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Author Topic: Organization in Lightroom?  (Read 3347 times)

kkovak

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Organization in Lightroom?
« on: August 30, 2008, 10:08:42 am »

I have a question about organizing images within Lightroom.

I will often create a few versions of an image for various purposes, such as :

    * a smaller sized jpg to post to a discussion forum
    * a larger size jpg to keep on my online portfolio
    * a prepared tif ( sized and sharpened) to send to a print lab
    * etc.

All of these files I would like to keep so as to not have to do the work over again as I post to different places or reorder prints.

So, my question is do folks keep these various versions in the same folders as the original image file and then simply "stack" the files in Library mode of Lightroom? Or is there a better way that I am missing?

Hope this is clear.

Thanks
Ken
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DarkPenguin

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Organization in Lightroom?
« Reply #1 on: August 30, 2008, 11:58:30 am »

I wouldn't keep the first two.  I'd simply export jpegs at whatever size is required, upload them and destroy the local copies.  I keep export presets for the sizes I use for such purposes.
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madmanchan

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« Reply #2 on: August 30, 2008, 12:28:10 pm »

DarkPenguin has a good suggestion: use export presets.

The way I do it with LR 2 is to use export presets with smart collections. So for #1 I would have an export preset called "Export for discussion forum" and a corresponding Smart Collection titled "discussion forum images". The preset is set up so that when I choose an image to export, then run the preset, the export occurs, and then the exported image is automatically added to the catalog and automatically included into the smart collection "discussion forum images."

The beauty of the setup is that it's simple to use in the future: just right-click an image and run the export preset from the popup. Everything else is automated. So whenever you want to take a look at all the images you've exported for discussion forums, it's easy: just go to the "discussion forum images" smart collection and all the images will show up there.

You don't need to mentally keep track of where you put the images, whether they're in the same folder as the originals, etc. The key is to let LR do all the work so it simplifies what you have to do.
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Eric Chan

madmanchan

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« Reply #3 on: August 30, 2008, 12:28:50 pm »

BTW you could use separate export presets & smart collections to take care of #2 and #3 as well.
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Eric Chan

mikeseb

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Organization in Lightroom?
« Reply #4 on: August 30, 2008, 12:58:35 pm »

Quote
DarkPenguin has a good suggestion: use export presets.

...when I choose an image to export, then run the preset, the export occurs, and then the exported image is automatically added to the catalog and automatically included into the smart collection "discussion forum images."

[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=218284\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

DP, does the automatic addition to the Smart Collection occur as a result of some setting or instruction that is part of the Export Preset, or based on a keyword embed into the image, or its exported location, or ?

IOW, what does the Smart Collection look for in order to ad the exported images to its stable?
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michael sebast

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« Reply #5 on: August 30, 2008, 02:02:04 pm »

Mike.....

If for some reason you felt compelled to keep different "versions" of the same file; for example; let's say for your "forum posting" example, you wanted a different crop and perhaps more vivid color for this particular image that you wished to post.  You can make a Virtual Copy of that image and therefore not take up any additional disk space.  Although I'm still learning Lightroom; my guess is that you almost never want to or need to keep separate physical copies of images.  My guess is that between knowing when to use "Presets" and Virtual Copy; you should be able to do this very effectively.  I think the "Preset" option mentioned above would really only be effective *IF* you wanted to apply that preset several times; however if you wanted something very specific for an image each time; the virtual route might be the one to go.  

I'll let someone else answer who knows more than I!

Cheers....

Todd in Chicago

Quote
DP, does the automatic addition to the Smart Collection occur as a result of some setting or instruction that is part of the Export Preset, or based on a keyword embed into the image, or its exported location, or ?

IOW, what does the Smart Collection look for in order to ad the exported images to its stable?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=218291\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
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DarkPenguin

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Organization in Lightroom?
« Reply #6 on: August 30, 2008, 03:06:12 pm »

Quote
DP, does the automatic addition to the Smart Collection occur as a result of some setting or instruction that is part of the Export Preset, or based on a keyword embed into the image, or its exported location, or ?

IOW, what does the Smart Collection look for in order to ad the exported images to its stable?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=218291\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I'm not that smart so I hope Eric shows up and answers.

I simply have presets that export to whatever I want.  So if I want to put it up on zenfolio I run the zenfolio preset.  If I want it on a blog I run the blog preset.  I don't save these in a collection.  Now that it has been mentioned I see that I should but I currently don't.

This works with the assumption that I know the image I started with and the preset to run is obvious.
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madmanchan

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« Reply #7 on: August 30, 2008, 07:38:49 pm »

Mike, the setup of the Smart Collection is separate from the Export preset, but the cool thing is that you can still set up the SC to make it "work together" with the export.

Basically, what I've done is create a SC such that all images that lie within a given folder name belong to that SC. Let's make this concrete. I have an export preset that  takes the selected images and exports them to disk in a specific folder, called "snapshots for web". These exported images are also automatically added back to my catalog (this is specified in the export preset). Then, I have a Smart Collection whose sole rule states that only the images that lie within a folder named "snapshots for web" belong to it.

So, in practice, what happens is that when I want to take a bunch of snapshot pictures and export them, I select them in the library (e.g., in Grid mode), right-click, and choose my "export snapshots for web" preset. Basically a one-step operation. Don't have to worry about adding them (manually) to a collection or folder since LR will now take care of that automatically.

Whenever I want to see all the web-sized snapshots that I've exported, all I have to do is click on the Smart Collection called "snapshots for web" and there they all are. And of course collections & smart collections are visible in all modules (aside from Develop) so they're pretty much accessible from everywhere.
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Eric Chan

jarnold439

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« Reply #8 on: August 30, 2008, 11:27:13 pm »

Quote
Then, I have a Smart Collection whose sole rule states that only the images that lie within a folder named "snapshots for web" belong to it.

Eric,

I am still learning Lightroom and I have a question regarding your comment about creating a smart collection that states that only images that lie within a certain folder belong to it. Why do you need a smart collection for that. Why not just navigate to that folder. Is there an advantage to using the smart collection instead?

John Arnold
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john beardsworth

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« Reply #9 on: August 31, 2008, 04:16:00 am »

One advantage of the approach is that he can include more than one folder in a smart collection or include additional criteria. A second is that he might have an "exports" collection set which groups together more than one of these SCs - so one for web exports which points at a folder on drive x, another for print exports which points at a folder elsewhere etc. Thirdly, collections are now visible in the output workspaces - print, web, slideshow.

John
« Last Edit: August 31, 2008, 04:16:43 am by johnbeardy »
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madmanchan

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« Reply #10 on: August 31, 2008, 10:10:55 am »

Yes, John covered the reasons well, particularly the ability to combine various criteria.
« Last Edit: August 31, 2008, 10:11:13 am by madmanchan »
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Eric Chan
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