LightRoom Mess (My Mess, Not caused by LR)
Aug 28, 2016 21:33:12 #
I recently installed LR 5.?. I have several hundred pictures in my pictures folder, all kinds, many extensions in various types of filing systems. Is there any way to bring the actual images, not just links, into LR. I think I'm losing it mentally; I get very confused by the terms (catalogs, folders, collections). I have Kelly's and Kelby's books, but I am at a loss as to the basics. If I can get everything into the proper LR indexing system, I might be able to sort it out. I use an iMac and a number of external hard drives. Please help an increasingly senile old man make sense out of years of different cataloging systems. Thank you very much.
Aug 28, 2016 22:18:50 #
In reality, one never brings the actual photos into lightroom. The LR catalogue merely references them where they are. But I think understand what you are trying to do and that is to organize them better, perhaps put them all on one drive. If that is so, there are several ways to do that. One would be to set up a folder on an external drive (perhaps a new one?) and move all your pictures from wherever they are now to that location. You could set up new subfolders etc as you do this. Then, you would import them into LR using the "ADD" feature which puts them in a catalogue but doesn't move them from the location you placed them in.
The second way is to create a catalogue in LR on that new drive, import your photos folder by folder or individually from where they currently reside into a new file structure you will create as you do the import. In the import dialogue this is the "Move" feature.
If you really have only several hundred photos, this should not take a tremendous amount of time.
Sometimes, reading instructions from books can be difficult to follow. For some, videos are a better way. Adobe themselves have a lot of training videos as well as a lot of independent people both free and subscription. It really will help you to understand the organizing ability of LR before embarking on this task.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--nEKNEH_1I&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=867ysQfh4sU
The second way is to create a catalogue in LR on that new drive, import your photos folder by folder or individually from where they currently reside into a new file structure you will create as you do the import. In the import dialogue this is the "Move" feature.
If you really have only several hundred photos, this should not take a tremendous amount of time.
Sometimes, reading instructions from books can be difficult to follow. For some, videos are a better way. Adobe themselves have a lot of training videos as well as a lot of independent people both free and subscription. It really will help you to understand the organizing ability of LR before embarking on this task.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--nEKNEH_1I&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=867ysQfh4sU
Aug 29, 2016 00:19:03 #
Mogul wrote:
I recently installed LR 5.?. I have several hundr... (show quote)
As has been said previously, Lightroom does not contain your photos within the software, it only creates a link to where they are located.
I have a single folder on my computer's hard disk called "Lightroom Photos." Inside that folder are sub folders labeled by years, e.g. 2005, 2006, 2007, etc.). Inside each of those sub folders are another series of sub folders labeled by date (e.g. 2016-05-25). This arrangement may not work for everybody, or even anyone but me.
When I "import" photos from an SD card, Lightroom copies the photos from the card to the correct folder (creating a new sub folder when required. I prefer to use COPY rather than MOVE, so I can verify that Lightroom does what I think it is supposed to do. It always had.
Now, to be able to find photos in the future, I always use Key Words. I will include the Country (if not the US), the State, and the City. I will also add other keywords that will help me find a particular photo in the future. These additional Keywords may be a name, a more specific location, or something else.
I think the key, which I read in one of Kelby's books on Lightroom, is to simply keep all your photos in one main folder. You can have as many sub folders as you want, but keep everything in one main folder.
Now, and the most critical part of using folders is to simply ignore them. Plus, do not move, add, or delete any files without using Lightroom to do so.
Collections are where you can select specific photographs for what ever you want to do. If you want to collect all of your photos that were taken in Alaska, and if you have specified Alaska as a keyword for all your photos taken in Alaska, it is a simple matter to create a collection of all the photos you have taken in Alaska. However, if you have ever been to Alaska for a month or more, you may be like me and have thousands of photos taken in Alaska!
Lightroom is a great program for keeping track of your photos, and (used properly) is a great way of finding a photo that you are looking for. It also had other features.
Once you understand what Lightroom can do, it's not that difficult. However, the first import to Lightroom (which actually means importing the location of the file into the catalogue) can be confusing.
As an example, I have only one digital photo of my first wife (bless her soul). I can find that photo in a second just by doing a search on her name. That's out of about 33,000 photos.
Please don't give up, Lightroom is really good and worthwhile. But do take the time to learn it. Right now forget about all the other modules except the LIBRARY module. Once you understand that, I think you will be delighted!
Aug 29, 2016 08:48:05 #
Check out the Laura Shoe training videos at laurashoe.com. There you will find free training videos or you can purchase the full series. You will find info there that will help on how to organize your photos.
Aug 29, 2016 09:19:17 #
Mogul wrote:
I recently installed LR 5.?. I have several hundred pictures in my pictures folder, all kinds, many extensions in various types of filing systems. Is there any way to bring the actual images, not just links, into LR. I think I'm losing it mentally; I get very confused by the terms (catalogs, folders, collections).
