My LR files are a hot mess

[vettechick99]

I am new to LR. Had it a couple months but still very much green to it. I also have a Mac, which is also new to me, but I do know my way around a PC quite well.

Ok, so I am about to be doing a lot of work for my sister and it will entail editing and managing loads of pictures. Pictures coming in, pictures going out. Just a few at a time. Like 10 in, 10 out. Multiple times a day. I am trying to figure out how to manage this without getting lost because so far I am .

I have the Kelby book where he says start a "My LR Pics" folder. So I did. I moved a bunch of pics around into this folder and in doing so, it made pics already imported into LR disappear. So there's one issue.

Another issue, every time I edit in LR, either my Mac or LR makes an additional folder with a year on it. Today I imported 8 pictures she sent me. I edited them and when I exported them, had them dropped into a subfolder I created in that same original folder. When I went looking for them, all of a sudden there was a 2008 and 2010 folder. I had to click through 4 or 5 folders trying to find these 8 pictures. I've been very good at PC file mgt for 15+ years and I've never been so confused. Plus, I've never experienced a program (or computer) that makes extra folders for you. Is this something that I can correct?

It also seems like I have duplicate pictures all over my computer. Some are in "pictures", some in "my docs". IDK what is going on. I can't figure out if this is my doing, or the computer is trying to make my life easier.

Right now I'm still at the beginning of this project for my sister, so if I can get the file management corrected now, I won't be pulling my hair out in 2 months.

How do you manage it? I need tips!

 

[disneyboy2003]

Organizing your photos with Lightroom takes a little getting used to, but it is totally worth it.

I believe the reason why you're seeing your photos organized into different years and dates is because when you first import your photos (i.e. in the "Import Photos" window), you have the option of importing all your photos into one single folder or importing them by date ("Organize by Date"). Sounds like you want to choose Organize "Into one folder".

If you already have your photos organized into separate folders on your Mac, I don't think there's a need to move all your photos into a separate "Lightroom folder". For example, what I do is I organize my photos into folders in my PC, such as a parent folder called "Walt Disney World", then separate subfolders called "Magic Kingdom", "Epcot", "Disney's Hollywood Studios", and "Animal Kingdom".

When I open Lightroom, I import these photos from the computer into the Lightroom catalog. There is no need to move my photos anywhere else. The Lightroom catalog will keep track of where these photos are physically located on your hard drive.

Once you make edits to your photos, you can export a JPEG (i.e. use the "Export Photos" window) into the exact same folder as were the original photo came from. When you export your photos, double check that the "Export Location" shows the folder where you want your photos exported to. Actually, what I do is I have Lightroom create a separate subfolder called "Smugmug", where all my final edited JPEG's are located. For example, in my "Magic Kingdom" folder, I have Lightroom create a new "Smugmug" subfolder. In my "Epcot" folder, I also have a "Smugmug" subfolder... And so on…

Keep working at it. Again, it does take some time to get used to the Lightroom workflow and interface. The Scott Kelby book is a very excellent book for learning Lightroom.

Hope that helps. If you have more questions about Lightroom, please don't be afraid to ask.

 

[mabas9395]

One thing you will want to remember is that once your photos are in Lightroom, you must only use Lightroom if you want to move or delete these photos. If you use Windows Explorer (or some other file management tool), Lightroom will not know where you moved them too.

One other thing, when you import photos, you have the option to #1 Copythe photos to a new location and add them to your catalog (this will essentially give you two copies of your photos, one in the original location and one where ever you have Lightroom pointed). Or #2 Movephotos to a new location and add to the catalog (this will take your photos from all of your places on your hard drive and put them where ever you have Lightroom pointed). Or #3 Addphotos to your catalog without moving them. Lightroom has a default selection to create subfolders for year/month when importing which you can change if you want. But I think the year/month it uses it the date the photo was taken. So if your sister sent you photos from 2008 and 2010 that you put into your "My Photos" folder, when you import them into Lightroom using the "Copy" method, you would still have your original photos in "My Photos", plus the imported versions in the year folder for when they were taken. Plus, if you then export the photos, you could have a 3rd version in an entirely new location.

I agree with the previous post, it takes some getting used to but it is totally worth it.

 

[Bstanley]

This may sound ridiculously beginner to the Lightroom users, but as a note to the OP - I didn't realize at first that the 'Source' portion (the left hand panel of the program) of the basic Lightroom screen is a fully functional 'File Explorer' dialog providing access to all the drives/directories/files on your computer.

In other words you can rename sub-directories/files/etc, create/delete things, drag and drop things, etc. So if you decide to change how/where things are organized all you have to remember to do is make your changes within Lightroom (not in Windows fiile manager) and everything will stay 'healthy/connected' in Lightroom.

 

[mrodgers]

One thing you will want to remember is that once your photos are in Lightroom, you must only use Lightroom if you want to move or delete these photos. If you use Windows Explorer (or some other file management tool), Lightroom will not know where you moved them too.

Although.... You will still be able to see the preview of the image displayed. You will see a question mark displayed with the image preview. Upon clicking the question mark, you will be asked to look for the photo. If you've moved entire folders full of images in Windows and find that first image that isn't connected in Lightroom anymore, it will find the rest of the collection if the folder structure is still the same, but in a different location.

Example, My Documents/My Pictures/10 years of various folders sorted by year with 50,000 images. You move the entire contents of "My Pictures" to another hard drive, Lightroom will still be looking in My Documents/My Pictures. Re-acquaint the first Lightroom preview image to where you moved the folder structure on another harddrive and Lightroom should be able to associate all the previews now to the correct location.