How to View Your Completed Order in Lightroom

Once your order is complete, you'll need to download your files from your Account Dashboard.  Simply click ‘Download Images’ in the Orders Panel, and a .zip file will begin to download.  (Please note that if you selected to receive JPGs on the order form, you may have multiple .zip files to download.) 

After the download is finished, move the .zip file from the Downloads onto your Desktop, as your completed order will NOT open correctly if you try to open from the Downloads folder.

Once the .zip file is on your Desktop, you can extract/unzip the zipped folder.  There are slight differences in how to do this depending on if you’re using Windows or Mac.

To extract using Windows:

1. Right-click the .zip folder and select ‘Extract All’.
2. Choose the location where you want your extracted files to appear (we recommend your Desktop) and click ‘Extract’. 
3. A new unzipped folder of your files will then generate.

To extract using Mac:

1. Move the .zip folder from Downloads to your Desktop.
2. Double click the .zip folder to open.
3. A new unzipped folder of your files will then generate.

After extracting the files, you may delete the .zip file.  

*Please note that we only keep completed orders on our server for up to 2 weeks after completion, so please be sure to keep a backup of your completed order.*

Viewing Your Completed Lightroom Catalog

(Culling/Color Correction, Color Correction, Lightroom Retouching)

After downloading your completed order, and moving your completed files to your Desktop, just double click on the completed Lightroom catalog file to open Lightroom. The catalog will NOT open correctly if you try to open from the Downloads folder.

“Help! My images are grayed out or missing in Lightroom!”

Not to worry!  This is completely normal!  Essentially this just means that Lightroom forgot where your files are located and needs to relocate the folder they’re in.  If this is what you’re finding, please follow these instructions:

• When you open the completed catalog from us, some (or all) of your images might be grayed out - this is normal!
• When you view the images in Grid View, there should be " ! " marks in the upper right corner of all your images.  Click on one of these and a pop up window should appear, telling you to relink to a specific original RAW file.
• Once you relink this, the rest of your images should start to load.  Often this disconnect happens if the folder of original RAW files is on an external device.  You essentially just need to show Lightroom where this folder is, by relinking an image first!
• If you find that the edits don't load in immediately after relocating the RAW files, sometimes closing and reopening Lightroom helps!
• If you don't see grayed out images with a  " ! " in the upper right corner - congrats!  Lightroom was able to relink to your images successfully!
  
  

“I also ordered Culling, Black/Whites, Sequencing, or Categorization - where are they in the Lightroom catalog?”

Culling

• The final images kept for color correction will either be flagged with the white flag, or in a separate Collection named 'Culled'.  
• Haven't used Collections before?  No problem!  You can find the Collections tab on the left side of Lightroom in the Navigator panel.  Just hit the arrow on the left next to 'Collections' to expand it!
• If you’d like to see all images (culled out and kept), just click ‘All Photographs’ in the Catalog tab!  Both the Collections and Catalog tabs can be found in the Navigator panel on the left side of Lightroom.
• If you are still not seeing your Culled images after following these instructions, please reach out to customer service by emailing support@photographersedit.com with some screenshots of what you’re seeing so they can assist you further!

Black & White Conversion or Copies

• If you ordered black/white conversion or copies - the black/white images will either be rated 5-stars, or in a separate Collection named 'B&W'. 
• Haven't used Collections before?  No problem!  You can find the Collections tab on the left side of Lightroom in the Navigator panel.  Just hit the arrow on the left next to 'Collections' to expand it!
• If you’d like to see all images (both color and black/white), just click ‘All Photographs’ in the Catalog tab!  Both the Collections and Catalog tabs can be found in the Navigator panel on the left side of Lightroom.
• If you are still not seeing your B&W images after following these instructions, please reach out to customer service by emailing support@photographersedit.com with some screenshots of what you’re seeing so they can assist you further!

Categorization

• If you ordered Categorization, you can find your Categories in the Collections tab.  Each category will have its own separate folder. 
• Haven't used Collections before?  No problem!  You can find the Collections tab on the left side of Lightroom in the Navigator panel.  Just hit the arrow on the left next to 'Collections' to expand it!
• If you’d like to see all images (uncategorized), just click ‘All Photographs’ in the Catalog tab!  Both the Collections and Catalog tabs can be found in the Navigator panel on the left side of Lightroom.
• If you are still not seeing your Categorized images after following these instructions, please reach out to customer service by emailing support@photographersedit.com with some screenshots of what you’re seeing so they can assist you further!

Sequencing

• If you ordered Sequencing, you can find your Sequenced images in the Collections tab.  
• Haven't used Collections before?  No problem!  You can find the Collections tab on the left side of Lightroom in the Navigator panel.  Just hit the arrow on the left next to 'Collections' to expand it!
• If you’d like to see all images (unsequenced), just click ‘All Photographs’ in the Catalog tab!  Both the Collections and Catalog tabs can be found in the Navigator panel on the left side of Lightroom.
• If you are still not seeing your Sequenced images after following these instructions, please reach out to customer service by emailing support@photographersedit.com with some screenshots of what you’re seeing so they can assist you further!

“Can I merge the completed order into my main catalog?”

Yes, you can!  The catalog you received from us is an entirely separate catalog, we recommend you relink that to the original RAW files and make sure that you're happy with the edits!  You can then import it into your primary/master catalog. 

To merge the completed catalog into your primary/main catalog:

• Close out of the completed catalog first by going to File > Open Recent and select your master catalog.
• Once your master catalog is open, go to File > Import from Another Catalog, and select the completed catalog you just had open.
• In the dialog box that pops up, make sure to select Replace: 'Metadata and develop settings only', and uncheck 'Preserve old settings as a virtual copy'. Then click 'Import'.
• At this point, you should see our edits load on top of your images!
• After you import, we recommend that you keep a backup of the completed catalog from us on an external device, as we only keep completed orders on file for up to two weeks after they've been completed.