As a professional photographer, my camera is my tool for capturing moments. But Adobe Lightroom? That’s my digital darkroom, my file cabinet, and my business headquarters all rolled into one. It’s the single most critical piece of software for nearly every working photographer today. But it’s also a big, complex program that can be intimidating.

This guide is everything I’ve learned over a decade in the field. We’ll go from the absolute basics of “what is a catalog” all the way to building a lightning-fast, AI-powered workflow that gets you away from the computer and back to shooting.

Key Takeaways

  • Lightroom is a Database: The most important concept to understand is that Lightroom is a non-destructive database. It doesn’t hold your photos; it just tracks them and remembers the edits you apply.
  • Classic vs. Cloud: Most serious professionals use Lightroom Classic (the desktop app) for its power and file management. Lightroom (cloud-based) is great for mobile workflows and syncing.
  • Organization is Everything: The Library Module is your foundation. A bad import or organization system will cost you hundreds of hours. A good system (using Collections) will save you.
  • Culling is the First Bottleneck: Manually sorting thousands of photos (culling) is the first major time-sink. This is a key area where AI tools can change your life.
  • Presets Are Not a Final Solution: Presets are a good starting point, but they are a static, one-size-fits-all tool. They fail in varied lighting, which is why professionals are moving to adaptive AI.
  • AI Editing is About Your Style: Modern tools like Imagen allow you to create a Personal AI Profile that learns your unique editing style. It then applies that style dynamically to each photo, finally solving the problem of consistency and speed.

What is Adobe Lightroom? (And Which Version is for You?)

At its heart, Lightroom is a photo management and editing application. But that description doesn’t really do it justice.

Think of it this way: In the old days, a photographer had a darkroom to develop film and a massive set of file cabinets with negatives. Lightroom is both. It’s where you develop your digital RAW files, and it’s how you organize and find any photo you’ve ever taken.

The Core Philosophy: A Non-Destructive Digital Darkroom

This is the number one thing new users get wrong. When you import photos into Lightroom and move sliders in the Develop Module, you are not changing your original photo file.

Your original RAW file is left untouched.

Lightroom simply records your changes (like “+1.0 Exposure” and “Cooler White Balance”) into its central database, called a Catalog. It shows you a preview of what those changes look like. This is called “non-destructive editing.”

It means you can always go back to your original, unedited image, even ten years from now. You only create a new file (like a JPEG) when you’re finished and you hit the “Export” button.

Lightroom Classic vs. Lightroom (Creative Cloud)

This is a common point of confusion. Adobe offers two different versions of the same core idea.

  • Lightroom Classic (LrC): This is the program most professional photographers use. It’s a desktop-first application. Your photos and your catalog live on your computer’s hard drive (or an external drive). It is the most powerful, full-featured version. This is the version we will focus on for this guide.
  • Lightroom (Cloud-based): This version is built around the cloud. When you import photos, the full-resolution originals are uploaded to Adobe’s cloud storage. This is great because you can then access and edit those full-res files on your phone, tablet, or a web browser. The downside? It costs a lot more for storage, and it’s missing some of the high-end organizational and output features of Classic.

My advice: Use Lightroom Classic as your main hub. You can still sync specific “Collections” from Classic to the cloud, which gives you the best of both worlds.

The Foundation: The Library Module (Your Digital Hub)

You’ll be tempted to jump straight into editing. Don’t. A messy house is hard to live in, and a messy catalog is impossible to work in. Your success in Lightroom starts in the Library Module. This is where you import, organize, sort, and find your photos.

Why Organization is Non-Negotiable

A wedding might have 5,000 photos. A commercial shoot might have 1,000. After one year, you could have 100,000 images.

What happens when a client from six months ago asks for a specific photo of their grandmother? Or you want to find your “best 5-star” landscape photos from the last three years?

Without a system, you’re lost. The Library Module is that system.

Step-by-Step: The Import Process

Every workflow starts here. When you plug in your memory card, Lightroom’s Import dialog pops up.

