Library module Culling before import into LrC

[PhilBurton]

Lightroom Version Number

11.

Operating System

1. Windows 10

Do you do all your culling in LrC? Or, do you use another application? Which one and why? Did you choose between more than one application?

Implicit in this question is the assumption that Adobe is not going to enhance Library any time soon with its own pre-import culling module. (If I'm wrong, then please violate your NDA and post a correction. Just kidding.)

 

[JohnSchwaller]

Do you do all your culling in LrC? Or, do you use another application? Which one and why? Did you choose between more than one application?

Implicit in this question is the assumption that Adobe is not going to enhance Library any time soon with its own pre-import culling module. (If I'm wrong, then please violate your NDA and post a correction. Just kidding.)

My son uses Photo Mechanic. I have used FastRawViewer.

Currently, I just import all into LRc and select from there. The read ahead function in LRc has speeded it up so stepping from image to image in Library is quite acceptable.

 

[Replytoken]

I am probably in the minority, but I like to use FastStone Image Viewer (FSIV) combined with Fast Raw Viewer (FRV) to cull images before importing. I suspect I might be able to use only FRV, but I have used FSIV for a long time and find it quick to use.

--Ken

 

[Zenon]

I shoot with Canon so I use Canon's DPP to delete unwanted files before importing. DPP's screen scaling is excellent. Quick Check - Full Screen mode shows files as finished Jpegs so sharp and contrasty. Easy to pick out even slightly OOF files. It's also free.

 

[Jim Wilde]

LrC only. Using the Embedded and Sidecar preview option I get the full resolution Jpeg created in camera (note, not all cameras embed a full resolution jpegs inside the Raw files, but fortunately for me my Canon cameras do). No need to waste time building 1:1 previews, within seconds of the import starting I can start stepping through the images at 1:1 zoom level (even in full-screen mode if required) to make the initial culling decisions. I can't work at the same speed as the import process so I'm never waiting for the embedded preview to load, so I can't imagine how using another app for pre-import culling could speed up that workflow.

 

[pedz]

I use LrC only. At import time I might decide to not generate any previews. Stacks of macro images can be 100 or so images that I am not really going to look at. I'm just going to send it to the software that stacks them so there is no point for previews. If the card has non-macro images mostly, then I often create 1:1 previews at import time, walk away and get some coffee, and then make the first cull in full screen mode.

 

[Philippe Coudé du Foresto]

Like Jim, LrC with import using embeded previews.

 

[clee01l]

IMO the purpose of Lightroom Classic is first as a Data Asset Management (DAM) tool. There are other DAM tools like DPP, Photo Mechanic , Fast RAW viewer, iMatch, etc. Before Lightroom, I used them all at one time or another. Lightroom Classic is a damn fine DAM tool. why would you need another?

Once I discovered that I did not need to wait for my import to finish, I could beging culling while the import was happening. For large imports I could be through or nearly finished the culling process by the time the import was finished. When Importing a large number of images, I watch the "Previous Import" special collection .And as soon as the first images appear, I begin culling. A game I play with myself is to try to cull all the images in the "Previous Import" special collection before LrC can import another image. I have never managed to get ahead and have to wait on the Lightroom Import process to produce a new image in that "Previous Import" special collection.

Importing into one of the other DAM tools before importing into LrC seems pointless to me. As John Schwaller has pointed out, the read ahead function creates previews (initially, the embedded JPEG) so that you always have a new preview to work with. Photo Mechanic , Fast RAW viewer, etc. work only with the JPEG thumbnails embedded in the RAW file header. So does LrC initially.

In recent years, especially when in the field, I have Lightroom Mobile as a front end on my iPadPro to Lightroom Classic which is at home running 24X7 syncing from the Adobe Cloud. I use Lightroom mobile to cull images initially before they get synced to my master catalog. By culling there, I simply reject (x) those in Lightroom mobile so that I can delete them later in LrC (which deletes them everywhere else.). Photo Mechanic and Fast RAW Viewer do not have mobile versions for iPadOS, so waiting until I get home to use tools like these only would slow down my culling process.

 

[Califdan]

IMO the purpose of Lightroom Classic is first as a Data Asset Management (DAM) tool. There are other DAM tools like DPP, Photo Mechanic , Fast RAW viewer, iMatch, etc. Before Lightroom, I used them all at one time or another. Lightroom Classic is a damn fine DAM tool. why would you need another?

Once I discovered that I did not need to wait for my import to finish, I could beging culling while the import was happening. For large imports I could be through or nearly finished the culling process by the time the import was finished. When Importing a large number of images, I watch the "Previous Import" special collection .And as soon as the first images appear, I begin culling. A game I play with myself is to try to cull all the images in the "Previous Import" special collection before LrC can import another image. I have never managed to get ahead and have to wait on the Lightroom Import process to produce a new image in that "Previous Import" special collection.

Importing into one of the other DAM tools before importing into LrC seems pointless to me. As John Schwaller has pointed out, the read ahead function creates previews (initially, the embedded JPEG) so that you always have a new preview to work with. Photo Mechanic , Fast RAW viewer, etc. work only with the JPEG thumbnails embedded in the RAW file header. So does LrC initially.

100% agree with @clee01l regradiong culling in LrC vs. in camera or with other products

In recent years, especially when in the field, I have Lightroom Mobile as a front end on my iPadPro to Lightroom Classic which is at home running 24X7 syncing from the Adobe Cloud. I use Lightroom mobile to cull images initially before they get synced to my master catalog. By culling there, I simply reject (x) those in Lightroom mobile so that I can delete them later in LrC (which deletes them everywhere else.).

When on the road I don't have the time to worry about culling or even uploading hundreds of RAW images shot that day to the cloud over slooooooooooooow motel internet speeds. I'm on the road to shoot, not sit in front of a screen. I have time to do all that once I return. I'm retired so I don't have a pesky job to go to and have my days free to do what I want with those hours.

 

[Zenon]

When I'm on the road I still use local file storage so internet is not an issue. I only post images to a few photo websites and add to my own site. Just like at home.

 

[Gnits]

I have tried most if not all the pre culling tools. I rarely cull while travelling and use LrC when back at my main system. My priority on the road is to back up my images and to check that I am not doing anything stupid. A bonus is a very prelim 1 star on images which look like contenders or have specific interest. I may share a few of these via a LrC collection to a LrWeb album.

I can see a definite use case for PhotoMechanic if I was a pro team sports or competition shooter where I could efficiently preload metadata, team sheets, jersey numbers, etc.

I have seen a recent trend of high volume shooters culling images in camera while returning from a field trip (ie they are not driving and they want to make use of the time or checking if they got what they were looking for).

I seem to be shooting fewer images, so maybe most of my pre culling is done in my head before pressing the shutter.