This website or its third-party tools use cookies which are necessary to its functioning and required to improve your experience. By clicking the consent button, you agree to allow the site to use, collect and/or store cookies.
This site requires cookies to work. Please click the consent button to view this website.
I accept
Deny cookies Go Back

Focus Photo School

  • Lightroom Tutorials
  • Photoshop Tutorials
  • Snapseed Tutorials
  • Login
  • BUY

Lightroom Classic File And Folder Names Best Practices

    Divider LineI wish that Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic included a “best practices guidebook” for new customers. Unfortunately, Adobe leaves it up to each new user to do their own research and to find their own path. The problem is that not every image storage system works well with this software. There are indeed file / folder / and image storage hard drive set-ups that ultimately end up becoming failures. Let’s look at an example below.

A cautionary tale

In this lesson’s video tutorial, I preach my gospel of file and folder naming simplicity. Now not everyone is going to like this message, but let me explain where I am coming from. I have been teaching Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic since the very first day that this program appeared. I have helped hundreds of photographers master Lightroom Classic, and I’ve had the chance to see what works and what doesn’t work for an incredibly large and diverse audience. What I have seen again and again is that bad folder / file names create enormous headaches as the years roll by.

Most people start their digital photography library with the assumption that descriptive words in their folder / filenames will help them keep things organized. I too was guilty of this when I first switched over to digital fifteen years ago. At first I created a folder for pictures of people which I called PORTRAITS and one for pictures of animals which I called WILDLIFE. This seemed like a great idea at the time but soon the cracks in this system began to appear.

At first everything seemed ok. Images of friends and family were all sent to the PORTRAITS folder. Images of bears, bison, and eagles all went to the WILDLIFE folder. But then it all fell apart when I got a photograph of a lion chasing a person. Was this a portrait of a person in terrible danger? Or was this a picture of wildlife being wild?

Ok, I made up that last part to prove a point. Any folder structure that relies on categorization–FAMILY, FRIENDS, PORTRAITS, WILDLIFE, ARIZONA–is ultimately doomed when you shoot images that straddle the lines. Which brings me to my first “best practices” rule.

Rule #1

Your image storage folder names are not the right place for descriptive information. Trying to add this information into your folder names when working with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic only adds complexity and reduces your efficiency. Lightroom Classic has an array of tools designed to keep track of descriptive information such as who is in a photo or where it was taken. Tools such as Keywords, Star and Colored Labels, and Lightroom’s Map Module are a much better way to keep track of these things. Each of these tools will be covered in later lessons.

I strongly suggest building your folder structure around the date that each image was captured instead of around descriptive information. Following this advice will make your digital photography storage life much simpler in the long run.

Rule #2

Use Lightroom to create your folder and file names based on dates. As is explained in the video tutorial above, Lightroom Classic can create file and folder names for you based on the day that your images were captured. (Make sure to check in your camera’s menu that the accurate date and time is set.) Lightroom can do all of the sorting and renaming for you upon Import so that all of today’s photos automatically land in today’s dated folder; all of yesterday’s photos land in yesterday’s folder, etc. This will keep everything neat and tidy, bringing me to my third “best practices” rule.

Rule #3

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Folders Panel Create a master ‘Photos Go Here’ folder to contain all of your photography. I urge you to create a single, well-named image storage folder for yourself before you start importing images into Lightroom Classic. Before proceeding, please take a moment to create a master folder where Lightroom can put all of your dated image storage folders once you begin importing. You’ll see in the video tutorial that I call this my PHOTOS GO HERE folder.

This is a crucial set-up step because we know that the day will eventually come when your current hard drive is no longer big enough for your image storage needs. We know that the computer that you are using right now is probably not the computer that you will be using five or ten years into the future.

When the day inevitably comes to upgrade your computer or your external hard drive, it will be easy to move one top-level folder– the PHOTOS GO HERE folder– from one drive to another. Moving this folder will automatically move the hundreds or thousands of subfolders that contain all of your photography. This will be much easier than moving dozens of loose image storage folders that are scattered all over your computer.

Important advice

Now if you have previously been using Lightroom Classic and you have already created a mess of separate folders for each topic or theme then my advice is let it be. Focus instead on creating an organized system moving forward. Please do not go back and undo your current system. Renaming your old files or reorganizing your old folder structure would be counter-productive and potential dangerous. Don’t do it! I recommend to simply follow my folder and file naming advice from this point forward.

