David Taylor

LOL! FAF.

vbhargava Loc: San Diego

Once photos are converted to DNG, in lightroom go to import photos and videos (in library module) and then you can import all of the dng photos. Hope this helps.

IDguy Loc: Idaho

Lightroom does copy the image folders on import to the destination folder. Yes, that is an option. So if I have dng convert put the files into a folder I can import that folder without copying?

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

When you import files you have 4 options.

"Copy as DNG": This option is what you would use to take a raw file and convert it to dng and save the dng in a folder somewhere. On the right side of the screen there will be a panel that is labeled "File handling" at the top. It includes a section to specify the destination of the dng files.

"Copy": This option will take the raw file and copy it into a folder somewhere. The destination is determined as above in the "File handling" panel.

"Move": This option will copy the raw file from wherever it is into another folder. It will then delete the original file. For security reasons I would not recommend this option.

"Add": This option will take the location of the files you are importing and store them in the LR catalog. The files will not be moved or copied to a new folder. If you are adding from a camera card, that card will have to be plugged into your computer whenever you want to edit the files. This is really designed to be used when the raw (or dng) files have already been placed on your hard drive (or on an external hard drive that can be connected to your computer for long periods of time).

I gather you want to take your raw files, convert them to dng, and use the dng files from that point on. Here is my estimate of several possibilities:

(1) Copy the raw files from your card into a folder in your computer (I'm including an external hard drive as part of "your computer" here). Then convert them to dng using a standalone dng conversion program. Then import the dng into LR using "Add". You are left with a folder containing both the original raw files and the dng files. If I did the dng thing this is what I would do, but you have indicated that you don't want to preserve the original raw file so this is probably not going to be your solution.

(2) Use the standalone converter to read the raw files on the card, convert them to dng using the standalone conversion program and save the dng into a folder on your computer. Then import the dng files into LR using "Add".

(3) Attach your card to the computer, bring up LR and hit "Import". Then use "Copy as DNG" to read the files from your card and place them in a folder (specified in the "File handling" panel). I have never done this but I presume that the resulting dng files are added to the LR catalog. This basically is the same as (2) above but is done in one step using the converter in the LR software instead of a standalone conversion program.

Hope this helps.

IDguy Loc: Idaho

Option 1 is what I did first, involving multiple steps and time.

Option 3 doesn’t work because ACR doesn’t recognize the Z6 RAW files.

Option 2 requires a test.

Bill_de Loc: US

DNG converter asks for the folder the NEF files are in, and outputs the DNG files to wherever you want. It does nothing to the NEF files.

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IDguy Loc: Idaho

Thanks for your thoughtful input. I’ll try a couple more processes. My objective is to have as few steps as possible.

I’m not concerned about the possibilty of messing up the files or card on transfer. I consider the risk (probabilty and consequences) very low for myself.

I’m pretty sure my Lightroom 6 will not “copy as dng” my Z6 RAW files. But I’ll give it a try.

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

I expect you are right there. LR6 will not take current ACR updates. You are probably limited to using the standalone dng converter.

IDguy Loc: Idaho

As expected I cannot import from my Z6 card with “copy as dng”.

However, I can create a new folder in Lightroom and have it be the destination folder for the dng converter. I then import from that folder to get the images into the Lightroom catalog.

So it only adds one step at the beginning: create the new folder in Lightroom. It also simplifies the import step because all the files are checked dng files. There is no need to uncheck the nef files as I had to do when putting the dng images back on the xqd card. Plus there is no risk of insufficient space for the dng files.

So here is the final new procedure:

1. Insert the xqd card into the adapter.
2. Create destination folder in Lightroom.
3. Run Adobe dng converter with the xqd card as the source and the new folder as destination.
4. Import the images in the new folder into Lightroom.
5. Return the xqd card to the camera and format it.

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

I am unfamiliar with the dng converter since I don't use dng. However, most of the programs I use that write to a folder that you specify have the capacity to generate a new folder if the folder you specify does not exist. If this is the case you can avoid step 2 since it will be taken care of in step 3. That gives you 4 steps instead of 5, although I would insert another step to edit the images and back everything up before reformatting the card in the camera as your final step.

IDguy Loc: Idaho

Lightroom doesn’t see a folder it doesn’t create.

Thanks for the thoughts.

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

Lightroom will see a folder if you import files from that folder through the import dialog.
I don't believe I have ever created a folder in Lightroom and I've been using it for about 14 years now.

IDguy Loc: Idaho

I created a folder where my images are and it does not show up in the list of folders in the Library module. I didn’t try to browse for it in the import screen. I’ll try that as currently it is there but invisible.

I’ll probably create it in Lightroom anyway as that is best practice and easy to assure it is in the right place. I left Lightroom open while running dng converter.

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

This is something I can't say I have looked into much since my workflow is to generate the folder with the incoming files first, then import them into LR. I don't pay much attention to folders once things are in LR since I organize my images in other ways.

I suspect that just because a folder has images in it doesn't mean LR will show it. But from the little I've looked at folders in LR, if I have imported an image from a folder, that folder will show up in LR.