Lightroom catalogues ...am I missing the point? (Page 4): “Are you getting a backup images text box or a backup catalog text box when you leave LR?” Pretty sure it is the catalog...

fotobyferg

“Are you getting a backup images text box or a backup catalog text box when you leave LR?”

Pretty sure it is the catalog backup text I see when I am backing up images.

GrandmaG Loc: Flat Rock, MI

fotobyferg wrote:

OK, I am probably about to set myself up for some *sshole in UHH to tell me how stupid, ill-advised or obtuse I am regarding photo storage.
If you are one of those types, please scroll on past and resist the temptation to once again prove your superiority.

However, if you are one of the nice guys, and have a moment to spare, I'd like your opinion on my (amateur/novice) methodology.

Basically, I have never completely grasped the whole LR catalogue thing...but I am ok with that because, before I obtained my LR subscription, I did simple edits in iPhoto where I managed my own collections easily. Now that I have obtained LR and Luminar I play a bit in both and use iPhoto only occasionally.

Here's the catch:
I have always been tidy about organizing my photos. Once I have made my edits, I export them all to a folder on my desktop (as jpegs, of course) and place them as a subfolder in Macs Pictures folder. I back them up on external hard drives, SmugMug and run Carbonite in the background. So, finding my pictures is never an issue.

My question:
Is that why LR can never find them again? Since I have made my edits and am happy with the results (i.e. I don't ever go back and re-edit a picture) is my current method a reasonable approach? I understand LR is a powerful tool for photo organization...but do I really need it if I never go back and do additional edits? Does LR only store the RAW images and, because I (gasp) delete them after editing, LR can't find the edited jpegs?

I hope I do not sound like a total idiot. As I said, I am not terribly upset when LR gives me those !!! marks on images...but I would like to understand why and, despite watching several videos on the subject, I still can't wrap my head around it.

Can some of you helpful UHHers provide some assurances that, given my goals (just have fun) and level of competency (reasonably happy with my picture taking skills) my approach to photo organization is adequate for my needs?

I might add that at this point in my life, with so many additional interests, I am getting less motivated to learn new software, etc. Basically, I am strictly a hobbyist who likes taking pictures when convenient....mostly trips and my adult son's rugby games, with some wildlife and macro thrown in for diversity.

TIA

OK, I am probably about to set myself up for some ... (show quote)

The simplest advice I can give you is don’t delete the edited files from Lightroom. That’s why it can’t find them. Even though you never go back and re-edit, I would still leave them in LR.

It’s fine to export your edited copies and put them where you want. It’s just that Lightroom will not know where you put them. I had a hard time with this concept at first, too.

I tried to learn on my own; but, never fully understood it until I listened to Anthony Morganti explain it.

Someone suggested The Lightroom Queen, which is a very good idea, too.

AlohaBob Loc: Los Angeles, CA

I never appreciated or understood the power of lightroom's organizational until this book. It's not cheap, but very much worth the money in my opinion; videos come along that explain very well and simply each point. https://www.damuseful.com/collections/all-products/products/organizing-your-photos

fotobyferg wrote:

OK, I am probably about to set myself up for some *sshole in UHH to tell me how stupid, ill-advised or obtuse I am regarding photo storage.
If you are one of those types, please scroll on past and resist the temptation to once again prove your superiority.

However, if you are one of the nice guys, and have a moment to spare, I'd like your opinion on my (amateur/novice) methodology.

Basically, I have never completely grasped the whole LR catalogue thing...but I am ok with that because, before I obtained my LR subscription, I did simple edits in iPhoto where I managed my own collections easily. Now that I have obtained LR and Luminar I play a bit in both and use iPhoto only occasionally.

Here's the catch:
I have always been tidy about organizing my photos. Once I have made my edits, I export them all to a folder on my desktop (as jpegs, of course) and place them as a subfolder in Macs Pictures folder. I back them up on external hard drives, SmugMug and run Carbonite in the background. So, finding my pictures is never an issue.

My question:
Is that why LR can never find them again? Since I have made my edits and am happy with the results (i.e. I don't ever go back and re-edit a picture) is my current method a reasonable approach? I understand LR is a powerful tool for photo organization...but do I really need it if I never go back and do additional edits? Does LR only store the RAW images and, because I (gasp) delete them after editing, LR can't find the edited jpegs?

I hope I do not sound like a total idiot. As I said, I am not terribly upset when LR gives me those !!! marks on images...but I would like to understand why and, despite watching several videos on the subject, I still can't wrap my head around it.

