Lightroom Keywords Explained

Lightroom keywords are an important tool for organizing and finding your photos. They can be used to describe the contents of a photo, or to add keywords that describe the photo’s subject matter.

Keywords are a way of categorizing your photos, and they can be very helpful when you’re trying to find a specific photo later on. For example, if you have a bunch of photos from your last vacation, you could keyword them all with the location, so you can easily find them later. Or, if you have a lot of portraits, you could keyword them by the subject’s name.

Lightroom comes with a bunch of default keywords, but you can also create your own. Here’s how to add keywords to photos in Lightroom, and how to use them effectively.

How to Add Keywords in Lightroom

There are two ways to add keywords in Lightroom: in the Library module and in the Develop module. In the Library module, you can add keywords to multiple photos at once. In the Develop module, you can only add keywords to one photo at a time.

To add keywords in the Library module:

1. Select the photos you want to keyword.

2. Click the “Keywording” box in the right panel.

3. Type your keyword into the “Keyword Tags” field. You can separating multiple keywords with commas.

Alternatively, click the “+” button next to “Keyword Tags” and select an existing keyword from the list.

4. Press Enter (PC) or Return (Mac) when you’re done adding keywords. The keywords will be applied to all of the selected photos.

To add keywords in the Develop module:
1. Select the photo you want to keyword from your filmstrip or grid view. 2. Click on the “Info” tab in the right panel (it might be hidden behind the “Histogram” tab). 3 .Type your keyword into the “Keywords” field at the bottom of the panel . You can separating multiple keywords with commas . If you want to apply an existing keyword , click on it in the list above the “ Keywords ” field .

4 . Press Enter (PC) or Return (Mac) when you’re done adding keywords . The keyword will be applied to just the selected photo .

Adding hierarchical keywords is easy , too . Just type your main keyword , followed by a colon , then your sub – keyword ( for example , “ Vacation : Hawaii ”). When you start typing a hierarchical keyword , Lightroom will automatically suggest any sub – keywords that already exist .

To create a new hierarchical keyword , select it from the list above the “ Keywords ” field , then click on the “ + ” button next to it . This will create a new top – level keyword that includes all of your selected photos as well as any future photos that have that same top – level keyword applied .

You can also edit an existing hierarchical relationship by selecting two different levels of a hierarchy and clicking on either the “ > “or” < "button between them . This will move all of the photos with that second - level keyword up or down one level in their hierarchy . How to Use Keywords Effectively Now that you know how easy it is add keywords , let 's talk about how best use them ! There are two main ways : Smart Collections and Searching . We 'll start with Smart Collections since they 're so incredibly handy ! Smart Collections A Smart Collection is like a regular collection but with one key difference : it automatically updates based on criteria that you specify ! So if later on down line decide want organize all sunset photos from trip Europe into smart collection simply set rule telling Lightroom look through entire catalog pictures taken between certain dates have geotagged location say Spain then boom ! All those sunset shots Europe now magically appear inside smart collection without having do anything further ! All new sunset shots added European catalog going forward also get added as well provided still meet search criteria specified earlier which brings us back around idea using targeted keywording connecting content together cohesively way makes finding what need quick breeze regardless how many hundreds thousands even millions photographs might have over time speaking which ... Searching One great thing about digital age we live is ability instantly search through enormous amount content thanks things like Google other search engines now same thing goes lightroom its own search feature nicknamed "Loupe View" allows filter images based various criteria including people places things even camera settings used capture each shot pretty much anything else imaginable might desire fact main way used locate specific photograph after initially import them into programhu