Replaced hard drive—Lightroom organization question
bfluegie
Registered Users Posts: 850 Major grins
I recently had a failure of my (fully backed up) hard drive and so I am starting with a fresh installation of Lightroom 4 and Photoshop CS6. When I first started using Lightroom, I was learning as I went along and I didn’t know anything about the organization method. I had previously used Elements and just used Windows explorer to organize into folders by subject, date, or whatever seemed to work for the photos I was working on. I am sure the Lightroom system is very powerful, it is just different than what I had been doing for years. I think I ended up with photos in a lot of different places on my drive.
Also, I am not sure how to add the photos I have already modified with Lightroom back into the new installation. Since I did a full backup of my original drive the catalog must be somewhere… at least I hope so. But, I am now going to be using a separate hard drive partition for my data. I am not sure how to make this work. Should I restore to the exact same path where the photos were originally and then move them to the new partition from within Lightroom? Since I only have a few hundred completed photos, and since many of these were learning projects, I am almost willing to just start over.
I am wondering if others would either share their own organization tips or suggest articles or books that I can use to find something that works for me. I am not a professional and I will mostly process fewer than 1000 photos per year so I don't need anything elaborate. I just want to have something orderly that can grow with me. I have searched posts back for over two years, but I guess this is more basic than what is usually discussed. The tutorial on the Adobe site doesn’t really help much with my questions either. :scratch
Thanks in advance.
Also, I am not sure how to add the photos I have already modified with Lightroom back into the new installation. Since I did a full backup of my original drive the catalog must be somewhere… at least I hope so. But, I am now going to be using a separate hard drive partition for my data. I am not sure how to make this work. Should I restore to the exact same path where the photos were originally and then move them to the new partition from within Lightroom? Since I only have a few hundred completed photos, and since many of these were learning projects, I am almost willing to just start over.
I am wondering if others would either share their own organization tips or suggest articles or books that I can use to find something that works for me. I am not a professional and I will mostly process fewer than 1000 photos per year so I don't need anything elaborate. I just want to have something orderly that can grow with me. I have searched posts back for over two years, but I guess this is more basic than what is usually discussed. The tutorial on the Adobe site doesn’t really help much with my questions either. :scratch
Thanks in advance.
~~Barbara
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Comments
important things to remember when setting up Lightroom is that Lightroom
does not contain any images. Think of Lightroom containing pointers
to the actual location of the image, and mirroring that actual image.
The books and the tutorials tell you this, but it's almost a throw-away
statement buried in the introduction material. A lot of people new to
Lightroom don't understand this.
Because of this, before you plan how to set up Lightroom, plan how
and where you will store the actual images. If you don't have a plan,
a year from now you may have the actual locations scattered across
your drives. Lightroom will not be able to find those images if you
change the location of these files. (Well, it can be done, but it's not
easy)
You can store the actual images on C: or on any drive, but make
sure your choice will accommodate the amount of images you will
have. RAW take more space than .jpgs.
There's no one plan that is the best. Set up a plan that works for
you. I have a system, but it might not be the best for you.
My system is creating a folder for each month in C: I have folders
for 2014-01-JAN, 2014-02-FEB, and so on. That naming convention
sequences the folders in order.
I upload images from my card in Lightroom and direct those files to be
placed in the folder (ie: 2014-01-JAN) in the Destination Panel
in the Import process.
For a more expanded explanation, watch Julieanne Kost's video at
http://tv.adobe.com/watch/getting-started-with-adobe-photoshop-lightroom-4/lightroom-4-importing-and-organizing-your-images/ and go about 9 minutes into the video.
The rest of her video is worth watching, but the Destination panel
is how you direct Lightroom where to store your images. In my
system, I would have already created 2014-01-JAN and can direct
Lightroom to store the images there.
Other people have other systems, but this works for me.
http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/
then you just have to load the catalog you used before ( name.Lrcat )
LR stores it somewhere on your C: drive by default
( cant remember where as i use the same drive as where my photos are )
/ɯoɔ˙ƃnɯƃnɯs˙ʇlɟsɐq//:dʇʇɥ
Tony and Bas, thanks for the responses. I do know that Lightroom doesn't actually store photos within the program or move them from the original location. And I know that modifications are actually not applied to the original photos. I didn't state it very well--sorry about that. I have played around a bit with LR on a different computer and found that I can move folders on my drive from within LR and that it then updates the catalog with the new location. It does give the rather ominous message in a dialog box "This will cause the corresponding files on disk to be moved. If you proceed, neither this move nor any change you've made prior to this can be undone". While a little off-putting, I practiced with a test photo and directory for which I didn't care if I lost the changes. Despite the warning I was able to keep the list of LR changes intact. Since I hadn't saved final versions of all the photos I will be restoring, this is important.
