Today’s Question: When I import from a card, in the upper left corner of Lightroom Classic screen I often see a message “performing two operations”. Why is that happening?
Tim’s Quick Answer: This is simply a reflection of the two key tasks being performed upon import. The first task is adding the images to the catalog, and the second is the building of previews for the images, with both tasks being performed concurrently.
More Detail: When certain tasks are being performed in Lightroom Classic, a progress bar will appear on the identity plate at the far left of the top panel. In the case of performing an import, this will generally involve two tasks being performed, and therefore two progress bars. That is based on adding the photos to the catalog, and building previews (such as Standard previews) for the images.
While the two tasks of importing and building previews are part of the overall import feature, they are divided into two separate tasks. With Standard or 1:1 previews it will generally take considerably longer to build the previews than it will to add the photos to the catalog. With individual progress bars for each, you’ll know when the import portion is complete.
One reason it is helpful to know when the import is finished before the previews have been built is that you can’t initiate another import until the previous import is complete. With the tasks being divided across two progress bars, you’ll have a clearer indication that the previous import is finished so you’re able to initiate another import.