  1. Source: On the left, select your memory card.
  2. Action (The Big Choice): At the top center, you have four options.
    • Copy as DNG: Copies your RAW files to a new location, converting them to Adobe’s “Digital Negative” format. Some pros like this. I prefer to keep my camera’s original RAW format.
    • Copy: This is the one I use 99% of the time. It copies the photos from your memory card to a location you choose (like an external hard drive).
    • Move: This moves files from one location on your computer to another. You’ll rarely use this on import.
    • Add: This leaves the photos exactly where they are and just “adds” them to the catalog. Danger! Never use “Add” for a memory card. If you do, Lightroom will be looking for your photos on that card, and you’ll eject it and lose them.
  3. Destination: On the right side, you tell Lightroom where to put the photos.
    • My System: I use an external hard drive dedicated to my photos. I have a main “Photos” folder. Inside that, I have a folder for each year (e.g., “2025”). Inside that, I have a folder for each shoot, named by date and client (e.g., “2025-10-26 – Smith Wedding”).
    • In the “Destination” panel, I check “Into subfolder” and type in my “2025-10-26 – Smith Wedding” folder name.
  4. File Handling:
    • Build Previews: This is important. Previews are the JPEGs Lightroom makes so you can browse photos quickly.
      • Minimal: Fastest import. But browsing and zooming will be slow later.
      • Embedded & Sidecar: Uses the small preview from your camera. It’s fast, but not high-quality.
      • Standard: A good balance.
      • 1:1 (One-to-One): This takes a long time to import because it builds a full-size preview for every photo. The upside? Zooming to 100% in the Library is instant. I do this, then walk away and make coffee.
    • Build Smart Previews: Always check this. Smart Previews are smaller, high-quality “proxy” files. If you disconnect your external hard drive, you can still cull and edit your photos using the Smart Previews. When you plug the drive back in, Lightroom applies the edits to the full-res originals. It’s magic.
  5. Apply During Import:
    • Develop Settings: You can apply a preset on import. I don’t recommend this. You haven’t even seen the photos yet.
    • Metadata: I always apply a metadata preset here that adds my copyright, name, and website to every photo.
  6. Click Import. Now, you wait.

Organizing Your Shoots: Catalogs, Collections, and Folders

This is the next concept that trips people up.

  • The Catalog: The .lrcat file. This is the “brain.” It’s the database that stores all your edits and all the information about your photos. I recommend using one single catalog for all your photos. It’s easier to manage and search. Back this catalog up like your business depends on it. Because it does.
  • Folders: This is the physical location of your photo files on your hard drive. This is what you see in the “Folders” panel on the left. This panel should match the folder structure on your computer.
  • Collections: This is the virtual organization system. This is the best way to organize. A collection is like a playlist in iTunes. A single photo can be in multiple collections without creating copies of the file.

My Collection Workflow:

Inside the “Collections” panel, I create a “Collection Set” for each client (e.g., “2025-10-26 – Smith Wedding”). Inside that set, I create several Collections:

  • 01 – Cull: All 5,000 photos from the import go in here first.
  • 02 – Keepers: After culling, the “keeper” photos (maybe 800) get moved here. This is what I will edit.
  • 03 – Edited: The final, edited photos.
  • 04 – Sneak Peek: The best 10-15 photos I’ll send to the client right away.
  • 05 – Blog/Portfolio: The absolute best-of-the-best that I might use for marketing.

Rating, Flagging, and Keywording

While you’re in the Library, you need to sort your photos. This is culling. You can use three main systems.