Think of the LR catalog the same way a card catalog works in a library (sounds like we're both old enough to remember these). It tells you a little about the book and most importantly lists where it is found in the library. The way book libraries are organized is via the Dewey Decimal System. The way your photos are organized is via the Mogul System. If the Mogul System is not doing it for you, map our how you would want your photos organized (directories (or folders) by date, location, subject, whatever) and then move them from inside LR to that structure. And don't forget that using keywords will help you find photos no matter what directory they are stored in.
Aug 29, 2016 11:23:41 #
[quote=LarryFB]As has been said previously, Lightroom does not contain your photos within the software, it only creates a link to where they are located.
I have a single folder on my computer's hard disk called "Lightroom Photos." Inside that folder are sub folders labeled by years, e.g. 2005, 2006, 2007, etc.). Inside each of those sub folders are another series of sub folders labeled by date (e.g. 2016-05-25). This arrangement may not work for everybody, or even anyone but me.
When I "import" photos from an SD card, Lightroom copies the photos from the card to the correct folder (creating a new sub folder when required. I prefer to use COPY rather than MOVE, so I can verify that Lightroom does what I think it is supposed to do. It always had.
Now, to be able to find photos in the future, I always use Key Words. I will include the Country (if not the US), the State, and the City. I will also add other keywords that will help me find a particular photo in the future. These additional Keywords may be a name, a more specific location, or something else.
I think the key, which I read in one of Kelby's books on Lightroom, is to simply keep all your photos in one main folder. You can have as many sub folders as you want, but keep everything in one main folder.
Now, and the most critical part of using folders is to simply ignore them. Plus, do not move, add, or delete any files without using Lightroom to do so.
Collections are where you can select specific photographs for what ever you want to do. If you want to collect all of your photos that were taken in Alaska, and if you have specified Alaska as a keyword for all your photos taken in Alaska, it is a simple matter to create a collection of all the photos you have taken in Alaska. However, if you have ever been to Alaska for a month or more, you may be like me and have thousands of photos taken in Alaska!
Lightroom is a great program for keeping track of your photos, and (used properly) is a great way of finding a photo that you are looking for. It also had other features.
Once you understand what Lightroom can do, it's not that difficult. However, the first import to Lightroom (which actually means importing the location of the file into the catalogue) can be confusing.
As an example, I have only one digital photo of my first wife (bless her soul). I can find that photo in a second just by doing a search on her name. That's out of about 33,000 photos.
Please don't give up, Lightroom is really good and worthwhile. But do take the time to learn it. Right now forget about all the other modules except the LIBRARY module. Once you understand that, I think you will be delighted
:
Great explanation. Just about the way I do it. I had to import from over 100 different folders and sub-folders when I first got Lightroom. As you progress wit LR you will probably make filing adjustments to suit your needs. Good luck.
Bud
I have a single folder on my computer's hard disk called "Lightroom Photos." Inside that folder are sub folders labeled by years, e.g. 2005, 2006, 2007, etc.). Inside each of those sub folders are another series of sub folders labeled by date (e.g. 2016-05-25). This arrangement may not work for everybody, or even anyone but me.
When I "import" photos from an SD card, Lightroom copies the photos from the card to the correct folder (creating a new sub folder when required. I prefer to use COPY rather than MOVE, so I can verify that Lightroom does what I think it is supposed to do. It always had.
Now, to be able to find photos in the future, I always use Key Words. I will include the Country (if not the US), the State, and the City. I will also add other keywords that will help me find a particular photo in the future. These additional Keywords may be a name, a more specific location, or something else.
I think the key, which I read in one of Kelby's books on Lightroom, is to simply keep all your photos in one main folder. You can have as many sub folders as you want, but keep everything in one main folder.
Now, and the most critical part of using folders is to simply ignore them. Plus, do not move, add, or delete any files without using Lightroom to do so.
Collections are where you can select specific photographs for what ever you want to do. If you want to collect all of your photos that were taken in Alaska, and if you have specified Alaska as a keyword for all your photos taken in Alaska, it is a simple matter to create a collection of all the photos you have taken in Alaska. However, if you have ever been to Alaska for a month or more, you may be like me and have thousands of photos taken in Alaska!
Lightroom is a great program for keeping track of your photos, and (used properly) is a great way of finding a photo that you are looking for. It also had other features.
Once you understand what Lightroom can do, it's not that difficult. However, the first import to Lightroom (which actually means importing the location of the file into the catalogue) can be confusing.
As an example, I have only one digital photo of my first wife (bless her soul). I can find that photo in a second just by doing a search on her name. That's out of about 33,000 photos.
Please don't give up, Lightroom is really good and worthwhile. But do take the time to learn it. Right now forget about all the other modules except the LIBRARY module. Once you understand that, I think you will be delighted![/quote
:Great explanation. Just about the way I do it. I had to import from over 100 different folders and sub-folders when I first got Lightroom. As you progress wit LR you will probably make filing adjustments to suit your needs. Good luck.
Bud
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