Can some of you helpful UHHers provide some assurances that, given my goals (just have fun) and level of competency (reasonably happy with my picture taking skills) my approach to photo organization is adequate for my needs?

I might add that at this point in my life, with so many additional interests, I am getting less motivated to learn new software, etc. Basically, I am strictly a hobbyist who likes taking pictures when convenient....mostly trips and my adult son's rugby games, with some wildlife and macro thrown in for diversity.

TIA

OK, I am probably about to set myself up for some ... (show quote)

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

fotobyferg wrote:

“Are you getting a backup images text box or a backup catalog text box when you leave LR?”

Pretty sure it is the catalog backup text I see when I am backing up images.

See my earlier note for details about the catalog backup.

CamB Loc: Juneau, Alaska

I haven't read the whole thread but can see you are getting lots of great answers. Another reason for using lightroom, and maybe redoing your current system, is the ability to find specific pictures. If you needed a picture of cows with a barn in the background and a blue sky, (assuming, of course, that you have taken one) using keywords in LR makes it easy to find no matter what folder it is actually stored in.
...Cam

fotobyferg wrote:

OK, I am probably about to set myself up for some *sshole in UHH to tell me how stupid, ill-advised or obtuse I am regarding photo storage.
If you are one of those types, please scroll on past and resist the temptation to once again prove your superiority.

However, if you are one of the nice guys, and have a moment to spare, I'd like your opinion on my (amateur/novice) methodology.

Basically, I have never completely grasped the whole LR catalogue thing...but I am ok with that because, before I obtained my LR subscription, I did simple edits in iPhoto where I managed my own collections easily. Now that I have obtained LR and Luminar I play a bit in both and use iPhoto only occasionally.

Here's the catch:
I have always been tidy about organizing my photos. Once I have made my edits, I export them all to a folder on my desktop (as jpegs, of course) and place them as a subfolder in Macs Pictures folder. I back them up on external hard drives, SmugMug and run Carbonite in the background. So, finding my pictures is never an issue.

My question:
Is that why LR can never find them again? Since I have made my edits and am happy with the results (i.e. I don't ever go back and re-edit a picture) is my current method a reasonable approach? I understand LR is a powerful tool for photo organization...but do I really need it if I never go back and do additional edits? Does LR only store the RAW images and, because I (gasp) delete them after editing, LR can't find the edited jpegs?

I hope I do not sound like a total idiot. As I said, I am not terribly upset when LR gives me those !!! marks on images...but I would like to understand why and, despite watching several videos on the subject, I still can't wrap my head around it.

Can some of you helpful UHHers provide some assurances that, given my goals (just have fun) and level of competency (reasonably happy with my picture taking skills) my approach to photo organization is adequate for my needs?

I might add that at this point in my life, with so many additional interests, I am getting less motivated to learn new software, etc. Basically, I am strictly a hobbyist who likes taking pictures when convenient....mostly trips and my adult son's rugby games, with some wildlife and macro thrown in for diversity.

TIA

OK, I am probably about to set myself up for some ... (show quote)

blackest Loc: Ireland

fotobyferg wrote:

So, if I bring my parent folder into LR, LR will then be able to find all my folders currently listed in Finder?

That seems too easy, lol.

Edited to add....holy crap, I just added every frigging folder from Finder into LR!

You should be able to remove these folders in the library or if you have backed up your catalog recently switch to a catalog backup prior to doing this.

Remember I said Lightroom makes previews of all your photos well I found this page.

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/kb/extract-previews-for-lost-images-lightroom.html

There is a very small download there which you install into lightroom after you follow the instructions on that page lightroom has a new scripts menu with an item "ExtractPreviews"

This does what it says you can select any photograph in your lightroom catalog and get a copy of that preview file exported as a jpeg.

Obviously this isn't a full size image but for screen use it is ideal. I have attached what was a large pano originally which i since moved and lightroom doesn't know where it is (i think i may still have it somewhere) but as you can see this preview image isn't that bad :) I do a lot of web design work so these preview image files are actually pretty close to the size i want for webpages and this is just a 136kb file

I know find i have access to over 20,000 of my images for sized for web or email use

How cool is that.