  • Flags: Press P for “Pick” (a white flag) or X for “Reject” (a black flag). You can then filter to see only your “Picks.” This is a simple, fast, binary system.
  • Star Ratings: Use the number keys 1 through 5 to apply star ratings. This is my preferred method. My system is:
    • 1 star: Photos to “Reject.”
    • 2 stars: “Maybes” or “On the fence.”
    • 3 stars: “Keepers.” These are the photos I will edit and deliver.
    • 4 stars: “Sneak Peek” or “Blog.”
    • 5 stars: “Portfolio.” The best of the best.
  • Color Labels: Use keys 6 through 9 to apply colors. I use this after editing to mark a photo’s status. (e.g., Red = Needs to go to Photoshop, Green = Ready for blog, Blue = Ready to export).

The Culling Workflow: Finding the Keepers

Okay, you’ve imported 5,000 photos. Now you have to find the 800 good ones. This is culling. Manually, this is the worst part of the job. It’s a massive bottleneck.

The manual way is to go into Loupe View (press E), look at a photo, press 3 to rate it, and hit the arrow key. For 5,000 photos, this takes hours. It’s tedious and drains all your creative energy.

You can use “Compare” view (C) or “Survey” view (N) to see similar photos side-by-side, but it’s still slow.

A Better Way: AI-Powered Culling

This is the first place where I automated my workflow and got my life back. Instead of culling manually, I use an AI tool that does the first, heaviest pass for me. This is a perfect example of a specific problem that AI solves beautifully.

For this, I use Imagen. It’s a desktop app that connects directly to my Lightroom catalogs.

image

Here is how the Imagen Culling workflow solves this specific problem:

  1. Upload: I create a new project in the Imagen app and point it to my Lightroom Classic catalog (or just drag a folder in).
  2. AI Analysis: Imagen’s AI scans all 5,000 photos. It’s not just looking at a single photo; it groups all the similar photos together (e.g., all 20 photos of the bride walking down the aisle).
  3. Smart Selection: It analyzes each photo for technical and creative factors. It automatically flags photos that are blurry, out of focus, or have closed eyes. It can even detect if people are kissing (and knows not to mark those as “closed eyes”).
  4. Review: In a few minutes, Imagen presents me with the results. It has already selected the best photo from each group and given me ratings. It might show me 1,000 photos it suggests as “Keepers.”
  5. Download: I accept the results, and Imagen writes these ratings (stars and colors) directly back into my Lightroom catalog.

When I open Lightroom, my culling is 90% done. I just do a final quick review, and I’m ready to edit. It turns 3 hours of culling into about 20 minutes of review. It’s a total game-changer and the first step in a fully integrated system.

The Main Event: The Develop Module (Bringing Images to Life)

Once you’ve culled your photos (in my case, in the “02 – Keepers” Collection), it’s time for the fun part. Click on the Develop Module. This is your digital darkroom.

On the right side is a stack of panels. This is where you make all your adjustments. My advice is to work from the top down. The panels are arranged in a logical order.

The “Corrective” Workflow: The Basic Panel

This panel is your bread and butter. 90% of your look is created right here.

  • Step 1: White Balance (WB): This sets the overall “color” of the light. Is it warm (yellow) or cool (blue)? Is it tinted green or magenta? You can use the “Temp” and “Tint” sliders, or use the Eyedropper tool to click on something that’s supposed to be a neutral gray or white.
  • Step 2: Tone:
    • Exposure: Makes the whole photo brighter or darker. This is your main starting point.
    • Contrast: Makes the darks darker and the lights lighter. I use this lightly.
    • Highlights: Recovers detail in the brightest parts (like a white wedding dress or a bright sky).
    • Shadows: Lifts detail out of the darkest parts. Be careful not to push this too far, or it looks unnatural.
    • Whites: Sets the true white point. This is how you make your photos “pop.” Hold the Alt or Option key while dragging the slider to see when your whites start to “clip” (lose all detail).
    • Blacks: Sets the true black point. This adds richness and contrast. (Hold Alt/Option here, too).
  • Step 3: Presence:
    • Texture: A fantastic tool. It sharpens or softens medium-sized details. It’s great for enhancing fabric or gently softening skin without making it look plastic.
    • Clarity: This adds “punch” to the mid-tones. It’s a “gritty” look. A little goes a long way. Too much looks like a bad 2010s HDR photo.
    • Dehaze: Cuts through haze or fog. It’s also a powerful, high-contrast tool.
    • Vibrance vs. Saturation: This is critical. Saturation makes every single color in the photo more intense. It’s a “dumb” tool and can make skin tones look orange and awful. Vibrance is a “smart” tool. It only boosts the most muted colors and leaves already-saturated colors (like skin tones) alone. I almost never touch Saturation, but I use Vibrance all the time.