Unlock Focusphotoschool Course Banner


Divider Line
View Previous View Next

Your Are Logged In!

Your Member Profile & Billing Info
  • ADOBE PHOTOSHOP LIGHTROOM CLASSIC TUTORIALS
    • Module 1:LIGHTROOM CLASSIC SETUP
      • Lesson 1:What Is Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic?
      • Lesson 2:Is Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Right For You?
      • Lesson 3:The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic Catalog Concept
      • Lesson 4:One Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic Catalog Is All You Need
      • Lesson 5:Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic Image & Catalog Storage Options
      • Lesson 6:How To Open The Right Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic Catalog Every Time
      • Lesson 7:Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic Preferences Menu Advice
      • Lesson 8:How To Save Your Work In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Lesson 9:Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic Presets Storage Options
      • Lesson 10:Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic User Interface Secrets
      • Lesson 11:Backing Up Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic & Your Photography
    • Module 2:IMPORTING
      • Lesson 1:What Does Import Mean In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic?
      • Lesson 2:Lightroom Classic File And Folder Names Best Practices
      • Lesson 3:How To Import New Photos Into Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic Using An Import Preset
      • Lesson 4:Four Ways To Get Images From Apple Photos Into Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Lesson 5:The Most Powerful Way To Migrate From Apple Photos To Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Lesson 6:How To Convert To Dng In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Lesson 7:How To Delete Or Move Photos In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Using Smart Previews For Better Performance
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Faster Culling With Embedded Previews In Adobe Lightroom Classic
    • Module 3:ORGANIZING
      • Lesson 1:How To Find Missing Tools In Adobe Lightroom Classic’s Library Module
      • Lesson 2:Organizing Your Images With Metadata In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Lesson 3:How To Select Multiple Photos At Once In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Lesson 4:Keyword Basics In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Lesson 5:How To Use The Enhanced Zoom Tool In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Lesson 6:How To Use The View Modes In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Initial Sorting with the Pick and Reject Flags In Adobe Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        The Map Module In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        How To Use A GPS Tracklog In Adobe Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Metadata Presets In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        How To Speed Things Up With Custom Keyword Sets In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Facial Recognition In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Collections And Smart Collections In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        How To Use Colored Labels In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        The Better Quick Collection Trick In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Advanced Smart Collections In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
    • Module 4:DEVELOPING BASICS
      • Lesson 1:Editing Without Fear In Adobe Lightroom
      • Lesson 2:How To Find Missing Tools In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic’s Develop Module
      • Lesson 3:How To Use Camera Profiles In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Lesson 4:How To Set The Exposure In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic (Basic)
      • Lesson 5:How To Set The Exposure In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic (Advanced)
      • Unlock This Lesson
        How To Use Auto Exposure In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        White Balance Correction In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
      • Unlock This Lesson
        How To Make Black & White Photos Using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        How To Use Saturation In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        How To Use The Tone Curve In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        How To Use The Target Adjustment Tool In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Adding A Vignette In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        How To Use Lens Correction In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        How To Use The Guided Upright Tool in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Noise Reduction With Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        How To Sharpen In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Lesson 6:How To Use Color Grading In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Synchronizing Develop Settings In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Red Eye Removal In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Spot Removal Basics In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Advanced Spot Removal In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
    • Module 5:DEVELOPING ADVANCED