There is also this free tool, as well as extracting the preview it also copies the lightroom metadata to the preview photo.
which the adobe tool does not do.

http://regex.info/blog/lightroom-goodies/preview-extraction

Extracted photo from the catalog without the original file

(Download)

crphoto8 Loc: Anaheim, California

The main thing as other UHH posters have told you is to do everything through LR. My workflow is - first download the images from the memory cards to a HD using the LR import utility. My last import was from my last trip. I told LR to create a new subfolder, Australia, in the camera's main folder ( I have more than one body), then downloaded in subfolders by date. I also put in some keywords anticipating creation of smart collections. Sorting the images and developing comes next. Once I have what I want I'll export the jpegs to a different folder also through LR. Deletion of images, moving them or a folder, renaming a folder, etc is all done in LR. This is the key to LR knowing where the images are, what was done to them, etc. There's no need to "save" anything since LR doesn't alter the original image, it just stores the development steps and these are saved automatically. I do just about everything in LR and have no issues with what you asked.

fotobyferg wrote:

OK, I am probably about to set myself up for some *sshole in UHH to tell me how stupid, ill-advised or obtuse I am regarding photo storage.
If you are one of those types, please scroll on past and resist the temptation to once again prove your superiority.

However, if you are one of the nice guys, and have a moment to spare, I'd like your opinion on my (amateur/novice) methodology.

Basically, I have never completely grasped the whole LR catalogue thing...but I am ok with that because, before I obtained my LR subscription, I did simple edits in iPhoto where I managed my own collections easily. Now that I have obtained LR and Luminar I play a bit in both and use iPhoto only occasionally.

Here's the catch:
I have always been tidy about organizing my photos. Once I have made my edits, I export them all to a folder on my desktop (as jpegs, of course) and place them as a subfolder in Macs Pictures folder. I back them up on external hard drives, SmugMug and run Carbonite in the background. So, finding my pictures is never an issue.

My question:
Is that why LR can never find them again? Since I have made my edits and am happy with the results (i.e. I don't ever go back and re-edit a picture) is my current method a reasonable approach? I understand LR is a powerful tool for photo organization...but do I really need it if I never go back and do additional edits? Does LR only store the RAW images and, because I (gasp) delete them after editing, LR can't find the edited jpegs?

I hope I do not sound like a total idiot. As I said, I am not terribly upset when LR gives me those !!! marks on images...but I would like to understand why and, despite watching several videos on the subject, I still can't wrap my head around it.

Can some of you helpful UHHers provide some assurances that, given my goals (just have fun) and level of competency (reasonably happy with my picture taking skills) my approach to photo organization is adequate for my needs?

I might add that at this point in my life, with so many additional interests, I am getting less motivated to learn new software, etc. Basically, I am strictly a hobbyist who likes taking pictures when convenient....mostly trips and my adult son's rugby games, with some wildlife and macro thrown in for diversity.

TIA

OK, I am probably about to set myself up for some ... (show quote)

JD750 Loc: SoCal

fotobyferg wrote:

“Are you getting a backup images text box or a backup catalog text box when you leave LR?”

Pretty sure it is the catalog backup text I see when I am backing up images.

The contextual window you see when quitting Lightroom is for the Lightroom Catalog. The Catalog backups are all in one place. On my Mac they are under /Pictures/Lightroom/Backups. That is not backup for the images it is only backup for the catalog. The catalog stores important information about ratings & edits, and any retouching you may have done. So it's good to keep backups. I go in there and delete the older backups now and then but I always keep the latest 3 or 4 backups.

texaseve Loc: TX, NC and NH

The only thing I might add here that I don't see, is about seeing the Backup Lightroom Catalog Box. You may not see it every time you exit unless you tick the little box that says to back-up every time you exit. You have choices of once-a-day or every time you exit.

Paul Buckhiester Loc: Columbus, GA USA

fotobyferg wrote:

OK, I am probably about to set myself up for some *sshole in UHH to tell me how stupid, ill-advised or obtuse I am regarding photo storage.
If you are one of those types, please scroll on past and resist the temptation to once again prove your superiority.

However, if you are one of the nice guys, and have a moment to spare, I'd like your opinion on my (amateur/novice) methodology.

Basically, I have never completely grasped the whole LR catalogue thing...but I am ok with that because, before I obtained my LR subscription, I did simple edits in iPhoto where I managed my own collections easily. Now that I have obtained LR and Luminar I play a bit in both and use iPhoto only occasionally.

Here's the catch:
I have always been tidy about organizing my photos. Once I have made my edits, I export them all to a folder on my desktop (as jpegs, of course) and place them as a subfolder in Macs Pictures folder. I back them up on external hard drives, SmugMug and run Carbonite in the background. So, finding my pictures is never an issue.

My question:
Is that why LR can never find them again? Since I have made my edits and am happy with the results (i.e. I don't ever go back and re-edit a picture) is my current method a reasonable approach? I understand LR is a powerful tool for photo organization...but do I really need it if I never go back and do additional edits? Does LR only store the RAW images and, because I (gasp) delete them after editing, LR can't find the edited jpegs?

