree with you - if they were sorted by "Capture Time" I would end up seeing the images in the same order as I now do with "File Name", and it would be even more logical - as long as remember to change the date format when I make trips!! :)
 
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