lsupremo Loc: Palm Desert, CA

I originally set up Lightroom with my images organized as FOLDERS by topics, like Flowers, Family, etc. after reading an article which recommends using COLLECTIONS.

My questions are: 1. what’s the difference? 2. Should I keep all the folders and remake them as collections 3. Do #2 and get rid of all the folders? 4. Do nothing and just keep going with only the folder organization?Which takes me back to #1.

Thanks for any advice

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

No problem organizing things with folders. Collections have their advantages such as you can put one image into several different collections, but you have to duplicate the file to put the image in different folders.

Folders are useful if someone else is searching for your images assuming your folder names describe the subject well. In my family, I'm the only one who knows how to use Lightroom searches so folder names (and file names) are descriptive.

When I am looking for something I rely on keywords, not folders. Keywording is an art, but it enables you to find images of a particular subject if the keywording is complete enough. For example I try to place names of everyone in an image in the keyword list for that image. Years from now I can look for all the images of a particular person, whether it be in a family folder or an event folder or a place folder. I put keywording as one of the first things I do in my workflow. It takes a while but I feel it's time well spent in the long run.

Note that in the Library grid mode you can select all the images that would get a particular keyword, then add the keyword to all of them at once.

As far as the difference is concerned, folders place an image in a specific area of the disk, while collections are virtual, i.e. the location of the image on the disk goes into the collection rather than placing the image there. Since it's just the location that's being added to the collection, the same information can be added to a separate collection.

I don't think it's necessary for you to do anything with your current structure.

Collections can be just a group of images that you think belong together. They don't have to be in the same folder, or even on the same disk. They only have to be in the catalog.

Smart Collections are defined by specific criteria that you can set up at the time you define the smart collection. Something like all images with a green color label, or all images with a red color label and a 3 star rating that was taken between Jan 20, 2018 and Aug 4, 2019. Or all images taken with a specific camera. Or all images containing a specific word (or words) in the keywords or in the title. Once set up, any image that fits those criteria is automatically included in the smart collection, without you having to do anything more.

Jaackil Loc: Massachusetts

To answer what the true difference is you need someone who has more knowledge than me. But I can tell you I use both. To me collections are just that a collection of images. Where as you folders are where your images are cataloged. Let me give you an example of how I use both. I have all of my photos organized in folders People Sports Places Landscapes and Misc which is for any image that does not fit into the other four. Then each one has sub folders. So sports has Hockey and Lacrosse as sub folders. Then then each sport has sub folders for date and game shot. I shoot a lot of College Hockey. So at a given college I may have images of player #10 from all 4 years of his career. Using keywords I can access all of them then place them in a collection. This does not move any of they images from their original folders. Then if I want for senior night I can organize pictures of all of the seniors into another collection. Nothing has moved. Another way is when I shoot portraits. I may have 120 images from a portrait shoot. They are all in a folder in People. However I can go through them pick out the keepers which may only be 20 and put them into a collection for the client to proof And choose which ones they want to purchase. Keep in mind proofing can be done with Lightroom CC online. It’s a great feature. You can only sync collections with CC. It’s also a great way to share images through lightroom just keep in mind it can only be done with collections not folders. So let’s say for you you have some flowers shots that you really like and want to share but they are in different folders you just create a collection of those flowers. Nothing changes in your folders you have just created a group of your favorite flowers. This is probably a horrible analogy but think of your folders as books in a library. You go to the library to look up a specific battle during WWII. There are lots of books with info on the battle but they also cover other battles and you don’t need all that info so you just photo copy the pages from several different books that reference that specific battle. That’s what collections are just the photo copies so to speak.
I know that did not answer your question directly but I thought maybe an idea of the practical application of collections would give you a better idea of how you could use them. Then you can decide what works for you. Neither is better or worse they do slightly different things. That is why I use both.

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

DirtFamer nails it!

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

1. Difference between a folder and a collection: A folder holds a set of images, a collection holds virtual copies of images and the images can come from multiple folders. I use a folder for each type of shoot; for example, a trip to Yellowstone. I use a structure that consists of ONE FOLDER FOR ALL IMAGES>YEAR FOLDER>TRIP FOLDER. Your structure depends on what type of shooting you do and what your overall photography needs are. A collection can hold images from many different folders, spanning multiple years, and can be permanent or temporary, simply created for a project such as a book or slide show.

2. & 3. I could not recommend that you “remake” all folders as collections. This would actually be a lot of work for very little return. You can simply create key words for individual images and then call up all of the images using the filter bar so there is generally no need to “remake” the folder structure. I could recommend that you create collections as needed for specific uses, either permanent or temporary.

4. I could not recommend you “do nothing” but could say that since you have some kind of folder structure that you use to continue on with it as the primary structure.

LrC was created so that photographers could get to the same end result in several ways for many functions. Scott Kelby started the whole “lets just use collections” trend and this may work for some people. It really depends on how YOU use your images. For me, using keywords works best and this allows me to pull up almost any image as needed within seconds. I can also simply go directly to a folder if I recall a specific image taken during that shoot. You need to consider how you will use your images and then create the correct structure you need to meet your goal.

