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Can Lightroom sort by dimensions?

Guest
Apr 17, 2013 Apr 17, 2013

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I'd like to either use Grid view sorted by dimensions, or create a Collection based on dimensions.  I can do this in Adobe Bridge, but thought Lightroom would add functionality to this. But I can't find it.

Thank you.

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People's Champ ,
Apr 17, 2013 Apr 17, 2013

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This functionality for Smart Collections was added in Lightroom 5. You can check out the Public Beta for details.

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People's Champ ,
Apr 17, 2013 Apr 17, 2013

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Lr 4.4 doesn't have that.

But in Lr 5 beta is a new feature: you can create Smart Collections based on Size / Dimensions.

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Explorer ,
Sep 07, 2013 Sep 07, 2013

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I have LR 5 and do not see this anywhere; did this not get released?   If so is there some kind of how-to?

Update: ok I found in smart collection but was surprised to see I can't do this in standard sort/filter in grid view.  Weird.

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LEGEND ,
Sep 07, 2013 Sep 07, 2013

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See if this helps. Technically, a smart collection is not "sorting" your photos, it is filtering your photos which is different.

2013-09-07 15_40_54-Edit Smart Collection.gif

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Explorer ,
Sep 07, 2013 Sep 07, 2013

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Thanks; yes I did create a smart collection that works; would like to be able to sort in any directory by file size though, or filter within a range at any given folder.  Older tools like Thumbs Plus used to do this...

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LEGEND ,
Sep 07, 2013 Sep 07, 2013

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I'm pretty sure LR does not sort or filter by file size.

The plug-in from Jeffrey Frield named "Data Explorer" will filter by file size.

I'm curious why you would want to sort or filter by file size.

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Explorer ,
Sep 07, 2013 Sep 07, 2013

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Often I need to have a file size smaller than X with other criteria for various web publications.  Has happened enough to where I am ticked off whenever it comes up.  The smart collection is a good enough workaround, I just have to create a new smart collection for the criteria.  I have the plugin but it isn't convenient either (and every upgrade breaks it.)   My scenario today was <2m, at least 1000 px height with keywords ocean.

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LEGEND ,
Sep 07, 2013 Sep 07, 2013

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If you were talking about photo size in pixels, I would say "Yes, I understand"

But you seem to be saying file size, not pixel size, and I have never run into a situation where I needed a specific file size, which is why I asked. File sizes are easily manipulated, and with a given photo, you can probably create just about any reasonable file size.

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LEGEND ,
Sep 07, 2013 Sep 07, 2013

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Personally, I think your looking at this bass-ackwards. If you want to select specific image types for website use I'd suggest first searching by keyword criteria such as 'ocean.' Then select the ones you think are best regardless of size. If they aren't the right size then simply Export them and create the size you want. Why the heck would you want to "limit" your selection of images by "size?" It simply makes no sense, especially when hard drive storage is dirt cheap today–Just my 2 cents worth!

This table may give you a better idea of JPEG file sizes based on LR's compression settings 0-100. In case you weren't aware there are really only 13 different compression levels in both LR and PS and one of them is virtually useless (54-61%). See this post:

http://forums.adobe.com/message/5641903#5641903

The file used for comparison is from a 5D MKII, but the compression 'Size' and 'Step' data applies to most any "typical" image type.

PSLRLR EquivSizeSize %Step %
0   00-7%      675 5%-11%
1  108-15%      756 5%-23%
2  2016-23%      983 7%-14%
3  3024-30%   1,137 8%-14%
4   3531-38%   1,318 9%-16%
5  4039-46%   1,569 11%-24%
6  5047-53%   2,051 14%-4%
7  5554-61%   2,127 15%-27%
8  6562-69%   2,894 20%-25%
9  7070-76%   3,863 26%-31%
10  8077-84%   5,570 38%-35%
11  9085-92%   8,566 59%-41%
1210093-100%14,579 100%

Notice the anomaly between PS 6-7 steps. There's more information at the above link.

