How do I append tags to photos with existing tags in Lightroom 3?

Question

Say my photos already have tags. I want to add one more tag to them, so I select them in Library, and in the Keyword pane I see those existing tags with asterisks (which means only some of the pics have this tag). Then I add new tag next to that one and press enter. As a result I see that the tags for individual photos changed to the one with literally asterisk. What is the proper way to append tags to multiple photos, already containing different tags?

Answer

The observation in your question is incorrect: Lightroom never changes the tags to literally contain the asterisk. You can show this with a simple test:

• In the Grid module, choose a folder with more than one photo in it
• Tag the first photo test1
• Now select it and the second photo (using Ctrl/Cmd click to multi-select): the Keyword Tags pane inside the Keywording panel will correctly show test1*
• Typing directly in that pane, change it to test1*, test2 and hit Enter
• Now examine each photo in turn: the first has the tags test1, test2 and the seconds just has test2.

You can also use the "Click here to add keywords" box (in the Keywording panel) or the Painter feature to achieve the same thing. Whichever way you do it, Lightroom will never alter a keyword to (e.g.) test1*.

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