Lightroom When You Stop: Need Solution
Dec 22, 2021 17:42:38 #
How do you leave your photos to your heirs, or even to yourself after you no longer can take photos?
With more than 15,000 photos in Lightroom, that have involved many year-hours of editing, what solution are there to leave them for the future? Adobe say when you stop your subscription the photos remain in their un-edited state, in the folders originally set up. (for many of us that is date folders by years).
A less than satisfactory solution, which would take lots of work, is to export all of them, perhaps to a new file structure along the lines of your "collections" (if every photo is in a collection) but even then you loose the ability to search on all text like key words etc.
Anyone with a solution along the lines of a search and read-only, non subscription solution for years of work?
With more than 15,000 photos in Lightroom, that have involved many year-hours of editing, what solution are there to leave them for the future? Adobe say when you stop your subscription the photos remain in their un-edited state, in the folders originally set up. (for many of us that is date folders by years).
A less than satisfactory solution, which would take lots of work, is to export all of them, perhaps to a new file structure along the lines of your "collections" (if every photo is in a collection) but even then you loose the ability to search on all text like key words etc.
Anyone with a solution along the lines of a search and read-only, non subscription solution for years of work?
Dec 22, 2021 18:19:30 #
You should consult the Adobe documentation directly to confirm. My general understanding is:
1. Your LR catalog remains available for Library mode access and review of all images as well as ongoing Export module access of the current edit status of all your images.
2. The Develop model is disabled for any editing of images.
3. No new import processing into the LR library after you've suspended (cancelled) your Adobe subscription.
The points above disagree on several points within your original post. The exact details should be reviewed with Adobe or online 'experts' in the Adobe software.
Regarding leaving your images for prosperity, you definitely should be exporting your edited images into a proper organization. All your keywords are written into those export image files. If uploaded to a sharesite like Flickr and others, those keywords are brought along as hyperlinks within that target software / sharesite.
Personally, I would plan and execute a transition plan of my images. This would include all the following:
A. Export images at a minimum of 2048px on the long-side and / or the resolution of my family's widest HD TV, say 3840px for a 4K TV. Possibly export images at full-resolution or do both, 'share size' and full-resolution.
B. Descriptively rename all images during the Step-A export, such as a generic <YYYYMMDD-Topic-SeqNum> implemented via the LR export commands / formats. Example: 20101031-Halloween-0010.
C. Create an 'export' folder structure using YYYY high-level folders and YYYYMMDD-Topic subfolders.
D. Perform and confirm all the export actions (A-C) before notifying Adobe to disable the subscription.
E. Document, in writing such as email or MS Word, the locations and folder structure of my exported images. Include an explanation of Lightroom and all original images, folders. Explain (summary) the size and purpose of the export images, such as share-size vs full-resolution.
F. Transfer my exported images to a share site like Dropbox or physical media like CD / DVD, including the Step-E documentation file included in the transfer media.
G. Provide copies of the images and technical documentation to 1 to several (all?) family members, either via download links or copies of the physical CD / DVD media.
H. Assure my Power of Attorney / designated Executor of the Estate is knowledgeable of all my account numbers and sign-on credentials, including your personal Adobe software subscription, in the hope someone will want to restart the subscription. If password protected, include the basic sign-on credentials to start and access your primary workstation.
Optional:
D2: Run an additional export of all images as DNGs that allows for the transfer of the LR edit parameters into a target LR catalog. This may / may not be more useful than some taking over your LRCAT file and / or importing your LRCAT file into their own active LR catalog. Include explanation of where and why the DNGs are located on your workstation.
E2: Document your cameras and RAW file formats / original source files if a photographer in your family wants to take over these files. By putting these details in writing and storing the documentation along with export images, it may be eventually be a grandkid or in-law in the far future that receives, understands and utilizes this transition effort.
1. Your LR catalog remains available for Library mode access and review of all images as well as ongoing Export module access of the current edit status of all your images.
2. The Develop model is disabled for any editing of images.
3. No new import processing into the LR library after you've suspended (cancelled) your Adobe subscription.
The points above disagree on several points within your original post. The exact details should be reviewed with Adobe or online 'experts' in the Adobe software.
Regarding leaving your images for prosperity, you definitely should be exporting your edited images into a proper organization. All your keywords are written into those export image files. If uploaded to a sharesite like Flickr and others, those keywords are brought along as hyperlinks within that target software / sharesite.
Personally, I would plan and execute a transition plan of my images. This would include all the following:
A. Export images at a minimum of 2048px on the long-side and / or the resolution of my family's widest HD TV, say 3840px for a 4K TV. Possibly export images at full-resolution or do both, 'share size' and full-resolution.
