Lightroom: Sorting Photos Your Own Way

Sorting photos your own way in Lightroom is called “User Sort”. You do it by dragging and dropping the photos from the Grid into the film strip. Then you can have your gallery with the photos in the “right order”, or for printing of the photos in the “right order” or, for…

A lot of people can’t make it work. The problem is that sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t work. Why? Because Lightroom has rules for the User Sort:

1. You must be in the Grid view.
2. You must be in a folder without any sub-folder. If the photos are in a folder with a sub-folder, then copy the photos to the Quick Collection. Then do your drag and drop there. If you want to keep the order, create a collection with a name like “sorted…”
3. If you are using collections, you cannot be in a Collection Set. If the photos are in a Collection Set, then copy the photos to the Quick Collection. If you want to keep the order, create a collection with a name like “sorted…”
4. You cannot be in a Smart Collection. If the photos are in a Smart Collection, then copy the photos to the Quick Collection. If you want to keep the order, create a collection with a name like “sorted…”
5. You cannot be in the Previous Import. If the photos are in the Previous Import, then copy the photos to the Quick Collection or go to the photos in the original folder. If you want to keep the order, create a collection with a name like “sorted…”

Do you see the pattern?