Tjohn Loc: Inverness, FL formerly Arivaca, AZ

I tried a trial version of Lightroom and when I dowloaded it, it went active and sought out all the images on my hard drive and rolled them up in one big file.

Is there a way to direct the program to files I select and ignore other image files? I don't need Aunt Maud with her foot on a running board, her favorite Thompson in hand and smoking a seegar mixed in with the bugs, bunnies, sailboats and Arizona sunsets.

wisner Loc: The planet Twylo

Yes, when the import window pops up, at the lower left you will see a button for 'uncheck all' . When you select this, all the images will be greyed out. Then, simply check the ones you wish to import.
If you have images in your catalog you no longer want, highlight them and hit the delete key. The dialogue box will ask if you want t delete from disk ( erase them permanently) or remove from catalogue (they will remai on your hard drive but will not be visible in the Lightroom catalog).
Good luck!

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

By file, I assume you mean folders. Each image is a file and multiple images, or files, can be stored in a folder. I don't understand the part about when you installed it it went "active" and rolled all the images on your hard drive into one file (I'll assume folder). Lightroom does not work that way, and certainly would not have imported anything unless you gave it the go ahead. While compared to Photoshop, Lightroom is functionally much easier to learn but it still requires a good understanding of the processes snd how to use them. It is not intuitive enough that one can use it effectively without getting at least some type of training first. You should go online and seek out the many dozens of fine training videos available for free. Start by learning what the import function does and how to actually use it. It will save you an immense amount of frustration.

brow3904 Loc: Upstate South Carolina

Same thing happened to me when I loaded it onto my laptop And I've had LR 5 for about a year on my desktop so it does happen.

Tjohn Loc: Inverness, FL formerly Arivaca, AZ

File not folder. I have them scattered all over the folders for anything from legal documentation, genealogy photos, snapshots, images sent to me and old scanned images for other purposes (all legal and appropriate :-)) :) .

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

It sounds to me that you had selected the root of the file structure and had the check box for include sub directories checked. Uncheck the box and it will only import the directory selected - not the upstream or any downstream directories.

Also, you have to ask LR to import files. If the program started loading all your images by itself, the behavior is more like Photos on the Mac.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

The best thing to do it create a new catalog and only import the images from folders that you choose to import into your catalog. After that, you can delete the catalog that was created when you first installed LR. This is a mistake that almost everyone makes. LR will search your computer and put every file that has some kind of image extension and include it in your catalog. I prefer to have it only catalog those that are in my "Pictures" folder.

Capture48 Loc: Arizona

Lets be clear here with terminology.
1. LR did not go active and decide to import it to import all photos, I think you mean you told it to import all your photos, but now you changed your mind. You have to tell LR to do a import, and it then imports what you say to import and nothing else. If you select the root folder and check the subfolders, it will do what you asked it to.

2. LR did not roll up all your images into one big file. It might have added them to one big folder, but only if you told it to. On the import dialog you have the option to leave them in place and have LR add to catalog, or you can move them to a location on your drive if you tell LR to. But once again you have to tell it to do that in the import dialog.

If you do not understand these options, or the concept of databases then you need to take a beginning course on LR. These options and others are pretty simple on the import dialog, but you have to look for them and not just hit Next OK, Go etc. Adobe has a view vides on their website that are great beginnings.

romanticf16 Loc: Commerce Twp, MI

Lightroom created a Catalogue,so it knows where your images are stored. It did not move any images from where you had them. If you do not want some in the LR Catialogue, you can uncheck the box and they will be removed from it.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Take a deep breath and get some reading material - at least the Adobe online manual which isn't at all bad. But there are several books on LR out there, and new ones coming out now for V6. Rest assured, LR does not make any decisions on its own, you have somehow agreed to this unwanted behavior whether you realize it or not.

LR may make some suggestions. If you don't understand exactly what it is suggesting and you click OK as if you agree with it, it will go right ahead and do whatever you agreed to. It does not care or know whether you understood what you were agreeing to or not. So getting an understanding of exactly what you're agreeing to before you click OK and knowing what you want instead is key to getting along with LR.

A folder structure divided into whatever way makes most sense to you will be just fine with LR. When I first started with LR I had several years' of photos stowed in folders by year/month/date, and I imported them into LR without moving them from their original home at all. LR just acknowledged where they were and it showed in its folder structure as well, but the files remained where they were. LR just showed me its nice view of them so I could edit them.

It takes some getting used to but it is a good database/raw development/basic editing program. I like to print from it too.

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

Correction please. LR can move or copy the original files to any directory accessible on the network. Or is can just add the files to the catalog without moving them.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

I think he may have been responding to the suggestion by the OP that Lightroom moved all his files automatically without any user input, which it does not do.

Tjohn Loc: Inverness, FL formerly Arivaca, AZ

Thank you all, I will be digesting these many suggestions.

texaseve Loc: TX, NC and NH

Jeep Daddy and the others are correct Tjohn.

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

Agreed!