The “Creative” Workflow: Advanced Panels

Once your Basic Panel is set, you move down to these panels to refine your style.

  • Tone Curve: This is the most powerful (and most difficult) tool for controlling contrast. A gentle “S” curve (lifting the shadows, dropping the highlights) is a classic way to add beautiful, cinematic contrast.
  • HSL/Color: This is your command center for color. “HSL” stands for Hue, Saturation, and Luminance.
    • Want the green grass to be a deeper, more emerald green? Go to the “Hue” tab and shift the Greens.
    • Want the blue sky to be more intense? Go to the “Saturation” tab and boost the Blues.
    • Want the bride’s skin to look a little brighter? Go to the “Luminance” tab and gently lift the Oranges.
  • Color Grading: This used to be called “Split Toning.” It lets you add a specific color to your Shadows, Midtones, and Highlights. This is how you get those “cinematic” looks (e.g., teal in the shadows, orange in the highlights).
  • Detail: Zoom to 1:1 (100%) for this.
    • Sharpening: The “Amount” slider is obvious. The “Masking” slider is the secret. Hold Alt/Option while dragging it. It shows you what you’re sharpening. Drag it to the right until only the edges (like eyelashes) are white. This stops you from sharpening flat areas like skin or a smooth sky.
    • Noise Reduction: If your photo is “grainy” (shot at a high ISO), this panel helps.
  • Lens Corrections: Check “Enable Profile Corrections.” Lightroom knows what lens you used and will automatically fix distortion and vignetting.
  • Transform: If your building or horizon line is crooked, this panel’s “Auto” or “Guided” tools are lifesavers.

Power Tools: Local Adjustments (Masking)

Sometimes, you don’t want to edit the whole photo. You just want to make the sky darker or the subject brighter. This is “masking.”

In the new versions of Lightroom, this tool is incredible. You can now use AI to:

  • Select Subject: Automatically creates a perfect mask of the person.
  • Select Sky: Instantly masks the sky.
  • Select Background: Masks everything but the subject.

You can also still use the classic “Brush” (to paint an effect), “Linear Gradient” (for skies), and “Radial Gradient” (to brighten a face). You can add and subtract these masks from each other. This gives you total control.

Speed and Consistency: The Professional’s Challenge

Okay, you’ve edited one photo. It’s perfect.

Now you have 799 more to go.

This is the second great challenge for a pro. How do you make all 800 photos look like they belong together, in a consistent style? And how do you do it without spending 40 hours?

The Old Way: Creating and Using Presets

The classic answer is “presets.” A preset is just a saved “recipe” of all those slider settings from the Develop Module.

You can make your own (edit a photo, click the “+” on the Presets panel) or buy them from other photographers.

  • The Good: Presets are a great starting point. You can one-click an image and get an instant “look” (e.g., “Light and Airy” or “Dark and Moody”).
  • The Bad: A preset is static. It’s a dumb tool. It applies the exact same settings to every photo. The preset you made for a photo in bright, harsh sunlight will look terrible on a photo shot indoors at the reception.
  • The Result: You spend hours “fixing” your presets. You apply the preset, then you have to fix the Exposure, fix the White Balance, fix the Shadows… on every single photo. It’s still a massive time-sink and you still struggle for real consistency.

The New Way: AI-Powered Editing for True Consistency

For years, this was just the cost of doing business. But this is the second problem (after culling) that AI has completely solved for me.

