Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Short answer is no, you shouldn't be worried.

I had a file structure in place 12 years before starting to use Lightroom. It's still intact. New files are added to folders created during import, and they conform to my legacy naming structure. LR doesn't "take over" as you describe. Instead it adds a searchable, indexed catalog of your images and corresponding previews. The only time you will be mystified is when you accept the folder defaults without reading what they are. If you designate where your files will be going during import, you will never have an issue.

I don't use keywords, as my images are arranged in folders that are descriptively named, making the names searchable. For client work I sometimes use keywords. You can add keywords on import, or in batch, so there should be no big maintenance job involved.

sodapop Loc: Bel Air, MD

You can move the images around all you want as long as you do it in Lightroom.

pecohen Loc: Central Maine

Thanks for your comments - they are very helpful in clarifying the matter for me.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Lightroom will move or copy images from one source to another during import. I always use copy when importing from a card directly to my computer. If I use an external file browser like Photomechanic or On1, both of which I use to view and cull before importing to my computer, then I use the ADD option in LR, which leaves the files in place and just adds them to the current catalog.

You can move your images outside of Lightroom. I do it all the time. I also use other programs to import my images from my card, depending on how many images. The actual "KEY" to using LR and doing file maintenance outside of LR is to make sure you take an extra few seconds to let LR know what you have done. This is simply using LR's folder view to sync the source and destination folders (right click on the folder name and sync). If the source folder is blank, after you have sync'd the destination folder you can merely deleted it from the catalog and then delete it at the OS Finder or Windows Explorer view.

Your automated back plan should include backing up both your image folders and the corresponding catalog and preview folders, you set this up once and let it run. No such thing as "doubling of backup tasks" if you are working efficiently and letting software do what it does.

I also use DXO 11, which is quite good. I have gotten past the "lord and master of my files" thing. I review a lot of student work, so I set up a lightroom watched folder in dropbox. If a student wants met to look at something he/she puts it into the dropbox folder. When I open LR I just check in the watched folder. The import process is completely automatic. If you don't like this arrangement, you can always view the file in bridge, and use ACR to make the changes - same raw engine, same quality, no need to open LR just for that one file. You remain the Lord and Master over your files.

dmagett Loc: Albuquerque NM/Sedona AZ

If you shoot Sony..Capture One Express for Sony is Great and free (64 bit processor only)

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Not true. You can move them around outside of LR as long as you let LR know by syncing the folders that have been changed.

kd7eir Loc: Tucson, AZ

Correct - you are TIED TO LIGHTROOM. That is foolish. Once you start using Lightroom you are FORCED to use it to do EVERYTHING with your image management. I'll take a sane application like DxO any day - If I move an image it does not lose it's it's mind. I can move or rename images to my heart's content, and DxO will happily edit them WITHOUT me having to do ANYTHING other than double-clicking on the image.

TRY editing a single new image in Lightroom - FIRST you have to launch Lightroom, THEN import the image, THEN Lightroom will FINALLY grant you PERMISSION to edit your image. The DxO workflow for this? Double-click on the image, start editing.

I'm not saying that Lightroom is bad, it's obviously exactly what many (most?) photographers prefer, it's just not for me.

sodapop Loc: Bel Air, MD

It is true, and of course you can move them out side of Lightroom. You simply have to let Lightroom know.

WayneT Loc: Paris, TN

To clarify, with Lightroom, if you do all of your moving and copying within Lightroom you won't have a problem. If you go outside Lightroom and move something you will have to re synchronize the folder. Lightroom for me is my primary database for all of my photos and I have multiple drives and backup drives on my system but I can get to everything within Lightroom the way I have it set up.

kd7eir Loc: Tucson, AZ

Again, EXTRA STEPS mandated by Lightroom. I prefer my software to make my life EASIER, and adding EXTRA STEPS is not EASIER.

Want to QUICKLY edit a single new image? Lightroom makes you use an ADDITIONAL piece of software for that PRIVILEGE. And even then Lightroom is not aware of that image.

Everything that that you just described needing THREE applications to accomplish (ACR/Bridge/Lightroom) I can do in ONE application with DxO.

As for backups, Lightroom requires you to create an EXTRA step when creating your backup routine - it makes no difference that it may be automated from that point, it STILL requires EXTRA STEPS in the setup. That is the opposite of user-friendly. My backup routine is simple - backup my image folders. One step and DONE. Anytime you add complexity to a task, it becomes exponentially easier for that task to fail.

I have NEVER lost an image or keywords or edits using DxO. Just by reading these forum's it's obvious that people lose images/keywords/edits via the ACR/Lightroom/Bridge/Photoshop schema.

Import 100 images in Lightroom, set up all your keywords, make several edits - Oh NO! my computer crashed! My Lightroom catalog is corrupted and I didn't have a chance to back it up before the crash. That's OK, just start over FROM THE BEGINNING.

Same scenario with DxO? There is no catalog to corrupt, so no starting over. You MAY lose the work you were doing on the SINGLE IMAGE that you were working on at the time of the crash, but everything else is already completed. Databases, which the Lightroom catalog is, are notoriously susceptible to corruption if being edited during a computer crash.

There is no way to spin it - Lightroom adds complexity to the workflow that DxO does not. This added complexity makes data loss far more likely.

Again, many people like it, and that's fine. But that popularity does NOT erase the FACT that Lightroom adds complexity to the workflow that is entirely unnecessary.

pecohen Loc: Central Maine

I just looked - without success - for a discussion about this to point you to. Since I can't find it, I'll have to just review what I've said elsewhere about this.

I do like Capture One Express; it's quick and easy to use. However, quick and easy to use often is accompanied by few options and that came back to bite me last July.

I'd taken some shots of fireworks and I used Capture One to do the raw processing and then followed that with some adjustments using Topaz filters and in some cases using Paintshop Pro. What I found was that in some cases the light from the fireworks was so over-exposed that it came out white in the final image and neither Topaz nor PSP could bring back any of that color.

Sleeping on that over-night, it occurred to me that the problem might well be in the raw processing. I went back with Raw Therapee for the raw processing and was, without much effort, able to get very nice color using it. Raw Therapee provides a mystifying number of options that can easily intimidate a new user. It takes some extra effort but often enough that extra effort pays off.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Gene, thanks for the dose of clarity. Some of this thread has been off track.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

I will gladly take the extra steps to ensure, as Kodak used to say about their DP2 Digital Print Production Software, "touch pixels ONCE." Using a database approach as Lightroom (or DP2) does lets you make all sorts of non-destructive edits to the image, whether it's raw or JPEG, and then apply those changes on EXPORT. You always keep the unaltered original file, and all changes are changeable database entries that are applied when the file is exported. It's easy to re-purpose an image. Need a JPEG for lab prints? Need 16-bit output in ProPhoto RGB for a large, color-accurate, archival inkjet print? Need a tiny web page image? Need CMYK color separations? You can get it all from the same original, saving virtual copies in the database and exporting files as needed.

Lr + Ps in CC is not for everyone, though. The learning curve is steep, and it does take a while to get your workflow established. If you're a casual user, start with the software that came with your camera, and consider some of the other tools on the market. Mac users would do well to look at Affinity Photo. Windows users have lots of choices, most of which are mentioned above.

WayneT Loc: Paris, TN

Very well stated.

sodapop Loc: Bel Air, MD

One step, Import directly into Lightroom. Put it exactly where you want on Your filing set up. ACR is waiting for you, already in Lightroom. No Bridge necessary. Talk about making it complicated???