Lightroom filmstrip

In Lightroom, the strip of photos along the bottom of the screen in each module is called the filmstrip.

Here are a few tips for working with it:

  • The filmstrip shows whatever photos you have selected in the Library module — a folder, a collection, or a catalog selection.
  • You can navigate through your photos in the filmstrip with the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard.
  • You can hide or unhide the filmstrip by clicking on the triangle at the bottom center of your Lightroom window:

Hide and Unhide Lightroom Filmstrip

  • The shortcut for  hiding and unhiding it is shift-F6.
  • You can make the filmstrip larger or smaller by hovering over the top black edge of it until you get the double arrow, and then clicking and dragging up or down:

Change Lightroom Filmstrip Size

Note that if you make it too small, your thumbnail badges (symbols for GPS data, keywords, crop, develop settings, virtual copies, stacks, collections, etc.) won’t show:

Lightroom Filmstrip Too Small for Badges to Show

  • If you hover over a thumbnail, Lightroom displays its file name:

Lightroom Filmstrip Display Filename

  • If you have given your virtual copy a copy name, it will display after the file name (Black and White in this case.) See my post on naming virtual copies for more information on this topic.

lightroom-filmstrip-virtual-copy-name

Lightroom Filmstrip Recent Sources

  • The right side of the filmstrip has a small version of Lightroom’s filter bar, allowing you to filter according to number of stars, flags, and color labels. Click on the word Filter to collapse or expand this. Watch my video on how to find your photos in Lightroom for more information on this filter bar, as well as the main Library Filter bar.

Lightroom Filmstrip Filter Bar

  •  Finally, here are explanations of the symbols at the top left of the filmstrip :

Lightroom Filmstrip Shortcuts

Click here to read more about working with two monitors, and here for an idea for using the second monitor window even when you only have one monitor!

 

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