What if, instead of applying a static preset, you could apply your brain? What if you had an assistant who has watched you edit thousands of photos and knows exactly how you would adjust the Exposure, White Balance, and HSL for each specific photo?

That is what AI editing does. And again, this is where Imagen comes into my workflow. It’s not just a culling tool; it’s a complete post-production platform.

Here is how Imagen Editing solves the consistency and speed problem:

  1. I Create My Personal AI Profile: This is the magic. I give the Imagen desktop app access to 2,000 or more of my already edited photos from my Lightroom catalogs.
  2. Imagen Learns My Style: Imagen’s cloud processing analyzes everything. It doesn’t just average the sliders. It learns how I treat shadows in dark-reception photos. It learns how I edit skin tones in backlit golden-hour photos. It learns my specific color preferences from the HSL panel. It builds an AI Profile that is my unique editing style.
  3. The Workflow:
    • After I cull my photos (using Imagen Culling), I stay right in the Imagen app.
    • I select my “Keepers” and tell Imagen to edit them with My Personal AI Profile.
    • I can also add Additional AI Tools at this step, like:
      • Straighten: Automatically straightens the horizon on every photo.
      • Crop: Automatically crops based on composition rules.
      • Subject Mask: Automatically creates an AI Subject Mask in Lightroom for me.
      • Smooth Skin: Applies gentle, professional skin smoothing.
  4. The Edit: In about 10-15 minutes (for 800 photos!), Imagen edits the entire shoot. It’s doing what would take me 10-20 hours of manual work.
  5. Download to Lightroom: I click “Download,” and all the edits are written back into my Lightroom Classic catalog. When I open the project, all 800 photos are beautifully and consistently edited. The best part? They are all slider adjustments. I can still grab any photo and make a final creative tweak.

This tool edits each photo individually, just as I would. A dark photo gets brightened. A bright photo gets tamed. A blue-shadowed photo gets warmed up. They all end up in my consistent, branded style.

What if I don’t have 2,000 edited photos?

This is a common question. Imagen has two other paths:

  • Lite Personal AI Profile: If you have a preset you like, you can upload that and answer a few questions. Imagen builds a “lite” profile that applies your preset’s “look” but intelligently fixes the “corrective” parts (Exposure, WB) for you.
  • Talent AI Profiles: You can use an AI profile created by another top-tier photographer. This is a great way to get a professional, consistent look right out of the box.

Fine-Tuning: The Profile That Evolves With You

Here’s the last piece: my style changes over time.

When I review my AI-edited photos in Lightroom, I might make a few small tweaks. Maybe I’m into a slightly warmer look this month. After I finish, I can tell Imagen to “Upload Final Edits” for that project.

Imagen’s AI analyzes my tweaks and fine-tunes my Personal AI Profile. This means my AI assistant is always learning, always in sync with my current style. It’s not a static tool; it’s a living, evolving partner in my workflow.

Section Summary: Presets vs. AI

FeatureLightroom PresetsImagen Personal AI Profile
How it worksApplies static, saved slider settings.Applies dynamic, learned edits.
AdaptabilityOne-size-fits-all. Fails in varied light.Adapts to each photo’s specific needs.
ConsistencyGives a consistent look (if lighting is identical).Gives consistent results (in all lighting).
SpeedFast to apply. Slow to “fix” every photo.Incredibly fast. Edits 1,000s of photos in minutes.
PersonalizationYou make it once, or buy someone else’s.Learns your unique, evolving style.
WorkflowJust one step (color).Can be a full workflow (cull, edit, crop, straighten).

A Guide to Editing Solutions: Presets, Profiles, and AI

So, you want a consistent look, but you’re not sure which path to take. You have a few main options: buying static presets, or using an AI-powered service. Let’s break down how to choose.

