lightroom page number colors

"Master Lightroom: Page Number Color Hacks"

By Ashley MartinNovember 28, 2025

Are you a photographer or digital artist curious about the color-coded page number feature in Adobe Lightroom? Dive into this comprehensive guide to understand how Lightroom's page number colors can enhance your workflow and organization.

Lightroom introduces page numbers to help you navigate your collections with ease. But why are these numbers color-coded? Let's explore how Lightroom uses color to optimize your post-production experience.

Understanding Lightroom's Page Number Colors

Lightroom assigns specific colors to page numbers based on the collection's storage location. This color-coding system aids in visual organization and simplifies your workflow.

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a woman walking down the street with her hand in her pocket and text that reads urban espresso

Here's a quick overview of the Lightroom color-coding scheme for page numbers:

Blue: Cloud-based collections
Orange: Collections stored on an external drive
Green: Collections saved on your local computer

Blue - Cloud-Based Collections

Cloud-based collections ( denoted by blue page numbers) offer convenient remote access and syncing capabilities. This color-coding reminder helps you manage and update files across multiple devices, ensuring data consistency and backup.

an image of a computer screen with many lines and numbers on it, all in different colors

Here are some popular cloud services that Lightroom integration supports: Adobe Creative Cloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, and SmugMug.

Orange - External Drive Collections

Collections stored on external drives (indicated by orange page numbers) are ideal for large libraries or projects demanding extra space. Lightroom's color-coding makes it simple to identify these locations at a glance.

Whether you prefer solid-state drives (SSD) or traditional hard drives, Lightroom ensures smooth navigation and efficient workflow with its intuitive color-coding system.

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Leveraging Lightroom's Page Number Colors for Efficient Workflow

Lightroom's page number colors serve as visual cues, helping you streamline your post-production process. By quickly identifying file locations, you can:

Effortlessly switch between collections for different projects
efficiently backup and sync files across devices
simplify file management and organization

Streamlining Workflow with Collection Sets

Combining Lightroom's collection sets and color-coded page numbers enables even more efficient workflow. For instance, you can group cloud, local, and USB collections into dedicated sets for quick access and improved organization.

Color-coding and collection sets work together, providing a robust framework to tailor your post-production experience, making tasks more manageable and your library more accessible.

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Troubleshooting: Changing Page Number Colors

While Lightroom's color scheme is designed to be intuitive, sometimes you might need to adjust the colors to suit your preferences or resolve conflicts. Adobe allows you to customize the page number colors in the Preferences panel:

Select Edit (Windows) or Lightroom (Mac) from the top menu.
Choose Preferences (Windows) or Lightroom Preferences (Mac).
Select the Presets tab.
Click on the Collection sets dropdown menu and choose Edit
In the resulting dialog box, adjust the colors as needed by clicking on the color swatch and selecting your desired color from the picker.

Embrace Lightroom's color-coded page numbers to boost your post-production efficiency and keep your vast library well-organized. By harnessing the power of color-coding, you'll navigate your photos with ease, making your Lightroom experience more intuitive and enjoyable.

Start exploring Lightroom's color-coded page numbers today, and watch as your workflow transforms into a seamless, cohesive process. Happy editing!