Several Lightroom questions

jfriend · February 26, 2008

I'm a long time Bridge user, just moving the Lightroom. There are many things that Lightroom can do that Bridge cannot, but some things that are really easy in Bridge that I have not yet figured out in Lightroom. Here are a few questions that I'd appreciate some help with:

If I am looking at a shoot (200+ photos from a day) and I have assigned a bunch of keywords and I want to look at the subset of photos from that day with a particular keyword, how do I do that? In Bridge, I just click on the keyword in the left panel. In LR, I can't just click on the keyword in the keywords list because that will get me every photo in my lifetime with that keyword. Also that keyword list is gigantic because it's every keyword I've ever used so it's damn unwieldy. What I'd like is a quick way to filter by the keywords used in the currently viewed photos (like Bridge offers). So, how do I do this as easily and quickly as I did in Bridge?
When I recently imported 200+ photos, LR did not build accurate thumbnails. Instead, only when I clicked on the thumb, did it build an accurate preview for the thumbnails. How do I tell it to do that in advance at import time. I want to see accurate color and tone in my thumbnails.
I NEVER want LR to do a backup when I am starting LR. When I'm starting LR, I want to do my work, not wait for 5 minutes for an integrity check and backup copy. I ALWAYS want a backup when I'm done with my work. How do I get regular backups without having to wait every time I start LR?
Is there any way to tell LR to automatically trim it's backup copies. I'm fine with keeping the last 3-4 versions as disaster protection, but I'd like LR to get rid of the oldest versions when it makes a new one.
Is there an easy way to set the rating when in Develop mode. I'm finding the distinction between Library mode and Develop mode very wasteful as I'm always having to switch between the two just to do simple things like set a rating.
In Develop mode, there's a copy... button and a paste button. In Library mode, there's a Sync Settings button. I sort of understand the Sync Settings behavior because it's similar to Bridge, but why is copy/paste completely different in the Develop module. Shouldn't there be one common way to copy settings from one image to one or more other images rather than two completely different ways? I happen to like the copy/paste way, so why doesn't that exist in the Library mode?
What is the point of the Quick Develop settings in Library mode? Aren't they all superseded by the tools in the Develop mode? Is there any advantage to what's offered in the Library mode?
Is there any way to show the keywords on a photo in the library grid view like Bridge will do? It's the easiest way to identify photos with no keywords yet and it's the easiest way to scan photos for keywords.
Is there any way to find photos in a given shoot that don't yet have a keyword? Again, this is trivially easy in Bridge.
Is there any easy way to see the photos in a shoot that don't yet have a rating? This is very easy in Bridge.
Is there any way to see color values in something other than RGB percent like RGB on the 0-256 scale or CMYK SWOPv2?

DonRicklin · February 26, 2008

jfriend wrote:

I'm a long time Bridge user, just moving the Lightroom. There are many things that Lightroom can do that Bridge cannot, but some things that are really easy in Bridge that I have not yet figured out in Lightroom. Here are a few questions that I'd appreciate some help with:
If I am looking at a shoot (200+ photos from a day) and I have assigned a bunch of keywords and I want to look at the subset of photos from that day with a particular keyword, how do I do that? In Bridge, I just click on the keyword in the left panel. In LR, I can't just click on the keyword in the keywords list because that will get me every photo in my lifetime with that keyword. Also that keyword list is gigantic because it's every keyword I've ever used so it's damn unwieldy. What I'd like is a quick way to filter by the keywords used in the currently viewed photos (like Bridge offers). So, how do I do this as easily and quickly as I did in Bridge?

You highlight the folder or collection you are working on, not All Photographs then highlight the Keyword you are looking for.

When I recently imported 200+ photos, LR did not build accurate thumbnails. Instead, only when I clicked on the thumb, did it build an accurate preview for the thumbnails. How do I tell it to do that in advance at import time. I want to see accurate color and tone in my thumbnails.

Rander Standard Previews on Import

I NEVER want LR to do a backup when I am starting LR. When I'm starting LR, I want to do my work, not wait for 5 minutes for an integrity check and backup copy. I ALWAYS want a backup when I'm done with my work. How do I get regular backups without having to wait every time I start LR?

Much requested but not there. Only before at this time.

Is there any way to tell LR to automatically trim it's backup copies. I'm fine with keeping the last 3-4 versions as disaster protection, but I'd like LR to get rid of the oldest versions when it makes a new one.

No, only by hand.

Is there an easy way to set the rating when in Develop mode. I'm finding the distinction between Library mode and Develop mode very wasteful as I'm always having to switch between the two just to do simple things like set a rating.

Press 1 -5 for Rating 6-9 for first 4 Color Labels

In Develop mode, there's a copy... button and a paste button. In Library mode, there's a Sync Settings button. I sort of understand the Sync Settings behavior because it's similar to Bridge, but why is copy/paste completely different in the Develop module. Shouldn't there be one common way to copy settings from one image to one or more other images rather than two completely different ways? I happen to like the copy/paste way, so why doesn't that exist in the Library mode?