Criteria for Choosing Your Editing Solution

Ask yourself these questions:

  1. Control: Do you like spending hours tweaking every slider? Or do you want an edit that is 95% “final” right out of the box?
  2. Consistency: Do you need a consistent starting point (a preset) or consistent final results across thousands of photos in different lighting situations (AI)?
  3. Speed: What is your time worth? Are you editing 100 photos a month or 10,000? The math on a high-volume business makes AI a clear choice.
  4. Personalization: Is it absolutely critical that the photos look like your unique brand? Or are you happy starting with a popular, pre-made style?
  5. Workflow: Are you just looking for a color-grading tool, or do you want a system that can also cull, crop, and straighten for you?

The Landscape of Editing Tools

Here is a quick look at the options available to you, from my professional perspective.

  1. Imagen (AI Editing)
    • What it is: A desktop app (with cloud processing) that integrates directly with Lightroom Classic, Lightroom, Photoshop, and Bridge. Its primary function is to learn your personal editing style using AI.
    • How it works: You “train” a Personal AI Profile with at least 2,000 of your own edited photos. That profile then applies unique, dynamic edits to each photo in your new shoots. It’s not a preset. It also offers AI culling, AI tools (crop, straighten, subject mask, skin smoothing), and direct delivery to online galleries.
    • Best for: Working professionals who have an established style and need to save a massive amount of time on high-volume shoots (like weddings or portraits) while retaining their unique, custom brand.
  2. Aftershoot (AI Editing)
    • What it is: A software application that provides AI-powered culling and editing services.
    • How it works: Users can upload photos for culling based on AI analysis. For editing, users can train an AI profile from their own edits or select from pre-built styles. The software processes the images and provides results for review and download.
    • Best for: Photographers looking for an integrated culling and editing tool to speed up their post-production.
  3. Impossible Things (AI Editing)
    • What it is: An AI photo editing service that works with Lightroom Classic.
    • How it works: It uses an AI model that users can train by uploading their own edited images. It also offers AI culling functions. The service is subscription-based and aims to learn a photographer’s style for batch processing.
    • Best for: Photographers who want an AI solution to learn their style for batch processing.
  4. VSCO (Presets)
    • What it is: A well-known collection of presets and creative profiles designed to emulate classic film stocks.
    • How it works: You purchase and install the preset packs into Lightroom. You apply a preset (e.g., “Fuji Pro 400H”) to a photo as a one-click starting point. You must then manually adjust sliders, especially Exposure and White Balance, to fit the specific image.
    • Best for: Photographers who want a specific, popular, film-emulation look and are very comfortable making manual adjustments to every single photo.
  5. Mastin Labs (Presets)
    • What it is: A set of presets designed for “hybrid” photographers to match the look of real film scans (like those from a Fuji or Kodak film stock).
    • How it works: Similar to other preset packs, you apply the base preset and then use the included tools (like tone adjustments) to refine the look. The system is designed to give you a consistent film-like starting point.
    • Best for: Wedding photographers who want a very specific “light and airy” or filmic look and will be manually tweaking each image.

General Guide: How to Make Your Choice

  • If you are a new photographer: Start with the Talent AI Profiles on Imagen or a high-quality purchased preset pack (like VSCO or Mastin). This is the best way to “try on” different professional styles and learn what you like.
  • If you are a hobbyist: Stick with Lightroom’s built-in presets or a preset pack you love. Your photo volume is likely not high enough to need a full AI workflow.
  • If you are a working professional with an established style: The choice is clear. Imagen’s Personal AI Profile is the logical and financial next step. You’ve already done the hard work of developing your unique style; now you can automate the labor of applying it. It’s the only solution that scales your specific brand.

Beyond the Develop Module: Other Lightroom Superpowers

While 95% of my time is in the Library and Develop modules, Lightroom Classic has other powerful, specialized “modules” for specific outputs.

