PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

I do not yet use Lightroom but am interested in seeing if it has a feature I require.

Does it allow for virtual filing. By that I mean can 1 file photo be viewed in more than 1 folder by placing virtual copies in it without having more than 1 copy in the computer?

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

Yes - Lightroom (Classic) calls them collections. You can also have smart collections, which update automatically, based on some parameter(s) in the photo you designate. Finally, you can have duplicates in the same directory without taking up materially more space by creating virtual copies.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

As Dan noted, 'collections' are internal logical / virtual 'folders' inside LR. So, you have one physical copy of the file in a true folder on your computer. Then, you can organize (or not) into a completely different organization inside LR. Many people now use a simple date-based folder structure, and an extensive logical organization via collections inside LR. The file is virtual inside LR for each of the collection organizations.

You can also have virtual copies. So, I may edit an image in the original 3x5 aspect. But, I may see a crop that reuses the image for Instagram in a 1x1 square format. I just virtual copy the image and then have two versions, the 3x5 and 1x1. I can even put these versions in different collections, if there was a reason to isolate the copies.

It took me a while to 'step away' from the folder structure. But honestly, once you 'think' about your images from inside the LR database / catalog system, you really have limited reasons to ever need to consider their folder structure in disk. You can always ask LR to open the folder where the file resides as a quick navigation, if needed. You edit inside LR and export copies of the edited image, as needed. Where you export those edited versions is more relevant than the folder location of the source file.

If you also add keywords to your images, you may find collections less useful. I make extensive use of both. All the image EXIF metadata is searchable / sortable, your custom keywords then extend this search capability.

Example: I have a 'collection set' of all the zoos I've visit, a collection set being a LR organization of collections. Each collection is then the individual zoos. Take Lincoln Park Zoo (LPZ), a location I frequent in Chicago, there are hundreds of images in that collection over the last 15+ years. The folders on disk are probably 30+ unique date-stamped folders, but I see all the images together in the collection inside LR. I can open this LPZ collection and ask LR to sort / isolate the images by each unique shooting date. I can also ask LR to give me all the images from a specific lens or camera or ISO or focal length, etc. Or, I can ask LR to give me all images with the keyword 'lion', also with other filters of date, camera, lens, etc. I can search from the collection set, and get all 'lion' images from all zoos. The response time is instantaneous from all these searches / sorts as LR is acting on its internal database of image attributes, rather than accessing all the image files directly.

Gitchigumi Loc: Wake Forest, NC

What DWU2 and CHG_CANON said... LR has an extremely powerful database manager. It can accommodate your needs without creating redundant copies. Adobe and YouTube have many videos that address the filing capabilities of LR. 👍👍

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

Yes, it does allow for "virtual filing." However, as already noted it would not be in a folder structure. An individual image can only be in one folder at a time. You can drag an image from folder to folder in LrC when needed, but you cannot virtually copy an image and drag that copy to another folder.

LrC allows you to have multiple virtual copies through the use of another type of structure, called a "Collection" or a "Smart Collection." There is also a "Quick Collection" and "Collection Set" that you can use to organize. The way this works is you have a folder of images but you want to separate out those images in some way without duplicating them so you create a Collection, which is virtual in nature as the Collection is not mirrored on your computer as a folder would be. Any images in the Collection would be virtual, simply a preview of the image that is stored in a folder. You have to physically drag and drop the image into a Collection; but, you can create a Smart Collection, using set parameters, that will allow the image to be put into that Collection upon import. A Collection Set holds multiple Collections, for example, Books (holding copies of all LrC books you've done), or Slideshows (holding all slideshows you've done), or Birds, etc., depending upon your Collections. A Quick Collection, the B key, allows you to quickly mark a set of images, then you can create a Collection from that set of images. You can set any Collection to be a Quick Collection as needed.

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

Yes you can. They are called collections in LR. Very easy to do. Create a hollering, set it as the target collection, then select any photo or photos and add to target collection. A photo can be in several, as only a pointer in the collection points to the original.

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

A while back I was looking for a way to organize my photos the way I wanted. To do it myself I realized that what I wanted to do could only be accomplished using a relational database. (Yeah, I was weaned on dBase IV). While I was unsuccessful doing it in my computer, I succeeded at SmugMug. Today, to find a photo I go to SmugMug, using whatever category suits me at the moment I locate the photo, then I find where the original is and go to my computer to work with it.

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

Please give Lightroom Classic a try. Finding photos will become a lot faster for you.

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

Oh wow..... That had to be. S. L. O. W. Then if you edit, you have to re upload?

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

For the most part, photos at SmugMug are in final form, but if I do change anything on the original in my PC, YES, I would have to change the one I uploaded.

Gitchigumi Loc: Wake Forest, NC

FWIW... Smugmug has a plugin for Lightroom. I use it to upload and maintain photos on my Smugmug site. It so easy!

Jack 13088 Loc: Central NY

BTW Lightroom is built on SQLite a relational database management system.