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New Here ,
Nov 27, 2013 Nov 27, 2013

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I would like to be able to sort by size.  I am collecting images from various sources, and i want to use the four best of each group.  While artistic merit is slightly involved, i most want the pictures to be clear and good quality.  in general, bigger size means less pixelation.  I cant just pick the four biggest because that isnt always true, so i want to look at the pictures starting with the largest size pictures.  As far as i can see lightroom doesnt let me do this.

another reason for sorting by size is when you have thumbnails mixed in with the originals.  an easy way to segregate the thumbnails would be to sort by size

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LEGEND ,
Nov 27, 2013 Nov 27, 2013

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Nahcr: what "size" are you referring to, image size in pixels, or file size in megabytes, or something else?

Unless your answer is "something else", this has all been discussed earlier in the thread. Lightroom will filter (not sort) by megapixels (as shown in reply 4). You can use a plug-in to filter (not sort) by file size (mentioned in reply 6), which in my mind is a totally meaningless thing to do (as explained by trshaner in reply 9), and does not get you to "bigger size means less pixelation".

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New Here ,
Nov 27, 2013 Nov 27, 2013

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I am collecting creative commons pictures from a variety of sources, chiefly thru flick  for an online pictorial dictionary for a nonprofit project.  as i said, larger size such as 21 mp vs 1 mp generally although not always equates to better quality. furthermore i need to crop most of the pictures i select, and again, trying to crop a .5 mp picture generally results in extreme pixelation.  in selecting the 4 best pictures for the project for each item, it would be helpful if i could start by organize the pictures by megapixels.  i dont want filtering, i want sorting, because in some cases, the smaller size picture is still the better choice.

my purpose in responding to this thread is to point out that there are times when sorting by size makes sense.

Obviously, if you start with the original photo and it is from a recent camera, then size can be manipulated. but if you are starting from degraded material, as in my case, then the size of the material does make a difference.

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LEGEND ,
Nov 27, 2013 Nov 27, 2013

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Since the request if for sorting by megapixels, and not filtering, then I do not think Lightroom has that capability; nor am I aware of any plug-ins that allow sorting (not filtering) by megapixels.

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LEGEND ,
Nov 27, 2013 Nov 27, 2013

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The Data Explorer plugin sorts and groups by many different metadata dimensions, including megapixels:

http://regex.info/blog/lightroom-goodies/data-explorer

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LEGEND ,
Nov 27, 2013 Nov 27, 2013

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John R. Ellis wrote:

The Data Explorer plugin sorts and groups by many different metadata dimensions, including megapixels:

http://regex.info/blog/lightroom-goodies/data-explorer

I don't see where Data Explorer does a sort by megapixels ... it clearly does a filter, but not a sort by megapixels; nor does Jeffrey appear to claim it does a sort in his web page documentation.

Even the plug-in called MegaPixel Sort clearly states "You can't actually sort via megapixel size, even using this plugin"

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Community Expert ,
Nov 27, 2013 Nov 27, 2013

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ListView sorts by any metadata field, including dimensions and file size.

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LEGEND ,
Nov 27, 2013 Nov 27, 2013

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Data Explorer buckets the photos into collections sorted by the selected criterion.  For the use cases described in this thread, this allows the user to quickly explore selected photos in sorted order.   For example, here are the ordered collections produced by Data Explorer for the criterion "megapixels":

Capture.PNG

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LEGEND ,
Nov 27, 2013 Nov 27, 2013

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Adobe Bridge supports "sorting" by numerous parameters. It is a true sort NOT just a filter. You can also view the selected files as Thumbnails, Details, or List.

Sort By Dimensions.jpg

Even the freeware application XnView provides this capability. You could use it to sort 'By Dimensions,' select your best images, and then Edit IPTC Data (CTRL+I) to flag the selected picks. Select ALL of the images in LR, go to toolbar Metadata> 'Read Metadata from File,' which will update LR with the XnView IPTC Data added. Use the LR Filter toolbar 'Text' or Attribute' to isolate the "picks" you flagged in XnView.

It's a shame the same sort capability can't be implemented native to LR or with a plugin!

