Major LR Flaw. Will Not Filter out JPEGs on Import Costing Many Hours of Extra Work.

[GregJ]

I just returned from a trip in Argentina and Brazil. When shooting while traveling these days I leave the big L Lenses and 5DIII at home and carry the amazing Fuji XT-1 and three small XF Lenses. Anyway, that is another story, but I just returned with seven full 32 GB cards full of images. For reasons I won't get into here, I always shoot JPEG plus RAW (mainly because I like to download selected JPEGs using the wireless Fuji App for emailing winning shots from my tablet on the fly). I have absolutely no interest in importing these thousands of JPEGs to LR. Only the RAWs. The JPEGs are thrash files once I return home. I only work with RAW and if I need a JPEG of any image I have LR for that after developing the RAW the way I want it. I'm not interested in importing the out-of-camera JPEGs into LR. Why in the heck would I want to do that?

Amazingly (and this is a major flaw and is completely unacceptable), LR will not filter out the JPEGs on import. There is no option for that. So I must import all, and then uncheck every other file for thousands of files, or import them all and delete every other file (all th4e JPEGs) after import. Either way, it is a huge pain. I do not want those out of camera JPEGs on my drive! I do not want to see them except for the specific purposes I require outside of LR with my tablet for quick emailing and sharing while traveling with limited Wifi.

This must be fixed by Adobe. I know many pros who have complained of this. They too like to shoot JPEG plus RAW for various reasons, but not because they want to import that JPEG into LR.

I'm sitting here dreading this big import of seven big SD cards because every other file is a JPEG, and I do not want to import them.

This is ridiculous and must be fixed -- so simple to do. A very simple filter quickly written in by Adobe's junior-most programmer or intern. Should take a few minutes. Then I can click on something like "Import RAW Only -- ignore JPEGs on import."

Hello Adobe! Fix immediately please.

Thanks,

Greg Johnson
San Antonio Texas

 

[RikkFlohr]

Perhaps you should take the time to fill out an actual feature request? http://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/products/photoshop_family_photoshop_lightroom

 

[GregJ]

Perhaps you should take the time to fill out an actual feature request? http://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/products/photoshop_family_photoshop_lightroom

I'm not really interested in doing that. That post is about as far as I want to take it. Adobe reads this and so do you guys. I was hoping that a Guru might know some trick that would allow me to filter out those unwanted JPEGs on import. But since I have already tried everything and have searched other blogs about it, I guess it is hopeless. I love LR and depend on it for everything. But this is a major problem that has me dreading this big import I'm about to do today....

Thanks....

 

[clee01l]

A lot of people do want to see both the JPEG and the RAW/ I agree, it would be nice to filter by filetype on import and as Rikk has suggested, a feature request with Adobe will get you more results than bitching here.
For now you can do one of three things.

1. Copy the camera card to the HDD and use Finder/Explorer to sort and remove the JPEGs
2. In the Import dialog, you can sort by file name and uncheck every other image (i.e. just the JPEGs) and then Import the RAW files which are now the only checked images.
3. You can import all of the imagers JPEGs and RAW and in two steps delete the JPEGs from LR and the Disk immediately after importing.

FWIW, a major flaw is one that causes the program to crash or corrupt data. This might be classified as a design oversight. It really is no big deal. Including it as a design change is never limited to one junior level programmer, There is probably a whole team of programmers working on the Import module, Another team assigned to integrate the change into the executable for OS X and for Windows and a third team assigned to integrate the components into a production product. Design changes are weighed upon merit and the number of user that change might affect (good and bad). These are then assigned a priority and implemented when the cost benefit is recognized.

Since in my 6 years on this forum and other LR forums, to my knowledge, you are the only person that has brought this up, it probably is not a high priority item for most of us.

 

[RikkFlohr]

Nothing ventured; nothing gained. Here, I will make it easier for you. http://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/add_sort_by_file_type_to_import_dialog Just click the +1 button here. There is even mention of a plugin that will do what you are asking.

I can think of at least three work-arounds without considering the obvious (Don't waste Space and Time on shooting Raw+JPEGs(my opinion)) but they depend upon how daring you are. Were it me, I would import them all and the use LR to filter and delete after import. Might add 30 seconds overall to my workflow. Or, I could use the OS to filter and remove the JPEGS from each card in advance (but you might want to back up a card and test it first). Or you could transfer the Raw only using the OS to the appropriate file structure and import them in place using Add.

