Using the Target Collection Tool with Collection Sets in Lightroom

Have you ever used the Target Selection tool in Lightroom?

The Target Selection tool in Lightroom is a very useful tool that I somehow always forget to use. In this quick post, I will explain why it’s awesome and why everyone (including me) should use it more often.

The target selection tool is used in combination with Collections. One of the many things I learned from Scott Kelby, is how to use Collections Sets and Collections. A Collection Set is usually a larger top Category like Travel or Florence for example. A Collection, is a sub-category within the Collection Set. Yes, it is confusing so let me show you an example.

Scott, encourages photographers to work in Collections and not in Folders. The main reasons he advises everyone to use collections are:

1. You can access the images from every module in Lightroom (the Collections panel appears in every Module ( Library and Develop etc).. The Folders panel only appears in the Library Module so you constantly need to switch back and forth. In only took me 5 years to realize this. Yes, I am a quick study :)

2. Scott says “Bad things happen in Folders”. In every workshop I have attended, he tells us heartbreaking stories, of photographers accidentally losing their images forever when using Folders. As Scott explains “If you accidentally delete an image in a Collection, the original image still in the folder, so you’re protected. If you delete a file when your workflow is Folder based, it’s forever.”

3. You can use Target the Target Mode in Collections

In Scott’s system, once you finish a shoot you should create a collection set. I have a a Collection Set in a larger category called Travel. Within Travel, I make Collection Sets for each city I have visited i.e, Paris, Rome, Florence etc.

As an example, I would Right Click on my Travel Collection Set and Create an additional Collection Set called Florence.

Within the collection set, you can create additional collections. So I have created 3 collections (Full Shoot, Florence Picks, and Selects/Spark Florence). To create a collection you would Right Click on the Florence Collection Set and create the 3 Collections. I find it helpful to include Florence in the Collection names because if I use Adobe Express instead of seeing Full Shoot, Picks or Selects, and not know which city it refers to, I will see Florence Picks so I know that where my photos are located.

1. Full Shoot - all your images from the shoot/place

2. Picks - your Picks (Florence Picks) include your favorite images from your shoot/place

3. Selects or Adobe Express Spark Page i.e., Spark Florence - the photos you want or print or publish -the best of the best

   So here is how my Collection Set looks like:

So why do I use Target Mode?

I use Target Mode to quickly place my photos into a specific collection. To do this, I would Right Click on Spark Florence and choose Set as Target Collection. Now, I can go into the Florence Picks or Full Shoot and every time I click the letter “B” the photo will be placed into The Spark Florence 2023 + collection.

So the Target Mode lets me quickly select the photos I want to put into a specific Collection. Target Collections are awesome and a great way to speed up your work flow in Lightroom.

Let me know if you have used them and what you think?