Today’s Question: How do you add a JPEG image you created with Export to a Collection in Lightroom Classic?
Tim’s Quick Answer: There isn’t an option to add an exported copy of a photo to a collection as part of the export process, so you would need to add the image to the collection after the export.
More Detail: Today’s question is a follow-up to the Ask Tim Grey eNewsletter of January 6th, where I explained how you can add the exported copy of a photo back to the Lightroom Classic catalog as part of the export process.
With the “Add to This Catalog” checkbox turned on in the Export dialog, the derivative image you’re creating as part of that export will be added back to the Lightroom Classic catalog. This can be a convenient option if you want to manage a derivative copy together with the source image with the catalog.
When exporting photos from Lightroom Classic, even though there is an option to add the exported copy to the catalog there isn’t an option to add the image to a collection. You’ll therefore need to add the image to a collection after the export is completed.
Fortunately, there’s an easy way to identify the images that had just been added to the catalog based on an export. In this situation an “Added by Previous Export” collection will be created (or updated) in the Catalog section of the left panel in the Library module. You can navigate to this collection to find the photo(s) that you just exported, and then add them to a collection.