 

[Chris_M]

My 2 cents:
If importing the JPG's and RAW's is such a major problem, would it really be too much trouble to go into Windows Explorer,
right-click > sort by type, select and delete all the JPG's in one go, and then import the RAW files?

Since you say you don't need the JPG's, this shouldn't pose a problem at all, and is very simple to do.

I agree with Cletus, I would not classify this as a major flaw at all, in fact not even a flaw.

 

[clee01l]

My 2 cents:... I would not classify this as a major flaw at all, in fact not even a flaw.

I do think the Import dialog could be improved which is why I classify it as a design flaw. . A lot of attention has need made in recent years in making and integrating LRm The Import dialog has suffered a scarcity of features since the beginning.


The "squeeky wheel gets grease". This forum is not the place for feature requests and rarely if ever do any Adobe employees venture here to this unaffiliated forum. So by not making a feature request with Adobe, the OP has ensured that the "major problem" for them will never appear on the radar screen at Adobe.

 

[davidedric]

Or even just use Explorer to separate the two image types into separate folders, just in case,and then import the RAW's. Good grief. Absolute maximum of five minutes work.

 

[GregJ]

Guys

-- I guess the answer is to copy all 5 cards into a folder, delete all the JPEGs, then import the RAWs into LR. I'm not sure exactly how to filter all the JPEGs out in Windows Explorer, but I can figure it out.

-- OK, sorry about calling it a major flaw. I see your point.

-- Don't underestimate this forum with Adobe. I bet the LR guys look at it. Who knows.

-- As far as starting the import and then unchecking every other file, no ... that would take forever.

-- Thanks for the advice. I guess I was too dramatic.

 

[Jim Wilde]

I'd probably do the filtering, using Explorer, on the memory cards themselves, i.e. I'd copy only the Raw files from the card to the hard drive prior to importing to Lightroom. Windows Explorer, in the "Details" view, has a column for "Type"....click on that to separate the Jpegs from the Raws, then multi-select the Raws and drag them to a folder on the Desktop. Then I'd import to Lightroom using the "Move" option to get them filed away into my preferred date-based folder structure.

Pretty easy, and no files to delete at all.

 

[Chris_M]

...
I guess the answer is to copy all 5 cards into a folder, delete all the JPEGs, then import the RAWs into LR.

Yes, that would be the easiest way.

...
I'm not sure exactly how to filter all the JPEGs out in Windows Explorer, but I can figure it out
...

Easy, go into Windows Explorer into the folder where you copied all the files,
right-click > sort by type, select all the JPG files and delete them all in one go, and then import the RAW files.
OR
As Jim said, delete the JPG files on the cards, and then import the RAW files directly from the cards,
it's less work, because you don't have to copy all the RAW files AND the JPG file to the drive before deleting any JPGS you don't want.

 

[GregJ]

OK -- I created a folder on the desktop. I copied all five 32 MB SD cards to it -- thousands of RAW/JPEGs of the same file name (different extensions of course). Took forever. Then I right clicked on open space in the folder and selected "Sort By" and then "File Type." That separated the RAW and JPEGS and I deleted all the JPEGs in one click after highlighting them. Now I will import those thousands of RAW files from my S American trip and the desktop folder using "move" to a new folder in my LR arrangement. Thanks!

Now, Adobe needs a better import filter.

 

[Replytoken]

As Jim said, delete the JPG files on the cards, and then import the RAW files directly from the cards,
it's less work, because you don't have to copy all the RAW files AND the JPG file to the drive before deleting any JPGS you don't want.

Or, sort and copy just the raw files to your drive when in Explorer. Either of these methods is going to speed up your routine.

Good luck,

--Ken

 

[sizzlingbadger]

This "design flaw" has been brought up before at least as far back as LR v3. I have brought it up more than once myself and also filled in a request with Adobe in the past. It really is a pain to have to import all the files and then delete the jpg images (or sort them on the OS first). It really can't be difficult to add this functionality to the import process.

That community support link was filed 4 yrs ago and nothing has happened yet so I wouldn't hold your breath :hm: