Help with photo organising: I have several thousand photos filed mainly under date taken on my PC under My Photos. I am not familiar with photo processing but want to learn so what is...

Natgrani Loc: Texas Gulf Coast

I have several thousand photos filed mainly under date taken on my PC under My Photos. I am not familiar with photo processing but want to learn so what is the best (simplest) way to get my photos organised, Lightroom or Elements? If I download RAW/jpeg photos, are the RAW photos downloaded in a separate file or side by side?

Bram boy Loc: Vancouver Island B.C. Canada

Natgrani wrote:

I have several thousand photos filed mainly under date taken on my PC under My Photos. I am not familiar with photo processing but want to learn so what is the best (simplest) way to get my photos organised, Lightroom or Elements? If I download RAW/jpeg photos, are the RAW photos downloaded in a separate file or side by side?

I'm worse than you , mine don't even have a date . gone through through 150 cd still looking for one only about 1500 more to go .

Natgrani Loc: Texas Gulf Coast

Bram boy wrote:

I'm worse than you , mine don't even have a date . gone through through 150 cd still looking for one only about 1500 more to go .

You've lifted my spirits. I thought I was the only one.

Searcher Loc: Kent, England

Natgrani wrote:

I have several thousand photos filed mainly under date taken on my PC under My Photos. I am not familiar with photo processing but want to learn so what is the best (simplest) way to get my photos organised, Lightroom or Elements? If I download RAW/jpeg photos, are the RAW photos downloaded in a separate file or side by side?

Lightroom without a doubt

Bram Boy - card index files

amehta Loc: Boston

Natgrani wrote:

I have several thousand photos filed mainly under date taken on my PC under My Photos. I am not familiar with photo processing but want to learn so what is the best (simplest) way to get my photos organised, Lightroom or Elements? If I download RAW/jpeg photos, are the RAW photos downloaded in a separate file or side by side?

One of Lightoom's strengths is it's cataloging feature, that is the natural choice, as Searcher said.

Two free options to consider are Nikon View NX2 and FastStone Image Viewer. Since you have them in folders by date, you have already done the simplest level of organization. The main thing to add to that is a short description of each set, and that can be added to the folder name. My pictures are organized exactly that way, and it seems to work well. I do have separate folders for each year, since I don't like folders with hundreds of subfolders.

If you have shot jpeg+raw, they should be in the same directory, with the same name, but different extensions, .jpg and .nef. With FastStone Image Viewer, you see both pictures. With LR4, it seems you only see the nef file.

doogie Loc: Washington

Natgrani wrote:

I have several thousand photos filed mainly under date taken on my PC under My Photos. I am not familiar with photo processing but want to learn so what is the best (simplest) way to get my photos organised, Lightroom or Elements? If I download RAW/jpeg photos, are the RAW photos downloaded in a separate file or side by side?

I might suggest investing in Lightroom so as to provide a organized catalog. LR is an excellent tool for such organization. That and all edits made to the photographs are not destructive. Once you have the photographs organized in LR you can export them to Photoshop in Tiff format and do a complete workup with the original Raw files remaining safe and sound.

Another fun item within Lightroom is the ability to quickly make contact sheets from selected photographs as well as [when you have compiled a selected body of work you wish to print] the ability to use LR to quickly organize photographs into PDF's as well as send a selection of them off to print in book format if you so wish. Just a few fun little items within lightroom. Hope that helps out a little.

V/r,
Doogie

doogie Loc: Washington

Another thing to keep in mind is that LR works seemlessly in concert with Bridge. By utilizing Bridge, LR, and Photoshop together you will be able to create an effective and efficient workflow.

V/r,
Doogie

Searcher Loc: Kent, England

amehta wrote:

If you have shot jpeg+raw, they should be in the same directory, with the same name, but different extensions, .jpg and .nef. With FastStone Image Viewer, you see both pictures. With LR4, it seems you only see the nef file.

Little correction if I may, with LR, you can set it up to see both jpg and raw separately or together.

AZNikon Loc: Mesa, AZ

Lightroom 5 is the bomb! And it works seamlessly with PS Elements. I just got the program and the more I learn about it the more I love it. Enjoy!

GDRoth Loc: Southeast Michigan USA

Sounds like our first 2 posters need a Lightroom intervention.........YES, Lightroom is your answer.......invest the time to learn it's full capabilities and you will have a tool for the rest of your photography life..........and when you get posters saying stuff like "this is just as good as Lightroom, but it's free".....politely ignore them :)

brucewells Loc: Central Kentucky

GDRoth wrote:

Sounds like our first 2 posters need a Lightroom intervention.........YES, Lightroom is your answer.......invest the time to learn it's full capabilities and you will have a tool for the rest of your photography life..........and when you get posters saying stuff like "this is just as good as Lightroom, but it's free".....politely ignore them :)

:thumbup:

jpanar Loc: Reston, VA

The best I've tried is Lightroom. Especially when it comes to organizing for publication.

DB Loc: Myrtle Beach, SC

For those who want to use Paint Shop Pro X6 it has good organizational features similar to LR. The program is under $60 and is great for editing too. Learning curve isn't too steep either....

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

Natgrani wrote:

I have several thousand photos filed mainly under date taken on my PC under My Photos. I am not familiar with photo processing but want to learn so what is the best (simplest) way to get my photos organised, Lightroom or Elements? If I download RAW/jpeg photos, are the RAW photos downloaded in a separate file or side by side?

You'll probably get lots of recommendations but this is the way I do it.

I've also got a folder called "my photos". In that folder I have lots of files named in successive order as in "Photos 1", "Photos 2" and like that.

In those files I have listings for oh lets say family, specials,
perhaps a grand child's name and the year, that sort of thing.
When this particular file reaches say 4gb I burn it to a DVD and store those in a CD folder in a dark closet.

However I leave all my photos files on my external hard drive for easy access.

While I'm building a file I'll back it up from time to time to my second external. When I burn it I delete the back up and start again. I'm currently working on photos 31 which spans about 12 years of digital photos.

It works for me. Good luck

Shellback Loc: North of Cheyenne Bottoms Wetlands - Kansas

I have elements and the organizer package that comes with it is pretty nice. I can use tags and the he ability of the program to recognize "like" things in the photos (faces, building, scenes, etc.)that you designate really helps.
It has auto tagging and cataloging which is nice when you download a couple of hundred shots - it sorts and files them based on the criteria you have set.

Like all good programs - there is a learning curve and I found the use of 3rd party books ("program" for dummies) helps - either on-line or paper pages...