Help Desk

Listed below are instructions on how to create Smart Previews in Lightroom!

Let’s begin by opening up your Lightroom program. Once open you can create a new catalog or open a previously made one. For now we recommend creating a new one.

Next you’ll want to direct Lightroom on where to save the Lightroom Catalog. We recommend for now saving it to your Desktop. Easy to remember and find.

In the ‘Save As’ section name your LR catalog. Normally the order name is what you will use. For example ‘Beth and Tim’s Wedding’. Hit create. Then Lightroom will reopen with that catalog:

Now you can either drag the image files in lightroom (in the middle where you see “Click the Import” comment or you can import the files by clicking the bottom left-hand corner ‘Import’ button.

Once all images are imported you need to then select them all (CMD+ A for Mac or CTRL+A for PC) make sure you are still in the Library mode. Then at the top left hand corner click: Library > Previews > Build Smart Previews

Once Smart Previews have been built you will then send us the Lightroom Catalog (.lrcat file) and Smart Previews ( Smart Previews.lrdata file). {We will not need the Previews folder.} You can find these files in the Desktop folder you created in the beginning. Please go ahead zip both files together or zip the Smart Previews folder. As Dropbox will need it zipped in order to upload.

And that’s it!