Today’s Question: In response to your answer about color labels not matching between Bridge and Lightroom Classic, I have exactly that situation. How do I update the white color labels for images I updated in Bridge so the labels appear correctly in Lightroom Classic?
Tim’s Quick Answer: You can update color labels when you have a mismatch by filtering based on a mismatched definition, then assigning the intended color label based on the Lightroom Classic definitions.
More Detail: In my Ask Tim Grey eNewsletter from December 19th, I explained how different applications (such as Bridge versus Lightroom Classic, even though they’re both from Adobe) employ different definitions for color labels. This can result in a mismatch, where for example a color label assigned in Adobe Bridge will appear white in Lightroom Classic. That white color label represents a mismatch in color label definitions.
For example, if you assigned a red color label in Bridge, that would result in a white label in Lightroom Classic, because the two applications use different definitions for the color labels. To correct this issue, you can filter the images that have a mismatched color label, and then assign a new color label based on the original intent.
A red color label assigned in Bridge will have a value of “Select” for the Label field in metadata. To address this in Lightroom Classic, browse the folder or collection containing the images you want to update, which could mean selecting the “All Photographs” collection in the Catalog section of the left panel if you want to update all photos.
Next, go to the Library Filter bar above the grid view in the Library module and set one of the columns on the Metadata tab to Label. From the list within the Label column select the name for the color label you want to correct, such as “Select” for red color labels assigned in Bridge. Then select all images by choosing Edit > Select All from the menu, and assign the updated color label, such as by pressing the number “6” on the keyboard to assign a red color label in this example.
Once you’ve updated the color label assignment based on the definitions in Lightroom Classic, the white label will update to the appropriate color. You can repeat this process for all original label assignments that are currently resulting in a white color label display.
