don26812 Loc: South Bay of Los Angeles, CA

Totally agree with yours.

My number one thing (which may be controversial) is to put all of your picture folders and subfolders beneath one "super" folder before importing to LR. This will make backing up your pictures easier.

Lille Loc: Upstate, NY

My all time number one "Basic" is: Laura Shoe ! Before you screw things up and need to spend hours and hours straightening things out.... Laura Shoe !

Smudgey Loc: Ohio, Calif, Now Arizona

The number one thing is, take your time, don't rush it. I have been shooting digital and using PP software for as long as it has been available, and I am still learning and you will be too, as the saying go's Haste Makes Waste.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

If I could go back to 2014 and whisper some of today's knowledge into my LR-starter ears back then, I'd say:

1. Process your RAW directly in LR rather than another tool first.

2. Don't waste money on purchasing presets, even if "cheap", they're a waste.

3. Learn to use the <ALT> key when moving the applicable sliders.

4. Develop your own presets for Import, Develop and Export to standardize your processing and to achieve a consistency of results. Although we may strive for a work of art for every image, there's no benefit to re-inventing the wheel each time with every image. Your sharpening and noise settings, particularly, can be standardized to your camera(s) at discrete ISO values. You can sort / filter your images by ISO and apply consistent values with a few clicks.

5. Use <Auto>, both for Basic Develop and White Balance and recognize LR is consistent in the way AUTO is "wrong". Recognize too the ideas Auto provides will help guide your final results in editing. By consistently wrong, take whatever change in WB and divide by 4 or 5. For example, if working with a JPEG and clicking Auto WB in LR, the result may initially take Temp to +40 and Tint to +30, I will then adjust the values to +8, +6 respectively (divided by 5). Then, adjust / refine from there. I've found Auto WB on RAW files to be more accurate and less consistently "wrong". For the Auto Tone, at least for my shooting style, no matter what other adjustments are made, I find I consistently adjust (lower) the Auto exposure change by -0.50. Your results / style may vary, but if you begin to see the pattern, you should become more consistent / efficient you performing your edits and processing.

6. When syncing Develop settings, use the check-boxes and select only the applicable settings. Two consecutive images might vary significantly on the exposure settings, As whispered in point 4, I may have already applied ISO-specific presets to each image. Therefore, I might sync only the WB or WB and Exposure settings between the two images leaving all other settings alone (unchecked).

7. Use Virtual Copies to temporarily save settings. I may have created a crop but need to clone-out something distracting exposed by the crop. I might virtual copy the cropped version and then remove the crop on the original and clone out the distraction. I then restore the crop by syncing just the crop from the VC over the orginal. I do this rather than "re inventing" the crop after the cloning exercise.

8. Use collections inside LR to organize your images and use basic folders in format YYYYMMDD-Subject to store your images. Once the images are organized into a unique folder name on disk, you really don't need to know or care where they reside on disk. In fact, adjust your Library settings and don't even display the folders. Just display the Catalog and Collections panels.

9. Google and utube are really your friends in finding 'how to' instructions / training on using LR.

10. In Develop you can display the history of edits for an image. If you want to "go back" a few steps, just click that step in the history log. You might also make a VC of the image at the history step. Or, make a VC at the current edit status and then go back to a history step for the original and move forward in a new direction. You can then compare the VC with the redone edits.

My 2014 "ear" might not have understood each of these whispers. But, my own journey from "then" to "now" would have been shortened, particularly in learning how and why LR supports efficiency and consistency in editing and managing images.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Yes! Another common mistake for beginners is that when they see the backup choices in Lightroom Classic CC they assume that the image files are being backed up. Not so. Only the catalog in use is being backed up.

Users have to know to backup their image files. My "super" folder is called "My Graphics".

Another related mistake is where you put the Lightroom Catalog backups. If they are in that "super" folder, they will get copied to your external backup disks along with the image files.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Yes! Laura Shoe is wonderful. I've had the pleasure of exchanging some posts with her on Adobe forums.

That said, there are two or three others in her class. The idea is to pay your hard earned money for a good, well organized course along the traditional lines of learning experience. It is not random. Commit to a course, put blinders on until you've finished. Then explore and extend what you learn.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Paul,

I agree with everything you so carefully wrote. But, there is always a "but"!

Most of what you wrote I would consider intermediate or even a little more. They are the kind of things that can cause a real beginner to get off track because they begin to worry about "advanced" concepts. Some of us had it easier because Lightroom was less complex when we started. Now beginners have to focus through the fog of complexity to get properly started.

Consider this question..."I just bought a new DSLR (better would be mirrorless!!) and shot my first 100 images over the weekend. I signed up for Lightroom Classic CC this morning and got it installed. I want to properly use Lightroom with the fewest steps possible to make my first print. How do I do that?"

