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Uploading photos into LR results in photos not uploaded sequentially

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dalite

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Jul 21, 2017
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32
Lightroom Experience
Intermediate
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Prior to upgrading my OS X 10.7 (Lion) to OS X Sierra (the latest version) I had no trouble uploading photos which appeared sequentially in the LR 5.7 Library. But with Sierra the photos are not numbered sequentially and it makes it quite difficult to go back and forth and avoid duplication or wasting time. It especially makes it difficult to compare sequential photos side-by-side because they are scattered all over the Library screen.

I am using a new Lexar Card reader as well as a new Lexar CF card. The same problem occurs with Sandisk cards or even uploading directly from a camera using the USB cable. Please help.
 
Welcome to the forum. There is no sort order inherent in file systems. Image files and even parts of image files are distributed almost randomly in vacant parts of the disk The only way to instill an order to these files is when you list them in an app. Many apps default to file name. Lightroom defaults to added order. With a multi cored CPU, LR will import several files at once and some might finish sooner than others that have a lower sequential file name. The current/last import special collection is where you see the images first. They are always shown in the order that LR added them.
If you look at them in a collection or folder, you can set them to sort by Capture time or file name.
 
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Note that the Current Import collection can be set to another sort order (like file name or capture date) once the import has started. The only caveat is that it defaults back to 'Added Order' for each new import.
 
Thanks for all your replies. I suspect that my hard drive is fragmented and files are scattered all over different sectors of the HD (as I recall in my Windows days). According to my System Memory I have 68.7 GB available out of 499.25 GB. Does that seem to fit into my theory?

Anyway, I'm going to thin out some files, mostly Lightroom ".dng" files which appear to take up the most room in my Mac HD. I do have an external HD backup.
 
Your hard drive has little to do with the sequence in which photos are imported. It probably depends much more on how they are written to the memory card. Besides, MacOS X does not need defragmenting the hard drive. It's not as archaic as Windows. Just accept that this is as it is. We all see it.
 
Your hard drive has little to do with the sequence in which photos are imported. It probably depends much more on how they are written to the memory card. Besides, MacOS X does not need defragmenting the hard drive. It's not as archaic as Windows. Just accept that this is as it is. We all see it.

How are they written to the hard drive? Why did it work before for several years and now it does not? Blame OS X Sierra?
 
Thanks clee and Johan. I went to View and sorted according to "capture date" and yes! there was a vast improvement. Out of 32 photos uploaded only 6 were out of order. But I can live with that.
 
Thanks clee and Johan. I went to View and sorted according to "capture date" and yes! there was a vast improvement. Out of 32 photos uploaded only 6 were out of order. But I can live with that.

None should be out of order. Are those six perhaps stacked?
 
Not sure what you mean by stacked. If you mean they were stacked consecutively the answer is no. The out-of-order is rather random.
 
Lightroom has a feature called a 'stack'. It's a way to group images. Images that are stacked remain together in the grid, and sort by the first image of that stack. It's possible to stack images by mistake, because all you need to do is select them and hit Cmd-G. Depending on your settings, it may be quite dificult to recognize a stack, because all you may see is a small stripe on the 'slide mount' of the images.
 
Not sure what you mean by stacked. If you mean they were stacked consecutively the answer is no. The out-of-order is rather random.

OK just checked "how to stack in LR". No my photos are not stacked and I probably have little use for the feature at this time. But perhaps useful in future.
 
I'm going to thin out some files, mostly Lightroom ".dng" files which appear to take up the most room

Just following this thread and must comment on the quote-
If you ever import your photos using the "Copy as DNG" option, then the DNG files are your photos.
DO NOT DELETE THEM unless you want to permanently lose them forever!
They are not copies or previews or temporary files. Your photos are NOT "IN" Lightroom. The DNGs ARE YOUR PHOTOS.
 
OK just checked "how to stack in LR". No my photos are not stacked and I probably have little use for the feature at this time. But perhaps useful in future.

Can you post a screenshot of a grid that shows a few photos that don't seem to sort correctly?
 
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