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You’re viewing help for Photoshop Lightroom Classic (formerly Lightroom CC).
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The Library Filter bar at the top of the Grid view of the Library module offers three modes for filtering photos: Text, Attribute, and Metadata. You can select and use any one mode, or combine them to perform more complex filtering.
Text
Allows you to search any indexed metadata text field, including filename, caption, keywords, and EXIF and IPTC metadata.
- Click any mode name to show and hide its options. The mode label is white when those options are open. One, two, or all three filter modes can be open at once.
- Shift-click a second or third label to open multiple modes at once.
- Click None to hide and turn off all filter modes.
Note: When Metadata filter options are open, you can resize the Library Filter bar by moving the pointer over the lower edge of the bar. When it becomes a double-arrow, drag the edge up or down.
The Text filter lets you search through the catalog or selected photos using a text search field. You can search any indexed field or choose specific fields, and you can specify how the search criteria is matched.
The found photos that are displayed in the Grid view and the Filmstrip depend on whether you searched the entire catalog, specific folders or collections, or the Quick Collection. The number of photos that match the search criteria appears in the Filmstrip Source Indicator.
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Any Searchable Field
Includes Searchable Metadata, Caption, File Path, virtual copy name, keywords, custom metadata, and collection names.
Filename, Copy Name, Title, Captions, Keywords
Searches each of these metadata fields, respectively. Copy Name refers to the name of a virtual copy.
Searchable IPTC
Includes Contact: Creator, Job Title, Address, City, State/Province, Postal Code, and Country; Content (Mac OS) /IPTC (Windows): Headline, IPTC Subject Code, and Description Writer; Image: Intellectual Genre, IPTC Scene Code, Sublocation, City, State/Province, Country, and ISO Country Code; Status (Mac OS)/Workflow (Windows): Title, Job Identifier, Instructions, Creditline, and Source; Copyright: Rights Usage Terms and Copyright Info URL.
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Contains
Searches for the specified alphanumeric sequence(s), including partial words. For example, performing a Contains search for flo returns results that include the word flower. If multiple sequences are entered, Lightroom Classic finds photos that contain any of the individual sequences.
Contains All
Searches for text that contains all specified alphanumeric sequences. Say, for example, you have a folder of photos of a family gathering, and each photo is tagged with the names of the individuals in the shot. You could perform a Contains All search on Joh and Su to find all photos that contain both John and Susan. Simply enter a space between search terms.
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Note:
Add an exclamation point (!) before any word to exclude it from the results. Add a plus sign (+) before any word to apply the Starts With rule to that word. Add a plus sign (+) after any word to apply the Ends With rule to that word.
The Attribute options in the Library Filter bar let you filter photos by flag status, edit status, star ratings, labels, and copy. The Attribute options are also available in the Filmstrip. See Filter photos in the Filmstrip and Grid view.
You can find photos by selecting specific metadata criteria using the Metadata options in the Library Filter bar. Lightroom Classic supports metadata embedded in photos by your digital camera and by other applications such as Photoshop or Adobe Bridge.
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Choose a metadata category from the left column by clicking the header and choosing from the pop-up menu. Then, choose an entry in that column. For example, choose Edit, and then select Edited or Unedited. Lightroom Classic displays the number of selected photos that match that criteria next to the entry.
Metadata filters in the Library Filter barNote:
Shift-click and Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) to select multiple entries in a column.
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When two or more filters are specified, Lightroom Classic returns photos that match all criteria.
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You can also find photos by clicking the right-pointing arrow that appears next to certain metadata text boxes in the Metadata panel.
Video tutorial: Filter photographs based on metadata
Lightroom Classic provides six predefined filters to let you quickly perform common filters and restore default settings.
Besides letting you view and organize photos, selecting collections provides a way to find specific photos.
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