Smart Collections criteria
Last updated on
Jun 18, 2026
Learn about the Smart Collections criteria you can define to group photos into automated, dynamic folders.
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Description |
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Rating |
Matches photos by star rating. Numeric operators allow range queries such as ‘rating >= 3’ to collect all highly rated photos. |
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Exported |
Matches photos that were exported on or within a specific date or date range. Useful for tracking which photos have already been delivered to a client. |
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Pick Flag |
Matches photos by pick flag state — Flagged (selected/picked), Unflagged (neutral, not yet reviewed), or Rejected (marked for deletion). |
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Label Color |
Matches photos by the color label applied. Supports the five standard colors, user-defined custom labels, or no label. |
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Label Text |
Matches photos by the exact text of their color label. Useful when custom label names (rather than standard colors) are in use. |
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Has Likes |
Matches photos that have received likes via Adobe’s shared-album comments service. |
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Has Comments |
Matches photos that have received comments via Adobe’s shared-album comments service. |
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Has Smart Preview |
Matches photos for which a Smart Preview (reduced-resolution DNG proxy) has been generated, enabling develop edits even when the original file is offline. |
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Has Snapshots |
Matches photos that have one or more saved Develop snapshots, allowing non-destructive recall of previous develop states. |
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Source > Folder |
Matches photos located in a folder whose name matches the specified text. Useful for collecting photos from folders with a common naming convention. |
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Source > Collection |
Matches photos that belong to a collection whose name matches the specified text. |
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Source > Publish Collection |
Matches photos that belong to a published collection whose name matches the specified text. |
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Source > Published Via |
Matches photos published through a specific publish service (e.g., Flickr, Adobe Stock) whose service name matches the specified text. |
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File Name / Type > Filename |
Matches photos by filename. Supports contains, starts with, ends with, and other text operators (excluding word-match). |
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File Name / Type > Copy Name |
Matches photos by their virtual copy name. Supports an ‘is empty’ operator to find master copies or copies with no assigned name. |
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File Name / Type > File Type |
Matches photos by the file format of the original source file. |
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File Name / Type > Is DNG With Fast Load Data |
Matches DNG files that contain embedded fast-load data, which allows Lightroom to render initial previews significantly faster in the Develop module. |
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Date > Capture Date |
Matches photos by the date and time the photo was captured, as recorded in EXIF metadata. Supports absolute dates, relative offsets, and date ranges. |
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Date > Edit Date |
Matches photos by the date and time the photo was last modified in Lightroom. Useful for finding recently edited photos. |
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Camera Info > Camera |
Matches photos by the exact camera model name stored in EXIF metadata. |
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Camera Info > Camera Serial Number |
Matches photos by the exact camera body serial number stored in EXIF metadata — useful for isolating photos from a specific body when multiple copies of the same model are in use. |
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Camera Info > Lens |
Matches photos by the exact lens model name stored in EXIF metadata. |
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Camera Info > Focal Length |
Matches photos by focal length in millimetres. Supports numeric range operators (is, is greater than, is less than, is in range). |
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Camera Info > Shutter Speed |
Matches photos by shutter speed (exposure time) stored in EXIF metadata. Values are entered as fractions (e.g., 1/125 sec) and stored internally as APEX values. |
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Camera Info > Aperture |
Matches photos by aperture (f-stop) stored in EXIF metadata. Supports numeric range operators; values are entered as f-numbers (e.g., f/2.8) and stored as APEX values. |
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Camera Info > ISO Speed Rating |
Matches photos by ISO sensitivity stored in EXIF metadata. Supports numeric range operators. |
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Camera Info > Flash State |
Matches photos by whether the flash fired during capture, as recorded in EXIF metadata. ‘Unknown’ covers cases where flash state is not recorded. |
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Location > Country / Region |
Matches photos by the IPTC Country field (exact match). Covers both country and region designations. |
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Location > State / Province |
Matches photos by the IPTC State/Province field (exact match). |
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Location > City |
Matches photos by the IPTC City field (exact match). |
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Location > Sublocation |
Matches photos by the IPTC Sublocation field (exact match) — a more specific location within a city, such as a venue or landmark. |
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Location > GPS Data |
Matches photos by whether GPS coordinates are present (Coordinates) or absent (No Coordinates) in their metadata. |
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Other Metadata > Title |
Matches photos by the IPTC Title field. Supports an ‘is empty’ operator to find photos with no title assigned. |
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Other Metadata > Caption |
Matches photos by the IPTC Caption/Description field. Supports an ‘is empty’ operator to find uncaptioned photos. |
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Other Metadata > Alt Text |
Matches photos by the accessibility alt text field (used for web publishing). Supports an ‘is empty’ operator to find photos with no alt text set. |
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Other Metadata > Extended Description |
Matches photos by the Extended Description metadata field. Supports an ‘is empty’ operator. |
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Other Metadata > Keywords |
Matches photos by keyword tag. Supports contains, contains all, and are empty / aren’t empty operators, making it easy to find untagged photos or photos sharing a set of keywords. |
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Other Metadata > Creator |
Matches photos by the IPTC Creator (photographer / author) field (exact match). |
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Other Metadata > Job |
Matches photos by the IPTC Job Identifier field (exact match). Useful for grouping all photos associated with a specific shoot or client assignment. |
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Other Metadata > Copyright Status |
Matches photos by their IPTC copyright status. |
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Other Metadata > Any Searchable Metadata |
