Lightroom Classic CC: Efficiently rating and marking images

Welcome to this comprehensive tutorial on rating and labeling images in Lightroom Classic CC. In this guide, you will learn how to efficiently rate and select your images to optimize the editing and management of your image library. By correctly rating and labeling, you can not only save time but also significantly improve the quality of your selection. Let's dive right in!

Key Takeaways

• The best results for rating can be achieved in the Library module of Lightroom.
• Keyboard shortcuts are much more efficient than clicking with the mouse.
• Colors and stars are useful tools for classifying images.
• The labeling functions (P for positive selection, X for rejection, U for removing the label) help you quickly sort your images.

Step-by-Step Guide

Getting Started in the Library Module

To rate and label images, you must first ensure that you are working in the Library module of Lightroom. This module is crucial for image management, as rating functions are not available or only partially available in other modules. Make sure you are in the right module - we don't want to take any detours when it comes to quickly rating our images.

Setting Ratings with Stars

In the Library module, you will find a row of icons at the bottom. Here, you can easily make the desired ratings. When you want to rate an image, it is much easier to do so via keyboard shortcuts. Instead of clicking with the mouse, you can press keys 1 to 5 to assign the number of stars. To remove all stars, press the 0 key. This allows you to quickly and efficiently rate your images.

Using Color Labels

The keyboard shortcuts 6, 7, 8, and 9 are also reserved for assigning color labels to your images. With these keys, you can set color labels such as red, yellow, blue, and green. Each color can only be used once per image. If you want to change the color, simply press the corresponding key again to remove the previous color. This is a very useful function for categorizing images based on different criteria.

Making Image Selections

Instead of using stars to rate the quality of an image, a simple yes or no selection is more effective. You can press the P key to select an image or X to reject it. This method helps you refine your image selection without getting lost in complex ratings. Additionally, you can quickly remove all rejected images, saving you time.

Navigating Through Images

It is important that you can efficiently review your images. You must not forget the various ways to browse image previews - whether by clicking on the preview or pressing the arrow keys. This way, you can navigate through the entire collection and quickly rate your images.

Selecting Multiple Images Simultaneously

If you want to select multiple images at once, you can hold down the Shift key to select a range, or the Control key (or Command on Mac) to select specific images. This is particularly useful when you want to mark many images at once without having to click on each image individually.

Using Filter Functions

After rating and labeling your images, you can use the filter function to display only the images relevant to you. Click on the "Attribute" button and filter by the labeled images so that you can work specifically without being distracted by other images.

Delete Rejected Images

The ability to delete all rejected images is particularly valuable because it allows you to clean up your library. Move the rejected images after selection with X, and they are ready for deletion. You have the choice of whether you actually want to remove them from the hard drive or just remove them from the Lightroom catalog. This gives you the flexibility to keep the images on your computer in case you need them later.

Conclusion and Summary

In this Lightroom Classic CC tutorial, we have thoroughly examined the system of ratings and markings. You should now be able to efficiently rate and select your images, and utilize the color labeling and filtering functions optimally.

Properly rating and marking images in Lightroom is crucial for effective image management. You have learned how to best utilize these functions in the Library module to save time and stay organized.