Folder Sync - Permanent not one off

[Craig Atkinson]

New to LR 2.6.
I realise I can click sync folder to have that particular folder updated and brought inline with the local folder on my mac.
Is there a way of syncing LR with my pictures folder on a permanent basis? So changes made in either are reflected in the other without having to 'sync' each time?
At the moment I import, make changes in LR, export them, then have to reimport the new altered image for cataloging in LR. Seems a bit long winded?

 

[dj_paige]

[quote author=Craig Atkinson link=topic=91'1.msg61311#msg61311 date=1265'58163]
New to LR 2.6.
I realise I can click sync folder to have that particular folder updated and brought inline with the local folder on my mac.
Is there a way of syncing LR with my pictures folder on a permanent basis? So changes made in either are reflected in the other without having to 'sync' each time? [/quote]

Lightroom does not monitor changes to your files/folders, and so there is no way of automatically having Lightroom stay in sync with your files/folders. As a suggestion, people's use of Lightroom often improves with a change in your thought processes or workflow. You could easily adopt a workflow (as I have, and as many people have) where you don't need to constantly keep synching Lightroom to changes made outside of Lightroom.

[quote author=Craig Atkinson link=topic=91'1.msg61311#msg61311 date=1265'58163]At the moment I import, make changes in LR, export them, then have to reimport the new altered image for cataloging in LR. Seems a bit long winded?[/quote]

If I am understanding you properly, not only is your procedure long-winded, but it is downright unnecessary. When you make changes in LR, your changes are immediately available in LR, without any need to save or export. There's no need to export and re-import. So again, I think your workflow needs some upgrading to take maximum advantage of Lightroom, which enables you to have a very simple and streamlined workflow (and makes other workflows difficult to maintain in LR).

Here's my workflow.

1. Import from camera into a folder named for the capture date.
2. Apply keywords and captions (and GPS if I want to)
3. Edit in LR
4. Only if necessary, edit in secondary editor

That's it! No need for synching with the operating system, no moving photos from here to there or renaming photos, no need for exporting and reimporting. When I need a jpg of the edited photo (and only then!), I create one. Exporting a .jpg is not a regular part of my workflow.

 

[clee01l]

If you are Exporting, take note of the Export preset you are using. Some where in the Export Location Section there is a check box: "add to this Catalog" If checked, the Export file (JPEG, DNG or what ever) is added to the catalog. Now that I've told you how to do this, I have to ask Why? You do not need to create an Export file and store it when it is just as convenient and takes up less HD to create temporary files for a specifice purpose.

 

[Craig Atkinson]

So, say you edit an image in LR. Is that edit visible in the 'pictures' folder on your HD, without exporting?
Also, if I move the image to another folder it wont have moved on the HD?

 

[Craig Atkinson]

thanks clee'1l. As I say, I'm new to LR so am still trying to get my head around it.
At the moment I'm using it without importing images - I'm keeping the images in my pics folder. Now, if I were to import all to the library, I guess I wouldn't need a sync? Thing is though I like being able to access files through finder / bridge etc from time to time.
Do you all import your images to the library or leave them put?

 

[clee01l]

Craig, LR maintains a catalog of images. And this catalog just has a pointer to the files location on the HD. Where these are physically located is dependent upon how you choose to import. But to use all the features available in LR (Keywords, Develoip settings, Smart Collections etc,) you have to have the image imported into LR.

All 23''' of my images are imported into LR. Some were imported in place (already in the pictures folder before LR) and the last 1',''' or so have been imported from the camera card as I pulled them off the card.

Lightroom suggests an import location to be a date named folder in your "My Pictures" folder (XP). This is generally a good choice. You load the camera card and let LR import from the card to a place in "My Pictures" on your HD. If you already have images in "My Pictures" then importing them in place Works too. If you have derivatives created outside of LR, then I would (and did) import those too. If you need to export a JPEG to a folder for reference outside of LR, I would not store those Exported images in LR. I have a folder called Wallpaper that Windows uses to change the backgroud on my desktop. These are not in LR and never will be. I do have a collection in LR called "Wallpaper" that represents the source DNGs that created these "Wallpaper" images.

I have two master folders in LR one is on my local drive and holds only the last three months of Imported RAW images. and the Pre LR derivatives that can not be reproduced unless I go back for the old application and regenerate the images. Some were made with pixel editors and the developsettings were never noted and these can not be reproduced even though I still have the unedited original JPEG or DNG. The Other master folder is on my External drive (a NAS). Lightroom handles all my file management.

 

[dj_paige]

[quote author=Craig Atkinson link=topic=91'1.msg61315#msg61315 date=1265'6'667]
So, say you edit an image in LR. Is that edit visible in the 'pictures' folder on your HD, without exporting?
Also, if I move the image to another folder it wont have moved on the HD?
[/quote]

You don't use a folder to view your photos any more. You use Lightroom to view your photos. And so, you don't need a copy of your original and a copy of your edited photo there in a folder. As I said, there has to be some adjustment to your thought patterns to use Lightroom effectively.

You don't move photos from folder to folder any more, now that you are using Lightroom. Folders are not an effective way to organize your photos now that you have Lightroom. Notice that in my workflow, the photos go into a folder, and they never move. They will remain there for the rest of my life, unmoved (with one exception ... when I need to move them to a new hard disk, I will move them, but in reality, they remain in the same folder on a new hard disk). In my opinion, keywords are a much more powerful way to organize than folder. A photo can only exist in a single folder, and in a single hierarchy. But that same photo can exist in multiple keywords and multiple hierarchies. Keywords and captions allow you to do much more powerful searches than anythign you can come up with using Folders. So my advice to you is to stop using folders as an organizing tool, they are simply storage locations now. Use keywords and captions and if necessary, collections, to organize and help you find your photos. No more moving from folder to folder.