I bit the bullet and got CC

[Krs_2007]

Also, take advantage of the tools you have in the Import module. Add your copyright to the EXIF data, and apply any tags that are universal to the import. Saves from having to do it later.

Oh, and I forgot, for tagging old photos there's this Spray Can tool at the bottom of the Library module where you can enter a set of keywords and then just click on the appropriate images in your current folder view. Makes life really easy if you have a bunch of shots from a day where a certain tag(s) applies randomly throughout. Just put the keywords in and one click adds them all to that shot. I forget about this all the time and get angry when I remember it after doing it through the right panel for 2 hours.

Wow, now thats cool. I have never even explored the paint can. Thanks for that tip.

 

[RockyNH_RIP]

Also, take advantage of the tools you have in the Import module. Add your copyright to the EXIF data, and apply any tags that are universal to the import. Saves from having to do it later.

Oh, and I forgot, for tagging old photos there's this Spray Can tool at the bottom of the Library module where you can enter a set of keywords and then just click on the appropriate images in your current folder view. Makes life really easy if you have a bunch of shots from a day where a certain tag(s) applies randomly throughout. Just put the keywords in and one click adds them all to that shot. I forget about this all the time and get angry when I remember it after doing it through the right panel for 2 hours.

Jake, all great tips and suggestions! I need to go watch some videos and get a "proper" cataloguing method in place, just not sure what that is and I am also not very organized... I think that will be a project for me the next few days, watch videos and decide on a collection/tag method... Time to get organized and time to get CC

Pat in GA

 

[SteveH]

Also, take advantage of the tools you have in the Import module. Add your copyright to the EXIF data, and apply any tags that are universal to the import. Saves from having to do it later.

Oh, and I forgot, for tagging old photos there's this Spray Can tool at the bottom of the Library module where you can enter a set of keywords and then just click on the appropriate images in your current folder view. Makes life really easy if you have a bunch of shots from a day where a certain tag(s) applies randomly throughout. Just put the keywords in and one click adds them all to that shot. I forget about this all the time and get angry when I remember it after doing it through the right panel for 2 hours.

I didn't know about the spray can, thanks Jake! I really need to either get a book or get myself on Lynda.com!

 

[hark]

My laptop has a small hard drive. When brand new, it was 750 GB, but after the manufacturer's tech company talked me through a hard mother board reset, the hard drive split into two: the OS (about 285 GB) and an unused data drive of 316 GB. Since I have so little hard drive space, after editing I move most of my photos to an external drive.

Would cataloging still work when the files are deleted from the computer's hard drive and moved to an external drive?

 

[SteveH]

My laptop has a small hard drive. When brand new, it was 750 GB, but after the manufacturer's tech company talked me through a hard mother board reset, the hard drive split into two: the OS (about 285 GB) and an unused data drive of 316 GB. Since I have so little hard drive space, after editing I move most of my photos to an external drive.

Would cataloging still work when the files are deleted from the computer's hard drive and moved to an external drive?

You can move files and folders easily - When LR starts up and sees that the folder has gone, it marks the folder in the library view with a question mark - If you right-click on it, you can choose to locate the folder, then browse to it's new location. This will permanently update the catalogue with the new locations.

I use it a lot, I initially import my files locally to my laptop where I edit them... Once I have finished the set, I move them to my NAS and delete from the laptop, then I just use the above method to update LR.

 

[BackdoorArts]

Would cataloging still work when the files are deleted from the computer's hard drive and moved to an external drive?

Absolutely - just make sure that when you move photos you do it in Lightroom or the catalog won't find them.

Your catalog can be comprised of images on multiple external drives. When the drive is unplugged you will still see the image preview for those photos, and if you build Smart Previews (which can take a lot of space in your catalog) you can actually produce 1600px JPEGs from them and do limited LR editing without ever connecting the drive.

The only reason I split catalogs is to minimize the size of my current catalog so it responds more quickly. This was a concern with LR5, but with the speed improvements in LR6/CC it may not longer be a concern.

Your

 

[hark]

You can move files and folders easily - When LR starts up and sees that the folder has gone, it marks the folder in the library view with a question mark - If you right-click on it, you can choose to locate the folder, then browse to it's new location. This will permanently update the catalogue with the new locations.

I use it a lot, I initially import my files locally to my laptop where I edit them... Once I have finished the set, I move them to my NAS and delete from the laptop, then I just use the above method to update LR.

Absolutely - just make sure that when you move photos you do it in Lightroom or the catalog won't find them.

Your catalog can be comprised of images on multiple external drives. When the drive is unplugged you will still see the image preview for those photos, and if you build Smart Previews (which can take a lot of space in your catalog) you can actually produce 1600px JPEGs from them and do limited LR editing without ever connecting the drive.

The only reason I split catalogs is to minimize the size of my current catalog so it responds more quickly. This was a concern with LR5, but with the speed improvements in LR6/CC it may not longer be a concern.

