Today’s Question: When I import photos to Lightroom Classic I would like to add a Shoot Name, but that option is grayed out. I have my import parameters set up with a custom naming profile. Is this the reason the Shoot Name field is unavailable?
Tim’s Quick Answer: The Shoot Name field in the File Renaming section of the right panel in the Import dialog in Lightroom Classic relates to the filename structure. In order to be able to enter a value for Shoot Name, you must have the Shoot Name field included in the template you’re using for renaming your photos.
More Detail: Lightroom Classic provides a template-driven approach to renaming a group of photos, including the option to rename photos as they are imported into your catalog. In the File Renaming section of the right panel you’ll see that there are fields for Custom Text, Shoot Name, and Start Number. However, these options are only enabled if you have the applicable option included in the currently selected file renaming template.
You can either select an existing template that includes the field you want to use (such as Shoot Name in this case) or create your own custom template for renaming photos. To edit an existing template or create your own you can choose “Edit” from the Template popup in the File Renaming section.
In the Filename Template Editor dialog, you build a renaming template using tokens and text. For example, you could click the Insert button to the right of the Shoot Name option in the Custom section of the dialog in order to add a token for Shoot Name to the current filename structure. You can also click into the field that includes the file renaming tokens and type your own text. For example, you might use something like “Shoot Name – Sequence # (4)” to have a Shoot Name that you can specify, a dash, and then a four-digit sequence number that you can specify the starting value for.
Once you’ve defined the template structure, click the Preset popup at the top of the Filename Template Editor dialog and choose “Save Current Settings as New Preset” from the popup. In the dialog that appears type a meaningful name for your template and click the Create button. Then click the Done button to close the Filename Template Editor dialog.
At that point, with the new template selected in the Import dialog, you could enter values for the Shoot Name and Start Number, and the files you’re importing will be renamed accordingly.