With the Catalog Panel expanded we can select the All Photographs collection, which puts every photo (and video) we’ve ever imported at our fingertips. Press G for Grid view if not there already.

Above the thumbnails in Grid view is the Library Filter bar. If you don’t see it, make sure you are in Grid view, and if you still don’t see it press the \ key which shows and hides the Library Filter bar. Next, click the drop-down menu on the far-right of the Filter bar (it may say Filters Off) and choose Default Columns.

This opens the Metadata section of the Filter bar and displays columns for Date, Camera, Lens, and Label (color labels). If you have photos in your catalog from other years, as I do, scroll down on the Date column until you can see 2022 and click on that. Now my All Photographs view has been filtered down to just the photos I captured in 2022, and I can already see a few things, such as that I took 8,744 photos and videos, I used 20 different cameras, and 42 different lenses. Looking over each month of the year I see that June was my most photographically active and that April was my least active. I shot the most with the R5, followed closely by the R3, and then the R7. My iPhone was way down the list, which surprised me considering it is always with me. My most used lens was the RF 100-500. Now, all of that won’t be meaningful to you, but hopefully as you look at your own work, you’ll find your own interesting patterns and statistics.

I do not spend a lot of time with color labels these days, so that last column is not that interesting to me. However, it is super easy to change the data type displayed in any column. Just move your cursor over a column’s header and you’ll see it is a drop-down menu you can use to select from a wide range of other data points.

Maybe it would be interesting to see what your most used aperture or focal length was as it could help you factor in a future lens purchase, or you started being less afraid of high ISO and you’re curious how high you went? To see the photos represented by any of those groupings just click on one of the labels. So, to see what images I shot at 102,400 ISO I clicked on that label to filter them into view.

If you want to really geek out about Library Filters, check out this other tutorial I wrote on how to save custom Library Filter templates. I hope you have a wonderful 2023 and reach all your photographic goals!

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Library Filter Bar

The Library Filter is only visible when you’re in Grid view (G) of the Library module. If you’re in Grid view, and you still don’t see it, tap the Backward Slash (\) key to show it (this key also hides it too).

The Library Filter bar gives us a gazillion (approximate) ways to filter the current view of photos, whether that’s a folder or a collection, or the entire catalog. I often use it to filter the entire catalog to find photos that meet certain criteria to use in different projects. There are eight filter presets that come pre-installed, and these are useful starting points. Click the (tiny) presets drop-down menu (probably says Filters Off) to access these presets. If you need to, there’s an option in that menu to Restore Default Presets that will bring back the ones shown here.

Customization is Key

To customize a default preset, choose the one you want to customize to see what it contains. In my example, I chose Camera Info.

Camera Info is a metadata preset that contains columns for Camera, Lens, Focal Length, and Flash State. I’ve had use for this filter, but I didn’t really need the Flash State column, so by putting my cursor over that column’s header, an additional drop-down menu appears on the right side. Clicking that gives me the options to add a new column or remove the existing one. I chose remove.

With that column gone, I clicked the preset drop-down menu to access the option to Save Current Settings as New Preset, where I can give my new preset a name and save it for later use.

With my new custom preset, I no longer need the old Camera Info preset, so I can delete that by selecting it again from the preset drop-down menu, then clicking that menu a second time to access the Delete Preset option to remove it.

There are many variables to explore when creating your own filter presets, but one I use the most is a simple date-based metadata filter that has only a single column.

Let me close with some bonus tips: You can hover your cursor over the bottom edge of the Library Filter, then click-and-drag to expand (or reduce) the size of the filter. Remember, the \ key will show/hide the filter while keeping the filter active, which is great for getting it out of the way to give more room to your photos. Clicking the lock icon at the far right of the Filter Bar keeps that filter turned on as you change sources (moving between folders and collections). Turn off the filter by pressing Command-L (PC: Ctrl-L), or choosing the Filters Off preset from the drop-down menu.

The post Create Custom Library Filter Presets appeared first on Lightroom Killer Tips.