- Joined
- May 6, 2017
- Messages
- 59
- Lightroom Experience
- Advanced
- Lightroom Version
- Classic
- Lightroom Version Number
- Lightroom Classic latest Windows version
- Operating System
- Windows 10
A photographer acquaintance has asked me for help with some Lr tasks. I tried to tactfully decline, partly because I’m totally a Mac person and he runs Lr Classic on Windows, and partly because it’s not what I do. But he’s persistent, so I agreed to help out.
I’m an advanced user (an ACE), so I know my way around Lr, but I don’t regularly do the kind of things he wants—and never on Windows. So I did some research and decided how to proceed. I’m sure there are some variables about his system that will affect my plans, but I won’t discover those till I get there and start working on his computer.
Here are his requests and how I plan to proceed:
Sorry for the long post. I’d appreciate any advice on a better way to proceed, especially if there are Windows-specific differences a Mac user like me wouldn't know about . (BTW, the Lr version and OS answers are for his system, not mine.)
I’m an advanced user (an ACE), so I know my way around Lr, but I don’t regularly do the kind of things he wants—and never on Windows. So I did some research and decided how to proceed. I’m sure there are some variables about his system that will affect my plans, but I won’t discover those till I get there and start working on his computer.
Here are his requests and how I plan to proceed:
Converge everything into one catalog—I assume he’s got multiple catalogs on his hard drive. I’d start with one Master catalog, then use the Import from Another Catalog workflow to combine them all.
Get rid of duplicates—I think he’s talking about actual duplicates, not virtual copies. I’ve read that you have to search for and delete duplicates one by one, unless you buy a plug-in. Sounds like a pain.
Change the filing system to make simple links rather than extended complicated ones—I believe what he wants here is to simplify the folder hierarchy. I’d move child folders into parent folders wherever possible. I’d also recommend he start importing files by date using the year/month/day format.
Store everything on a single portable hard drive (5 TB) with a backup on a second portable hard drive—By “everything,” I assume he means all his photos, not his catalog. Storing photos on an external drive seems simple, but backing up from one drive to another requires extra software, like ViceVersa, doesn’t it? I think I’ll recommend he buy that to make ongoing backups of his primary external drive. Or I could recommend he subscribe to a cloud backup like Backblaze for his computer and external drive.
Sorry for the long post. I’d appreciate any advice on a better way to proceed, especially if there are Windows-specific differences a Mac user like me wouldn't know about . (BTW, the Lr version and OS answers are for his system, not mine.)