Keywording at Light Speed – Part II

Posted by Eric Leszkowicz on Jan 13, 2009 in Blog, Keywords, Lightroom | 0 comments

Keywording is likely one of the most underutilized features in Lightroom.  Looking at Lightroom as just a RAW file processor is like looking at a computer as something that is only good for checking email.  Lightroom is so much more than a RAW processor.

Since we looked at one of my least favorite ways to keyword, let’s look at perhaps my favorite way of applying keywords.  Whether it is my favorite or not, it is definitely my most used method.

Remember, I am a senior portrait photographer.  When we do weddings, keywords are applied differently.

• Make sure that you are in the library module and in the grid view (hit the letter ‘G’ to switch to that mode.)
• Select the images you want to apply a keyword or a set of keywords.
• On the right hand side you see the list of keywords available.  Click the box to the left of the keyword that you want to apply to all the images.

Tip:  If there is a dash (-) in the box already, it means that the keyword is already applied to a few of the images.  If there is a checkmark in the box, it has been applied to the images already.

TWO WARNINGS:

1. If you use this method to apply a keyword, it applies it to every selected image.
2. If you uncheck a box, it will remove a keyword from all the images, though you can use this to your advantage as well.

When to use:  Use this keywording method when you want to apply a keyword to a group of images that are consecutive.

Examples of use:  I find this useful after a busy day of sessions where I have not had time to download each session individually.  I can select all the images from a session and apply the clients name and identifying tags (tags such as Senior09 or the school they are from).