Today’s Question: In situations where I organize my photos into folders based on subject matter (such as street photography near my home, which I do frequently), I want to import photos into an existing folder using Lightroom. Is there an easy way to set the current folder I’m working with as the destination for importing, so I don’t have to type the folder name precisely in the “Into Subfolder” box when importing?
Tim’s Quick Answer: The simple solution here is to right-click on the folder you want to use as the destination for the images you’re going to import, and then choose “Import to this Folder” from the popup menu that appears. This will bring up the Import dialog, with the selected folder automatically set as the destination location for copying the photos you are importing.
More Detail: You can also specify a particular folder location as the destination for photos being imported, using the control at the top-right of the Import dialog. At the far top-right corner of the Import dialog you will find a summary of the current destination to which photos will be copied. That area is actually a popup, and you can click on that popup and then choose “Other Destination” from the popup menu to bring up a dialog that allows you to choose a specific destination folder. But in my mind it is much simpler to right-click on the desired target folder in the Folders list on the left panel in the Library module, and choose the “Import to this Folder” option from the popup menu.
Note that you can still create a sub-folder within the target folder by turning on the “Into Subfolder” checkbox toward the bottom-right of the Import dialog and entering a folder name there.