Today’s Question: Can you explain how to go about customizing the metadata fields shown in the Metadata section of the right panel in Lightroom Classic? You referred to this in a previous answer and I’d appreciate the details on how to go about making this change. Thanks!
Tim’s Quick Answer: You can customize which fields are displayed and in what order using the Customize option when you have selected the Default metadata field set for the Metadata section of the right panel in the Library module.
More Detail: The metadata fields can only be customized for the Default configuration option for the Metadata section. So, the first step is to select “Default” from the popup found to the left of the Metadata heading on the right panel in the Library module within Lightroom Classic.
After selecting “Default” from the popup you will find the Customize button at the bottom of the Metadata section. Click that button to bring up the “Customize Metadata Default Panel” dialog.
Within the dialog you’ll see a long list of metadata fields divided into sections. Turn on the checkbox for the metadata fields you want to include in your custom configuration and turn off the checkbox for any fields you want to exclude.
After updating the checkbox status for the metadata fields based on your preference, you can also customize the order in which the fields will appear in the Metadata section. To do so, click the “Arrange” button at the bottom of the “Customize Metadata Default Panel” dialog. This will bring up the “Arrange Metadata Default Panel” dialog.
Within this dialog you can click on the button showing three lines to the left of any metadata field you’d like to move within the list. Then drag on that button to reposition the field to the desired position in the order. When you’re finished adjusting the order of the metadata fields, click the Save button.
Note, by the way, that if you ever want to restore the Default configuration to its default arrangement, you can click the “Restore” button within the “Customize Metadata Default Panel” dialog.
