Mastering Photo Imports in Adobe Lightroom Classic.

Step 1: Connect Your Devices

1. Insert the SD card into your computer or use a card reader.
2. Connect your external hard drive to your computer and ensure it’s recognized.

Step 2: Open Adobe Lightroom Classic

1. Launch Adobe Lightroom Classic on your computer.

Step 3: Open the Import Dialog

1. In Lightroom, click on the “Import” button located in the bottom-left corner of the Library module.

Step 4: Select the SD Card as the Source

1. On the left panel of the import window, you’ll see a list of devices under “Source.”
2. Locate and click on your SD card from the list. This will display all the images stored on the card.

Step 5: Choose the External Hard Drive as the Destination

1. On the right-hand side, under the “Destination” panel, click on the “To” section, which is where you choose where to save the photos.
2. Navigate through the folders to select your external hard drive.
3. Within the external hard drive, you can create a specific folder for the photos or choose an existing folder. If you want to organize the photos by date, you can select the “Organize: By Date” option, but would recommend “Into One Folder.”

Step 6: Set File Handling and Options

1. In the middle panel of the import window, under “File Handling,” you can choose how to import the files.

• Copy as DNG: Converts your photos to DNG format (a universal raw format).
• Copy: Copies the original files from the SD card to your external hard drive without conversion.

1. Under “File Renaming,” you can choose to rename the files during import if you prefer.
2. Under “Apply During Import,” you can select a preset (such as a color profile or metadata) to be automatically applied to the imported images.

Step 7: Import the Photos

1. Once you’ve set the source, destination, and options, click the “Import” button at the bottom-right of the window.

Step 8: Eject the Devices

After the import is complete:

1. Safely eject the SD card and the external hard drive from your computer.

Your photos will now be stored on your external hard drive and available in Lightroom for editing and organizing!