gray_ghost2 Loc: Antelope, (Sac) Ca.

Once you have your original, do you PP the original or create a copy and PP that. Then save the original as the master. Also, when filing away you photos, do you file away as the event, like at the Sac Zoo, or as the various animals, lions or birds. This would mean to create a copy. This would increase the various folders size. Unless there is indexing at the time of filing the photo in one place but being able to access it through indexing or something similar. Need some help please.

ronaldwrightdallas

I rarely photoshop any photos, but when I do I try to always leave all the layers intact. but I do save the file as a psd file and keep the origional raw file separate.
I make almost all of photo corrections with lightroom which is a non destructive tool so do not need a copy (except for backup processes of course)
I file all my photos by date of photo. often I add the event description as a part of the folder name. plus I almost always use key words for each photo for searching later.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

When you shoot in raw, editing does not overwrite the original. If I were starting with a jpg, while in the editor I would always do a "save as" with a different file name. Creating a copy while in the folder works too, just make sure it's clearly identified. I recommend keeping the original file name and adding to it. That way, your edited photos will stay beside the originals. For example if IMG_3120 is the original, then rename the duplicate as IMG_3120-edit or IMG_3120-1. This also helps if you are doing a file search.

There are photo editors that also (or primarily) work as organizers, so you can attach key words for searching - such as your "Sac Zoo" example. Probably the premier is Lightroom, and you will hear from many Lightroom users about the joys of that software

Photoshop Elements also has an Organizer module.

I just use plain ol' Windows folders, created by date of shooting, then combined into months, and then those months go into a year. Each folder has a short description of the outing in its name. Admittedly, it can be harder to find a photo this way than when you can assign a key word.

jcboy3

Shoot RAW, and this question would never bother you again.

I use the date/event for folder and file name, and metadata keywords for anything else descriptive.

TBerwick Loc: Houston, Texas

I can't speak to the filing issue other than I pretty much file everything as events but will have subfolders to that to those for repetitious events. I edit my photos, after transferring my RAW files to my work computer, using Skylum Luminar or their Aurora HDR products to start. Any edits I do using those products are saved in proprietary work files which allow total flexibility in going back in to change or delete edits. When I'm happy with my work, I export either a JPG or TIFF of the finished product. For simplicity sake, I keep all versions of these files in the same folder and if I have something I consider exceptional, I transfer a copy of that to a folder of shots I've published or sold. I realize that represents a lot of disk space but that is really cheap these days. That all gets backed up to a local RAID5 storage device as well as iCloud where I pay for 5TB of backup space.

I've read so many posts on UHH about people losing their catalogs in Lightroom that I have no interest in a program that's going to manage my files. That said, you need to have a pretty good filing system or memory to keep track of literally 1000's of photos. That's my system and it's what I'm used to. It's probably perceived as lunacy by some but really, IMHO, if a systems works for you, stick with it. I can testify it's a huge load to change in mid-stream.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Mostly I save the change in the RAW file (only slider changes) as the original. Processed and saved as a JPEG I add a connotation (ie. IMG_6735adj.JPG, if cropped: IMG_6735adj8x10.JPG or IMG_6735adjCrop.JPG.
I file by primary subject, not creating duplicates for "animals" from the zoo "place". "Animals" directory usually contains one or two of a kind shots of various animals not at a particular place like a zoo, but like my back yard. I use the tag feature in Windows explorer if I want to add "chipmunks" for searching.
This is because I don't use a cataloger. I do all of my viewing of JPEGs in Windows Explorer, and basically know what kind of images are in each directory.
Below is a piece of the directory structure.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

I use Lightroom 100% of the time to manage my photos.

I shoot raw, so Lightroom never touches the original file.

It creates an XMP sidecar file with any changes I make in Lightroom, when I ship it over to Photoshop to tweak it, Lightroom creates a Tiff file that is what actually goes over to Photoshop, so when finished what comes back into Lightroom, stacked with the original is the tweaked TIFF file.... I am always able to go back to my original as it came out of the camera as long as I shoot raw. I could use PSD if I prefer, same workflow.

