Processing Best Practices

[Bobonli]

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I've allowed my image catalog to become a hot-mess with some images in Lightroom, others in an old Aperture Library and still others filed in random folders. Carelessness on my part and I have to get the house in order. My plan was to import everything back into Light Room. In the past I've kept the originals on my Mac hard drive and backed-up to external drives, though I've read that some people do it the other way around.

As such, I'm hoping you can share some best practices, workflow advice or anything else that might be helpful as I get things sorted out. I've watched some good videos by Scott Kelby and others, but would appreciate any additional input I can get.

[wda]

At least you are facing up to the task. File access is faster on Internal drives so l backup to external drives.

• Make a plan giving  priority to your most important images. Lightroom allows you  to filter all catalogued images. I have folders by year. Rewards await you when everything is sorted,  rated and tagged. Good luck!

[marchyman]

My "rules".  I do not claim that they are good rules, only that they work for me!

1) Do not keep images inside the lightroom catalog.
2) The catalog lives on my internal drive
3) Images live on an external SSD drive dedicated to photos.

The image is only accessed upon import and when editing.  Having them live on an external SSD is fast enough for that purpose.  Perusing my catalog is where speed is needed, thus having the catalog and previews live on the system drive.

I recently moved my images from a 2TB SSD to a 4TB SSD.  I still had room on the 2TB drive, but had some non photographic related reasons to get a new drive and decided to update my "photos" drive.  I cloned old drive to new drive and gave it the same name.  LrC, when started, didn't even notice things had changed.

How images are organized on the external drive is up to you.  I organize by "year/mmdd-event name".  When looking for images I search by metadata more often than event.

[wda]

10 minutes ago, marchyman said:

My "rules".  I do not claim that they are good rules, only that they work for me!

1) Do not keep images inside the lightroom catalog.
2...

Forgive me, but that is not an option. The catalogue contains only instructions and data about the images.

[Jeff S]

When I transitioned to digital in 2009, I bought the Kelby LR guidebook, along with others from Victoria Bampton, Martin Evening, et. al., and subsequently watched free videos from Julieanne Kost. Each provided a variety of very useful tips.  Kelby, whom you cited, started his book (LR2, I think), warning specifically about getting off on the right foot storing photos, establishing and naming folders, importing already created folders, etc… to avoid the mess you mention… but also how to get out of it.  Too much to summarize here, but a useful source if the videos fall short.

Victoria Bampton’s (The LR Queen) forum is also a place to find answers and pose questions.  Kelby likewise has an online presence, but I haven’t used.

Jeff

[Viv]

My photos are on two external drives (a single RAID drive), organised in folders by places, theme, etc. Each folder has a date in its title.

When it comes to post-processing, I first open a new folder with an appropriate title, then import all the new images from the camera into that folder.

I shoot RAW only. I process Leica files using Capture One, Hasselblad files using Phocus.

I give the newly-processed images (usually just some of the imported images) appropriate names and save them to the new folder.

That's what I do.

[250swb]

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I have all my photos on external drives. Starting from scratch make a folder called '1' followed by a title 'Day out at seaside', followed by the date. Import all that days photos into the folder (and it's a good idea to add an automatic Custom prefix to the image numbers as you download them and this would be the main folder number). Your next folder will be '2' etc. etc. So your first folder on your drive will be called '01 day at seaside 21-07-24'. If you edit any of those photos open a new folder inside your main folder and call it something like 'Edits'. In this you save edited photos and give them a new file name, the easiest method is to use the original file number with a different ending like 'v1' for version 1, if you edit the same phot again end the file name with 'v2' etc. If you want to resize for forum posting make another folder called 'JPEGs'. 

You've then got a sequential set of folders and folders within folders you just keep adding to without the chaos caused by Lightroom. All your 'day at the seaside' pictures are all in the same place along with your edits and sizes. If you use Adobe Bridge as your folder browser you can use it to download images into your folders, add custom names or prefixes, and add tags to folder or photos. 

[dpitt]

On 7/20/2024 at 6:06 PM, Bobonli said:

I've allowed my image catalog to become a hot-mess with some images in Lightroom, others in an old Aperture Library and still others filed in random folders. Carelessness on my part and I have to get the house in order. My plan was to import everything back into Light Room. In the past I've kept the originals on my Mac hard drive and backed-up to external drives, though I've read that some people do it the other way around.