So, I think I will restore the photos to the same location and then from the Library panel of LR move them to the new partition (which is most of a 2GB drive). This way both LR and I will know where they are. I think I used the LR default location for the catalog, so if I do the restore before reinstalling LR maybe it will all be automatic. I will make a copy to a different location before the installation just to satisfy my paranoia.
Regarding photo organization on the computer, I had a method I used before LR. I would copy the photos from my card to a folder called "unmodified", into subfolders by year and another by month if necessary. I'm a hobbyist and sometimes the hobby goes on hiatus so I don't always have a lot of photos. I would have something like this: photos\unmodified\D90_archive\2014\07_July. (These directories are sacrosanct and I haven't even imported from them using LR.) I then copy the unmodified photos to another similarly named directory from which I used to open them in Elements and now import them into LR. I did this originally to avoid the possibility of overwriting the original. I may not need the extra copy step with LR, and may decide to eliminate it at some point. I might even import directly from my card using LR, but I always have a lot of duds I don't want to deal with in LR.
Completed photos are saved to a directory titled by subject, event, or whatever which are also sorted by year, example: photos\2014\[name of event, location, etc]. So I think it has similarities to what you are doing, Tony.
I think my big problem is that I have to learn to be more meticulous with LR. I am used to changing things around if I decide something might work better. Also, I have definitely saved things to the wrong place by not remembering to set up the output folder correctly before exporting. So to avoid having to change locations too many times I will probably start out with month subfolders even if my photo quantity would sometimes allow me to avoid it. I will just have to be more careful with what I am doing, I think. I do have a two vacation backlog, so maybe by the time I am done the steps will have become habit.
Thanks again.
To avoid difficult situations i made my own workflow ( seems foolproof so far )
- I never convert
I just move the RAWs from card to disk , and open them strait in LR
- I use folders on disk and the sub-folders i name them : year / month / sequence number ( 2014 08 01 )
this way they display in LR in order i want to
- i keep the catalog on the same drive , but the backup of it goes to another drive
/ɯoɔ˙ƃnɯƃnɯs˙ʇlɟsɐq//:dʇʇɥ
Hi, bfluegle,
I agree with what the previous responder said, but will add my limited insight from the prospective of a novice LR 5 user who also recently transitioned from Elements 11. So far, this has worked for me: I set up a Lightroom Folder (I call it "Lightroom" on an external hard drive (Scott Kelby, the Adobe Lightroom Photoshop Guru recommended this, I am not sure why the separate LR folder, but hey, who am I to second guess Scott Kelby?) Inside the Lightroom Folder, I have an organization tree similar to what you might have used within Windows. I prefer to label my folders with something more descriptive than a date, so I use words that are meaningful to me. For example, pictures of my son, regardless of year, I file in a subfolder called "David", which is, surprise,surprise, his name. Within that, I might make subfolders on the fly, perhaps by year or activity, whatever seems most logical. Another example: I took a memorable trip a few years ago, from which I have hundreds of pictures, with my sister-in-law. That folder is "California with Kathy 2013". You get the idea, I am sure. I use an external hard-drive b/c my computer hard drive is large, but not massive. For back-up, I have started to buy new SD cards instead of reusing them. I buy a few whenever I am down to one or two and see them on sale. That way, I know that I always have the original picture, as shot, straight from the camera. For really important pictures (family events, milestones, etc) I make an additional CD/DVD backup and back up to my SmugMug site. I have also, in the past, backed up to Picasa and Flickr, and still have thousands of pictures stored in Picasa.
In addition to the aforementioned Scott Kelby (download a sample of his LR5 book and see what he has to say and if you like his presentation style before you invest - his book is expensive) I also like the Julianne Kost videos that are posted for free by TVAdobe.
I hope that helps.
DeborahL
P.S. Did I mention that I am a great believer in redundancy? I live in tornado alley.