  • Map Module: If your camera has GPS, this module will automatically place your photos on a world map. It’s great for travel photographers.
  • Book Module: This lets you design and lay out full-length photo books directly within Lightroom. It has templates and integrates with services like Blurb for printing.
  • Slideshow Module: You can create a full slideshow with music, transitions, and title cards, then export it as a video.
  • Print Module: This is a very powerful tool for professional printing. You can create custom layouts, add borders, and manage color profiles for your specific printer and paper.
  • Web Module: This is a bit dated, but it allows you to create simple HTML web galleries of your photos.

The Final Step: Exporting and Delivering Your Work

You’ve culled, edited, and you’re done. Now you need to get the photos out of Lightroom. Remember, Lightroom’s non-destructive edits only exist in the catalog. To create a “real” photo, you must Export.

Go to your final collection, select all (Cmd/Ctrl + A), and click the Export button.

The Export Dialog Explained

This dialog box is your last checkpoint. Here are the most important settings:

  1. Export Location: Tell Lightroom where to save the final JPEGs. I always make a subfolder inside my main client folder called “Deliverables” or “JPEGs.”
  2. File Naming: You can rename your files on export. I use a template like “ClientName-0001.jpg”.
  3. File Settings:
    • Image Format: Use JPEG.
    • Color Space: Use sRGB. This is the standard for all web browsers, phones, and most print labs. Using anything else (like Adobe RGB) will make your photos look dull and flat on the web.
    • Quality: I use 90. 100 is overkill and creates huge files. 90 is the perfect balance of quality and file size.
  4. Image Sizing:
    • For Full Resolution (what I give the client): I leave this unchecked.
    • For a Web Blog: I’ll check “Resize to Fit” and set “Long Edge” to “2500 pixels.”
    • Resolution: This number only matters for printing. For web, it’s irrelevant. I just leave it at “72.”
  5. Output Sharpening: I always use this. Check the box and select “Sharpen For: Screen” and “Amount: Standard.” This adds a crisp, final “pop” to the exported JPEG.
  6. Metadata: I set this to “Copyright Only” to protect my info but strip out all my camera settings.
  7. Watermarking: You can add a watermark here if you need to.

Export Presets for a 1-Click Workflow

You can save your export settings as a preset. I have several:

  • Full Res Client (JPEG sRGB Q90)
  • Web Blog (2500px Screen-Standard)
  • Instagram (1080px Screen-Standard)

The Full-Circle Workflow: Delivery

After you export your JPEGs, what’s the last step? You have to upload them to a client gallery service like Pic-Time, Pixieset, or ShootProof. This is another upload, another wait.

This is the final piece of the workflow that Imagen is automating.

  • The Problem: I’ve culled in Imagen, edited in Imagen, and tweaked in Lightroom. Now I have to export 800 JPEGs (which takes time) and then upload all 800 JPEGs to my gallery (which takes more time).
  • The Solution: Imagen has a direct-to-gallery delivery feature. Because Imagen’s processing is in the cloud, my photos are already in the cloud after editing.
  • How it works: After I approve my edits, I can skip the “Download” and “Export” steps entirely. I can tell Imagen to deliver the final JPEGs straight to my Pic-Time gallery. I can create a new gallery or add to an existing one right from the Imagen app.

This means my full, professional workflow can be:

  1. Import to Lightroom Classic (and build Smart Previews).
  2. Open Imagen, point to the catalog.
  3. Cull with AI. (15 min)
  4. Edit with my Personal AI Profile + Crop/Straighten. (15 min)
  5. Review final edits in Lightroom. (1 hour)
  6. Deliver final JPEGs from Imagen directly to my client’s Pic-Time gallery. (5 min)

A process that used to take 2-3 full workdays is now done in under two hours, with 90% of it happening while I’m doing something else.

Conclusion: Your Workflow, Evolved

Adobe Lightroom is, without question, the center of the professional photography world. Mastering its Library and Develop modules is the key to taking control of your images.

But as professionals, our most valuable asset isn’t our software. It’s our time.

For over a decade, we’ve accepted that the cost of being a photographer is spending 80% of our time at a computer, culling and editing. That era is over.