Matches photos where the specified text appears in any indexed metadata field across the entire catalog. |
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Other Metadata > Searchable IPTC |
Matches photos where the specified text appears in any IPTC metadata field (title, caption, keywords, creator, copyright, etc.). |
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Other Metadata > Searchable EXIF |
Matches photos where the specified text appears in any EXIF metadata field (camera, lens, capture date, GPS, etc.). |
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Other Metadata > Any Searchable Plug-in Metadata |
Matches photos where the specified text appears in any metadata field defined by an installed plug-in. |
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Other Metadata > Metadata Status |
Matches photos by the sync status of their XMP metadata between the Lightroom catalog and the on-disk sidecar file (or embedded XMP). Useful for finding photos whose metadata is out of sync. |
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Develop > Has Adjustments |
Matches photos that have any develop adjustments applied — i.e., whose settings differ from the camera default. |
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Develop > Has Edits |
Matches photos that have been intentionally edited by the user in the Develop module (as distinct from having default or auto-applied settings). |
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Develop > Cropped |
Matches photos that have a crop applied in the Develop module. |
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Develop > Is HDR Edit Mode On |
Matches photos that have HDR Edit Mode enabled in the Develop module, which unlocks an extended tonal range for HDR-capable displays. |
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Develop > Has Device Depth |
Matches photos that contain a depth map captured by the camera (e.g., iPhone Portrait Mode), which can be used for depth-based masking in Develop. |
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Develop > Has AI |
Matches photos that have any AI-powered Develop feature applied, including Denoise, Super Resolution, AI Masking, or Generative tools. |
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Develop > Has Generative AI |
Matches photos that have a Generative AI feature applied, such as Generative Expand (content-aware canvas extension) or AI Remove with generative fill. |
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Develop > Needs AI Update |
Matches photos whose AI edits need to be re-processed or updated. This occurs when AI edits have been applied out of order relative to the standard processing pipeline (Denoise → Super Resolution → Raw Details → Reflection Removal → Distracting People Removal → Blemish Removal → Dust Removal → Generative Expand → AI Remove → Lens Blur → Adaptive Profile → AI Masking), or when the required pixel data cannot be accessed from the associated .lrcat-data file. Loading indicates the status is still being computed; Error means the file could not be opened. |
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Develop > AI Edit |
Matches photos by the specific AI edit type that has been applied in the Develop module. |
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Develop > AI Edit Requiring Update |
Matches photos where a specific AI edit type needs to be re-processed or updated. An edit requires an update when it was applied out of order relative to the standard pipeline, or when the required pixel data cannot be read from the associated .lrcat-data file. |
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Develop > Masking |
Matches photos by the type of mask present in the Develop module’s Masking panel — including AI-generated masks (Subject, Sky, etc.) and manually drawn masks (Brush, Gradients, etc.). |
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Develop > Remove (Manual) |
Matches photos by the manual retouching mode used in the Remove tool — Content-Aware Remove, Generative Remove, Heal (texture blending), or Clone (pixel copy). |
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Develop > Has Point Color |
Matches photos that have a Point Color adjustment applied in the HSL / Color Mixer panel, which allows targeting and shifting specific colors by sampling a point in the image. |
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Develop > Is Proof |
Matches photos that are soft-proof virtual copies — created via the Soft Proofing feature in Develop to simulate how the image will look under a specific output color profile. |
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Develop > Develop Preset |
Matches photos by their develop preset state: Default (no preset, camera defaults applied), Specified (a named preset is applied), or Custom (settings have been manually adjusted beyond the preset). |
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Develop > Treatment |
Matches photos by the active color treatment in Develop — standard color rendering or black and white conversion. |
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Develop > Lens Profile Corrections |
Matches photos that have lens profile corrections enabled in the Optics panel, which corrects for lens-specific distortion, vignetting, and chromatic aberration. |
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Develop > Remove Chromatic Aberration |
Matches photos that have the Remove Chromatic Aberration option enabled in the Optics panel, which corrects color fringing at high-contrast edges. |
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Size > Long Edge |
Matches photos by the length of the longer dimension (width or height) after any crop is applied, in pixels. Supports range operators. |
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Size > Short Edge |
Matches photos by the length of the shorter dimension after any crop, in pixels. |
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Size > Width |
Matches photos by pixel width after any crop is applied. |
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Size > Height |
Matches photos by pixel height after any crop is applied. |
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Size > Megapixels |
Matches photos by total pixel count (width × height) after any crop, expressed in megapixels. |
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Size > Long Edge, Uncropped |
Matches photos by the length of the longer dimension before any crop is applied — i.e., the native sensor resolution on the long axis. |
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Size > Short Edge, Uncropped |
Matches photos by the shorter dimension before any crop. |
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Size > Width, Uncropped |
Matches photos by native pixel width before any crop. |
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Size > Height, Uncropped |
Matches photos by native pixel height before any crop. |
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Size > Megapixels, Uncropped |
Matches photos by total native pixel count before any crop, in megapixels. Useful for filtering by sensor resolution class. |
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Size > Aspect Ratio |
Matches photos by the shape of the cropped frame — Portrait (height > width), Landscape (width > height), or Square (equal dimensions). |
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Color > Bits Per Channel |
Matches photos by the bit depth per color channel of the source file (e.g., 8-bit JPEG vs. 16-bit TIFF/RAW). |
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Color > Source Color Mode |
Matches photos by the color model of the original source file, as defined by DNG/TIFF photometric interpretation tags. |
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Color > Source Color Profile |
Matches photos by the ICC color profile embedded in the source file (e.g., sRGB, Adobe RGB, ProPhoto RGB). |
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Any Searchable Text |
Matches photos where the specified text appears in any indexed text field across the entire catalog — the broadest possible text search. |
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