dannac Loc: 60 miles SW of New Orleans

... why is so hard for some, to just say, " I was wrong ."

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

I understand one thing here, and its not my interpretation. You gave the OP an incorrect answer to his specific question! You said you do not have to use the catalog. That is just untrue. You in fact do have to use the catalog. You are wrong and just added to the confusion that Lightroom already has for many people. Your incorrect information does all potential Lightroom users a disservice and you refuse to own up to it. If you are not going to provide accurate information, maybe you should avoid adding to the confusion by not posting.

In your first post you stated:
"Anyone who tells you no is incorrect. I don't use the catalog feature AT ALL so I know what I'm talking about"
I have not interpreted what you said. Those are your words, not mine, and that statement is 100℅ incorrect. Your problem is you don't seem to understand Lightroom well enough to know that the entire software package and all its features are catalog based and erroneously assume the catalog is solely related to the organization features.

blackest Loc: Ireland

If you want to use google to search your desktop for your photo's then you need to use google desktop search it's available for windows linux and OSX the clue is in the name.

RonBoyd

Interesting.

This from Dec 2, 2016 -- Publisher's description: This program has been discontinued.
It is no longer being updated, and you won't be able to obtain it from its original developer.

http://google-desktop.software.informer.com/5.9/

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

That is part one - the second part is that he is making those that do understand and utilize the catalog on an ongoing basis without a hitch, and with considerably more ease and efficiency than OS based scheme, seem foolish for not doing it his way, further adding to the confusion. Bottom line, I can do a wedding with a second shooter, end up with over 1500 shots, and reduce them to the 900 or 1000 ones worthy of previewing as proofs, up on the private client side of my website for the client to see, before I turn in for the night. It has taken me not more than 2-3 hours to do this in the past. It might take him a day, with all the importing and exporting that goes on in his "non-catalog" use of LR.

Oh, and when the client places an order for the 75-100 images they want based my proof set, I simply bring up the grid view, flag those as picks, and open them in Photoshop to do the final image finishing. I have 2 files that remain on my computer - well, 2-1/2 if you count the little xmp. The original raw file, which is used to export the proofs, the 16 bit psd file which contains all the subsequent edits, layers, blemish removal and other retouching, etc etc etc. When I send the picks to the print lab, I generate full-resolution, 85% quality sRGB jpegs directly from the psds that are in the catalog, and I am done. Once the printer confirms receipt, I delete them from my computer. No need to keep jpegs, since I never edit them, and if I need them again I just re-export them. I have rarely had to re-export jpegs, once they have arrived at their final location. BTW, I save export presets for all of my usual destinations - social media, email, photo-club competitions, print labs, my own printer, my website and my flickr site, etc. This way everything is kept simple and uncluttered.

I suspect this is not how Howard does things, and I am sure that he spends a lot more time in front of a computer than I do. Or any other working pro for that matter.

Howard5252 Loc: New York / Florida (now)

Perhaps this whole discussion revolves around the word CATALOG. When I use the word, I use it to describe that part of LR that keeps track of where my images are on my computer. It keeps track of the editing history. It allows the images to be sorted using various criteria and it may do a few other things that I haven't mentioned.
I use LR for it's editing capabilities only; I do not use it for anything else. I have my own method of keeping track of my images location and quality.
I understood the OP's question to mean ... Can I Use LR to Edit My Images, Without Making Use Of The Catalog Features.
I hope this clears up why I answered as I did.
I can't be any clearer than this.
If you insist upon continuing this thread - Tell me what YOU think the OP was asking. Certainly you have to think you know what the question is before posting an answer.

blackest Loc: Ireland

This page seems good for it,

http://google-desktop.brothersoft.com/google-desktop5.9.909.8267

You know what an analogy is thou?

Lightroom index's your photo's looking for useful information in a similar way to the way google indexes the content of websites.

You type a search into google it returns results which it most closely fit your search terms.
You type a search into Lightroom and it returns your matching photographs.

Modern operating systems are pretty good at finding your stuff, thats part of what having a magnifying glass on the start menu is for, or spotlight on a Mac.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

I realized what you were doing very early on in this thread. It appears now that you knowingly decided to push your own incorrect definition of what the Lightroom's catalog is for. How the heck is that helpful to anyone? And how does that in any way answer the OP's question? You assumed, with no actual basis for that assumption, that he was referring to the organization features, but far more often frustration with the catalog revolves around a lack of understanding of the import process or problems caused by manipulation of images outside of Lightroom. You have not expressed a valid argument on this subject and yet you continue to argue. If you had just said from the beginning that its isn't necessary to use the organization features of Lightroom if you don't want to, then we would not be embroiled in this silly argument. And even then, your approach to accomplishing that goal is odd to say the least. I do not use Lightroom at all for organization, but I don't have to delete anything from the catalog to accomplish that.

Howard5252 Loc: New York / Florida (now)

And what would that be?

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

I realized the reason for your continued arguments is that you were unaware of the actual purpose of the catalog. Nothing else makes any sense.

Howard5252 Loc: New York / Florida (now)

Are you a lawyer? YES or NO will do, I'm just curious.

dannac Loc: 60 miles SW of New Orleans

@fieldeds ... the original poster.


Thread title :


Now at 6 pages, here's the answers you have received ... yes, maybe, no.
Just shows how we all see things differently.

Seems you cannot edit or work on an image in LR, without first importing that image, which goes into LR's catalog.

Once you're done editing ... you can delete or remove it from LR's catalog, or the catalog itself ... your choice.
The extremely powerful "features" of the catalog is not needed ... again your call.

My 2 cents to your thread title question " Can I use light room and "avoid" the catalog ?"

No.

Howard5252 Loc: New York / Florida (now)

AT LAST. "Avoid" NO / Avoid using its features YES

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

I'm glad that's finally straightened out. We are now in agreement. As I've been saying all along, you can't avoid using the catalog, but you can decide to not use SOME of Lightroom's features such as the extensive organizing functionality. This is most easily accomplished by setting up your own folder structure outside of Lightroom and putting your images in whichever folders you wish. In Lightroom, when using the import function, point to the folders you wish to import and indicate ADD as the import process rather than COPY or MOVE. You must also confirm the other import settings are to your liking such the custom file rename feature, the addition of any presets, and any image processing you want performed on all your images during import. I personally have Lightroom rename my files based on the subject matter of the shoot they represent and a date in the file name, but one can easily avoid renaming the files at all. After import, pointers to the images will now be available in the Lightroom catalog for whatever processing you want to perform, but the images files will still be physically located where you originally stored them. All one has to remember is, if you move any of the folders or images outside of Lightroom you need to let Lightroom know when you've put them so the catalog can be updated with pointers to their new locations. In that way the images will ALWAYS be available to Lightroom and you can continue to work on the images in any folder at a future date if you wish.