On a separate drive, I have a folder named "My RAW Photos". In that folder I create a folder for the year (2014). In that folder I create a folder that uses the date of the photos and a basic description like (080414-Ashley graduation), and in that folder I create one for RAW, JPG, Watermarked or whatever I need. Then I pop the memory card in the card reader and copy the RAW files to the RAW folder. Then I open up LR and just tell it to "ADD" the photos from the current location to the catalog.
Normally LR stores the catalog in your My Photos directory in a directory named LRx, along with other things, but you can have it create the catalog anywhere you want, like on the external drive where the actual photos reside. If your worried about losing your previous adjustments, then convert your RAW files to DNG. As a DNG, if you open it in CR (Camera Raw) in Photoshop, your adjustments from LR will still be applied in CR as well. Any changes made in CR will also appear when opened in LR, as all adjustment is written inside the DNG file.
Hope this helps.
GaryB
“The single most important component of a camera is the twelve inches behind it!” - Ansel Adams
on Lightroom use text in the image file name to identify the shot,
and/or use folders to identify events or occasions.
I've never understood why. My files and my folders are all named
by date (2014 for a folder and 2014-05-11-01 for a file)
Any designation of the event, occasion, or person's name is done
with key words. Sometimes keywords within a keyword. Sometimes multiple
keywords an image. For example, baseball within the 2014 keyword
and maybe a All Star game keyword in baseball.
File names containing people's names would drive me crazy. You could
have file names for John, Jim, and Joe, but then you need John with Jim,
John with Joe, Jim with Joe, etc. Too many permutations.
http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/
I did read part of the Kelby book (library copy) and I couldn’t figure out his reason for having the Lightroom folder. I did try it for a few small imports but it just didn’t feel right to me.
I will probably spend some time this weekend getting my photos and Lightroom set back up. I will post when I am done and let you know how it turns out. At least, since I will still have the backup, if I really mess something up I can wipe it all and start again.
Thanks again
I did read part of the Kelby book (library copy) and I couldn’t figure out his reason for having the Lightroom folder. I did try it for a few small imports but it just didn’t feel right to me. [/QUOTE]
Kelby writes a book a week (or at least it seems he does), and I happen to have
his Lightroom4 and Lightroom5 books right on my desk. On page 14 of both books
he says: "...since I always store my photos within My Lightroom Photos folder."
I assume that's what you're referring to. What he means is explained in the next
sentence where he says "I don't like to see all those other folders all the time, so
this just hides them from view until I choose otherwise."
All Kelby is trying to get across is that it's simpler to have one place on your main
drive in which all of your photos are stored. The name of that place is immaterial.
I don't have a folder with that name, but I do follow his advice in that I have one
master folder titled "FamilyPix" and one master folder titled "HobbyPix". Within
each of those folders are sub-folders by year. If you'll look at the illustration
on page 15, you'll notice Kelby does the same thing: a master folder and sub-
folders. (Whatever book you're using will probably be the same since the
beginning chapters are all pretty much the same.)
What Kelby is discouraging is having your images scattered all over your main
drive in different folders.
When you import from a card or your camera, you have the option to store the files in
in a designated folder using the "Destination" panel in the Import screen. It makes
it easy to navigate to where you want them to go if you have one master folder.
You can then specify the name of a sub-folder. If you don't use the Destination
panel, the folder will not be in the master file.
http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/
Lensmole
http://www.lensmolephotography.com/
Full disclosure: The two Kelby books I mentioned are not books that I purchased.
The camera club I belong to has a library of books that can be taken out by members
for a 30 day free loan.
I'm too cheap to spend $100 on two books when there are so many online tutorials
available for free. The Julianne Kost series on Lightroom is highly recommended.
http://www.jkost.com/ and click the tab on Lightroom videos.
I did buy a book when I first started using Lightroom, but most of my current learning
is being done using tutorials. If you do buy a book, buy a book by Kelby or Martin Evening.
Also, even if you have Lightroom5, a book about Lightroom3 or 4 will cover 90% of what
you will want to know, and will cost you a fraction of the price of a new edition.
A used copy of Kelby's LR4 is under $10 on Amazon, and a new copy under $30.
His new edition on LR5 is $50. He doesn't need the money, and there are not that
many new things in LR5 compared to LR4. Mostly advanced stuff.
http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/
This is me in 1942 at home in Indianapolis where I grew up.
http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/