Collections are an ideal option for pulling multiple images from multiple folders together into one place to use for a project. Some people use them instead of key words but it takes a bit more work to do that. A smart collection can also be used, but that type of collection depends on key words, too. The filter bar allows you to find images in multiple ways, from date to keyword, to starred or picked or marked in a color. You should read up on the Library Module in the Help Manual on the Adobe website in order to understand all of this and then determine the way that works best for you.

one_eyed_pete Loc: Colonie NY

First, which version of LR are you using, Classic or CC. Also, I suspect you could benefit from learning a bit more about how LR works. Simplified basics. Your image files are not stored in LR but in folders on your HD (or ext storage). You could store them in one folder or any number of folders. Mine are stored on my C:drive in the Pictures folder in year sub-folders and year-date sub-sub folders based on the date the photo was taken. When imported, LR creates links to the the folders/sub folders etc. to find them. Collections are groupings of links to image files that share an attribute (most you assign) so you can find and work on the images with the attribute you are looking for. Keywords are an attribute that is very useful but you need to be disciplined and assign a keyword or multiple keywords to each image. You can pull up a sort of images taken with a specific camera, with a specific lens, a specific keyword or with no keywords.

Deleting the "folders" you referred to is deleting all your image files. Collections are a way of cataloging your images so you can find them quickly. You can use LR without ever using collections but you can't use LR without folders containing your image files.

I'll give you an example where I found Collections very helpful. I was asked to create a calendar using photos of my neighbors Koi pond throughout the year. I needed to take several photos every couple weeks for a year. I keyworded those photos with project and month. I made collections for the project and sub collections for each month. After the year when I needed to sort/cull through and edit several hundred images down to 12 + 1 images to send out to create the calendar.

lsupremo Loc: Palm Desert, CA

Thanks for your help. Next question, if I have the same image in both collections and folders and I work on one of them will the post processing be on the other one too? Also can I identify where one image might be in any other collection and or folder?

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

If an image is in more than one folder then each folder has a separate image. If you edit one the others do not get edited.

If an image is in more than one collection then each image is the same image. Only the location is stored in the collection. If you edit an image in one collection they are all edited.

As far as finding a copy of an image in another folder, I don't think LR does that. But there are duplicate file finding programs out there that will tell you where there are similar images.

Finding a collection that contains a given image? I'll have to think about that. Tomorrow. The wife is calling with some chores for me.

drsdayton Loc: Dayton, Ohio

Some great responses here! One thing I didn’t see (may have missed) is that collections are the way to sync from Classic to Lightroom Mobile. If you want photos to appear in Lightroom on your phone or iPad you need to sync them from a collection.

rwilson1942 Loc: Houston, TX

If you want to really understand the Lightroom catalog system check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd-yr5W7_l0&t=981s

williejoha

If you are happy with your folders, why change?
WJH

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

If you right-click an image you can select "go to collection" and it will list the collections containing the image.

However, it does not list smart collections. If the image is only in smart collections the above process will return "not in any collection".

chemsaf Loc: San Diego

I primarily organize using folders as you do. I use collections to organize a project which crosses many folders. For example, if I am preparing a calendar, I place the candidate images in a collection and then I work on the collection set
LR let's you define the work flow you find best.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

You don't need to redo / undo your folder structure. However, consider whether you need to continue to invest effort into creating new descriptive folders in your ongoing LR-enabled workflow. Rather than attempting to encode metadata into the folder names / structure, just move to a simple date-based structure (for sorting); and instead, invest your effort in 'describing' your images by assigning keywords and collections inside LR.

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

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On the subject of folders and structure.

One of the things I see a lot as I teach LrC to others is that people often do not have a clear folder structure or a clear set of keywords. LrC can actually handle up to almost 1,000 key words, but does someone really want that many keywords??? Sitting down and thinking through your folder and keyword structure is paramount to the success you will have in utilizing the keyword filtering system in LrC. We all think a little differently, for example some people like to use a date system for their folder structure and others use a subject system. I utilize the subject system as that is how my mind works and I know that I can find any date via the filter bar: I try to avoid redundancy. Work out your folder structure and your keyword structure on paper first, giving some thought to how you have in the past approached working with your images. I don’t think that pulling images out of folders by subject and putting them into new folders by subject is the best idea, this can be needlessly time consuming and also confusing for keywording when the image has multiple subjects. My keyword structure has a group of main subjects and then subfolders within that main subject keyword, an example is ANIMALS>Wild Animals>Bird. If I put the keyword Bird on an image it automatically becomes a part of the Wild Animals and the ANIMALS keywords. Giving thought to the overall organization will save countless time in the future when you need a specific image. If I’m entering a competition and want to look at a specific group of images I simply use the filter bar and keywords. You can actually purchase a keyword set and modify it or you can ask a friend to export their keyword set and you can import that and modify it.

There are a couple of ways to keyword, too, which makes it an easy and fast process. One way is upon import, which works well if the shoot was about one subject. You can also, when importing, import by using the selection option and then use the keyword for that selection, which means you would then import again using a second selection and keyword as needed but be sure the “Don’t Import Suspected Duplicates box is checked.” You can mark a selection of images and use the Keywording panel, or the Keyword List panel. Or, you can use the Paint Can at the bottom with the Keyword selection: with this tool you can click on one image or drag it across several images. To check what might have been missed being keyworded you can go to Smart Collections>Without Keywords in the left organization panel: Adobe puts this folder in automatically for you. When putting keywords in using the Smart Collection use commas between keywords prior to hitting the return key, as the the selection will be deleted from the Smart Collection once you keyword it.