I hope I do not sound like a total idiot. As I said, I am not terribly upset when LR gives me those !!! marks on images...but I would like to understand why and, despite watching several videos on the subject, I still can't wrap my head around it.

Can some of you helpful UHHers provide some assurances that, given my goals (just have fun) and level of competency (reasonably happy with my picture taking skills) my approach to photo organization is adequate for my needs?

I might add that at this point in my life, with so many additional interests, I am getting less motivated to learn new software, etc. Basically, I am strictly a hobbyist who likes taking pictures when convenient....mostly trips and my adult son's rugby games, with some wildlife and macro thrown in for diversity.

TIA

OK, I am probably about to set myself up for some ... (show quote)

There is no reason to export unless you are going to give jpgs to someone. Printing and social media sharing can be done from LR. I almost never export a file unless I’m sending it to a print lab.
You can share entire collections through CC and LR mobile. Highly recommend you become familiar w LR mobile. I think you’ll really appreciate it.

Kuzano

Alsweet wrote:

Like one of your earlier respondents- I too have b... (show quote)

This is the answer I come closest to finding "my way" (Copied here), so I won't try to rewrite it, but paste it here in bold, with the reference to PRO removed on photographer.

Like one of your earlier respondents- I too have been a photographer and teacher for many years and over that time have developed a filing system that works well for me. IMO if you have a good filing system that works for you, then LR's library module is completely unnecessary (unless you take so many photos of similar subjects that you need to colour code or "star" rate them!) I prefer to use Bridge and Photoshop. Bridge is purely a browser but does enable you to open photos directly in Photoshop. If you need more processing then you can open your images directly in Adobe Camera Raw. ACR uses the same RAW processor as LR and is, in my opinion easier to use. I like the "Iconised" access to panels rather than the vertically tabbed panels in LR.

I will summarize only in this way

I believe the Organizer, beyond the original browser that came with Photoshop originally, BRIDGE, is a total power play on the part of Adobe to rigidly control users and lock them into the Adobe camp. Everything that Adobe's system offers for organization can be created much more simply in the Operating System of the computer, either Windows PC or Apple MAC. True also of Linux.

The mess that is the catalog system is redundant to your computers operating system.

I am not totally put off by the editors Adobe offers, Photoshop, Lightroom and even Elements, but why should editing photos also include a DAM, or Digital Asset Manager.

That's an opinion and an experience that drove me away from Adobe when they went beyond Bridge for management of images. I want my photo editing to allow me to only edit images. Not force me to split my time between organizing "their way" and modify or improve my images.

I was doing perfectly well with Photoshop and elements, and could have appreciated LightRoom for some of the utility offered, but the catalog system broke me.

Now, I use none of the Adobe imaging software.

AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire

I may be an amateur, although a former semi-pro, but I have found the LR / PS combo an exceptionally helpful tool set, and very intuitive to learn. The presets are exceptionally useful, and the full power of Photoshop is one click away. AT ten bucks a month, the price of two or three lattes, I'm very, very pleased with this purchase.

If Adobe uses the "Gillette model" to squeeze us further, I may reconsider, but right now, I'm a very happy user.

Andy

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

fotobyferg wrote:

Thanks...the real take away message I am getting here is to do EVERYTHING in LR.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

fotobyferg wrote:

“Are you getting a backup images text box or a backup catalog text box when you leave LR?”

Pretty sure it is the catalog backup text I see when I am backing up images.

Yes, and you can change the settings so that it doesn't ask you every time you exit LR to once a month or once a week and so on. All this does is make a copy of the database file so that if the working copy becomes corrupt you can substitute a copy and keep going.

CaptainPhoto

I think you have the first part right about some of the a-Holes on this blog. Not sure what their problem is.
Any way to answer your question. The LR catalog system is just fantastic. But if you export to some other place then LR does not know where you put it. If you start moving original files around outside of LR you break the link. If you rename a file after it is in LR you break the link. Because the catalog system is a little complicated if you are not use to it, but simple if you understand the basics, I would recommend you checking out the LR tutorials by Lora Shoe. Form the very beginning she will walk you through the catalog system. She compares it to the old card-catalog system used in a library.
You will really enjoy the power of the LR catalog - key words etc once you grasp the principals - it's really not all that hard. I have been using LR and the catalog for some time and really love the system. And if for some strange reason you place a photo someplace else -there are a few tricks Laura will teach you on how to have LR find the photo. Good luck.