Nightski

I just moved all my photos from a laptop with windows 7 to a PC with windows 8. All the photos came in to one file on the computer in my documents. Does anyone have any wisdom for me as I import my files into the Lightroom Library? My plan is to create Folders and and move the photos into the proper folders. I have 3,611 photos to organize. This seems like a daunting task. There are probably lots of photos that I need to delete.

crissx09 Loc: FL-USA

Your plan is correct. Will require a lot of patience but you will end with as many folders with their related pictures as you create. Good luck..!!

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Hello Nightski. Am I right in thinking that Lightroom uses a cataloguing system that uses key words to find pictures? And are you aiming for a simpler array of folders to do your own cataloguing?

I have about 30 folders in "My Pictures", and since I do mostly landscape, I have folders for specific locations that I visit regularly. I also have folders for specific subjects like Trees, Clouds, Silhouettes etc. Most of the time there is no duplication, but my most favourite ones will end up in more than one folder. I also have more general folders such as "Favourites". All of the pics in that folder have duplicates in their original folders.

To import pictures, I attach the camera then do a drag and drop of the picture file in the camera (100_PANA or 100NIKON) straight onto "My Pictures". I can then distribute the pictures at my leisure.

My advice as regards deleting is - be brutal. If you have 4 or 5 almost-the-same shots of each picture, I'd say that is a waste. If it isn't good enough to post or to print, and if it isn't an interesting variation on a theme, lose it.

Hope this helps :-D .

Nightski

Yes :oops: And guess what. I ordered the Phil Steele tutorial that told me to apply keywords to everything, and I started out doing that.... OMG




Do you have Windows 8? Does it do that dumb thing that Windows 7 does where it creates folders by date in the folder you are importing into? I usually name and choose a file for my photos as I import them into Lightroom. With Lightroom, it still stores all the photos in a central place on your computer. Lightroom does not store photos. It just grabs them from a central place. The folders you create in Lightroom are virtual. I think.



It is brutal. I know I have to do that. I have no trouble with the garage, or the basement, or the closets. But my photos, I love them all, even though I hate some of them. LOL :-D

R.G. Loc: Scotland

I've never had any problems naming folders or files. The computer will give it whatever name you tell it to use. Are you after a system that uses your folders but is still compatible with Lightroom? If you are, someone else will have to help you there.

Where deleting is concerned, start with the ones that you have multiple shots of. Your eye is good enough to spot the best ones. Settle for one or at the most two versions of each shot.

webbo51 Loc: Brisbane, Australia

When I go through my photos to "cull" them, the main criteria I use is "if I were to use these in a slideshow, would those watching want to see this pic?"

Nightski

How about, I really loved this place, and I'd like to remember it so I can go back and try to capture it in a better way?

webbo51 Loc: Brisbane, Australia

Well, if that were the case, I'd have a lot more than 16,000 pics in my library! Perhaps a "special" folder or album for those that are "not so good but I want to keep it anyway"?

Nightski

I can see I am going to have to have my brother over to help me with this. He's brutal. :-D

That's a good idea though. A bad pic, but possibility folder. :thumbup:

Erv Loc: Medina Ohio

Just be picky.:) and don't come up with 3611 key words.:):) I just got done doing this too. Makes for long nights. I do it then when Janny is sleeping. She looks over my shoulder looking at the pictures and things really slow down.:):) I do most of my folders with a date and small title. Then break them down by what they are in folders that I put in the main folder. Then the main folder goes into a yearly folder at the end of the year. Sounds hard. But it makes it easy to find stuff i did and the year.
Erv

Nightski

Thank you for your input, Erv :thumbup:

sportyman140 Loc: Juliette, GA

HI Nightski,
LR will move the folder for you if I am not mistaken, I believe this is true.

warrior Loc: Paso Robles CA

U-tube tutorials

Elliern Loc: Myrtle Beach, SC

Oh dear...I was just discussing this same issue with my husband yesterday. I also have over 3000 photos on my computer. Such an overwhelming task.
I have been told if I delete everything except the great photos at time of download, it will save me a lot of time. Just don't seem to follow that advice :(
Also told to delete 4 for every one saved.

Good luck!

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

When you import files into LR from a location already on your computer you can leave them in the original location. But if you move or copy them during import to a new folder created in LR, that folder is not virtual. It creates an actual folder in the location you select and LR controls, with your input, exactly how the folder will be named and whether you want sub folders by date or not. That has nothing to do with Windows 7 or Windows 8.