B. Descriptively rename all images during the Step-A export, such as a generic <YYYYMMDD-Topic-SeqNum> implemented via the LR export commands / formats. Example: 20101031-Halloween-0010.
C. Create an 'export' folder structure using YYYY high-level folders and YYYYMMDD-Topic subfolders.
D. Perform and confirm all the export actions (A-C) before notifying Adobe to disable the subscription.
E. Document, in writing such as email or MS Word, the locations and folder structure of my exported images. Include an explanation of Lightroom and all original images, folders. Explain (summary) the size and purpose of the export images, such as share-size vs full-resolution.
F. Transfer my exported images to a share site like Dropbox or physical media like CD / DVD, including the Step-E documentation file included in the transfer media.
G. Provide copies of the images and technical documentation to 1 to several (all?) family members, either via download links or copies of the physical CD / DVD media.
H. Assure my Power of Attorney / designated Executor of the Estate is knowledgeable of all my account numbers and sign-on credentials, including your personal Adobe software subscription, in the hope someone will want to restart the subscription. If password protected, include the basic sign-on credentials to start and access your primary workstation.
Optional:
D2: Run an additional export of all images as DNGs that allows for the transfer of the LR edit parameters into a target LR catalog. This may / may not be more useful than some taking over your LRCAT file and / or importing your LRCAT file into their own active LR catalog. Include explanation of where and why the DNGs are located on your workstation.
E2: Document your cameras and RAW file formats / original source files if a photographer in your family wants to take over these files. By putting these details in writing and storing the documentation along with export images, it may be eventually be a grandkid or in-law in the far future that receives, understands and utilizes this transition effort.
Dec 22, 2021 18:20:35 #
lreisner
Loc: Union,NJ
rleonetti wrote:
How do you leave your photos to your heirs, or eve... (show quote)
LRC doesn't completely stop. As far as I know you can still view and export pictures from LRC, but the other modules will not work. Having said that, I have considered this topic as well.
I have over 70,000 pictures. We both have a lot of pictures. The real question is whether our heirs will either have the time or desire to do anything with such a massive number of pictures. Sadly probably not. I have inherited hundreds of pictures from my parents and grandparents. Most are unidentified pictures that have little significance to anybody. The bottom line, chose the pictures you think your family would value, and print them and put them in albums or create photo books. If the pictures are of people, lable them. This might not be the answer that you want to hear, but I think it is realistic. If you have a heir that is into photography, ask them if they would like your pictures.
The odds are, not that I want to think about it, my digital files will follow me into the great beyond.
Dec 22, 2021 18:23:27 #
Good reason not to use the cloud.
All my images are on the desktop hard drive, edited and not.
My heirs can just copy them to a fob or something.
Of course they'd have to install DPP from Canon to edit the RAW files on their system if they wanted to do so.
Not sure why you would loose your edits.......
All my images are on the desktop hard drive, edited and not.
My heirs can just copy them to a fob or something.
Of course they'd have to install DPP from Canon to edit the RAW files on their system if they wanted to do so.
Not sure why you would loose your edits.......
Dec 22, 2021 18:28:21 #
rleonetti wrote:
How do you leave your photos to your heirs, or eve... (show quote)
I will be interested to see the responses to this thread.
Dec 22, 2021 18:30:00 #
A file dump of 100 unedited images is so so much less likely to be of any use as compared to a documented transfer of 22 culled and edited (finished) images from the same event. Multiple that 20% (or less) keeper ratio against an library of 70,000 original images, and you begin to see the critical importance of aggressive culling of all your image down to only the best, deleting the rest.
Dec 22, 2021 18:55:31 #
jscorbin
Loc: Woodinville, WA
rleonetti wrote:
How do you leave your photos to your heirs, or eve... (show quote)
If you stop a subscription to Lightroom, you only lose access to the Develop and Map modules, mobile sync, and Photoshop. The Library module continues to work, so you have the final edit, keyword search, etc. See, for example, https://www.lightroomqueen.com/cancel-cc-subscription-photos/ -- and the Q/A discussion below from Patty Love. She was able to copy her husband's photo collection to her computer before she cancelled the Lightroom subscription, and could still use the Library -- including Quick Develop and edit in an external app.
What you do depends on whether one or more of your heirs would be able/willing to do something similar, perhaps if you left instructions. If they would not, or if you are unsure, then exporting the photos as high-quality, full-res JPEGs to a folder structure and including all metadata plus the keyword tags in the exported photos would seem to be a reasonable back-up plan.
If one of your heirs were handy with scripting but didn't use Lightroom, they could use a metadata reader app and find photos based on the keywords and metadata.
Dec 22, 2021 19:03:46 #
I inherited a large slide collection from my father, who passed away in 2005. Slides in boxes, in carousels, and a projector even. I have moving company boxes full of them.
