exclude folders from import / synch (successor of Rob Cole's Ottomanic Importer)

[sbv3]

Lightroom Version Number

7.5

Operating System

1. Windows 10

Hi,

A friend of mine showed me LR and I am intrigued but have a Q:

I want to use it to select/improve/fix photos within their collections. Once done, I'd export into a subfolder called "jpg".
If there are subsequent edits on the RAWs, then I'd export again to the same subfolder.
Finally that subfolder is then shared with ... whomever.

What I want to do is, if I click "synchronize folder", LR should synchronize all folders EXCEPT that subfolder called "jpg". I learned that for earlier LR versions, Rob Cole's Ottomanic Importer was able to do that, but it doesn't work anymore. Can't say, if it ever worked, never used it...

Is there any easy way to do this? Is there another plugin?

Thank you for hints!

 

[Califdan]

Easiest way is to put the JPG folders in a separate folder hierarchy than the folders you use for RAW. Then just sync the folders you want which will skip the JPG folders as they will no longer be subordinate to the ones you're syncing.

But, I wonder why you are syncing so often? I've been using LR for 12 years (since Version 1) and have probably used Synchronize folder maybe 3 times total. Always looking to learn, what does re-syncing do for you in your workflow?

Secondly, you may want to look at using a Hard Drive Publish Service to manage your shared JPG folders. I use one for the Windows Folder that contains the images that I use for the wallpaper (background) on my computer. I just drag any RAW image I desire to the Publish Service Collection. LR places it into a section called "New to Publish". Similarly if I edit any RAW image that is already there it moves it the Modified Photos to Re-publish section - so I don't have to remember which images I've modified, it remembers for me. Whenever I wish, I just go to the Publish Service Collection and hit the "Publish" button and it creates or replaces the images in the correct folder as JPG's (you have the same options here as you do in the Export Dialog). In your case, it would save a lot of time. You would no longer need to keep track of which images you had adjusted and need to create new jpg's for. You would not need to export them. Just hit the publish button and new ones are added, modified ones are changed, and deleted ones are removed from the jpg folder (or folders).

 

[sbv3]

Thank you for the fast reply - and: Good hint!!!

I just played around with it a bit and found some limitations that I don't want to believe... pls enlighten me :

1. is it true, that I can only have 1 HDD publishing service? Really?
2. Within that publishing service, I can create a folder/subfolder structure, but only using "Folder Sets", and I have to do that from within LR - no way to simply read a folder structure form disk (OMG Adobe, thank you for reinventing folders)
3. Am I wrong or would this, essentially, force me to have to recreate the entire folder structure in a second place

Seems a bit of an overkill workaround. How do you guys do this?

Reg the need to re-synch: your point is valid. And I guess it is really a discipline issue. Take the following use case: I finish the shoot and import all shots. Then someone else from the same event sends their pics. Then I find out that I have done some other shots with another cam or maybe even my smartphone - say when first visiting the site. They should all go into the final collection. I would then have a folder for the event and subfolders for the different sources (or Metatag the sources in). Whatever - the collection grows/changes after initial import. Now, as long as this is just me, all is fine. But once multiple people store stuff onto that same drive, you have the issue. So I end up simply synching.

Again: how do you do this? Or you have more "single source" / "single operator" scenarios?

 

[Califdan]

1. is it true, that I can only have 1 HDD publishing service? Really?

No. You can have as many as you want. You can also have several Publish Service Collections in one HD Publish service, each one controlling one physical folder on your computer.

2. Within that publishing service, I can create a folder/subfolder structure, but only using "Folder Sets", and I have to do that from within LR - no way to simply read a folder structure form disk (OMG Adobe, thank you for reinventing folders

I'll have to reseach that one

3. Am I wrong or would this, essentially, force me to have to recreate the entire folder structure in a second place

let me research this as well. I know some 3rd party Publish services allow you to populate a LR Publish service based on current content of destination but I'm not sure there is one for HD publish services and how well it will know that an existing jpg in a folder was actually derived from a specific RAW file in your catalog.

At the current time, how do you know which RAW files in you catalog have been exported as Jpg's for this purpose? Or, do you?

 

[sbv3]

No. You can have as many as you want. You can also have several Publish Service Collections in one HD Publish service, each one controlling one physical folder on your computer.

Thank you, clear!

let me research this as well. I know some 3rd party Publish services allow you to populate a LR Publish service based on current content of destination but I'm not sure there is one for HD publish services and how well it will know that an existing jpg in a folder was actually derived from a specific RAW file in your catalog.

I saw a plugin called "tree mirror". Tree Mirror
Will test this, let's see what it can do
Will report back once done. But it is a shame that there is no simple folder filter for imports / synching. Would make life so much easier.

At the current time, how do you know which RAW files in you catalog have been exported as Jpg's for this purpose? Or, do you?

Typically I export all accepted ones. Essentially I use the flags as a filter and then export the view. All the non-flagged or rejected are not exported. Sometimes I delete the rejected ones right away (say camera shake, flash didn't fire, eyes closed, whatever).

 

[Califdan]

I can't seem to locate a LR plugin that will reverse load a publish service from images in a folder on the desktop. However if you have the images you've already exported marked with "pick" flags (which is what I presume you mean by "accepted"), and the original RAW files are already in folders similar to the ones you want the jpg's to be in, it should be relatively easy to re-populate the jpg folder using the PS.

I assume the JPG's are not known to the catalog (i.e. you did not select "add back to catalog" when you exported them and you have not imported them). If so, then

1) in Finder or File Manager, move those JPG images to a temp folder someplace for safe keeping (keep the now empty folders if you want to re-use them)

2) In LR, create a Publish service

3) In LR, Create a new "Publish Service Folder" for each real folder (use the same name as the existing, empty, physical folders if you kept them)

4) Using the folder containing the original raw files and filter for the "pick" flag (your accepted images)

5) drag those images to the corresponding folder in the Publish Service

6) click on the folder in the Publish service and click "Publish". This will re-populate that folder with the images in the Publish Service

7) Repeat for each such folder

8) When desired, re-publish changed, new or removed photos

It should be noted, that you could also create a "Smart Publish Service" folder such that the rule for it is "images in physical folder X and has pick flag". Then just manage the pick flags in the original folder of RAW files and when desired, go to the PS folder and click "publish" which will add newly flagged images, will remove previously flagged images where the flag was turned off and will update images modified since last published.

 

[sbv3]

Thank you, Califdan. I guess, at the end of the day, it is all about keeping the published files outside the folder hierarchy (and having that hierarchy twice)...
I'll think about it - could be a solution (not the nicest, but hey...)

 

[PhilBurton]

I can't seem to locate a LR plugin that will reverse load a publish service from images in a folder on the desktop. However if you have the images you've already exported marked with "pick" flags (which is what I presume you mean by "accepted"), and the original RAW files are already in folders similar to the ones you want the jpg's to be in, it should be relatively easy to re-populate the jpg folder using the PS.

I assume the JPG's are not known to the catalog (i.e. you did not select "add back to catalog" when you exported them and you have not imported them). If so, then

1) in Finder or File Manager, move those JPG images to a temp folder someplace for safe keeping (keep the now empty folders if you want to re-use them)

2) In LR, create a Publish service

3) In LR, Create a new "Publish Service Folder" for each real folder (use the same name as the existing, empty, physical folders if you kept them)

4) Using the folder containing the original raw files and filter for the "pick" flag (your accepted images)

5) drag those images to the corresponding folder in the Publish Service

6) click on the folder in the Publish service and click "Publish". This will re-populate that folder with the images in the Publish Service

7) Repeat for each such folder

8) When desired, re-publish changed, new or removed photos

It should be noted, that you could also create a "Smart Publish Service" folder such that the rule for it is "images in physical folder X and has pick flag". Then just manage the pick flags in the original folder of RAW files and when desired, go to the PS folder and click "publish" which will add newly flagged images, will remove previously flagged images where the flag was turned off and will update images modified since last published.

Califdan,

I organize my photos in date-based folders: YYYY-MM-DD. I could easily have 30-40 such folders in one year, maybe with a handful of photos I would want to publish, for each year. That doesn't seem like a scalable solution. I'm new at Publishing Services, so I might be wrong about the fact that each different resolution of output should be a different PS. Yes? No? Are there any other approaches?

Phil Burton