# Sort by import date?



## lbeck (Dec 29, 2015)

I added a few thousand photos to my catalog yesterday.  Now I find that I should have imported them by folder and file names.  When I try to import the photos that way, Lr says that the photo has already been imported.

Is there some way to sort by import date, delete the previous import, and then redo the import with the settings that I want?

Thanks.

Lee


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## Johan Elzenga (Dec 29, 2015)

There is no need to do that. You can move images from one folder to another in Lightroom if you want them elsewhere, and you can batch rename images in Lightroom too. Anything else you can do during import can also be done later. Moving images to another folder is simple. Select them, then drag and drop them onto the folder name in the folder panel. Renaming images is simple too. Select them, then use 'Library - Rename Photos'.


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## lbeck (Dec 29, 2015)

Of course I'm aware that you can rename, rate, move and do a number of things with individual photos.  But I don't want to do that with 5500 photos that I added to my collection of 26000, even if I cold find them all.  I imported the photos two days ago before selecting the options to use folder names and rename the photos by date/filename.  The photos once imported were arranged by date only and are mixed throughout my catalog.  The one thing that they have in common is import date.

I want to delete the recent import and re-import the photos with the settings that I want.  Is this possible??


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## Jim Wilde (Dec 29, 2015)

Was it one single import, or multiple imports? The photos from the last import can be seen (and selected) by clicking on the special "Previous Import" collection which you will find in the Catalog panel just below the Navigator in the Library module. If it was one import, select that collection, click on Ctrl+A to select them all, then right-click on any one of them and choose "Remove Photos". 

CARE: if you only added them from their existing location, make sure you do NOT select "Delete from Disk" when you do the "Remove Photos" procedure. Choose "Remove" only.


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## clee01l (Dec 29, 2015)

LR only uses a date based folder structure or folders that you create before or at the time of import.  The data based folder schemes that LR generates are based upon the Creation Date that is found in the EXIF of each file before it is imported.  The date that an image was imported (Import Date) is usually irrelevant because it could be few to many days, month or years after the image file was created.  Since you only need one reference to a photo file in LR, LR does not like you trying to import a second copy.  If you just added 5500 photos yesterday, then you can remove this 5500 photos from the catalog and import them again  placing them into the folders that you want created at the time of import


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## Johan Elzenga (Dec 29, 2015)

lbeck said:


> Of course I'm aware that you can rename, rate, move and do a number of things with individual photos.  But I don't want to do that with 5500 photos that I added to my collection of 26000, even if I cold find them all.  I imported the photos two days ago before selecting the options to use folder names and rename the photos by date/filename.  The photos once imported were arranged by date only and are mixed throughout my catalog.  The one thing that they have in common is import date.
> 
> I want to delete the recent import and re-import the photos with the settings that I want.  Is this possible??



As Jim said: if they were imported all at once, then you can find them in the 'Previous Import' collection. Otherwise you're out of luck. 

I still don't understand why you don't want to do it in Lightroom, though. You cannot only rename individual photos, you can also batch rename photos. If you can _find_ them al, then you can _select_ them all and so you can _rename_ them all at once. That is always faster then deleting them and re-importing them. Also remember that you cannot rename photos if you use 'Add' to import an existing folder hierarchy into the catalog. 'Add' doesn't offer a rename option, only 'Move' or 'Copy' does. So if you add them, you'll have to rename them in Lightroom whether you like it or not.

If you can't use the 'Previous Import' collection, how are these photos named right now? Maybe you can find a common pattern in the name, so you can search on just that pattern.


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## lbeck (Dec 29, 2015)

Thanks for the responses.  I think the most right answer is the one that says that I am out of luck.

The import actually was the next-to-last one, so previous import doesn't work.  Johan's comment "if you can find them all" is key also, with IF the operative word.  They now are peppered throughout the catalog by date.  I imported from a disc (copied to my HDD) of archived photos from a family member and the photos were catagorized in folders like birthdays, weddings, trips, etc.  and the filenames were like "December in Maine.jpg" and other descriptive terms.  I imported those photos into my large catalog and then completed a couple of smaller imports before I realized that I didn't choose the folder/filename options on the import panel for the large import of a couple of days ago.  A further complication is that the dates cover a large range and are mixed within other photos in the catalog.

I was hoping that there was a marker somewhere of "date imported" that I could use as a filter to remove the poorly imported photos.  Then I could re-import them with the descriptive information.

I still have the filenames though and searching is still possible using that filter.  I may also be able to use a combination of other filters to mark the photos for deletion or further file processing.  Another idea is to delete the photos in Windows Explorer and then mark the greyed out photos in Lr for deletion.

I'm still thinking on this now that I know that I can't identify the import in Lr by date.  Thanks for the responses.


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## Hal P Anderson (Dec 29, 2015)

Doesn't going to All Photographs and sorting on 'Added Order' work?

Also, if you delete the photos in Windows Explorer, you can issue the Library/Find all Missing Photos menu command and get a pseudo-collection (under the Catalog header) with a list of all missing photos which you can select all and remove from your catalogue.


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## Johan Elzenga (Dec 29, 2015)

Great idea! Added order in All Photographs should indeed work, even if you did import in batches. You may find an edited tiff in between, but that is easy to sort out and deselect.


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## lbeck (Dec 29, 2015)

Thanks to all.  I think I have it figured out now.  I decided to delete (move) the folders added to Lr, do the find missing files - delete, then re-import with the wanted settings.


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## Jim W (Dec 30, 2015)

I've been spoiled by Aperture's handling of Metadata. It remembers the date/time of the Import Session, and can use that as part of a Smart Album (similar to Smart Collection). 

I was in hopes that Lr kept that info, but alas even Jeffrey Friedl's Extended Search and Data Explorer plugins don't offer anything for Import date/time.

*sigh*


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