Proper Workflow for Creating Collections on SmugMug via Lightroom

jgwalter

Example problem......

1. A batch of 137 images divided into 17 subfolders in Lightroom uploaded to SmugMug into unlisted (but perhaps searchable) folders.
2. In SmugMug, I want to separate these images into several collections based on star ratings in Lightroom. This does not seem possible in SmugMug, but can easily be done in Lightroom.

However, creating the collections in Lightroom, seems to create a duplicate file in SmugMug? The small 'collection' arrow in the lower left of the thumbnail does not appear. Furthermore, often a different filename is created because my file naming convention adds the current date of the upload, which is often different from the original. In any event, it is really unclear if the image is duplicated, or if that really matters?

Creating the collection in SmugMug and syncing down to Lightroom seems to work perfectly, however as I mentioned above, creating the collection based on star ratings does not seem possible in SmugMug? Correct me if I am wrong.

Any advice on this is appreciated.

Thanks.

WinsomeWorks

Did you ever figure this out? Following because I need to start figuring out how to use Lightroom with SmugMug.

jgwalter

@WinsomeWorks said:
Did you ever figure this out? Following because I need to start figuring out how to use Lightroom with SmugMug.

Yes, I figured it out. While the Lightroom plugin is the best-working one amongst SmugMug's competitors, it does not work for this purpose. Creating a collection in Lightroom does not create a collection in SmugMug. It creates a duplicate upload. While SmugMug Support's answer to this is "So what, you have unlimited storage", this creates all sorts of problems related to having more than one copy of an image, such as searchability, updating version changes, etc. I've since moved away from this project, now only using Lightroom to upload images (which works great), and creating all collections within SmugMug. The problem with this approach is that with the limited filtering options in SmugMug, I need to create some kind of code in the keywords of the uploaded images, which works, but I fear will prove to be far too difficult to organize and maintain.

sonny

This might be of some help, as I use SM plug-in with LR. This works great for me. I create Folders and Galleries in SM Organizer. It works for many 5? levels deep. Then I double-click on the SM bar in Publishing Services to bring up LR Publishing Manager.

Then Sync Folders and Galleries > Sync Now

LR refreshes all my Folders and Galleries through all hierarchies. Each created Folder in SM becomes a Collection Set in LR. Each created Gallery in SM becomes a Collection in LR. I have never tempted fate by going in reverse from LR (except for Publishing Collections/Galleries since this way works 100%).

I hope that this is of some help.

Sonny

david.kingham

I just set up my site using smart collections in LR thinking this was a more intelligent way of doing things and who cares about the duplicate images. I hadn't thought about search results until you mentioned this @jgwalter now I'm disgusted I wasted all of this time and don't know where to go with my categorization. I was doing really deep organization (by state, by subject, by color, etc.) and when I search I have 9 duplicate images. I wish the smart galleries had a little more flexibility and they would work great for this purpose.

jgwalter

@sonny said:
This might be of some help, as I use SM plug-in with LR. This works great for me. I create Folders and Galleries in SM Organizer. It works for many 5? levels deep. Then I double-click on the SM bar in Publishing Services to bring up LR Publishing Manager.

Then Sync Folders and Galleries > Sync Now

LR refreshes all my Folders and Galleries through all hierarchies. Each created Folder in SM becomes a Collection Set in LR. Each created Gallery in SM becomes a Collection in LR. I have never tempted fate by going in reverse from LR (except for Publishing Collections/Galleries since this way works 100%).

I hope that this is of some help.

Sonny

I'm not sure what the point of this is? Your method appears to work fine, but to what end? It works fine in the other direction as well. You don't mention how you are adding photos? Adding a photo in LR to a LR Collection uploads a new, duplicate file. Adding the file in SM (collecting) adds the file in LR (when synced), and it appears to be a collected image there as well.

Creating duplicate images in SM creates all sorts of problems. Updating, searching, etc. In some cases, I want a duplicate file, such as currently I am working on adding files with and without an embedded watermark. So, one file creates its watermark via the SM process and is not included in any downloads. The other file has its watermark created in LR, and is embedded in the file, and is included in any downloads.

jgwalter

@david.kingham said:
I just set up my site using smart collections in LR thinking this was a more intelligent way of doing things and who cares about the duplicate images. I hadn't thought about search results until you mentioned this @jgwalter now I'm disgusted I wasted all of this time and don't know where to go with my categorization. I was doing really deep organization (by state, by subject, by color, etc.) and when I search I have 9 duplicate images. I wish the smart galleries had a little more flexibility and they would work great for this purpose.

I'm sorry to hear that for you. I've been away from this issue for a bit, but I am now only uploading files to one spot from LR to SM. All collections are created in SM, and then synced back to LR. I have yet to decide if this backward syncing, while it seems to work, is creating more confusion in LR.