Import photos from disk into Lightroom

When you import photos into Lightroom, you can reference the photos in their existing location, move the photos into a specific folder, or copy the photos into a specific folder.

  1. In the Library module, do any of the following:

    • Click the Import button.

    • From the main menu, choose File > Import Photos From Disk.

    • Drag a folder with photos or individual photos into the Grid view. (Skip step 2.)

  2. Navigate to and select the folder containing the photos to import, and then click Choose Selected (Windows) or Choose (Mac OS). You can also select individual photos and choose Open (Windows) or Choose (Mac OS).
  3. Select one of the following from the File Handling menu:
    Add Photos To Catalog Without Moving
    Keeps the photo files in their current location by using the current folder structure. Skip steps 4 and 5.

    Copy Photos To A New Location And Add To Catalog
    Copies the photo files to the folder you choose, including any sidecar files.

    Move Photos To A New Location And Add To Catalog
    Moves the photo files to the folder you choose, including any sidecar files. Files are removed from their current location.

    Copy Photos As Digital Negative (DNG) And Add To Catalog
    Copies proprietary camera raw files to the folder you choose and converts them to the Digital Negative (DNG) format.

  4. If you are importing photos by moving or copying them, do any of the following to specify where to import the photo files:

    • To choose a folder, click Choose, navigate to and select the folder you want in the Browse For Folder (Windows) or Choose Folder (Mac OS) dialog box, and then click OK (Windows) or Choose (Mac OS).

    • To create a folder, click Choose, navigate to the folder you want in the Browse For Folder (Windows) or Choose Folder (Mac OS) dialog box. Click Make New Folder (Windows) or New Folder (Mac OS), name the new folder, and then click OK (Windows) or Choose (Mac OS).

    • To choose a previously chosen location, click the triangle next to Choose and then choose from the pop-up menu.

  5. If you are importing photos by moving or copying them, choose one of the following from the Organize menu:
    Into One Folder
    Copies or moves the imported photos into a new folder.

    By Original Folders
    Maintains the original hierarchy for the folders that contain the imported photos.

    By Date
    Specifies a date name for the folder that contains the imported photos.

  6. Select Don’t Re-Import Suspected Duplicates to not import any photos that might be duplicates of existing photos in the library.

    If you deselect this option and accidentally import duplicate photos, no files are overwritten. Lightroom stores two copies of the same photo.

  7. (Optional) Select Backup To and then choose a destination to create backup copies of the photos while importing.

For a video about importing photos into Lightroom, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid2201_lrm.