Your

Thanks SteveH and Jake! I appreciate the information.

Quick question...what happens when I back up onto multiple drives? I am assuming it will only link to one drive, yes?

 

[SteveH]

Yes if you duplicate your photos onto multiple drives, the library will only point to one instance (As far as I know) - If your main drive was lost / corrupt you would just replace it and copy your backup back onto it.

 

[hark]

Yes if you duplicate your photos onto multiple drives, the library will only point to one instance (As far as I know) - If your main drive was lost / corrupt you would just replace it and copy your backup back onto it.

Terrific! Thanks again, SteveH!

 

[BackdoorArts]

Thanks SteveH and Jake! I appreciate the information.

Quick question...what happens when I back up onto multiple drives? I am assuming it will only link to one drive, yes?

Depends on what you mean by "back up".

Here's what I do. My current catalog points to a folder structure, which spans both my laptop drive and an external. On a second external I will back up (outside of Lightroom) the precise folder structure on both the computer and the other external, along with a copy of the LR catalog from the same time. Technically, should I lose data on either my laptop or primary external I should be able to restore it from the backup, and if I restore the folder structure and catalog precisely as before I should be able to get the catalog to recognize the restored images. If not, there is functionality within LR to help you find the new location for the catalog image, at which point it should reapply the edits stored with the catalog information.

If you really want to be certain you never lose anything you can export your entire catalog to a backup source along with an associated .XMP sidecar file. This way, if you lose everything else including the catalog you can simply reimport the images with the sidecars into a new catalog.

 

[Blacktop]

One more thing on how I do it. I import to a dated folder where I will tag and rate images and delete the crap. It can take me 3-4 months to get through some bigger days, so every quarter I go back to the last month (May 1st I'll be doing February) and organizing that month into subjects and deleting all the stuff that I'm no longer convinced is desirable (only after backing it up first) and move the remaining stuff into the Subject Matter organization that I want to have at the end of the year when I'm done with the madness.

I am in the middle of getting some network attached storage set up which will hopefully save on some of the madness I experience regarding the location of photos (I keep all catalogs on my laptop w/ Smart Previews for any 4+ Star Photos of catalogs where the actual image files have been migrated to externals). Everyone has to figure that part out for themselves depending on the amount of storage you have. Everything needs to be backed up redundantly, and back up your current catalog at least once a week, and old ones any time you need to change something in them.

I don't do extensive tagging and rating as BH does, but I learned the hard way to delete crap. Crap will pile on faster then you can say " how the hell can anyone eat grits".
Once it piles on, it takes for ever to go through and delete them.

 

[BackdoorArts]

I don't do extensive tagging and rating as BH does, but I learned the hard way to delete crap. Crap will pile on faster then you can say " how the hell can anyone eat grits".
Once it piles on, it takes for ever to go through and delete them.

Absolutely. I've gone back into an old catalog and seen 100+ images in a folder that I "meant to revisit" doing nothing but take up space.

As for tagging, it helps me in two ways. First to find specific stuff in the catalog, but moreso it makes things easier when I upload photos to Flickr and other websites as the tags will automatically get applied. 3/4 of the images I have made money on were through unsolicited requests for licensing when someone found them on Flickr thanks to the tag. If your folder structure is organized enough (mine is a little too high level) you can easily do without them.

 

[Don Kuykendall_RIP]

Thanks for all the tips especially BackdoorHippie.

I have always used folders to import each day's photos to with the folder named with the date. Recently I also been changing and importing all photos with a new name. The format is the date+a number starting with 0001 each day. This gives me a unique number that means something on all my photos. I ran into a duplicate number problem when my camera went past it's max number so I have to change the first 3 letters in the camera but I really did not like that. The new iView from Nikon has a great utility for changing the file names in a folder so it is an easy process. I did see that when you change a file name in Explorer that LR will see it and update correctly with no problem.

Still figuring out how to tag all my photos so that I can sort them anyway I want. I think that method will suit me the best. When I want to see photos of my wife I can just search for her. When I want to see zoo photos etc etc.

Either way tagging seems to be the place I need to start. I also need to start deleting a lot of old photos. They weren't good or interesting then and they certainly aren't now. LOL

 

[RockyNH_RIP]

Thanks for all the tips especially BackdoorHippie.

I have always used folders to import each day's photos to with the folder named with the date. Recently I also been changing and importing all photos with a new name. The format is the date+a number starting with 0001 each day. This gives me a unique number that means something on all my photos. I ran into a duplicate number problem when my camera went past it's max number so I have to change the first 3 letters in the camera but I really did not like that. The new iView from Nikon has a great utility for changing the file names in a folder so it is an easy process. I did see that when you change a file name in Explorer that LR will see it and update correctly with no problem.

Still figuring out how to tag all my photos so that I can sort them anyway I want. I think that method will suit me the best. When I want to see photos of my wife I can just search for her. When I want to see zoo photos etc etc.

