Custom Sort Order in Lightroom Classic and Cloud-based Lightroom
Questions about custom sort orders in collections, folders, and albums seem to be a theme this week on the KelbyOne Help Desk, so I thought I’d tackle it in a blog post to send to people in the future.
Creating a Custom Sort Order in Lightroom Classic
This one has been around for a long while, so I figure it is a good place to start. The first thing to know about creating a custom sort order in Lightroom Classic is that you need to be in either a folder or a regular collection. You cannot create a custom sort order if you are viewing an entire collection set, a parent folder that is also displaying the contents of its subfolders, or smart collections.
While it is possible to drag and drop photos into a custom order using the Filmstrip I find it much simpler to do while viewing photos in Grid view of the Library module, so press G to jump to Grid. From there, simply click and drag a photo into the desired position in the sort, and release when you see the target space highlight (as shown below).
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Creating a Custom Sort Order in the cloud-based Lightroom on mobile
Using Lightroom on a mobile device it is possible to view the custom sort order created in Lightroom Classic in a synced album (collection), or you can create a new custom sort order. Here’s how to create a custom sort order:
- Tap the three-dot icon in the upper-right corner and choose Sort by to open the Sort By panel.
- In the Sort By panel, tap Edit next to Custom (just tap Custom to see the pre-existing custom sort order).
- Long-press the photo you want to move into a new position, and then drag and drop it when you see the blue highlight at the target destination.
- Tap Done when finished to accept your changes.
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It is a little finicky, but you can single-tap multiple photos to select them, then long-press one of them to drag the selected photos to a new location.
Creating a Custom Sort Order in the cloud-based Lightroom on Mac/Win
You can’t (yet).
I know, it is surprising, but hopefully this will be added soon. Until then, you can sort on mobile and choose to view the custom sort on Mac/Win. Additionally, you can jump over to lightroom.adobe.com (log in with your Adobe ID) and create a custom sort order there that will also sync with the other cloud apps. Here’s how:
- Select the album you want to sort to view its contents.
- Tap the Display icon (looks like an artist’s palette) at the bottom of the window.
- Check the box on the photo thumbnail you want to move to select it.
- Drag and drop it in the desired location when you see the blue highlight appear.
- Tap either of the photo grid icons (next to the Display icon) to return to the thumbnail grid.
- Refresh your browser to see the new sort order (make sure Custom is selected for sort order via the control to the right of the Display icon).
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Hopefully custom sort order functionality will be added to Lightroom on Mac/Win soon. Feel free to add your voice to the feature request.