Catalogs Lightroom CC Catalog Question

[Bill Ballard]

Operating System: Mac OS High Sierra
Exact Lightroom Version (Help menu > System Info): Lightroom Classic version: 7.0.1 [ 1142117 ]

Hello all - I have two questions:

1. When I open LR, I have been getting a warning box that says: "An error occurred when attempting to switch modules." Then a pop-up window opens, extolling the virtues of Lightroom CC, etc. I click the blue 'Got it!' button at the bottom of the window, the pop-up window closes, but LR does nothing - it is no longer responsive. I quit LR normally, then reopen it and it moves along as usual. I've not been able to track any pattern with this; It seems to be a random thing. I'm guessing this is something left over from the last 'big' update? Thoughts?

2. I currently have one catalog in LR. It is is organized by my old file keeping system, which itself is a carryover from my film and darkroom days. It worked beautifully for sleeves of negatives, and well enough for working with Bridge and Photoshop. However, with LR and all it can do, I want to do something better. Starting with 2018, I plan to create a new LR Catalog for work starting in 2018 and onward. I have no plan to combine or merge the old catalog with the new, but I don't want to delete it. Is there anything specific I should be aware of so as to not create any conflict between the two?

Thanks much!

 

[PhilBurton]

Operating System: Mac OS High Sierra
Exact Lightroom Version (Help menu > System Info): Lightroom Classic version: 7.0.1 [ 1142117 ]

Hello all - I have two questions:

1. When I open LR, I have been getting a warning box that says: "An error occurred when attempting to switch modules." Then a pop-up window opens, extolling the virtues of Lightroom CC, etc. I click the blue 'Got it!' button at the bottom of the window, the pop-up window closes, but LR does nothing - it is no longer responsive. I quit LR normally, then reopen it and it moves along as usual. I've not been able to track any pattern with this; It seems to be a random thing. I'm guessing this is something left over from the last 'big' update? Thoughts?

2. I currently have one catalog in LR. It is is organized by my old file keeping system, which itself is a carryover from my film and darkroom days. It worked beautifully for sleeves of negatives, and well enough for working with Bridge and Photoshop. However, with LR and all it can do, I want to do something better. Starting with 2018, I plan to create a new LR Catalog for work starting in 2018 and onward. I have no plan to combine or merge the old catalog with the new, but I don't want to delete it. Is there anything specific I should be aware of so as to not create any conflict between the two?

Thanks much!

Bill,

There are any number of ways to organize your catalog and your file system. What is important is that you don't "burden" the file system with a subject-oriented way of organizing your photos. Your old film-based system of sleeves of negatives could correspond to folders based on year and month, for example. Keep the file system simple. Lightroom's LIBRARY system, plus plug-ins available from several authors, provide a myriad of ways to organize your collection by subject area, people, event, however you choose.

I have seen folders or filenames with really complex naming that tries to incorporate subject names, as a way of facilitating search and retrieval. That kind of system doesn't work out in the long-term due to the complexity of names, the need to choose between the "primary" subject and several "secondary" subjects, etc.

Should you ever want to scan all those negatives, you could conceivably set up folders based on the names/number of those film sleeves.

That all said, your best friend for the old catalog could be the F2 key, which allows you to rename files within a folder. You can also drag-and-drop folders within Lightroom as well as rename folders.

Phil Burton

 

[Bill Ballard]

Thanks Phil -

The old file numbering system I used with film may possibly create 'overwrite issues' with individual images in the LR catalog. Hence, my thoughts of going to a more LR friendly version. Nothing so complex as you described, but something such as adding a date to the image name during import.

The old film filing system worked as 010218-subject matter. In this, 01=calendar month; 02=session number for that month, in this case, the second session; 18=year. Subject matter would be the model's name, or location if it's a street or travel shoot, etc. With LR, I'm planning to keep the numerical/titled name for a given session, but add '2018_Month_Day" to the _img0011 camera generated name - "2018_Feb_14_img0011." That way, when the frame count rolls around to '0011' again, I've eliminated any potential for duplication or overwrite. Make sense? (This was a lot less confusing when attaching labels to binders of negative sleeves!)

Thanks again for the input -

 

[LouieSherwin]

Hi Bill,

Basically your file naming scheme is sound. It will as you note eliminate duplicate file names on your hard drive. However, you may want to reconsider adding the location and or shoot information in the file name. This is important information and while I know that you are use to working this way ultimately I think you will discover it is much more useful to make use of all the built in metadata.

Using "Collections" comes to mind as good way to organize your shoots. You can create and assign a collection in the right panel of the "Import" screen. Every image I take now goes directly into a Collection on import. Collections have the huge advantage of being infinitely reconfigurable and any image can simultaneously belong to multiple collections. All of this can be done without editing the filename.

