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Import How do I?

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joemontana57

Active Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2008
Messages
185
Location
Kalispell, MT
Lightroom Experience
Intermediate
Lightroom Version
Classic
Lightroom Version Number
CC
Operating System
  1. Windows 10
Please be gentle . Either tell me, or suggest where to look.
-i do dog agility photography as a side business.
I take pictures at trials, many of the Handler/owners buy them from me.

They either preorder, or wait until I post them on my website to order them.

I shoot in raw. I've used LR for years, but only for the noise reduction algorithm and then conversion to jpeg.

I take a lot of images. Last weekend I took 17,000 pictures on Saturday alone

The only way I've ever downloaded the pictures from my card reader is using Windows explorer and copying. However with over 9,999 pictures I run into duplicate filename problems.

2 questions
1. Can I use Lightroom import function to rename them or something so I don't have to stop what I'm doing and tell the computer that I want both copies?

2. When I import them into LR, can I, at the same time, copy them into folders of my own making?

I think I've covered all the things I need to tell anyone that might help me. However if you need more information, please don't hesitate to ask!

Joe
Win 10
32G ram
8G video ram
 
You are talking 'Lightroom CC', but you post in the Lightroom Classic CC forum. And that makes a difference. Yes, Lightroom Classic can rename the images on import, so you don't have this problem. I'm not sure how Lightroom CC would deal with this situation, but I assume it will deal with it automatically as well. In the end the images are uploaded to the cloud if you use LrCC, but in between they need to be stored locally so they'll need to be renamed.
 
Make sure you have "Copy" selected at the top-middle, rather than "Add". And I suggest you trial it with a small number of trial photos from the trial first, rather than trialling it with all the trial photos in one go ;).
 
Trying it with a smaller number of pictures is a good idea, but they are long gone from my memory cards. I guess I'll have to try it at the next trial, if it doesn't work it doesn't work.
 
It would be ideal to experiment with photos that aren't important. You could take a small number of photos, not necessarily of dogs, and experiment with the import procedure as suggested.
 
[snip]

The only way I've ever downloaded the pictures from my card reader is using Windows explorer and copying. However with over 9,999 pictures I run into duplicate filename problems.
[snip]
I'm not exactly sure where the problem is. Moving files into LR is an 'each to their own' choice, so if my method doesn't work fair enough.
I don't have problems with exceeding the 9,999 image count. Given the camera starts a new folder, that is all I need and use.
I don't change the names of the raw files at all. For each shoot I rename the folder from the card (copied to the pc) with a unique number (goes up by one each time), followed by a quick summary of what the shoot is. If I have exceeded the image count, or have multiple cameras, I keep the sub-folders, usually tweaking the name to make sure they sort in a suitable order, and often with the camera body identified. Thus a big shoot has a single top level folder containing only sub-folders. I have no raw images at the top level. LR imports the lot just fine, I drag the top level folder into LR's Library module. (Well, OK, I walk away and leave LR building the previews and that takes a while.) I use the DAM to find files. The only snag is that if I'm asked for a file by image number, it could be one of several with the same number. However, a search in LR finds the candidates instantly. Anyway, the probability of two 'picked' images having the same number on a frequent basis is modest.
When using multiple cameras I take an image of a clock (displaying seconds) with each one so I can bring them all to the same reference time.
My 2cs worth.
 
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The problem that I have is that it's importing away, then a dialog box comes up that says words to the effect..."a file being copied has the same name as one you're copying. Keep one or the other or both?"

Also, reading your answer, I absolutely need to find a file by image number.
 
The problem that I have is that it's importing away, then a dialog box comes up that says words to the effect..."a file being copied has the same name as one you're copying. Keep one or the other or both?"

Humm. My query here is more out of curiosity than anything else as I do what you (appear) to be describing often enough and 'it' works just fine. Can you clarify the 'it' that is importing away? My workflow is to put a card in a card reader and copy the directory (or directories) onto my workstation. Once I have done this, I load the top level folder into LR. (If I have multiple shoots, I drag all the top level folders in, in one go). LR takes files with the same name in them in its stride.
This suggests to me that the 'it' above is Windows. You can't copy two files of the same name into a single directory (with some specific exceptions such as the trash can, which works differently). This 'unique file name' rule is pretty universal across operating systems, including in the camera. This is why I described copying the directories off the card into sub-folders under each shoot. That way I never attempt to put multiple files of the same name into the same folder.

Also, reading your answer, I absolutely need to find a file by image number.

Re your second, needing unique file names. For a big DAM, I suggest rename the files, ie add a long and always unique number to the end of the original file name, using software which remembers where it got to last time. This tweaks the workflow I described to you to add an additional step (2/):
1/ Copy files (retaining the directory structure on the memory card) to the work station, (+ I suggest making sure the top level folder's name is unique to the shoot and any sub-folders have meaningful names).
2/ Rename all the files by adding eg _NNNNNNN to the end (but before the extension), using software that remembers the last number reached.
3/ Drag the top level folder(s) into LR's Library module, make sure you have the right settings and click 'import'.

Step 2/ in effect gives two keys to find an image. The first part of the file name could be enough or gets close enough (though not for you). The second part is 100% unique, but is slightly harder for searching as it is unlikely to be indexed. If you know the whole file name you are looking for, then indexed (ie fast) searching is the order of the day.

You can, of course, use any unique naming system you like, but asking your customers to type in a long (if meaningful) file name when making a request to you might be asking for more than you can rely on.

You will note that step 2/ is outside LR. I don't know if LR can do this or not, I never fully trust a DAM to bulk rename files, because if it goes wrong, sorting out the mess could be tricky. By getting the file names right outside LR, you will know that you will get what you see. Doubtless there are better ways of working, this is just one way of getting there.

HTHs
 
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