      • Lesson 1:5 Useful Develop Module Keyboard Shortcuts In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Lesson 2:How To Set New Raw Develop Defaults In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Lesson 3:How To Use The Graduated Filter In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Lesson 4:Changing Colors With The Graduated Filter In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Lesson 5:How To Use The Radial Filter In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        How To Use Range Masks In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        How To Use The Adjustment Brush In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        How To Use The Amount Slider To Improve Your Adjustment Brush Work In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Lesson 6:How To Use The Adjustment Brush Flow And Density Controls In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        How To Use The Filter Brush For Mask Refinement In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        How To Use Dehaze In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        How To Use Texture In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        How To Use The Local Hue Tool In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Auto Correction Develop Presets In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        How To Use Merge To Panorama In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        How To Use Fill Edges In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        The Merge To HDR Command Inside of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        How To Use Merge To HDR Panorama In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Creating Two Versions Of The Same Photo In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Enhanced Details In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Video Editing In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
    • Module 6:EXPORTING
      • Lesson 1:The Export Dialog In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Lesson 2:Preparing Photos For Email With Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Lesson 3:The Crop Overlay Tool In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Lesson 4:How To Add A Watermark In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        How To Crop Multiple Photos To Same Aspect Ratio In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        How To Use Multi-Batch Exports In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        The Slideshow Module In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Posting Images To Flickr From Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Customize Your Screensaver Using Lightroom
      • Unlock This Lesson
        From Adobe Lightroom To Instagram
      • Unlock This Lesson
        The Dropbox Publish Service Plugin
      • Unlock This Lesson
        The Adobe Stock Publish Service
      • Unlock This Lesson
        How To Make A Folded Greeting Card In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Print Module Template Tricks In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
    • Module 7:THE ADOBE LIGHTROOM FOR MOBILE APP
      • Lesson 1:What Is The Adobe Lightroom For Mobile App?
      • Lesson 2:The Adobe Lightroom For Mobile In-App Camera Basics
      • Lesson 3:The Professional And HDR Camera Modes In The Adobe Lightroom For Mobile App
      • Lesson 4:How To Import Images From Your Camera Roll Into The Adobe Lightroom For Mobile App
      • Unlock This Lesson
        How To Use Direct Import In Adobe Lightroom Mobile For iOS
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Speed Up Importing In Adobe Lightroom Mobile For iOS With Shortcuts
      • Unlock This Lesson
        The Smart Collection Sync Plugin For Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        How To Sync Collections With The Adobe Lightroom For Mobile App
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Adobe Lightroom For Mobile Image Organizing Tips & Tricks
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Basic Photo Editing With The Adobe Lightroom For Mobile App
      • Unlock This Lesson
        How To Use The Crop Tool In The Adobe Lightroom For Mobile App
      • Unlock This Lesson
        The Linear & Radial Gradient Tools In Adobe Lightroom For Mobile
      • Unlock This Lesson
        The Selective Editing Brush In Adobe Lightroom For Mobile
      • Unlock This Lesson
        How To Use The Healing Brush In The Adobe Lightroom For Mobile App
      • Unlock This Lesson
        How To Create Presets In The Adobe Lightroom For Mobile App
      • Unlock This Lesson
        How To Share Your Images Using The Adobe Lightroom For Mobile App
      • Unlock This Lesson
        How To Edit Adobe Lightroom For Mobile Photos With Other Apps (iOS)
      • Lesson 5:From The Adobe Lightroom For Mobile App To Adobe Photoshop For iPad Pro
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Adobe Lightroom On The Web
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Deleting Synchronized Photos From The Adobe Lightroom For Mobile App
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Adobe Spark Post
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Adobe Spark Page
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Building A Website With Adobe Portfolio
    • Unlock This Lesson
      BONUS TUTORIALS
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic Workflow Smart Collections
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Creating Star Trails With StarStaX
      • Unlock This Lesson
        FotoMagico Slideshows
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Multimedia Slideshows With FotoMagico
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Noise Reduction With Lightroom & DxO OpticsPro
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Custom Raw Profiles In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Custom Camera Default Settings In Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Using A Second Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Catalog While Traveling
    • Module 8:TIME-LAPSE PHOTOGRAPHY
      • Lesson 1:How To Make A Time-Lapse Movie Using Adobe Photoshop
      • Unlock This Lesson
        LRTimelapse Pro Lesson I
      • Unlock This Lesson
        Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic + LRTimelapse Pro + Adobe Photoshop
      • Unlock This Lesson
        The Holy Grail Of Time-Lapse

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER

OUR SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent Blog Posts

  • Choosing The Right Photo Storage Program – 2021 Edition
  • How To Add A Graphic Watermark In Adobe Lightroom (Cloud-Based)
  • How To Shoot Stunning Sunrises & Sunsets Live Presentation
  • How To Upgrade Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic Version 10 (October 2020 Edition)
  • How To Create Presets In Adobe Lightroom (Cloud-Based)
  • How To Export Photos In Adobe Lightroom (Cloud-Based)

FOCUS PHOTO SCHOOL

What will you focus on? Whether you want to be a photographer or just love taking pictures, learn what you need with our courses in photography from Lightroom to Mobile Photography. Learn More
Contact Us
Privacy Policy
Refund Policy
Terms of Service

All Rights Reserved
Copyright 2016 - 2019 Focus Photo School

© 2021 Focus Photo School · Rainmaker Platform