Moving Files and Organizing

[jasel]

Just getting into LR2.3, but need to organize pics and glean duplicates.

I know I shouldn't be using folders but I have some that are subject folders and some that are contents of flash cards, so lots of duplicates.

I have 5','''+ pics in my catalog and most are keyworded now. I am trying to filter the folders that are flash card contents and move the various photos to subject folders and eliminate duplicates in the process.

Problem 1 - In the library module I select a folder and filter the pics using a keyword filter (e.g. folder="4gbultra" keyword="plants". I do a CTRL+A to select all and try to drag over to "Plants" folder. Sometimes it unselects everything except the photo under cursor. Sometimes it drags the stack over to the folder and stop with dialog saying "duplicate file DSCN1234" and doesn't move anything.

I've read posts that say I should just be able to drag and drop and presto, but I haven't been able to. How can I accomplish this arduous task and get past step one?

Problem 2. - Since I have all these duplicates, if I filter by keyword and see some duplicates all lined up in the Library window, is there an easy way to determine which to blow away without selecting each one and saying "view in Explorer" and waiting for a window to open? It would take me forever.

Is there a way to move the files outside of LR and then reimport the folders once they're moved, or is that opening a can of worms and I'll end up losing all my keywording efforts and creating orphan photos in LR?

Please help.....:roll:

 

[Kiwigeoff]

Welcome James, seems like you have a bit of a mess. I did once as well.
Today no mess.
Files all stored on disks in year/month/day folder organisation.
No duplicates left - took some work.
Grouping done with collections.

I suggest you may want to have a quiet think and a look at DAM suggestions around the place.
That's what I did and came up with what I have and it works and is simple.

 

[Bruce J]

Problem 1 - In the library module I select a folder and filter the pics using a keyword filter (e.g. folder="4gbultra" keyword="plants". I do a CTRL+A to select all and try to drag over to "Plants" folder. Sometimes it unselects everything except the photo under cursor.

One small piece of your puzzle: When you drag a set of selected images, be sure you are dragging from within a thumbnail image, not from the surrounding gray frame. Clicking on the gray frame will deselect all but the single image. Clicking within the image will allow you to drag all images that are selected at once. Good luck,

 

[jasel]

Thanks for the suggestions. Took me a minute to figure out what DAM meant. Currently I have my folders organized by camera. But occasionally I dump the entire contents of a CF card onto my computer for fear I haven't got some of them already imported.

It would be nice if Lightroom had some better file move/copy features to go with the already robust set. Something like a side by side compare with a skip/replace/rename option.

ACDSee (which I used to use constantly) has such a feature. If I use that to move files around, how can I then go into Lightroom and get it to recognize the changes?

 

[Brad Snyder]

James, Welcome to the Forums.

Here's a piece of advice: ****DON'T**** do that.

Until you are a full-fledged Lr expert, and maybe not even then, do not start moving files and folders around outside of Lr. At least 3'% of the traffic here on this forum starts with 'I moved my files and ......'

Seriously, once you get your feet under you, some tasks can be accomplished that way, but in the meantime, you're just askng for trouble.

 

[dj_paige]

Here's my advice.

Listen to Brad.

As he (and others) indicates: do all of your organizing of files within Lightroom. No exceptions. Your life will be much simpler, you will avoid many problems.

In the future, import all your files into LR as soon as you can after taking the photos, do all your photo management within LR, and you will never have the dreaded duplicate again.

 

[jasel]

Oops!

I did what I shouldn't before seeing the latest posts. But I hope I did it correctly.

What I did was:

1. Move a few folders outside of LR eliminating duplicates.

2. Went into LR and deleted the source folders from the catalog

3. Synchronized the destination folders in LR.

4. Keyworded the photos that lost information in the move.

Did I do anything wrong?

The issues I am dealing with are getting photos organized for the first time since acquiring LR. From this point forward my intention is to let LR do all the importing in the future and keywording as soon as I import using the date subfolder option.

I have my photos and catalog backed up to a dedicated external drive so hopefully I can avert any catastrophe outside of my house burning down. I may, in the near future, keep the backup offsite, lest the house does burn down.

Other than backing up during import, is there a convenient way to synchronize my library with the external drive?

Thanks again,

 

[Brad Snyder]

Did I do anything wrong?

Not if your files are NOT now hopelessly entangled, and all you lost are a few keywords. Many folks get confused at this point, and endup causing more trouble trying to untangle the knot. Sounds like you kept your wits about you.


The issues I am dealing with are getting photos organized for the first time since acquiring LR. From this point forward my intention is to let LR do all the importing in the future and keywording as soon as I import using the date subfolder option.


Other than backing up during import, is there a convenient way to synchronize my library with the external drive?

[COLOR=#''''ff]Most folks backup during import. Then they backup again post import, if they've done DNG conversion or file renaming, in order to have a one-to-one replacement in the event of issues. They then rely on dedicated backup or sync'ing to create (multiple) backups of the important files, i.e.:
a) the catalog, *.lrcat
b) the image folder tree
c) preferences, templates and presets [/COLOR]

Thanks again,

If I missed the point, ask again.