The location information is best stored in the builtin IPTC location fields. There is also a section in the import panel, "Apply During Import", that allows you to apply some bulk metadata. I use this to apply some keywords and my copyright information.

You can of course continue to include some of this information in your file name but my point here is that unless you also put it into the catalog metadata you are not really going to able to make use of the organizing power of the Lightroom catalog. So why take the time to do both.

You might find it useful to get the free Lightroom Classic Quick Start eBook (folder-based) to get a good overview of best practices for using Lightroom.

-louie

 

[Bill Ballard]

Hi Bill,

Basically your file naming scheme is sound. It will as you note eliminate duplicate file names on your hard drive. However, you may want to reconsider adding the location and or shoot information in the file name. This is important information and while I know that you are use to working this way ultimately I think you will discover it is much more useful to make use of all the built in metadata.

Using "Collections" comes to mind as good way to organize your shoots. You can create and assign a collection in the right panel of the "Import" screen. Every image I take now goes directly into a Collection on import. Collections have the huge advantage of being infinitely reconfigurable and any image can simultaneously belong to multiple collections. All of this can be done without editing the filename.

The location information is best stored in the builtin IPTC location fields. There is also a section in the import panel, "Apply During Import", that allows you to apply some bulk metadata. I use this to apply some keywords and my copyright information.

You can of course continue to include some of this information in your file name but my point here is that unless you also put it into the catalog metadata you are not really going to able to make use of the organizing power of the Lightroom catalog. So why take the time to do both.

You might find it useful to get the free Lightroom Classic Quick Start eBook (folder-based) to get a good overview of best practices for using Lightroom.

-louie

Thanks for the point about using Collections. I hadn't considered that at all.

I do add data during import - copyright, location info on street/travel shoots, model's names on their sessions, and the like. And I do have the Lightroom Classic Quick Start eBook. It was while I was reading it, that I realized the potential to inadvertently overwrite or duplicate image file numbers was there!

Thanks again -

 

[PhilBurton]

Thanks Phil -

The old file numbering system I used with film may possibly create 'overwrite issues' with individual images in the LR catalog. Hence, my thoughts of going to a more LR friendly version. Nothing so complex as you described, but something such as adding a date to the image name during import.

The old film filing system worked as 010218-subject matter. In this, 01=calendar month; 02=session number for that month, in this case, the second session; 18=year. Subject matter would be the model's name, or location if it's a street or travel shoot, etc. With LR, I'm planning to keep the numerical/titled name for a given session, but add '2018_Month_Day" to the _img0011 camera generated name - "2018_Feb_14_img0011." That way, when the frame count rolls around to '0011' again, I've eliminated any potential for duplication or overwrite. Make sense? (This was a lot less confusing when attaching labels to binders of negative sleeves!)

Thanks again for the input -

Bill,

Sounds simple. You can easily set up your renaming rule into an preset that is part of your import process. Doing it as a preset in the import process makes the process faster and less error-prone.

I do something very similar. My folders are YYYY/DD/MM and my filenames are YYYY-MM-DD HH MM-Seqn. Let keywords and metadata carry the burden of the location, subject, model name, etc., etc.

Phil

 

[Victoria Bampton]

1. When I open LR, I have been getting a warning box that says: "An error occurred when attempting to switch modules." Then a pop-up window opens, extolling the virtues of Lightroom CC, etc. I click the blue 'Got it!' button at the bottom of the window, the pop-up window closes, but LR does nothing - it is no longer responsive. I quit LR normally, then reopen it and it moves along as usual. I've not been able to track any pattern with this; It seems to be a random thing. I'm guessing this is something left over from the last 'big' update? Thoughts?

If it makes you feel any better, I'm seeing that too. It's definitely a bug!

 

[Bill Ballard]

Thanks! An annoying bug at that -

 

[Bill Ballard]

If it makes you feel any better, I'm seeing that too. It's definitely a bug!

This 'bug' is really getting to be a pest. At first, it was random and infrequent. This week however, it has been 'bugging' every single time I opened LR.

Pay attention Adobe!! :mad2:

 

[LouieSherwin]

Pay attention Adobe!!

Bill,

Keep in mind that Adobe has no official representation on these forums. Although there is an exceptionally high level of expertise present here, this is really only user to user support. So the best way to get their attention is to use the Bug Report / Feature Request also listed on the menu at the top.

-louie

 

[Bill Ballard]

Bill,

Keep in mind that Adobe has no official representation on these forums. Although there is an exceptionally high level of expertise present here, this is really only user to user support. So the best way to get their attention is to use the Bug Report / Feature Request also listed on the menu at the top.

-louie

Oh, I know...it was a vent...I've already done the bug report.