Create catalog in Lightroom Classic CC - A comprehensive tutorial

If you want to work with Lightroom Classic CC, the first step is to create a catalog. The catalog is the heart of Lightroom, where all your photos and their edited information are stored. In this guide, you will learn how to create a new catalog in Lightroom, what to consider, and how to optimize the use of the catalog.

Key Insights

• Lightroom allows the creation of multiple catalogs to optimize performance.
• The catalog stores not only the images but also all edits and metadata.
• It is important to create regular backups of the catalog to avoid data loss.
• The preview and metadata settings should be adjusted individually to save space and improve performance.

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Creating a New Catalog

First, open Lightroom, and when you start the program for the first time, a default catalog may be created automatically. However, to create a new catalog, go to "File" and click on "New Catalog". Here, you can give it a name, for example, "Lightroom 1," similar to the course you are currently in.

Step 2: Understanding Catalog Files

When creating a catalog, Lightroom generates various files - the most important is the catalog file with the extension .lrcat. This file contains all your edits. Be careful not to delete the catalog file, as you would lose all changes, while the original images would still be present.

Step 3: Saving the Catalog

After creating the catalog, Lightroom will display the catalogs you have previously created. You can quickly switch between catalogs, which is particularly helpful when working on large projects or archiving old work.

Step 4: Customizing Catalog Settings

Now go to the catalog settings. The keyboard shortcut for this varies depending on the system: On a Mac, press Option + Command + Comma, while on Windows it's Control + Alt + Comma. In the settings, you can set the location of your catalog and the frequency of backups.

Step 5: Setting Backup Frequency

The default backup setting is once a week when exiting Lightroom. Here, you should decide what works best for you. If you have a particularly large catalog, it might be more sensible to perform backups less frequently to save space.

Step 6: Adjusting Preview Settings

It is important to adjust the size of the standard preview. The preview size affects how images are displayed and how much space they require. You can adjust the preview size based on monitor resolution. For a 1920x1080 monitor, a preview size of 1024 pixels is sufficient, whereas users of a 5K display would need a larger preview.

Step 7: Managing Metadata

Enable the option "Save changes automatically to XMP." This setting ensures that all edits are saved in a separate XMP file. This is particularly useful in case your catalog gets corrupted, as you can still access the XMP data.

Step 8: Hyperparameters for Your Setup

There are various settings you can customize according to your individual needs. Ensure that facial recognition is not enabled by default, as it can consume a lot of system resources.

Summary

In this tutorial, you have learned how to create a catalog in Lightroom Classic CC and what you should consider during the creation. A well-organized catalog can greatly facilitate your work and contribute to efficiency in image editing.