Located on the top right of the Filmstrip is a section I call the “Quick Filter” system. This system provides the ability to quickly and easily filter your images according to certain common attributes. With the click of a button, you can filter your images by flags, stars, color labels, or your own specified preset. In this article, I will cover a three key reasons why the Quick Filter system is effective in streamlining your production process.
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Three Key Reasons for Using Quick Filters
1. Quick Filter Versatility
What’s cool about the Quick Filter system is that it works in any module. If you are in the Develop Module and you only want to see flagged images, select the ‘Flagged’ Icon.
Being a navigational constant, it quickly filters images based on characteristics regardless of what module you are in. You can select a number of different combinations of overlapping filters to narrow your selection down.
Remember, the Quick Filter system is not the same as Lightroom’s Toolbar. Although they look similar, the Toolbar is used for assigning attributes on images while the Filmstrip Quick Filter system functions only by filtering through those attributes. In the image below, we show the Toolbar circled in red while the Quick Filter system is circled in blue:
2. Filter by Flag Status
Use the Quick Filter system after culling to view only your flagged images. This is extremely useful due to the fact that most images in a shoot are rejected, at least in our case. Because of this, in our studio we use a “culling in” process where we reject all images in the beginning and then proceed to go through each image and flag the keepers using the shortcut [ P ]. At this time, each of the flag icons are selected in the Filter Menu as shown below.
When you finish culling, simply deselect the ‘Rejected’ flag icon in the Filter Menu so that only the keepers will be viewable. Otherwise your rejected images will just be in the way and bog down your workflow.
As you go through the keepers, you can assign more attributes while continuing to use the Quick Filter system to filter through those newly assigned attributes as well.
3. Using Both Filter Systems
Although most common filters are on the Quick Filter system, occasionally you may want to filter by perhaps a specific camera used or a keyword assigned. In this case and others when you need more advanced filtering, pull up the Filter Menu in the Library Module by hitting the shortcut [ \ ]. With the Filter Menu in addition to the Quick Filter system, you can filter by text or metadata as well as assigned attributes.
Conclusion
Now you have three great tips on using the Quick Filter system in Lightroom. If you are interested in owning the Lightroom 4 A to Z DVD, it can be purchased in the SLR Lounge Store. Stay tuned for the next article.
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