Newbie Lightroom User needs help

[billmccl]

I am a new user of Lightroom, purchased three weeks ago, and trying to switch from Aperture, which doesn't support my newest addition to my equipment, the Canon G9 RAW files. I feel resonably comfortable after these weeks with LR's basic concept's, with the exception of how it manages files. I just don't get it after going through the FAQ and the online help resources, and trying to slug it out with Martin Evening's book on LR from Adobe.

I have several hundred Gb of RAW images from a variety of sources over many years. I need to be able to read and manage LR from two different machines, my MacBook Pro and my Mac Pro. I also need to be able to manipulate the images in various folders. My images are now contained in folders on an external drive(s). I need to keep the RAW original images for future access, keep the LR image information so it can be read by different machines, and be confident of neither losing the original RAW files nor losing the metadata and LR image edits. I want to keep all of the image information on external drives that can be accessed by physically connecting them to one of the two machines.

I think my problem is in not understanding the concepts in LR of a "library", a "catalog" and a "collection", nor understanding how to manage the images using these concepts.

Any help would be deeply appreciated.

 

[Victoria Bampton]

Welcome to Lightroom Forums! Do I guess your name is Bill? Well done for filling in your signature already.

As a quick start, Catalog and Library generally refer to the same thing - the database which holds all of your settings. Then you'll come across Folders - they reflect the folders on your hard drive, so if you move pictures between folders, they'll also move on your drive. Collections are a way of temporarily grouping pictures. They don't move anywhere, and they can be in lots of different collections in one go. I'd come back to those at a later date, if I were you.

Your best bet is to import your photographs into LR with it set to 'Reference Files in Existing Location'. This will leave them safely on the external drive in the folders that you've set up, and it just 'shows' Lightroom that they exist, so they can be added to the Catalog (library/database).

Hope that helps! Do post back with lots more questions to stop our brains going rusty!

 

[billmccl]

Thanks for your kind response. And yes, it is Bill. :lol:

I understand the importation in to LR, and the reference to file's existing location. But what happens to the other machine when I plug the external hard drive into it? Will it immediately recognize the LR catalog and library created on the prior machine's session? If not, how do I direct it to do so without changing the files or their content? And what about backup? I am a stickler for backing up on an almost daily basis, ususally in the form of moving my work to a second server drive, maintained for the purpose, where a copy is secure. If I copy the RAW folder(s) to a secure location on my server do the Library and catalog go also? Are LR settings added into the folder where the original images reside? Does it alter the original RAW images?:roll:

I understand the typical computer heirarchy of file(s)=>folder(s)=>folder collection(s)=>hard drive(s). And in that world I have confidence that all of the information for a given file is present. I need to get there with LR's topology, and have confidence that it can support my workflow using multiple machines to alter and maintain images, and support redundancy for backup purposes, while being certain that my original images are not in any way altered.

Sorry to be so wordy, but I just do not find these issues addressed in the documentation which seems to assume a single machine and drive without backup.

Thanks again!

Bill

 

[Victoria Bampton]

So what have in mind for your second machine Bill? Are you hoping to have a catalog on each computer, both referring to the same files?

Are you keeping all of the images on this external drive? My immediate thought would be to keep the related catalog on that same external drive, so that you can open it directly from the external from whichever computer you're plugged into. In the preferences you can set LR to ask which catalog to open. That would save worrying about which catalog was the most up to date.

Multiple machine use is something which is still growing, so there's a bit more perfecting to do yet. There are workarounds for most situations, but it's fun trying to work out which will suit each individual best.

 

[billmccl]

Well, Victoria, I want to use the two machines totally interchagably. ie travel abroad or around town with the MacBook Pro, and return home to use the Mac Pro to get the access to its speed and giant monitor. For all of my other documents I keep the files on an external hard drive which is backed up regularly in case of loss or damage.

So, I want to be able to plug in either machine, or indeed yours or anyone else's that has LR installed, in to the external drive(s), and pick up right where I left off.

Although I don't use the application anymore, think of IPhoto with all of the images, metadata and other information stored on a large file on the external hard drive. If you move to a different machine, simply hit the apple key on the keyboard as you start up Iphoto, and then direct the machine to the external drive. From then on it is as if you never left the last machine with all of the edits in place.

Perhaps the real problem is with Adobe's LR metaphor of using only one machine for all of your work. But once I crack the nut, the same workflow that supports two or more machines with one external hard drive, will also support an aggressive backup strategy, which is equally important.

These issues must be familiar to others. What is the workflow expectation for large volumes of images where the question is not if hardware and software fails, but quite simply when it fails.

You are kind to struggle through this with a noviciate. I am grateful.

Bill:mrgreen:

 

[Victoria Bampton]

Great, there's a nice easy answer Bill. Put your catalog onto the external hard drive and it'll go with you whereever the photographs go. Hold down Opt when you start Lightroom (Ctrl for Windows), and it'll ask you which catalog to open, just as in your iPhoto example.

It's a little slower working off an external drive, but the difference won't be huge as your images are already on the external anyway.

It's a slightly different situation for windows machines as the drive letter changes, so you'd need to relink the original files. For that reason, I'd suggest having one top level folder to easily relink on machines that can't find the files. Info here. You shouldn't have that problem on your Macs though.

 

[billmccl]

That makes sense.

I asssume that I would use multiple catalogs for different projects or folders, but that is not clear to me. Would you place the catalog(s) in to a catalog folder on the external drive? I assume that I can name the catalogs for different projects, etc. How does this interact with the library, and where does the library reside so that when I go to a different machine I can pick up where I left off?

Thanks!

 

[Victoria Bampton]

You can have as many different catalogs as you like. They do currently get a bit slower when they get really big (2',''' images odd on my machines), so splitting them up's not a bad idea. You can only have one open at a time though.

Catalogs are libraries. And you can put it wherever you like, so the external drive would be a good place in this situation.

I have a folder which contains all of my catalogs, as it makes them very easy to keep track of. Probably easiest if you do the same.

So you'd have:

External drive > Catalogs folder > Holidays catalog
External drive > Catalogs folder > Parties catalog
External drive > Catalogs folder > Nature catalog
and maybe
External drive > Images folder > either all mixed in together, or folders for each type of image.

 

[billmccl]

Thanks again. I need to spend some time after work tonight trying to see how this goes in the photo workflow. I assume that the catalogs list all of the image settings and metatdata, and that there is no change made to the original raw images. This would also provide an opportunity to quickly and concisely perform the needed backups by copying the RAW image folders and the catalogs to the backup drive.

Thanks!

 

[Victoria Bampton]

Yep, that sounds right to me Bill.

 

[Ian Farlow]

Thanks again. I need to spend some time after work tonight trying to see how this goes in the photo workflow.

Yep... caught not working while at work. Not that I've ever done that... I swear. Really. Honest... :?