How to Create Custom Collections in Adobe Lightroom

1. Click the "+" icon on the Collections panel.
2. Select "Create Collection Set."
3. In the Create Collection Set dialog box, enter a name for your collection set.
4. Click "Create."

Your new collection set now appears in the collections area along with the default smart collections.

1. Click the "+" icon again on the Collections panel.
2. Select "Create Collection."
3. Enter a name for the collection set.
4. In the "Location" dialog box, click the box for "Include in Collection Set," and select a collection set from the drop-down menu.
5. To make a target collection, check that option in the dialog box.
6. Click "Create."

You have created a new virtual collection without images. It appears under the collection set you selected. If you selected the target collection, a "+" icon will appear by the collection's name. The next step explains how to add and delete images to an existing collection, as well as create a collection from an existing set of images.

To add images to an existing collection:

1. From the Library module, hold down the “Command” key on the Mac or “Ctrl” key on Windows to select desired images.
2. Drag and drop the selected images to the collection.
3. For a target collection, select an image then press the "B" key to add the image to that Collection.

To add images to a collection before it is created:

1. Select images first by holding down the “Command” key on the Mac or “Ctrl” key on Windows to select desired images.
2. Click on “+” icon on Collections panel.
3. If desired, select location.
4. To include selected images, select "Include Selected Photos" option in the dialog box.
5. Click “Create.”

You can add the same image in multiple collections as well as add multiple images from multiple folders into the same collection without duplicating the files on the hard drive.

To delete images from a collection:

1. Open the collection.
2. Select image(s) to delete by holding the "Command" key for Mac or "Ctrl" key for Windows.
3. Press the "Delete" key to delete images from the collection.

Deleting an image from the collections area does not delete that image from the hard drive.

1. Open a collection to sort the images.
2. Select all images with "Command" or "Ctrl" key and press the "N" key to go to survey mode to see images larger.
3. Press the "Tab" key to hide the panels.
4. To create a custom order, drag and drop the images to re-order them.
5. Return to the grid view to see they are in that order.
6. Press the "Tab" key to bring back the panels.

The images in the collection are now arranged in the order prescribed.

The first method applies the change to all copies of the image, including the master copy:

1. Click the collection badge icon on the image to see what collections the image is in.
2. Select the image.
3. Make the desired change(s).

For example, to convert the image to black and white, press the "V" key. This changes the image to black and white in this collection as well as the original file and all other copies of the image in other collections.

For the second method, create a virtual copy of the image to make the change in only that copy. A virtual copy allows you to have two thumbnails in Lightroom with different processes applied to them. Any changes applied to the copy will not impact the master file or any other copy of the image in a different collection. To change only one copy:

1. Select an image in a collection.
2. Go to the "Photo" menu.
3. Select "Create a Virtual Copy" from the drop-down menu.
4. Select the copy.
5. Make the desired change(s) to only the selected copy.