Specify initial previews when importing

As photos are imported, Lightroom can immediately display a photo’s embedded preview, or display higher-quality previews as the program renders them. Embedded previews are created on-the-fly by cameras and are not color managed, so embedded previews don’t match how Lightroom interprets the camera raw files. Previews rendered by Lightroom take longer to generate but are color managed.

 In the Import Photos dialog box, do one of the following:
  • To immediately display images using the smallest previews embedded in the photos, choose Initial Previews > Minimal. Lightroom renders standard-size previews when needed.

  • To display the largest possible preview available from the camera, choose Initial Previews > Embedded & Sidecar. This option may take longer than a Minimal preview but is still faster than rendering a standard-size preview.

  • To display previews as Lightroom renders them, choose Initial Previews > Standard. Standard-size previews use the ProPhoto RGB color space and are what you to see in the Fit zoom level of the Loupe view. Specify the Standard preview size in the Catalog Settings dialog box. See Set preview cache.

  • To display previews that are a 100% view of actual pixels, as in the Develop module, choose Initial Previews > 1:1.