Lugano

Hello,
I shot Canon 6d and download everything in one file that I call "AllPics"
There I select, delete and group the different shots.
Now I have ended up with, for example, 25 shots that should go into "snow"
That file already contain pictures from last winter.

How can I transfer those new 25 shot in a orderly way and have them file like snow001, snow002, 003 and so on?

Thank you for your help.

Georgez

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

How do you have the older files named/listed?

I certainly don't have the best answer, but mine are listed by date & name, e.g., 20170123snow001.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

select all the files you want to Rename in the library Module and under library choose Rename Photo. set custom text then hit enter. Within LR drag the new renamed files from their current location to the new location

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

George, LR does an amazing job at organizing your images, so there is no need to create a folder named snow. This is why it has keywords and collections. What I do precludes the need to have subject matter-based groups of images, as you do.

I have all my images in a folder called pics.
Then I have a subfolder for each year.
Then I have a subfolder for each photo shoot - which has an index, a brief description, and a date.

01.11 - Joe and Mary wedding - 1-15-17

The first four numbers represents January, and the 11th time I used the camera.
The description includes searchable text, and a verbal description
The date is self explanatory.

When I import I have the option to rename the files - for a wedding I might have the following - bridal party prep female, bridal party prep male, ceremony, reception line, reception dinner candids, photobooth, dance party. There is no need to create individual folders for each category, that is what collections do much easier and faster. Lastly, I may or may not use individual key words depending on the subject.

My current catalog starts in 2006 and goes to the current day, and has over 200,000 images. Similar to you, I have taken images for every snowstorm that has occurred. I have snowstorm in the folder title. If I wanted to see all the snowstorm images, I can simply go to the top level folder, which is your case would be "allpics" type Cntrl-F to bring up a simple search field, and then type snowstorm - instantly, my images would be filtered to only show me all of my snowstorm images, sorted with the oldest showing first. If I wanted to see just last year's storms, I would add 2016 to the search field.

To move your new shots to a folder called snow and assign the names snow001, snow002, etc, go to the library module and display the grid view - highlight the images you want to rename - and open the metadata tool in the right panel. At the top you will see File Name - it will probably say mixed. Click on it to show a dialog box that shows that you are renaming X number of files, a file naming field with Custom Settings, and an example. Click on Custom Settings to reveal a flyout that gives you the option to Edit the renaming pattern where you would change the image name to snow, and the sequence # to (001). Press done. Your files will be renamed. While they are still selected, you can click in the image area of one of the files - either in the film strip or the grid view, and drag and drop them into the folder of your choice.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

Gene, I do things a little differently. Here is my folder structure. Pictures>2017>01 January, 2017>Session name. But what really makes LR rock is the keyword. When you click to the right of the keyword, everything it popups up automatically. When using the filter at the top of the main panel, you do not have to remember the keyword or synonym is snow, snowstorm, snow storm, storm or whatever. I never liked renaming files for many reasons. Nothing could be simpler than the keywords. I have a keyword hierarchy. For example, Animals>Birds>Raptors>Bald eagles. I also add the location (State or Country>City or other identifier.)

I hate taking the time to assign keywords. That is, until I need to find a specific shot and can find it out of 47,000 pictures and 17 years in seconds.

Lugano

To all many thanks and hello mborn

I'll start with the simplest idea since I am new to LR and for that matter to any filing system.
Mborn if I follow your instructions means that I have to manually name every pic that I transfer to "snow" file?
Or LR will "automatically" rename them? (that should be ideal)

And an added question "could that be that a mistake in renaming some other pictures have cause that now LR can't find them"?
I am afraid to misplace more pics and won't be able to find them.

Best regards,

Georgez

Lugano

Hello Gene51,

Your system seems to be very throughly and with 200.000 pictures to back it up I could only say congratulations!
It will take me some time to digest and familiarize with your system and I only have 2000 pictures that deserves to be kept.
I really appreciate your time and efforts and I will save your system to be use in a near future.

