Operation Manual

157
Last updated 11/30/2015
Chapter 8: Managing catalogs and folders
Lightroom catalog FAQ
What is a catalog?
A catalog is a database that tracks the location of your photos and information about them. When you edit photos, rate
them, add keywords to them, or do other things to photos in Lightroom, all those changes are stored in the catalog. The
photo files themselves are not touched.
Note: C
atalogs are different from collections. Collections are an organizational tool within a catalog. See Photo
collections .
When you start Lightroom the first time, it automatically creates an empty catalog file (Lightroom 5 Catalog.lrcat) for
y
ou. To start working with this default, empty catalog, click the Import button.
For more information on catalogs, including a video tutorial, see How Lightroom catalogs work .
How do I create or open a different catalog?
• To cre ate a catalo g: Start Lightroom and choose File > New Catalog. Specify where you want to store the catalog,
enter a name, and click Create.
• To open a different catalog: Choose File > Open Catalog, navigate to the location of the catalog you want to open,
and click Open.
• If you have multiple catalogs, tell Lightroom which one to open when you start the program: Choose Edit >
P
references (Windows) or Lightroom > Preferences (Mac OS) and then specify an option in the General panel. For
more information on the choices, see Change the default catalog .
Unless you're working with millions of photos and performance is a concern, using multiple catalogs is not
recommended. Watch Julieanne Kost's Single or multiple catalogs? video tutorial on Adobe TV for the pros and cons of
using one versus multiple catalogs in any version of Lightroom.