This requires no renaming schemes to protect the original, Lightroom handles all the protection of the raw file, no copies need be made, nor do I need to store duplicates of my originals anywhere, although that is also possible within Lightroom automatically.

gray_ghost2 Loc: Antelope, (Sac) Ca.

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions. I will mull over everyone's comments and see might work for me with what I have or maybe have to purchase a PP program.

Angel Star Photography Loc: Tacoma, WA

I allow Lightroom to import and create an appropriate folder by date. With keywording, I don't need to rename the folders to find what I need but sometimes I will rename a folder, retaining the date to some event if necessary. Thus, my folder may become, as an example, 2018-08-04-Seafair instead of simply the date. I then create a subfolder named, "Capture", and move the raw files to this subfolder. This is where all my Lightroom edits with raw files will occur. I also create two other subfolders, "Master" and "Output". The "Master" folder is where all the Photoshop edits are placed and the "Output" folder is where all the files that are set for production are kept. The "Output" is sometimes subdivided for whether the output file is intended for the web, print, etc. This keeps my raw files separate from my tiffs, PSDs, jpeg, etc. With each output, I will take a snapshot in Lightroom before exporting to the output folder. This retains the settings should I want to make further adjustments but someone may prefer to have the first copy that I sent. Snapshots are a great way to retain an image as you have edited without the need to create another raw file copy or, for that matter, a virtual copy. On the note of virtual copies, Lightroom creates a copy of the settings in its database but does not make another copy of the raw file. Thus, you can have multiple images without the need of copying the raw file.

In summary, there isn't a need to make multiple copies of your raw files except as a backup copy. Organization of your files can easily be handled by keywording and for those items that require additional files such as conversion to tiff or jpeg, keep those separate from your raw files but at least under the same "parent" folder that Lightroom or whatever your chosen editor/organizer application creates upon import.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

In Lightroom, which is where all my editing begins, I make a virtual copy of the original so I am free to work on it. In Lightroom, the virtual copy resides in the catalog, and is not a physical duplicate image, just a new database entry with the changes you make. So storage space is not an issue.

For folder structure, I have a top level folder of the year containing the the year's projects. Folder organization is a really personal issue, but unless you get it organized, it will become a huge mess.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

I shoot raw to the extent possible although there are certain circumstances when the camera will not have the option to produce anything but jpg.
For the raw shots, there's no problem. They are not changed in postprocessing.
For the jpg shots, i back up all the files before starting postprocessing. Since I use Lightroom, it will not overwrite the original jpg, but I can rename it to keep the original and the edit separate. Also, I have separate folders for the originals and the final copies.

If you edit jpgs, it's a good idea to change the name of the edited version so you know which is the original and which is the edited version.

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

I use Lightroom. The original raw file is untouched.

My images are stored sequentially by event and date. Each time I take the camera out for anything, it gets a new folder with a descriptive name and the date. These are in turn stored by year under the top level folder called Pics.

I have no need to make copies if a particular image needs to be in more than one place. That is what Lightroom's collections and keywording do. I do not duplicate any images, other than creating a virtual copy in Lightroom to see how a different editing approach might work, or if I want to do a black and white or whatever.

After I review my images, I select the ones that will be processed - after I do what I need to do in LR, I will export a 16 bit ProPhoto color space psd file into On1 and/or Photoshop. Editing in either or both will create a layered, edited psd file that is added back to the catalog. That is my master edited image. For output files which are usually jpeg, I have a set of export presets that will create a file to the specifications required by the destination. After they reach where they are supposed to go - I delete the jpeg.

AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire

I find no disadvantages in using LightRoom for cataloguing and keywording. A three star rating indicates the need for further processing in PS. I save exports as collections and in separate folders.

YMMV, but this works best for me.

Andy

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

YMMV?
What happens ten years after your oldest image date?
And won't 2021 be sorted before 2018?
I'm puzzled, what's "V"?

AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire

I sort photos by date in LightRoom. It knows the difference between 2007 (my oldest images) and 2017. YMMV means Your Mileage May Vary. In other words, what works for me may not work for you. This is a highly individual choice.