Advice needed with LR4 library.

[Gavin Robert]

The long and short of the quandary: When creating your library within LR4 is the programme copying your image files to another location or is it simply mapping what you have into its own tree?

Its the term 'import' that gets me. I'm hoping LR4 is just mapping.....

 

[Fidel Marcus]

Hi Gavin,

I too was a bit confused by the "import" button when I first started using lightroom, I kept looking for an "open" when there really isn't one, LR4 is designed to operate like a complete photography work space, therefore you have to become acclimated with the workflow before you can feel more comfortable with the layout.

To simply answer your question, yes & no, meaning when you import you can copy the image, copy as dng, or just import but keep it in it's original location.

Now to take this a step further you would utilize the catalogs & collections, before I even import I create a new catalog specific to the project I am working on then once I've imported (I personally copy as dng then put the raw files in a backup drive) I create collections based on my output needs, if I'm going to output 2 sets of the same images one in color and the other in B/W I create a set for each one and drag the different images in their corresponding collections.

If you choose to do what I do & copy as DNG you have to specify where the dng will be copied, I personally like to make working folders for these and back up folders for the raw files, the working folders also contain my catalog files so I never have to fumble files & become confused about where I might have placed an imported image or a catalog file.

I hope this clarifies it

 

[Pete Askew]

It depends on the settings you have ticked. It can (and this may actually be the default) copy the files to a new location as it 'imports' them. What you'll find is the raw files have been copied into the year / day hierarchy that it creates. A useful way to use the programme (which I'm thinking about switching to) is to use it to import from memory card and copy the files into both it's own hierarchy and a backup location. At present I have LR set to ignore cards when inserted and copy the raw files to a year month / project structure that I use. I then import and copy to its own structure. Although temporarily wasteful on space on a laptop I find this useful at the moment as I use an image database (MediaOne from PhaseOne) and copy stuff onto our RAID-based archived that the database 'watches' and often import a gallery from LR on one machine to another. Final edits are exported as TIFF files into the normal structure on the RAID.

 

[Gavin Robert]

Fidel and Pete thank you for taking the time. After first reading your advice I had headless chicken syndrome but having come back a few times I'm grasping what you are saying. I'll give this a go tomorrow and see how I get on but if you don't mind I may well have some more questions.

Have you both been long term users of LR4 or new to it? Reason I ask is I've always used bridge and the CS family, currently at CS5, but LR4 is getting such rave reviews I feel the need to jump before I'm left behind.
I tried the latest Elements but I just couldn't get anywhere with it but I looking at the capabilities of LR4 I think its time to make the move.

 

[Pete Askew]

I've been using LR since v1 was first released and before that I used Bridge / PS. I still use PS but trigger the edit from within LR for the most part. I also use CaptureOne but mainly for PhaseOne backs although it can often help a difficult file better than LR (v3 at least).

 

[Fidel Marcus]

I've been using it for 2-3 years now but much more heavily this year, it's been my primary & sometimes only PP program unless I need do something LR4 is incapable of then I launch PS from within LR. I still use the bridge when I want to browse my RAW files or when I'm going through my back-up drive only because you can't browse files as easily from lightroom (as you noticed with the slightly confusing import concept).

feel free to ask any other questions.

 

[Darren Bradley]

The guys have already said it but as a long-time LR user myself, I'll pile on. I was terribly confused when I first started, too, and honestly made a bit of a mess of my archives. Basically, LR gives you the choice of just mapping/copying or completely moving the files. The LR catalog doesn't actually store anything. It's just a sort of thin layer that points to photos wherever they may be stored and remembers any alterations you've made to them as a separate file (that way, your originals always remain intact). So when you "import", you're really just notifying the catalog about new photos that exist. LR will help you by creating a new file in a designated disk if you've chosen that option.

For example, if I'm important new photos from a CF memory card, I generally just select "copy" and the files are copied into a new folder on my external drive automatically.

If I find an existing photo sitting on my computer desktop, I'll select "move" when importing and it will disappear from my desktop and end up in a new folder on my hard drive.

If I just want to work on photos that are already on my hard drive but aren't associated with that catalog, I'll use import and "add", which doesn't do anything to the file at its existing location, but it just allows me to work on it from that catalog.

There are lots of different styles, but I use lots of different LR Catalogs, depending on what I'm doing. I keep a separate one for each client, and also for personal stuff, by year.

 

[Gavin Robert]

I guessed you guys had good experience of LR which is why I asked and not to test your knowledge.

Thank you too Darren as its all becoming clearer now. This thread is helping my mental block more than you could all imagine.

One question which I haven't yet tried, can I create these catalogues prior to importing/mapping images? I would try before asking but I'm trying to avoid any frustration.

 

[Pete Askew]

Yes you can. And you can open a different one to the last one you worked with or even set it to let you choose the catalogue you want to work with when you start the programme.

 

[Gavin Robert]

Pete you're a superstar, thank you. I'm going to remove my 1TB external drive from its enclosure and make it internal, then re-organise my files before I start doing anything.

I do appreciate everyone's help with this as its helping no end.

 

[Lesley Jones]

I'll admit to not using LR, but I imagined it to be similar to the Organiser in Elements. I'm tired and may not have read every word, but I don't think I saw anyone mention database. I used the Organiser for years and had to get used to importing (getting the data), moving and renaming through the application. If you don't, then you get a load of broken links. I now actually prefer Bridge because I don't have to constantly check that the numbers add up. It simply sees what is there

 

[Gavin Robert]

Thanks Leslie. I must admit I like the way I work now such as yourself and Bridge, but I feel the need to move on and get to grips with this LR4 and the new working space concept. I'm also a little untidy with my files and so sometimes can't find what I'm looking for because I forget to name the folder properly when downloading onto the PC.

Saying this I just went through all my images on an external hard drive this afternoon and consolidated the files, renaming many and moving some images from file to file. I also separated my 'photography' from all other images to reduce navigation down to a third of what it was.

I ordered a second 1TB internal drive this afternoon which will be here tomorrow. After that's installed I'll ghost the images across and remove the 1TB external for safe keeping. Then I can start mapping with LR4!

No doubt have a few questions....