markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

Hi All,

I subscribe to LR & PS CC. I'm a bit old fashioned with importing photos from my cards to my PC. My method is to insert the card(s) into a reader, find that card via My Computer or now in Win 10, File Explorer, select the images I want to upload and transfer to a folder on my dedicated internal Photo Drive. However, I'm now realizing that many others, (UHH & friends) import via LR. Eventually LR does contains my newly imported photos.

What am I missing? Is there an advantage of importing via LR. Is it more efficient? I'd appreciate feedback. I do acknowledge that I seldom "Develop" (I'm intimidated by LR) and almost exclusively use PS CC & Elements for PP. As an aside, I'm trying to push through the feelings of intimidation and learn LR via tutorials/ reading, ...

Thanks,
Mark

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

Of course it is a personal preference, however you save a step or two by importing from card directly into Lightroom, instead of copying everything from card to folder on computer disk, THEN importing from that folder into Lightroom.

For me, I go from camera card directly into Lightroom with my raw files, then after Lightroom builds my 1:1 previews I edit in Lightroom, make adjustments, delete obvious crap shots, ( keep trying NOT to take crap shots, but it seems I can't help it! :) ) and often finish photos in Photoshop, sending the files back into Lightroom where I will export them or publish as needed.

Lightroom is where I manage my entire library, never fool with file management tools from the OS. Lightroom is where most of my editing occurs, plugins and Photoshop complete the process, but the start and finish tool is Lightroom.

John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN

Mark, are you able to 'select' multiple image files so that you can 'group' transfer from card to hard drive? If so, direct file transfer would be more efficient than single file transfer by LR. On a Mac file group transfer is elementary, but I don't know if you can do that under Windows on a PC.

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

Thanks Don. I've followed many of your other posts and have a great respect for your opinions & knowledge. I think your explanation provides excellent reason for importing via LR. Now, I have to bite the bullet and begin learning LR, which I've avoided since subscribing to CC. I have the time. I just need to be patient.

Mark

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

Yes, multiple is an option. Thanks
Mark

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

Kool Beans Mark, take your time, Lightroom is a fantastic management tool that also gives you Adobe Camera Raw with a different interface for editing (All the sliders in Lightroom are really ACR) Lightroom and Photoshop compliment each other perfectly.

Lightroom is a parametric editor and Photoshop a Pixel editor - Edits in Lightroom are non-destructive since they only apply parameters to change the look of the image, the underlying image remains untouched, Photoshop will make all kinds of permanent changes to the original image, unless you learn to work in layers, to retain the original image.

I am sure I am wrong about lots of things, but I am learning too ;)

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

Thanks Don. Why don't you come & sit on my desktop for a year or so!!



:lol: :lol:

JD750 Loc: SoCal

You use PS and find LR intimidating? Interesting. I find it the other way around. But I came to LR from Aperture and LR is similar to Aperture. LR was originally created for cataloging/organizing and light editing, Adobe's answer to Aperture. Over time the editing capability has grown but PS is still the big kuhana with regard to photo editing.

If your method works and your happy with it why change it? Well you might save a step or two and save time by importing via LR.

However if your going to rename the images after transferring, it's best to do that before importing to LR because LR seems to lose track of the import status and tries to reimport them if they have been renamed, within LR, after import. Of course it should go without saying never rename them, move them, edit them, or delete them outside of Lightroom!

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

:D A year ago I was just getting started with Lightroom and was scared to death of Photoshop! I don't think you would have appreciated me ;)

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

I'm a little confused. If you are using Ps CC and PSE 13/14 or whatever, why worry about Lr CC at all? You don't import in to a database with Ps or PSE, just copy or move your files from your camera or card to your HDD. Lr is mostly for cataloging and much less so for PP beyond the most basic. If you know Ps, Lr is mainly of use for cataloging and organization for you. Lr is not a pixel editor or a program that allows actual layers to be used. The processing tools should be easier than Ps or PSE (though more basic and limited), so should not be intimidating to you. Though, some like myself find the use of the database confusing (being a heavy Windows File Manager user (A no-no with Lr)), so I have Lr but don't use it.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

Yes well said. I still find the old school method, create a "filename_PSed" copy for editing to be the best hedge against corruption of the original. It more than doubles the disk space required but hey, storage is cheap compared to taking another vacation to reshoot that great image! Lol.

Another advantage of using LR is it will hand off a TIFF copy of the RAW to PS, thus preserving the original (and doubling the storage space requirement).

Dan, will PS also do that for a DNG formatted file?

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

Thanks JD. I do not rename very often. I do create a main folder for import from card - then I PP via PS or Elements, then create a subfolder called, "Adjusted" - then if necessary create a sub/sub folder called "Resized". That seems to work for me. The laborious task is the selection process for keeping images from the card. I do not delete in the camera, usually too busy at the shoot to view & delete. I usually use Windows - view each image - if worth keeping I save it to my new folder. Sometimes, I open groups of images in PS, view and delete those unworthy and then using batch, import those remaining to the selected folder on my drive. My method seems to work, but there may be better ways of handling the import. Hence my UHH inquiry.

Mark

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

Thanks for your response. It appears we are "soul mates" with File Explorer. I can see all my photos in LR, because my dedicated drive main folder is "My Pictures" (not Win Library - my own) and I upload my card(s) to folders within. Maybe my limited use of LR works for me. It is nice to be able to view images via the catalog as opposed to File Explorer. From reading many UHH posts, I feel I may be missing some advantages by using LR for import.
Mark

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Your's is a really hard question to answer. LR and PS, or PSE, are very different. Without some study those differences may not be so obvious.

Your suggestion that LR has only basic editing capability may once have been true. Tools have been added over time. I started with LR4 and even I've seen significant changes. Still, PS has more tools that may never get to LR. Because of that LR, one of the tools in LR is to quickly get an image file into PS and then back.

Why? An example might be a slightly underexposed photograph with an ugly sensor dust spot and an irritating tourist in the way shot in RAW. LR can quickly fix the dust spot and exposure. Optionally you can adjust some color, clarity and (now) even haze. You can try to get rid of the irritating tourist in LR, but PS will do far better.

To say using the Clone Stamp or Content Aware Healing Brush tools on a layer adjustment is a complex statement. But, when you see them work the magic sauce is impressive.

Another example might be an amazing sunset over a small seaside village shot. Parts of the scene are still very well lit, but the village is fading into dark shadow. Take two shots, on for the well lit part and one for the amazing village detail. LR might put the two together fairly well with it's newish HDR merge. In PS you could put each exposure on a different "layer" and combine them so that a printed image looks like what you remember your eye sent to your brain.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Mark,

A long time ago I started keeping my photos organized with Windows Explorer in folders organized by camera and date. Each camera gets it's own folder and in that folder will be a lot of sub folders with date titles. Sometimes I would rename a date file with something that would suggest a trip, destination or event.

I can still do that. Then with the LR Import process, it will register where those are. It won't move them, rename them or mess with them. It only records where they are. If I want to move or rename folders I can do it as easily in LR as Explorer.

The LR Import options are many. My prefererd method now is to combine the copy (from SD card) to computer process with the location registering prosess in the Import dialog. In other words, I pull the card from the camera, insert it in the computer, launch LR and have it put it in the same file structure I used to use. But now I have my cake and get to eat it too. The image files are where I want them and I get to use Lightroom for fast culling, preview and even some pretty serious editing.

Bill

PS: In LR, you can right click an image an select "Show in Explorer" and you are back to seeing it where you used to see it.