As such, I'm hoping you can share some best practices, workflow advice or anything else that might be helpful as I get things sorted out. I've watched some good videos by Scott Kelby and others, but would appreciate any additional input I can get.

Your problem is maybe bigger than you think. I found out the hard way that mixing PP software catalogs over several different packages can present its own challenges. I started by using Apple's iPhoto, then upgraded to Aperture and a RAW workflow. When Apple stopped development of Aperture, I switched to Adobe LR. But when my Mac OS did not support the old version of LR anymore, I refused their subscription options, so I switched to a 'perpetual licensed' Capture One Pro catalog.

Trying to import an Aperture catolog in LR containing RAW files will at best save most of your metadata in form of keywords, flags and ratings, but even that is a challenge because only the common options can be imported. Much worse for the modifications you made... Almost none of the modifications made on RAW files make it through. Even a crop is hard !? Let alone things like increased exposure, sharpening, ...
You basically need to start over with the editing process...

The same issues when I wanted to import my LR catalogs to Capture One. And finding a few corrupted LR catalogs did not help either.
I now decided that  I need my picture archive to be software independent as much as possible and to be as simple as possible.

1. I now consider all my RAW files as unfinished sources(~negatives), and once I am pleased with the modifications, I make sure that I export all my files as JPGs full resolution, high quality. Of course I keep all my RAW files in a set of folders too as a backup in case I want to access them later. You can extract them later old Aperture and LR catalogs, but that process can fail by corruption or if your software becomes incompatible with your future system. Then a file and folder storage seems to be more robust and easier (smaller) to backup and move to new hardware when needed.
   Of course I started by exporting all my RAWs and JPGs from the old catalogs.
2. I found a way to manage all my JPGs in a way that each file contains all my keywords and other metadata for future reference. They are stored by year in a logical file structure. So, if need be, I could import all of that in new software.
   Currently I work with the free software Digikam that is even compatible with files and keywords exported by C1P and picks up changes made by C1P automatically. Maybe it looks less sophisticated than LR but I found that the DAM features are equal or better. It has some editing features but these do not seem up to par.
3. Regarding backups. `
   Digikam is very good with offline resources, so it allows for searching and sorting, even when the original files are on an external disk that is not plugged in. 
4. I now work with C1P in session catalogs with limited scope e.g. one holiday or event at a time. Then backup, export and archive when finished editing.

My intention is to be more independent of the way my RAW files are edited and to be prepared for a move to other PP software when needed. My archive will still be readable in any future system that can read the JPG files and even when part of the archive is lost or moved, all essential info in in the files itself. 

For the moment C1P seems to be all I need on the image processing side, but this workflow gives me the flexibility to switch or add PP software when needed.

Edited July 21, 2024 by dpitt

[LocalHero1953]

I see two issues here: dealing with your scattered collection of photos, and how to organise them within LR.

As for getting photos into LR, if you can't import them with non-destructive edits, one option is to export them (from Aperture etc) as TIFFs, and then import them into LR. You retain your edits, you can't roll them back, but otherwise you have plenty of digital data to play with. If you can, remove any crops before exporting as TIFF: once exported, you have lost the image outside the crop.

In LR, all I can do is describe my practice. Everyone has a different approach.

I have several drives of various speeds and capacities in my desktop PC. My LR catalogue and my current* images are stored on an internal SSD, with secondary* images on another high capacity internal HDD. Both are backed up manually (usually after each import) to an external Terramaster 5-HDD RAID, and also (continuously) via Backblaze to the cloud.

My catalogue is structured in a way that suits my usage but is unlikely to suit anyone else. Family photos are in a folder by year and by event within the year (the oldest is 1865!). Travel photos are in a folder by continent, country and place. Then there are folders for music/theatre/dance performance (a very large number), grouped by year and production name. Then there's a folder that I call 'assignments' for photos other people ask me to take - portraits etc - grouped by name. There are a few other folders (e.g. eBay sales, camera/lens tests). I don't use keywords; my mind doesn't work that way. This works for me, but I don't expect it to work for anyone else.