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Bill, I'm with you and know one person's basic is another's highly advanced. Some / most beginners will likely see all 10 of these ideas as "Greek". But maybe, others will be helped with some Rosetta Stone ish translations of ideas that had been Greek to their eyes / ears in the past. Or maybe, the idea will help them at some (hopefully near) future point.

My experience in teaching software / computer-based technical topics is some will reach shore faster than others, most will reach shore in a great wave, and some will always struggle to get out of the deep water without a line tossed from shore. These ideas might be a guide for the next ideas to consider as their hair and clothes dry in the sun.

LarryFB Loc: Depends where our RV is parked

The first thing someone needs to learn about Lightroom is the Library Module. It is critical that this module is understood.

Establish a single folder for all you photos, you can have as many subfolders as you like but make sure everything is in the master folder.

I use a Mac and the system automatically creates a folder called "Pictures." I created a sub folder in Pictures called Lightroom. In side the Lightroom folder is a Folder for Backups (this is where Lightroom puts the backups of the catalogue), then also inside the Backups folder are the current lightroom catalogs, Inside the main Lightroom folder is a folder called "Lightroom Photos." this is where all my photos go when I copy them from my SD Card to my computer using Lightroom (incidently, that folder is 177.56GB)

My all means learn to use key words for your photos! The use of Key Words allows you to find a specific photo quickly.

Incidentally, I import my photos by using a date scheme Year>day. I works for me and I know it works for other people, but it may not be what you want.

Key works, since we are full time RVers, we travel a fair amount (although we are certainly slowing down). The first keyword I use is the State where the photo was taken, then the location in that state, then I will add people's names, events, specific locations, specific subject matter, and other key words as appropriate.

I think the biggest potential problem with people starting out in Lightroom is learning about the Library Module, what it can do, and how to use it effectively.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

Thank you SodaPop, that is the one thing I wish I knew 4 years ago.

hisoy

You have to get your folder organization right from the beginning. LR is first and foremost a digital asset manager and it's greatest strength is the ability to organize stored images so you can find them again. Before you do anything else, consider how to organize your picture folders. As others have mentioned, start with a master folder for all LR images. I use "My Lightroom Pictures". Then you need to decide how you want to store images in subfolders. I do mine by date, but you could do yours by event or job or whatever. When importing images, use keywords liberally to indicate what the subject of the image is.

Secondly, learn how to find images through keywords and metadata.

Many good books on LR as well as many YouTube or Adobe videos on how to accomplish these things. Just Google Lightroom videos or tutorials.

brucewells Loc: Central Kentucky

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Bruce,

I started this topic around the idea of where to start with the basic of most basic parts. I think Lightroom Classic CC often gets a bad rap for "being hard to learn", "being too complex", "having a steep learning curve", etc. UHH doesn't help. When a new to Lightroom user asks a question, he/she is bombarded with complex "this is how I do it" answers. Many of them are wrong! It is like all of us (including me) are in competition for displaying our superiority! The result is the new user can't see through all the haze.

That said, your book is a long running standby. Lightroom is so pervasive that there is room for a lot of authors to write great books.

Since your book suggests there is a lot more than the simple parts, I have a favorite for when it is time for the deep dive all the way in.

By style of learning is to see the process/"workflow" on my screen and then duplicate, again on my screen. I have a cheap dual function TV/Monitor plugged in as my training screen. The video course displays on the right and my Lightroom Classic is directly in front of me.

My favorite and initial trainer was Adobe's own Julieanne Kost. Her Lightroom 4 series on YouTube was stellar (for me). My current favorite is Matt Kloskowski. He worked with/for Kelby for a few years and then ON1. He is on his own now. Unlike others, you put all of his video tutorials on your laptop as MP4s. Once there you don't need an internet connection. Consequently it works everywhere where you have time to do a little learning.

Yes, it costs money. https://mattk.com/the-lightroom-system/

brucewells Loc: Central Kentucky

It's a great thread! When I committed to LR, and paid nearly $1,000 for a LR3/CS5 bundle from B&H, I searched for something to provide a structured learning experience. This book did the trick for me. I started at the first page (which is at a very basic level) and read through it, learning each nuance of LR as I did so. It took 3-4 weeks, as I tested each new thing I learned. Then, the book served as a great reference as I refined my abilities.

I'm a huge fan of Julienne and Matt, as well.

I'm curious if you are implying my recommendation is 'above' (more technical) than what you hoped this thread to be. If so, I apologize.

The one thing I realized early on was that I needed a workflow. Before I really got going with this book, I spent considerable time devising a workflow that took me from getting the images off the card to having a finished image. I believe this to be most critical for a new photographer.