Today’s Question: I use Lightroom 6.0 and when import images from my Canon 7D Mark II there is no order to the images being imported. Are there any settings in Lightroom that will bring order to this problem?
Tim’s Quick Answer: The key here is to make sure you are sorting photos by the “Capture Time” option. When you have imported new photos into Lightroom the sort order will often change to the “Added Order” option. Simply changing the sort order to “Capture Time” will provide a solution.
More Detail: You can adjust the sort order for your photos in Lightroom both in the Import dialog and also in the Grid view once you have imported photos. Obviously within the Import dialog the sort order is not quite as critical, but it can still be helpful to view images in the order they were captured regardless of whether you are viewing the images before or after importing them.
In both cases the option to sort is found below the thumbnail display for the photos. In the Import dialog that simply involves choosing the “Capture Time” option from the sort order popup below the thumbnail display of the photos.
In the Library module after importing photos, the “Sort Order” option is found on the toolbar below the Grid view display. So, if you aren’t already in the Grid view display, press the “G” key on the keyboard to switch to this view option. You can then click the “Sort” popup on the toolbar below the Grid view to choose the “Capture Time” sort option. Note that if the toolbar isn’t displayed you can press “T” on the keyboard to enable it. And if the Sort popup isn’t displayed on the toolbar you can click the popup at the far right of the toolbar and choose the Sorting option to enable the Sort popup.
The bottom line is that you want the images sorted by Capture Time in this case to make it easier to review the photos. This is the sort option I recommend for most photographers with typical workflows.