 

*Current images are all images except those relating to music/theatre/dance photography. Productions I am working on are kept on the SSD. Productions for which the work is finished and delivered are transferred to the HDD in folders by year, and then by production name 

Edited July 21, 2024 by LocalHero1953

[Ko.Fe.]

I use only Lightroom. Camera manufacturers don't make good, supported post processing, cataloging software.  

I save not just images, but write once a year all changes to catalog and move, as catalog to nearline storage, a.k.a. external HDD.

Well, I have two.

Second HDD should be stored, ideally,  at another location. 

[marchyman]

On 7/20/2024 at 11:33 AM, wda said:

Forgive me, but that is not an option. The catalogue contains only instructions and data about the images.

Hmmm, perhaps I was confusing Aperture with Lightroom. I do remember it being a big decision at the time.

[ianforber]

I’ve also learned the hard way! I started with Photoshop Express, moved to Aperture, then Lightroom and now Capture One. 

I now keep all my images on external hard drives (backed up on other hard drives) as Referenced images. The images themselves are located in a folder structure on the external hardrive that suits my needs. I use headings like “Family” or “Landscape” because I know that if my wife ever needs to find a picture (eg after I die!) there’s no way she’ll want to trawl through a bunch of date based folders. I keep the Catalog on my internal hard drive, backed up there when prompted by Capture One. Every few backups, I copy a version of the backup to Dropbox. No idea if this is a good idea but it makes me feel better  

I shoot DNG+JPEG and import them all into a “Work in Progress” folder. The jpegs almost always get deleted but I import them because sometimes they are excellent and better than what I can get by fiddling with the DNG. When I’ve finished working on the files I move them into the relevant subject folder. It’s vital to create a TIFF or jpeg of your final, processed version as moving from one software to another is unlikely to allow you to carry forward the adjustments made to the DNG file, whereas the TIFF/jpeg will transfer perfectly. Personally, I almost always delete the DNG file at this stage. Many consider this to be just weird and wrong! I also export a decent sized jpeg of most (not all) to Apple Photos app so that I not only have a reasonable backup in the cloud but also because I have something I can show people on my phone if they are interested. It also means that I can relax a little by not having a backup located offsite - all my backups are at home. If I don’t think anyone will be interested, I don’t export the jpeg to Photos. Given the number of backups I have on external hard drives, I’m happy to take the risk of not having a copy in Photos. 

Hope this helps. 

[hansvons]

18 hours ago, Bobonli said:

So I've been sitting "naked" for awhile now and I want to choose wisely to get my catalog in order.

Going back to the original question:

1. Do you really need a catalogue? I’m asking this because for many applications simple folders named according to the content (eg Summer 2024, Jones_party_240806, Tokyo-2023) are good enough. CaptureOne provides that with their Session scheme, which is targeted at project-based agency work, but serves easily well any other kind of event-based structure.

I have a Catalogue that contains my fine-art work (big word), all else is organised based on Sessions (I’m even thinking to revert that catalogue to a Sessions folder). These Sessions folders are regular file folders with practicable subfolders that C1 creates for you. They can be opened, browsed, moved and back-up as any other regular folder. That way, you are not stuck to a subscription or specific software to handle your photos.

2. I think it's worth looking closer into Luninar Neo. They do have very good tools, some of them industry-leading. They aim their software at the Instagram crowd, with terrifying sky-replacement tools and other highly questionable AI-based “look improvements”. But you don't have to use these and just do your regular edits. I have no idea how robust their catalogue system is, or whether they offer a Session kind of approach. However, they are a promising company from Ukraine, with a US branch for international sales.

3. Catalogues in general have the tendency to become monstrous entities on various levels as they grow (my Apple Photos catalogue is precisely this). The moment you think about breaking them up into years or themes, you’ll probably be better off with C1-style Session folders. Plus you are stuck with a specific software forever.

 

[Bobonli]

4 hours ago, hansvons said:

Going back to the original question:

1. Do you really need a catalogue?

 

When I was using Aperture, I had a semi-coherent filing system. Then it went to heck and things are just in folders with names and dates  like, "Lake Placid" etc. No keywords in most situations and, as such, when I want to find something I basically scroll through that year's folders. It's an embarrassment. I much prefer taking the photos more than filing and organizing them. So I'm going to start over and try to do it correctly, at least from now going forward.