Today’s Question: I frequently shoot photos of my grandkids’ sporting events. After I select the ones I want to share with family, I try to rearrange them in order of tasks: batting, fielding, scoring, etc. But Lightroom Classic pops up with a message saying I can’t reorder them. How can I reorder their sequence?
Tim’s Quick Answer: In order to arrange photos into a custom sort order in Lightroom Classic you need to either be browsing a single folder or a “normal” collection (rather than a smart collection).
More Detail: In Lightroom Classic it is possible to arrange photos into a custom sort order by simply dragging the thumbnails for your photos around within the grid view display. You can even then switch to a different sort order (such as capture time), and then switch back to your custom sort order using the Sort popup on the toolbar below the grid view display.
However, the custom sort order is only available if you are browsing a single folder or a normal collection. So, if you have selected more than one folder to browse, you won’t be able to drag your photos around into a custom sort order. Similarly, if you are browsing a smart collection rather than a normal collection you won’t be able to arrange into a custom sort order.
Therefore, to deal with a situation where you’re not able to arrange the photos into a custom sort order in Lightroom Classic I recommend creating a collection for the applicable photos. You can then arrange the photos within that collection in any order you’d like.