A simple plug-in for Adobe Lightroom created to facilitate a regular editing habit.

The plug-in has two functions:

1. Select random image Selects a random image out of all the images in the current catalog, and switches the view to loupe, so the image gets bigger.
2. Develop virtual copy of selected image Creates a new, named virtual copy (aaadotpm-routine) of the currently selected image, and takes you to Lightroom’s Develop mode.

At an interval of my liking, I can open Lightroom and press my mapped keyboard shortcut ⌃⇧R to bring up a randomly selected photo from my catalog.

If I like the photo, I will hit ⌃⇧D to do a quick edit and export it to a specific folder. This way, I won’t be tied to chronology, and won't be lured into doing edits for all the adjacent photos in the catalog.

The plug-in has only been tested on a Mac using version 10 of Adobe Lightroom. Feel free to download and modify to suit your needs. See the license for more information.

This software comes with no guarantees. Always use a test catalog when developing plug-ins.

On a Mac it is easy to map keyboard shortcuts to any menu item of any application.

1. Open system preferences and go to Keyboard > Shortcuts
2. Add a new shortcut for Adobe Lightroom Classic
3. Type the name of the plug-in function preceded by 3 spaces Select random image or Develop virtual copy of selected image

In lightroom, you should now something like: