Thanks, Bruce! I do have a method for determining what's been worked over; I add a suffix, sometimes the word "edit," but almost always a number, as .1., which means the "first edit," and .2. for the second and so forth.

I'm gonna have to find the "painter" thingy, that I assume is in Lightroom somewhere? :?

Edit: I may have found it and my entire answer here: http://blogs.adobe.com/jkost/tag/painter-tool Probably more work than I want to do, but better now than later! :thumbup:

I've had a filing "system" in use for years. Basically everything has been filed in folders by year, with a title that tells me what the main subject was (e.g. 2015 R.E. Olds Museum), then often subfolder(s), and the image files only by their camera-generated filenames, plus suffixes I add that mean something to me, e.g., DSCN4639.raw.1.EM.jpg tells me that this file is a jpeg made from a raw capture that has been downsized for upload to EMail (EM) or other purpose, such as Flickr. The number .1. tells me it's the first rework of the original file. If I do it over I add a .2., and so forth. I have this unbelievable :shock: :roll: (yeah right) memory for every picture I've ever shot so I never have not no trubble finding stuff.

Until now. :hunf: Not that my memory is going or anything :mrgreen: but the entire "system" relies on my knowing when and where I made a particular picture, and now there are thousands of pictures going back 8+ years. So I was looking for a specific picture (made only in 2013 which is like only two frickin' years ago) and I had a hella time finding it!

Here's da t'ing:
I have done the search on the 'Hog and established that Lightroom is terrific for filing IF YOU HAVE BEEN SMART ENOUGH TO KEYWORD PICTURES, such as "cars" and "antiques" and "oldsmobile" and stuff. I have Lightroom, CC, and am ready to get to work, but.... :oops: I have never keyworded one single file.

So here's the Stupid Question of the Week: Is there a way, or a program, that can sift through an awful lot of files identified only by their original filenames and pick 'em out by subject matter? Say for example "people" or "water" or something. Flickr has a new beta feature that can actually do that (!) so I wonder if there's something that will do it in my hard drive to simplify keywording of a really awful lot of files? :mrgreen: :thumbup: (Yeah, riiiiggghht...)

Chuck, your dilemma points out why I was wise is designing my own, photo application independent, database to keep track of my many colour slides, negatives, and digital images. That along with the multitude of cameras and lenses I've used to take the those images.

Yes, it's a two step process to search and, once found, work with a particular image. However, my system doesn't rely on outside software engineer's whims and fancies when they decide to revise an application and the current scheme no longer works. Unlikely, but it could happen.

I just haven't revised my database to call a particular application to work on an image. But, finding them is a whole lot easier, even if they are moved to a different system.
--Bob

Thanks, Bob! I fortunately no longer have negatives or slides (well, I do but that's another kettle of overripe fish that I cannot deal with). :hunf: All I want to do is be able to locate an image whether I can recall when I took it or not. The one I was hunting for yesterday was a shot of Dingmans Falls in Pennsylvania. I knew it was 2013, but on that trip I think I filed some 1,500 pictures, not all keepers (and yes, I should shovel out the detritus!), but I was looking for the original (at the time) jpegs (I'm shooting raw now but that was then). :-)

The problem was just sifting through all those images, trying to find like three original files, and it took a while, longer than it used to. I'm on Flickr and I've noticed that they have this really cool beta that can sort all the stuff you've uploaded by date or by subject matter! It's not perfect, but it's pretty terrific, so I was wondering if such a beast existed that could help me sort my own files that THROUGH MY OWN FAULT :oops: :cry: :? have never been so sorted.

I've had a filing "system" in use for years. Basically everything has been filed in folders by year, with a title that tells me what the main subject was (e.g. 2015 R.E. Olds Museum), then often subfolder(s), and the image files only by their camera-generated filenames, plus suffixes I add that mean something to me, e.g., DSCN4639.raw.1.EM.jpg tells me that this file is a jpeg made from a raw capture that has been downsized for upload to EMail (EM) or other purpose, such as Flickr. The number .1. tells me it's the first rework of the original file. If I do it over I add a .2., and so forth. I have this unbelievable :shock: :roll: (yeah right) memory for every picture I've ever shot so I never have not no trubble finding stuff.

Until now. :hunf: Not that my memory is going or anything :mrgreen: but the entire "system" relies on my knowing when and where I made a particular picture, and now there are thousands of pictures going back 8+ years. So I was looking for a specific picture (made only in 2013 which is like only two frickin' years ago) and I had a hella time finding it!

Here's da t'ing:
I have done the search on the 'Hog and established that Lightroom is terrific for filing IF YOU HAVE BEEN SMART ENOUGH TO KEYWORD PICTURES, such as "cars" and "antiques" and "oldsmobile" and stuff. I have Lightroom, CC, and am ready to get to work, but.... :oops: I have never keyworded one single file.

So here's the Stupid Question of the Week: Is there a way, or a program, that can sift through an awful lot of files identified only by their original filenames and pick 'em out by subject matter? Say for example "people" or "water" or something. Flickr has a new beta feature that can actually do that (!) so I wonder if there's something that will do it in my hard drive to simplify keywording of a really awful lot of files? :mrgreen: :thumbup: (Yeah, riiiiggghht...)