The two Modules handle developing differently. QD does Relative Shifts and Develop absolute. This way you can do batch dev on even JPEGs while all are Highlighted by using the Grid.

What is the point of the Quick Develop settings in Library mode? Aren't they all superseded by the tools in the Develop mode? Is there any advantage to what's offered in the Library mode?

See previous answer.

Is there any way to show the keywords on a photo in the library grid view like Bridge will do? It's the easiest way to identify photos with no keywords yet and it's the easiest way to scan photos for keywords.

No

Is there any way to find photos in a given shoot that don't yet have a keyword? Again, this is trivially easy in Bridge.

Use Find/Keyword/Does not Contain.

Is there any easy way to see the photos in a shoot that don't yet have a rating? This is very easy in Bridge.

Sort by Ratings. All none rated will be clumped together.

Is there any way to see color values in something other than RGB percent like RGB on the 0-256 scale or CMYK SWOPv2?

No

Don

DonRicklin · February 26, 2008

More Lightroom Help!
To further investigate these qustions and better find more answers you might want to try a dedicated to Lightroom Forum or the Lightroom Help Wiki.

Lightroom Forums:

Lightroom Forums
Adobe Lightroom User to User Forum

Wiki:

Lightroom Help Wiki

Don

BenA2 · February 26, 2008

I think Don gave you some good answers. I just have a little to add to the first one...

jfriend wrote:

If I am looking at a shoot (200+ photos from a day) and I have assigned a bunch of keywords and I want to look at the subset of photos from that day with a particular keyword, how do I do that? In Bridge, I just click on the keyword in the left panel. In LR, I can't just click on the keyword in the keywords list because that will get me every photo in my lifetime with that keyword. Also that keyword list is gigantic because it's every keyword I've ever used so it's damn unwieldy. What I'd like is a quick way to filter by the keywords used in the currently viewed photos (like Bridge offers). So, how do I do this as easily and quickly as I did in Bridge?

This one annoys me too. You can't do what you're asking for by clicking on a word in the Keyword list. But, you can do what Don suggests in the Find box. Just do a text search in the keyword field and it will only look in the active folder or collection.

I'm totally with you on some of the things that Bridge can do that LR doens't do so well. I would also really love a medata editing workspace like Bridge's in LR. Entering lots of captions, where you can't just cut and paste, is a major pain in LR.

jfriend · February 26, 2008

LRmvcDonR wrote:

You highlight the folder or collection you are working on, not All Photographs then highlight the Keyword you are looking for.
Rander Standard Previews on ImportMuch requested but not there. Only before at this time.No, only by hand.Press 1 -5 for Rating 6-9 for first 4 Color LabelsThe two Modules handle developing differently. QD does Relative Shifts and Develop absolute. This way you can do batch dev on even JPEGs while all are Highlighted by using the Grid. See previous answer.NoUse Find/Keyword/Does not Contain.Sort by Ratings. All none rated will be clumped together.
[/list]No

Don

Thanks Don. This is a big help. It's funny that Bridge is still better at some things than LR, yet LR is supposed to be the expert at this kind of stuff. Maybe LR 2.0 (I'm hoping for later this year) will incorporate some of these things.

dogwood · February 29, 2008

jfriend wrote:

It's funny that Bridge is still better at some things than LR, yet LR is supposed to be the expert at this kind of stuff. Maybe LR 2.0 (I'm hoping for later this year) will incorporate some of these things.

Wow... I thought I was alone in my thinking on this! I keep hearing about how great LR is and so far I'm struggling with many of the same issues as you.

I use Photo Mechanic to download, meta-data tag, and sort photos (and it's WAY faster and cheaper than LR) so I'm still struggling to see the benefits of LR in these terms.

Honestly, I WANT LR to be the coolest software ever right now, but I'm finding my workflow of using Photo Mechanic to download and sort, then opening Bridge for batch processing to be much smoother (and faster) than using LR.

KED · February 29, 2008

jfriend wrote:

[*]I NEVER want LR to do a backup when I am starting LR. When I'm starting LR, I want to do my work, not wait for 5 minutes for an integrity check and backup copy. I ALWAYS want a backup when I'm done with my work. How do I get regular backups without having to wait every time I start LR?

While it *is* kinda crazy that you can't do a backup at the end after you have done all your work, the workaround that I am using out of sheer paranoia is to set LR to back up automatically upon startup, but skip the backup at the beginning, do all my editing, exit LR, re-start, THEN allow backup and quit. The process doesn't take as long to execute it as it does to describe, and while admittedly clunky, it serves the purpose.

You are obviously a power user -- LR Forums has a "Suggestions" sub-forum that would benefit from your input, even if it's just cutting and pasting your original post here. Don will understand.

DonRicklin · February 29, 2008

KED wrote:

You are obviously a power user -- LR Forums has a "Suggestions" sub-forum that would benefit from your input, even if it's just cutting and pasting your original post here. Don will understand.

Many more 'Gurus' there where it is Lightroom all the time like it is Digital Photography all the time here.:D

You should get some more perspectives on your points/questions than here.

Don

Several Lightroom questions

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