Either way tagging seems to be the place I need to start. I also need to start deleting a lot of old photos. They weren't good or interesting then and they certainly aren't now. LOL

Don, How are you making out on the Cataloging? Your post and Jake's (plus others) responses got me motivated to start.... I have over 10000 to wade through... (Will be deleting the junk as I go)
The hardest part was generating a structure... after watching some videos, I am continuing as follows:

1. All imports will continue to be in dated folders by month/year. This has worked for several years for me. If there is a special event, it will be in a folder names by date & event.

2. Tags - Primary catalog id and sort will be Tags. I will have tags for all prime subjects and under that sub sets.. for example
Family - Pat, Lyn, etc
Scenic - Mountains, lakes, rivers, trees refuge
Night - Lights, Moon, Sunrise, Sunset
HDR
Wildlife - mammals, birds, reptiles...
Portraits
Pets - Dogs, Cats, Herbie, Jingles....
Industrial
Architecture - Buildings, Bridges, Churches
and more...

3. I can then sort on the Main tags, and select my Favorites (or Best).. These will then be added to collections By Prime Subject and match my website
Other collections will be created for anything special such as my "52 in 2015" or my photos for the "Grand Tour of GA"


If anyone see's a major "flaw" in this, please holler....

Pat in GA

 

[Don Kuykendall_RIP]

Don, How are you making out on the Cataloging? Your post and Jake's (plus others) responses got me motivated to start.... I have over 10000 to wade through... (Will be deleting the junk as I go)
The hardest part was generating a structure... after watching some videos, I am continuing as follows:

1. All imports will continue to be in dated folders by month/year. This has worked for several years for me. If there is a special event, it will be in a folder names by date & event.

2. Tags - Primary catalog id and sort will be Tags. I will have tags for all prime subjects and under that sub sets.. for example
Family - Pat, Lyn, etc
Scenic - Mountains, lakes, rivers, trees refuge
Night - Lights, Moon, Sunrise, Sunset
HDR
Wildlife - mammals, birds, reptiles...
Portraits
Pets - Dogs, Cats, Herbie, Jingles....
Industrial
Architecture - Buildings, Bridges, Churches
and more...

3. I can then sort on the Main tags, and select my Favorites (or Best).. These will then be added to collections By Prime Subject and match my website
Other collections will be created for anything special such as my "52 in 2015" or my photos for the "Grand Tour of GA"


If anyone see's a major "flaw" in this, please holler....

Pat in GA

You are further along than I am. I am tagging in basically the same way. Place ,subject etc. just something that make sense to you. Nice thing about it is that you can always add tags later

 

[RockyNH_RIP]

You are further along than I am. I am tagging in basically the same way. Place ,subject etc. just something that make sense to you. Nice thing about it is that you can always add tags later

Thanks for jumping in Don (and getting me going). I should probably give some more thought to location also... Thanks for planting that seed..

pat in GA

 

[Don Kuykendall_RIP]

Thanks for jumping in Don (and getting me going). I should probably give some more thought to location also... Thanks for planting that seed..

pat in GA

I also started renaming all my files old and on import also format is date shot plus number starting at 0001 for that day. Getting a consistent system on all photos is helping me

 

[Unklejon]

OK I have used LR since v3 and it’s a great tool. Firstconcern here is if you only need Lightroom why go CC? L is available as aperpetual licence still even at V6. I agree its hard to find on Adobe site butthat is designed to get you to fork out good money ad infinitum. Remember withCC once you stop paying the monthly ransom you have nothing – the software iswithdrawn from usage. It does not just sit there and stop at that version, itshistory it’s gone. There is no guarantee that Adobe will keep the price affordableas I say it’s a ransom.
If you want perpetual license try this link https://www.adobe.com/uk/products/catalog/software._sl_id-contentfilter_sl_catalog_sl_software_sl_photoshopcollection.html
At this point in time, Lightroom CC and Lightroom 6 areidentical, except CC subscribers have access to mobile/web sync and Photoshoptoo.
In the future, they could diverge. Lightroom 6 will continueto get bug fixes and new cameras until the next big release, just as it alwayshas.
There is a possibility that additional features may be addedto the CC (subscription) version that can’t be added to the normal LR6 licenseuntil a future major release (e.g., LR7). If they add new features, it’s likelyto be around mobile/sync, as has been the case since LR 5.4, but no one knowsfor sure yet.
Finally if you want top know anything about LR I wouldsuggest looking up a lady called Victoria Brampton [ aka Lightroom Queen] http://www.lightroomqueen.com/ she isthe font of all wisdom. Her book is simply the best, its the manual LR should ship with and she even offers a freedownload booklet for new users. Tell her Unklejon sent you. No I don’t getanything for it.. but I like her to know she is appreciated for the great workshe does for LR users. A join he er forum via her web page.