# Can't get custom order option



## mikecox (Sep 20, 2014)

Sometimes I am happily dragging images; to reorder them, as it "User Order" and sometimes I find I can no longer do that and when I attempt to do it I get a "does not support custom order" message.

I have all sort options turned off and "show in Sub folder" is unchecked, but I am still not able to customize my order.

I know I could create a "Collection" but I would like to figure out how to get the "User order" option back on the "Sort" drop down.

ps I don't know what I did but suddenly the "User Order" option has reappeared! :surprised:  I thought I'd discovered the answer in the Library/Enable filters options, but before I got a chance to try it the "User Order" option returned.  Enable filters is still checked, so that doesn't appear to be the answer.


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## Jim Wilde (Sep 20, 2014)

"Custom Order" is not available in all sources. It *is *available when selecting a folder *which itself has no sub-folders*, it is also available in most static collections (one exception being the "Previous Import" collection). It *is not* available when the source is a Smart Collection, and is it not available when selecting a folder which has sub-folders (unless it also has root-level photos and "Show Photos in Subfolders" is unchecked).


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## mikecox (Sep 20, 2014)

Jim Wilde said:


> "Custom Order" is not available in all sources. It *is *available when selecting a folder *which itself has no sub-folders*, it is also available in most static collections (one exception being the "Previous Import" collection). It *is not* available when the source is a Smart Collection, and is it not available when selecting a folder which has sub-folders (unless it also has root-level photos and "Show Photos in Subfolders" is unchecked).


Thanks Jim,

I do understand why it wouldn't  be available in a Smart Collection but it is a confusingly fickle option otherwise; flitting in and out of existence like a nymph.  But I will save your response and consult them the next time I loose the option (-:


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## JimR (Jan 27, 2015)

I too am having a sorting issue. All images have come from same file structure: Catalog > month > individual day. 

I have been using this structure since day one with LR and have made many collections and done extensive sorting, this is the first time I had hit this.

Issue: 
I have a collection of 2,900 images. I have been sorting them but I have  found 54 (all adjacent to each other that were sorted into their  position) that will no longer sort (trying to fine tune the sort). I can  select some of them, drag them to where I want them to be, the black  bar appears, but none of the images change position. I can't figure out  what is going on.

On further sorting I find that if I move other images close to the  problematic ones, they will not sort properly. I can select and drag  them to the appropriate spot, but they are dropped in the sorting action  in locations other than what I picked.

Other images from the same folders seem to sort properly


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## JimR (Jan 29, 2015)

Issue has been found and solution provided in another forum.

See Luminous Landscape Lightroom forum: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=97328.0


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## Jim Wilde (Jan 29, 2015)

Thanks for reporting back with the solution. Never encountered or heard of that limitation, so that's certainly one to be stored in the memory banks!


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## clee01l (Jan 29, 2015)

My guess is that it will appear from any Collection larger than 2048 (2^11) elements. We see this same problem with keywords, I think it might be a limitation with the Windows API that involves sorting or lists.


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## johnbeardy (Jan 29, 2015)

The keywords problem on Windows is unrelated to this issue. It results from a limitation on the size in pixels of a "window" - and Adobe's failure to code around that limit.


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## mikecox (Apr 11, 2015)

I am currently in a folder with no sub folder, I also have "Show folders in Sub folders" unchecked.


I am not in a collection and the Sort: drop down list ends with Aspect Ratio.  Under what conditions does "Custom order" become an option on this list? 


I knew I'd asked this question so I searched and it. 

I see that I have never, really, understood why this option seems to be working find one minute and be gone the next. 

ps  I pretty sure I know what is making that happen now.  

I had a selection of images from the right panel; using the right arrow on the listed keywords.

When I switched to the left panel and selected the set from it's folder the option appeared! 

Jim I have reviewed your original response, which I didn't really understand at the time; but since I'd gotten the Custom Sort option back I forgot about it, until now, when it raised it's ugly head again.  


I've reviewed this thread to see if the answer ever became apparent to me,  but apparently it really never did  because here I am back again /-:


I did check the link in JimR's  post.  I read part of it but wasn't finding the answer so gave up.

It just baffles me how this option can just drop out of site.


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## jjlad (May 10, 2015)

I am having a similar problem with recent property shoots. I bracket my raw exposures, auto stack them in LR then use LR Enfuse to create the blended tiffs. I sometimes need to re-sort and LR now offers no way to do that. The custom order option is greyed out. I thought it might be because the images were stacked but unstacking all of them doesn't change a thing. I used to do this a lot but now it seems some programming change has crippled the Custom order functionality. This is a real pain in the posterior region.


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## jjlad (May 10, 2015)

Workaround. The folder the images were in was a child of 20150509 so I selected all the images I wanted to work with and moved them to a new folder at the same level as the original so now I have 20150509 and 20150509HD both at the same level and now the images in the HD folder can be sorted. I'll get this finished tomorrow, export the jpegs and then move the folder back into the other in order to maintain my normal folder structure. Sure would be simpler if any folder could be sorted any way we want but this workaround is helping for now.


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