Best regards,

Georgez

steve_stoneblossom Loc: Rhode Island, USA

Lightroom can do several things 'automatically', but you can set them as well. One method (I'm certain others will offer others) you can rename photos without having to do it individually: Upon export, you are given the option of renaming the entire set, as well as choosing the number sequence to be used within the new set. Just one of many export options available.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

I would not rename the pictures. Doing so will take way too much time and probably introduce errors. Follow my advice about keywords. You can select any number of pictures and assign one or more keywords in a second or two. And then find whatever you want in as little time. If you rename your files, then you can find them only by that name. Keywords allow you to pinpoint what you want not just by snow but also location or any other criterion you wish.

steve_stoneblossom Loc: Rhode Island, USA

I would agree, keywording can be extremely helpful. Wish I had done so from the start. At this point it would be a daunting task for me to go back and add.
You can do both keyword and re-name, if you have a reason for renaming. I like using clients' names. But keywording affords multiple search options.

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

Whichever method, you use, if you choose to index by date, I urge you to follow the above advice, listing the year first, followed by month and day. It doesn't matter if you use dividers or not (2017-01-17 vs 20170117) as long as you are consistent in your formatting.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

The long and short of it is to create a system and then use it without fail. No system is perfect. Just find one that works well for you.

altheman Loc: Christchurch, New Zealand

I am paranoid about computer reliability so this is the system I use:
When I import I allow lightroom to create a folder based on the date the images were taken. Also if I remember I will add any keywords that relate to the entire import if that is possible. After import I cull the images based on sharpness correct exposure etc.
The next step is to rename them, so, because this is the way I have always done it each image has its own number followed by the exposure date followed by the location followed by the subject, yes long file names but it is possible to set up presets so that it doesn't take to long, make sure you get the number right as Lr wont remember what the last number was.
I do this even tho I copy all my images onto another drive, even tho I back up my catalog to One drive and my images to back blaze. It is crazy and paranoid but I can tell at a glance the context of the image in windows explorer with out having to look at it.
If you want to learn Lr watch these videos: http://en.elephorm.com/photography/lightroom.html
They are now free so don't pay for them and they are for Lr4 but not much has changed since and the basics are the same.

altheman Loc: Christchurch, New Zealand

LOL one day I accidentally added the keywords "sunset, Stix Mill Reserve" to all of my images! At the time I was in the process of keywording all my images. It is at times like these that it is important to remember that Google is your friend! So what looked like a gargantuan task to fix turned out to be reasonably simple and quick, don't ask me how I did it I can't remember (refer to Google is... ) but I would recommend that you keyword all your images! If you do a couple of folders a day it will soon be completed.

SusanFromVermont Loc: Southwest corner of Vermont

Georgez, I can appreciate your fear of losing pictures because LR cannot find them. They are not really lost, still on your hard drive, but it is frustrating to have to re-connect them with LR. Hopefully I can help.

First, you will need to decide on a filing system. LR is very flexible making it fairly easy to devise a system that works for you. Gene51 and mborn use a system based on dates, which works well for professional photographers. They need to keep track of different photo shoots on a large scale. For me, that is not necessary because as a non-professional with "only" around 10,000 images (including originals, copies, edits), and I prefer to use a name-based system. Mine starts with the Master Folder that holds all of them, can be called something like LR Photos. Then I have large topic headings that are subdivided into smaller categories. For instance, People-->George-->Date or Location (up to you). Maine Pictures (or Vermont Pictures, etc.)-->Harbors in Maine (or Rivers and Lakes in Maine-->Union River (or Grand Lake Stream, St. Croix River, etc.)-->Date or some other identifier.

You can also choose whether to download images to your HD into a specific folder and sort them there, or to download them directly into LR and sort them there. When downloading into LR, you need to have a specific folder on your HD set up so the actual pictures will be saved there (LR is only a Catalog that looks at those pictures and allows viewing and editing). If you continue to download to directly to your HD, you can import the images individually or as a group. In LR, hit the "Import" button and then choose settings on the Import screen. For instance, checking boxes you want LR to perform certain functions, such as not importing suspected duplicates. You can choose a destination, or let LR create one based on dates taken. And you can un-check photos you do not want to import (or un-check all and re-check those you want).

I do not recommend renaming unless you have a specific reason for doing so. It can add to the confusion, and you want to keep things simple. For instance, I only recently began renaming because I now have 2 cameras. For the new camera, I just change the letters "DSC" (which Nikon puts in front the the image number) to "810" (for the new camera). The actual numbers I leave alone. This will leave gaps for images that are deleted, but it keeps images in sequential order as shot. You can make these changes in the camera or in the import menu.

Hope this helps.

Susan