I have never opened any of them.
I have never opened any of them.
Dec 22, 2021 19:15:26 #
Just Fred wrote:
I inherited a large slide collection from my father, who passed away in 2005. Slides in boxes, in carousels, and a projector even. I have moving company boxes full of them.
I have never opened any of them.
I have never opened any of them.
My father digitized his lifetime of slides a few years ago, back to a camera he got in the US Navy for pictures in Europe and N. Africa before he even met my mother. I wish he'd asked for help before he did that work and then discarded all the slides without telling me ... but still, I've made use of many of those scans that otherwise would be unavailable and maybe never a scanning task I'd take on myself.
Dec 22, 2021 19:57:35 #
As noted above, you can still use LR to export your edited images to jpg (or other available formats). For most family use, high quality jpg formats are ideal since they are widely used and people are familiar with them. Although the jpg is less than 3 decades old, it has emerged as an important format for image storage and display and is supported by all current operating systems. Given the wide use of jpg formats, I would guess that images in that format would be readable for the next 50 years or more by consumer devices.
The file name is in the metadata panel. I am not sure whether or not you can edit the file name or other metadata in LR after stopping the subscription, but you can certainly change file names in the OS outside of LR. As long as you have a current subscription you should:
(1) copy your catalog file with a new name.
(2) Open the new catalog and do your aggressive culling. That will give you your original catalog with everything and a new catalog with only the images worth handing down. The advantage of culling in a separate catalog is that if you screw up, you haven't lost anything. All your originals are in your old master catalog.
(3) Unless you already have meaningful file names, rename all the images so that the image file name will tell the observer what the image is about. Probably easier to do in LR than it would be to do after the fact using the OS.
(4) Export everything in the new catalog. All the keywords are preserved in the exported files in the metadata. I don't have a Mac, but Windows File Explorer will let you see the keywords. Right click on the file, click on properties. On the Details tab, the keywords will be listed under Tags. This may or may not be useful to your successors depending on just how familiar they are with the concept of metadata.
(5) Produce an organized folder structure to hold your image files and save the images into the appropriate folders.
(6) Copy the folder structure to a robust medium and distribute copies to all your relatives (or other heirs).
Meaningful file names should be part of your workflow so that you don't have to change things later.
The organized folder structure should be generated now, while you have all your faculties and can think about it coherently.
The only problem with this approach is that whenever you take a new photo you have to put it in your old master catalog and then consider whether you have to copy it to the new catalog for your heirs. In the new catalog File > Import from another catalog will allow you to copy images from your master catalog to the new catalog (including all the keywords and edits).
Alternatively you could skip items (1) - (2) and create a collection set in which you create topical collections. You can then place your worthy images in the appropriate collection. In that case you don't have to delete anything, just fail to add an inferior image into one of the collections. This approach may be more flexible, as you could add or subtract images from the collection later (i.e. continue your culling later). Items (3) - (6) above should still be done.
CHG_CANON suggests:
(A) 2048 pixel wide limits (or wider). Personally, I think they should be saved at the original width. They can be reduced by the heirs if needed. Harder to expand them if the heir wants to crop them.
(B) Paul gives a sample file name. I think the date is important. YYYYMMDD or YYYY-MM-DD is a good date format (ISO8601) and can be sorted numerically and chronologically the same.
(F) I am not a fan of CD/DVD as a storage medium. It is certainly a good transfer medium but when sharing with your heirs are they likely to transfer the files to a more robust medium? You want a medium that will last. Media change with time and a medium that is good today may be inferior tomorrow. Archiving data/images requires maintenance. I should point out that none of my digitized images is more than 35 years old. The longest lasting family photos I have are all prints (silver on paper).
Paul's other recommendations are good.
Further, consider generating annotated versions of important photos. This involves adding text to the image, which will alter any artistic quality in the image, but will be very useful to people looking at the image a century from now. In particular be sure that names of people in the image are included. In the metadata at a minimum, but for important images they should be in the annotation. I have a writeup on Adding Documentation to Family Photos which might give you some ideas.
You have a lot of work to do.
The file name is in the metadata panel. I am not sure whether or not you can edit the file name or other metadata in LR after stopping the subscription, but you can certainly change file names in the OS outside of LR. As long as you have a current subscription you should:
(1) copy your catalog file with a new name.
(2) Open the new catalog and do your aggressive culling. That will give you your original catalog with everything and a new catalog with only the images worth handing down. The advantage of culling in a separate catalog is that if you screw up, you haven't lost anything. All your originals are in your old master catalog.
(3) Unless you already have meaningful file names, rename all the images so that the image file name will tell the observer what the image is about. Probably easier to do in LR than it would be to do after the fact using the OS.
(4) Export everything in the new catalog. All the keywords are preserved in the exported files in the metadata. I don't have a Mac, but Windows File Explorer will let you see the keywords. Right click on the file, click on properties. On the Details tab, the keywords will be listed under Tags. This may or may not be useful to your successors depending on just how familiar they are with the concept of metadata.
(5) Produce an organized folder structure to hold your image files and save the images into the appropriate folders.
(6) Copy the folder structure to a robust medium and distribute copies to all your relatives (or other heirs).
Meaningful file names should be part of your workflow so that you don't have to change things later.
The organized folder structure should be generated now, while you have all your faculties and can think about it coherently.
The only problem with this approach is that whenever you take a new photo you have to put it in your old master catalog and then consider whether you have to copy it to the new catalog for your heirs. In the new catalog File > Import from another catalog will allow you to copy images from your master catalog to the new catalog (including all the keywords and edits).
Alternatively you could skip items (1) - (2) and create a collection set in which you create topical collections. You can then place your worthy images in the appropriate collection. In that case you don't have to delete anything, just fail to add an inferior image into one of the collections. This approach may be more flexible, as you could add or subtract images from the collection later (i.e. continue your culling later). Items (3) - (6) above should still be done.
CHG_CANON suggests:
(A) 2048 pixel wide limits (or wider). Personally, I think they should be saved at the original width. They can be reduced by the heirs if needed. Harder to expand them if the heir wants to crop them.
(B) Paul gives a sample file name. I think the date is important. YYYYMMDD or YYYY-MM-DD is a good date format (ISO8601) and can be sorted numerically and chronologically the same.
(F) I am not a fan of CD/DVD as a storage medium. It is certainly a good transfer medium but when sharing with your heirs are they likely to transfer the files to a more robust medium? You want a medium that will last. Media change with time and a medium that is good today may be inferior tomorrow. Archiving data/images requires maintenance. I should point out that none of my digitized images is more than 35 years old. The longest lasting family photos I have are all prints (silver on paper).
Paul's other recommendations are good.
Further, consider generating annotated versions of important photos. This involves adding text to the image, which will alter any artistic quality in the image, but will be very useful to people looking at the image a century from now. In particular be sure that names of people in the image are included. In the metadata at a minimum, but for important images they should be in the annotation. I have a writeup on Adding Documentation to Family Photos which might give you some ideas.
You have a lot of work to do.
Dec 22, 2021 20:00:21 #
PS: If you haven't done so recently, back it all up. Now.
Dec 22, 2021 20:05:29 #
Just Fred wrote:
I inherited a large slide collection from my father, who passed away in 2005. Slides in boxes, in carousels, and a projector even. I have moving company boxes full of them.
I have never opened any of them.
I have never opened any of them.
I have my grandparents slides. They passed away in the '60s. I saved a few of them where I could identify people, but most of them are useless. But I didn't throw them away (yet). Maybe next time I move.
Dec 22, 2021 20:59:43 #
rleonetti wrote:
How do you leave your photos to your heirs, or eve... (show quote)
You can print some photo books for them. We are going thru my dads pictures and slides scanning them all. When we are finished we are going to select the best of them and print photo books for each of my brothers and myself.
Dec 23, 2021 07:29:44 #
rleonetti wrote:
How do you leave your photos to your heirs, or eve... (show quote)
Unfortunately, at least in my case, I’m pretty sure that no one in my family, no one will be interested in my photos after I pass. Sure they might keep any that I have printed and/or framed for awhile but then will either be placed in storage or discarded. I do have all my photos on several backup disk drives (both SSD’s and HDD’s that my family could have, but like I said, I’m sure they will accept the drives but will probably never look at them. Unless they are involved in photography, they will not share your passion.
Dec 23, 2021 07:48:50 #
I
I think you hit the nail on the head. Your interests(mine) are not theirs. We were raised by two immigrants, one spoke English the other not so much. The advantage was we all spoke a second language. As we went on our different paths I was able to travel and I met and knew my grandparents, uncles, and cousins in two countries. My children have an interest and they have met some of their second cousins. My grandchildren have a slight interest in their heritage. So for me, my pictures will not have a place in the hall closet.
Ron 717 wrote:
Unfortunately, at least in my case, I’m pretty sur... (show quote)
I think you hit the nail on the head. Your interests(mine) are not theirs. We were raised by two immigrants, one spoke English the other not so much. The advantage was we all spoke a second language. As we went on our different paths I was able to travel and I met and knew my grandparents, uncles, and cousins in two countries. My children have an interest and they have met some of their second cousins. My grandchildren have a slight interest in their heritage. So for me, my pictures will not have a place in the hall closet.
If you want to reply, then register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.