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Explorer ,
Nov 27, 2013 Nov 27, 2013

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While it is nice that everyone comes up with complex ways to do a simple task like sorting by file size criteria, I think that it is worthy of considering to actually put this in the product that we are using daily to manage our digital media.   I do not want to go outside of LR to work on images; I want to do this in one place.   I do not want to have plugins to do a basic simple function.  I want to sort, filter on this information and then ACT upon it within the interface.

I will go back again to my use case.

I want to find all image with keyword ocean, sorted by file size because I know that my library has a combination of print prepped work, raw files, virtual copies, websized, and intermediate sized files and I want to filter on JPG >2mb but <5mb, regardless of dimensions.  I want to sort them in descending order and compare within grid view and then act upon them.

All these tools mentioned as work arounds just muck up what should be very easy.   Good for plugin developers and all...but really I don't get why this can't be simply another metadata used to sort like all the rest.   Excusing them away with costly tools is stupid.

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LEGEND ,
Nov 27, 2013 Nov 27, 2013

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While it is nice that everyone comes up with complex ways to do a simple task like sorting by file size criteria, I think that it is worthy of considering to actually put this in the product that we are using daily to manage our digital media.   I do not want to go outside of LR to work on images; I want to do this in one place.   I do not want to have plugins to do a basic simple function.

All these tools mentioned as work arounds just muck up what should be very easy.   Good for plugin developers and all...but really I don't get why this can't be simply another metadata used to sort like all the rest.   Excusing them away with costly tools is stupid.

I understand your point of view, and I can see the value of this feature, but if the Lightroom developers stopped what they were doing and programmed up everyone's requested favorite feature, we wouldn't see another version of Lightroom for years. Like it or not, this feature, and many many others, has not been a priority. If you'd really like to have an impact, and potentially get this feature inside of Lightroom, you should make a formal request at http://feedback.photoshop.com/

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LEGEND ,
Nov 27, 2013 Nov 27, 2013

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I don't think anyone in this thread intended to "excuse away" the lack of the sort feature -- we're just trying to help people get their work done with the tools that are currently available. 

Adobe doesn't pay much attention to this thread.  They do, however, pay attention to the official feedback forum:

http://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/products/photoshop_family_photoshop_lightroom

That's the best place to provide feature suggestions and product feedback.

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People's Champ ,
Nov 27, 2013 Nov 27, 2013

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photoshack wrote:

I will go back again to my use case.

I want to find all image with keyword ocean, sorted by file size because I know that my library has a combination of print prepped work, raw files, virtual copies, websized, and intermediate sized files and I want to filter on JPG >2mb but <5mb, regardless of dimensions.  I want to sort them in descending order and compare within grid view and then act upon them.

The problem, I fear, is a difference in philosphy.

Many of us do not keep 'derivitive files' (e.g. for web, for print, for this, for that).  One of the beauties of Lightroom is that the need for and storage of derivitive files long-term is mitigated.

In the dozens of workflows I have consulted on in recent months no one has lamented this ommission. Why? Because Lightroom allows us to abandon this type of management in favor of something simpler.

Just my opinion of course. If you are adamant about it, go to the official feature request forum and post it and hope that it gets Adobe's attention.

http://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/products/photoshop_family_photoshop_lightroom

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LEGEND ,
Nov 27, 2013 Nov 27, 2013

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My workaround for numerous LR shortcomings like this is to simply work with Adobe Bridge, PS and LR all open. The workflow is not as cumbersome as it sounds and Bridge let's me find and catalog ALL my digital assets, not just Raw, JPEG, TIFF and Ping file types. Metadata changes made in Bridge can be updated in the LR catalog to keep track of and use them their as well.

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Explorer ,
Nov 27, 2013 Nov 27, 2013

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I see your point; I guess if you did not use LR to manage anything other than RAW files that would not be a feature you would concern yourself with.  I didn't want to use four or five softwares to manage all images.   If every lightroom user is content with using multiple software then there is no demand.   I hardly ever need photoshop anymore because of LR's improved features.  It would take very little to make LR "perfect"....perhaps make bridge have LR features would be the next evolution.  Also, I do manage video in LR as well (limited but good enough.)

Any how, thanks for playing all...

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