The new workflow is about building a system. It’s about using Lightroom Classic as the robust, reliable “hub” for your files, and integrating smart, AI-powered desktop tools like Imagen to handle the labor.

These tools aren’t replacing your creativity. They are automating your repetitive tasks, using an AI that you trained to replicate your unique style. This system—Cull, Edit, Deliver—is what finally frees you from the computer and lets you get back to the work that actually matters: capturing moments and building your business.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are 13 common questions I hear all the time.

Q1: What’s the difference between a Lightroom Catalog and my photo folders? Your folders are on your hard drive and contain your actual photo files (RAWs, JPEGs). The Catalog is a single database file (.lrcat) that just points to those photos and stores a list of your edits. You must not move or rename your photo folders outside of Lightroom, or the catalog will get “lost.”

Q2: Should I use one big catalog or multiple catalogs? I strongly recommend one single catalog for all your photos, forever. It’s easier to back up, and you can search all your photos at once. The only exception is if you shoot two completely different types of photography (like weddings and real estate) for different businesses.

Q3: What are Smart Previews and why should I build them? Smart Previews are smaller, high-quality “proxy” files of your original RAWs. If you check “Build Smart Previews” on import, you can disconnect your external hard drive and still cull and edit your entire shoot. When you reconnect the drive, Lightroom automatically applies your changes. It’s essential for travel or laptop editing.

Q4: Lightroom is running slow. How can I speed it up? First, build Smart Previews and “Use Smart Previews instead of Originals” in the preferences. Second, make sure your catalog is on your fastest drive (your computer’s internal SSD, not the external drive). Third, optimize your catalog (File > Optimize Catalog).

Q5: What’s the difference between a preset and an Imagen AI Profile? A preset is a static recipe of settings (e.g., “+1.0 Exposure, +20 Contrast”). It applies the same recipe to every photo, even if they are different. An Imagen Personal AI Profile is dynamic. It’s an AI that you trained. It analyzes each photo and applies custom settings to each one, adapting to the light, just as you would.

Q6: Can Imagen edit my JPEGs, or only RAW files? Imagen can edit both. You can create a Personal AI Profile for your RAW files (which is what most pros do) or a separate one for your JPEG files.

Q7: What happens to my original photos when Imagen edits them? Nothing! Just like Lightroom, Imagen is non-destructive. It simply sends the list of slider settings (the “edit”) back to your Lightroom catalog. Your original RAW file is never touched.

Q8: How many photos do I really need for a Personal AI Profile? Imagen recommends at least 3,000 of your final, edited photos from Lightroom Classic. This gives the AI enough data to really learn your style in different lighting. If you don’t have that many, you can start with a “Lite Profile” (based on a preset) or a “Talent Profile.”

Q9: What is “non-destructive editing”? It means you are never, ever changing your original file. You are just creating a list of instructions (edits) that Lightroom reads. You can undo, reset, or create 10 different “Virtual Copies” (versions) of a single photo, all without taking up extra hard drive space.

Q10: What’s the best file format to export for Instagram? Export as a JPEG, sRGB color space, with “Image Sizing” set to “Long Edge” 2160 pixels (or “Width” 1080 pixels for a portrait). Sharpen for Screen at Standard.

Q11: What’s the difference between Vibrance and Saturation? Saturation is a “dumb” tool. It boosts all colors equally. This makes skin tones look bad and orange. Vibrance is a “smart” tool. It only boosts the most muted colors and leaves already-saturated colors (like skin) alone. I use Vibrance all the time and almost never touch Saturation.

Q12: Can I use Imagen’s Culling on its own? Yes. You can subscribe to just Imagen Culling or just Imagen Editing, or use them together as a complete suite.

Q13: Does Imagen work with Lightroom CC (cloud) or only Lightroom Classic? Imagen’s desktop app integrates with Lightroom Classic, Lightroom (cloud), Photoshop, and Bridge. It’s built to work with a professional Adobe workflow, with the tightest integration being with Lightroom Classic.