hootio

HOW SMART IMPORT WORKS

From photo import to Lightroom, in one workflow.

Connect all your cards at once or import them in rounds. When Lightroom Connect is on, Hootio finishes copying photos before creating catalogs and building previews. Video footage can continue into VideoBot when enabled.

Download Smart Import Smart Import overview

SEVEN SIMPLE STEPS

Bring your cards together, at once or in rounds.

  1. 01

    Connect your cards

    Connect one card or select several cards at once. If you cannot connect them all, import them in a few rounds.

  2. 02

    Choose where everything belongs

    Select your photo folder, video folder and optional backup locations once, then reuse them for future jobs.

  3. 03

    Choose when to use Lightroom Connect

    Choose your preset in Settings. If you are importing cards in rounds, leave Lightroom Connect off until the last round.

  4. 04

    Let Hootio organise the shoot

    Photos and videos are copied into shooting-day folders with your chosen backups. Import finishes before the Lightroom queue begins.

  5. 05

    Create Lightroom Catalogs

    Hootio creates a catalog for each new photo date folder after import. The catalog lives in a Lightroom Catalog subfolder; your photos stay in place.

  6. 06

    Apply your selected preset

    Hootio loads the selected import preset into the new catalog before previews are built. Choose an installed preset or a supported .xmp file in Settings; None keeps default develop settings.

  7. 07

    Build Standard & Smart Previews

    Lightroom Classic opens each new catalog and the Hootio Previews plugin generates both preview types. Review the queue for completion or any task needing attention.

SET UP ONCE / LIGHTROOM CONNECT

Choose the way you import your cards.

Both ways end with one Lightroom catalog for each photo date folder. Choose the same Photo Workspace for every round of the shoot.

Best option: connect all cards together

Connect your single card or all your card readers. Select every card, turn on Create / update catalog, and choose Build previews if you want them. Start Smart Import once. Hootio copies the photos first, then prepares Lightroom.

You need to import cards in rounds

For the earlier cards, leave Create / update catalog and Build previews off. Import each round into the same Photo Workspace. When you connect the last card, turn them on and import it. Hootio includes the photos already saved in the same date folder when it prepares the catalog.

For a shoot spanning several dates, check that every date folder has its own catalog before you finish.

Set up Lightroom Connect

  1. In Settings → Lightroom · import preset, choose a preset if you want one. None keeps the photos as they are.
  2. Install Lightroom Classic 15 or later. Turn on Create / update catalog and, if you want previews, Build previews in Hootio.
  3. In the setup prompt, open the plugin folder. In Lightroom Classic, choose File → Plug-in Manager → Add and select HootioPreviews.lrplugin.
  4. Enable Hootio Previews, return to Hootio and choose Check again. Confirm that the plugin is ready before starting.
  5. Start the final import. Hootio creates or updates the catalog, applies your chosen preset and, if selected, builds Standard and Smart Previews.

If previews pause, check Lightroom, then choose Retry and continue in Hootio. Your copied photos and saved catalog remain in place.

LIGHTROOM CONNECT

Smart Import · Photo workflow

Ready to edit

  1. 01 · Photo import complete

    1,248 photos copied into the shoot folder.

  2. 02 · Lightroom Catalog created

    Saved in this date folder’s Lightroom Catalog subfolder, with all photos in the date folder added to the catalog.

  3. 03 · Selected preset applied

    Your chosen import preset is applied to every photo in the catalog before previews are built.

  4. 04 · Previews built in Lightroom

    Standard and Smart Previews are built automatically for all photos after the preset is applied.

    Standard Previews
    1,248 / 1,248
    Smart Previews
    1,248 / 1,248
Illustrative workflow with a preset selected and example counts. Choose your import preset in Settings, then enable Create catalog and Build previews. None keeps the default develop settings. Previews require Lightroom Classic 15+ and the Hootio Previews plugin.
A wedding photographer importing camera cards at a studio desk

FOR VIDEO PROJECTS · SMART IMPORT + VIDEOBOT

From camera cards to editable video timelines.

Choose the connected workflow for your video projects. Smart Import organises your photos and videos. If Lightroom Connect is enabled, its catalog and preview tasks run before the video tasks are sent to VideoBot.

Every card copied

Photos, RAW files, video, audio and related files from all connected cards are copied to your hard drive together, including files stored in different folders.

The shoot organised

Everything arrives in the right shooting-day folders, with your chosen backup included.

VideoBot continues

The video footage is synced, divided into chapters and classified by event, with Highlight Story design and long-form video editing handled automatically.

Editable timelines ready

VideoBot can generate editable timelines for Adobe Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve. Make every finishing choice your own.

NOTHING LEFT BEHIND

Even when a camera stores photos and video in different places, Hootio finds both.

You do not need to remember which camera hides video in another folder or manually hunt for extra files. Connect the cards you have, import them together or in rounds, and let Smart Import bring the shoot together.

YOUR CARDS

Card 01 · Sony

RAW + JPEG + MP4

Card 02 · Panasonic

MOV + WAV + sidecars

READY TO WORK WITH

Photos together

Import → Catalog → Preset → Standard & Smart Previews

Video together

Ready in its matching day folder

YOUR ORIGINALS STAY PUT

Smart Import copies your files without changing the cards.

  • Files on the cards are not renamed, moved or deleted.
  • You can connect several cards and start them together.
  • Files already in place are recognised instead of copied again.
  • A missing backup can be completed the next time you import.

A CLEAR FINISH

See what is safe, what was already there and what needs your attention.

Review the import result and your backups, then check the Lightroom Connect queue for catalog and preview completion. A completed import and completed previews are separate stages, so you can see exactly what is ready.

Choose your installer