Renaming Folders and Copying Files

[tomp]

Hello,
I have a folder in Lr called dogs (lower case) and all I want to do is change it to be DOGS(upper case). When I use the rename function in Lr and try to change the folder to all caps, Lr says this name already exists and will not let me rename. I am making all my top hierarchy folders in Lr all caps for organizational and visual convenience. I tried changing the folder name in the OS to all caps, and this is allowed, but it does not change it in Lr. Any suggestions?

Also, many of us have photos that will and can fall into multiple folders. For example, if I were on vacation in California I might put these in a folder called PLACES>Vacations. I would also have photos from California that would also be considered LANDSCAPE and go into that folder. I understand that I can easily move files from folder to folder, but how do I place a copy or let a file reside in two different folders?
Thanks

 

[clee01l]

Folder names are not case sensitive 'dogs' and 'DOGS' are the same folder to the OS. Try doing it in two steps: Rename it DOG1, then Rename that folder DOGS.

Your approach to folders names is really better served by applying the keywords to the images Organizing by folders is always a weak approach and you have just pointed out one of the major weaknesses. An image can not be in two folders at the same time. And having multipls copies of th same image is confusing and wastful of your time and HD space. Folder names are not important for a good workflow organization With keywords, you can have an image in one place and give it a keyword "Vacation", another Keyword for "California" and another keyword for" Landscape". By using LR to search on Keywords, you can find all photos taken in California or All Vacation photos or combinations like Landscapes from a California Vacation.

 

[dj_paige]

Your question about what folder to put things in, is a problem that is perfectly solved by using keywords.

For advice on why you shouldn't use folders as a method of helping you identify and locate your photos, please read http://www.lightroomqueen.com/community/index.php?topic=9444.'

 

[tomp]

Thanks for that input. I have discovered that having too many folders is not desirable in Lr. I have decided to limit my folders to very broad topics...such as Landscape, Dogs, Events and Activities and others that make sense to me, but not more than about 8 total folders.

With Keywords, I am using the same folder names as my top hierarchy keywords. One thing I just noticed about keywords is that if you use the "add keywords here" dialog box in Lr it does two things 1. It ads the keyword to the file and 2. Lr ads the keyword to the keyword list. Because Lr ads the keyword to the Keyword List the list simply gets out of control very quickly.

I am discovering it is best to have a broad/limited keyword list because this is far easier to manage. I can then use the "Keyword Tags" portion to ad multiple keywords to files and not have them populate the "Keyword List".

I agree that keywords are the way to go in Lr, but I do like to have some broad folders to help me organize things for my needs.

Thanks for any feedback.

 

[tomp]

[quote author=clee'1l link=topic=9549.msg64348#msg64348 date=1271'432'3]
Folder names are not case sensitive 'dogs' and 'DOGS' are the same folder to the OS. Try doing it in two steps: Rename it DOG1, then Rename that folder DOGS.


[/quote]

Thanks, this worked perfectly. Very helpful and easy!

 

[dj_paige]

[quote author=tomp link=topic=9549.msg64724#msg64724 date=1271433299]
I have discovered that having too many folders is not desirable in Lr.[/quote]

I have one folder for each date that I took pictures, each named with the capture date, probably hundreds of folders, and I have no issues with too many folders. Exactly what problems do you experience when you have a lot of folders?

[quote author=tomp link=topic=9549.msg64724#msg64724 date=1271433299]I have decided to limit my folders to very broad topics...such as Landscape, Dogs, Events and Activities and others that make sense to me, but not more than about 8 total folders.

With Keywords, I am using the same folder names as my top hierarchy keywords. One thing I just noticed about keywords is that if you use the "add keywords here" dialog box in Lr it does two things 1. It ads the keyword to the file and 2. Lr ads the keyword to the keyword list. Because Lr ads the keyword to the Keyword List the list simply gets out of control very quickly.

I am discovering it is best to have a broad/limited keyword list because this is far easier to manage. I can then use the "Keyword Tags" portion to ad multiple keywords to files and not have them populate the "Keyword List".

I agree that keywords are the way to go in Lr, but I do like to have some broad folders to help me organize things for my needs.
[/quote]

In my opinion, folders should not be considered organizing tools any more. Folders are simply storage locations. Using them as organizing tools is much less effiecient than organizing via keywords, as I explain here.

I realize there are lots of ways to set up keywords. There are extremes: one extreme where you put everything under a small number of keywords; the other extreme, where every photo gets a unique keyword. In my opinion, neither extreme is useful.

You want a system of keywords and metadata that enables you to, relatively easily, search for your photos, and find them in a short amount of time. If you limit yourself to, say, ten keywords, then you have developed a system where you can use keywords to search and come up with hundreds of similar photos. This isn't how I would use keywords. I would recommend that you use your keywords to describe more detail about the content of your photos, including who, what, where, when, and possibly including colors, textures, mood, etc.

When I want to find a certain photo, of course I remember the content of the photo, and so its simple for me to then search for "Finger Lakes", "Winery" and "Fall Foliage", and voila, there are the three photos I have that meet my search conditions. If you have a small number of keywords, as you suggest, I could search for "building" (or using your potential list "landscape") but that isn't really helpful because now I get hundreds of photos that meet the search condition.

 

[clee01l]

[quote author=tomp link=topic=9549.msg64726#msg64726 date=1271433545]
[quote author=clee'1l link=topic=9549.msg64348#msg64348 date=1271'432'3]
Folder names are not case sensitive 'dogs' and 'DOGS' are the same folder to the OS. Try doing it in two steps: Rename it DOG1, then Rename that folder DOGS.
[/quote]

Thanks, this worked perfectly. Very helpful and easy![/quote] Sorry, While the solution to the renaming problem might be easy, I just wish that you had paid more note to the rest of my response.

Organizing by folders is always a weak approach and you have just pointed out one of the major weaknesses. An image can not be in two folders at the same time

I really think it is more important to pay heed to Paige's comments. Folder structure should never be used as an organizational tool. LR could care less what your folders are named or how many you have. With that knowledge, neither should you. In the import from device panel, LR offers 1' different folder naming schemes. Of those <b>9</b> are date naming schemes and one is to lump all into one folder. I'm certain that Adobe spent a great deal of research into folder organization schemes. That they only came up with a date naming scheme should suggest something about how you might consider approaching the import process. Paige is correct. Putting files on a HD and organizing images are two entirely different problems and have no relation to each other.

FWIW, I probably have 3''' folders in LR. They are scatterd over two different HDs and the only reason I have more than one folder is that as files age, I mve the one older than three months or so from my local drive to the Network drive. I do this about once a month.