finding and matching images

[shacharoren79]

hello,

so i'm a wedding photographer. and after a short process i pick 1000-1300 images to export and email the client for him to pick out 300 images that will be in his printed album.

the thing is that i would like to resize all the images i email at first, since 1300 high res jpeg's can be huge and not easy to email and review.

my problem is that once the client has picked his "must" 300 images, i need to start work on them in LR, but if they are low res. it's not good for me.

i need a better way to integrate my clients "picks" into my LR library.

any help will do.






 and when i export like 2000 images to the client

[Steve House]

Are you shooting raw, tiff, or jpg?  How does your client identify her picks - by checking off a printed list, writing down the file number, deleting the rejects from your email and sending it back to you, or what?  What is your workflow when you get the choices back?

It kind of sounds like you're converting the original files to low-rez outside of LR so you can email them to your client, replacing the original hi-rez versions in the process, and not importing them into LR until she gets back to you with her picks, loading only the selects into LR, but there's no reason to do that.   Import all the full-sized images for the entire shoot directly from the memory card into a folder in LR dedicated to that shoot, perhaps renaming them to whatever your naming convention might be as they come in. Select the entire folder and use the Export to Email preset to export out low rez copies that you sent to the client, perhaps with a watermark superimposed on them.  Leave the "unmolested" originals in LR - disk space is cheaper 'n dirt so letting them live there permanently should be no problem. Remember LR edits are non-destructive so the files will still be at their original high resolution already waiting in LR when she gets her selects back to you.  In LR flag the shots she has identified as picks, all the rest flag as rejects, and go to town with refining and printing the selected shots.

My own workflow is to shoot raw.  At the end of the day I import the raw files into my LR working folders on my main storage drive, converting to DNG as it imports and culling any out-and-out screw-ups like out-of-focus shots of my shoes in the process. I use LR's own import option settings to simultaneously make a second copy of the original NEF file to an external USB drive as a backup.  That archive of camera originals on the external drive is periodically copied to second external USB drive to provide redundency. Should I need to submit images for a client approval it would be no trouble at all to use the Export preset mentioned above to prepare low res jpg copies for emailing right after importing without changing the DNG files themselves in any way.

[shacharoren79]

steve, tnx for the elaborate explanation.

i'll try to be more accurate,

i'm indeed shooting raw and importing everything to my LR catalog.

i'm going over to cut off unwanted images, like out of focus and other things.

than, what i do today is exporting full high res images and take it to the client. she brings me back her "picks" on a CD.

than i take the 300 images of what she burned on the CD and import them back to LR for final touch.


now i know it's not the right thing to do since once i export to the client jpeg's and import the clients selected ones back to LR i'm loosing the ability to work with my RAW files.

the thing here is this, no matter how the client does her picks, either checking off a list, writing down the numbers or just providing me with the files themselves, when i want to mark them in any way in LR (like flag them or just use a color label) i need to compare the clients "list" and check the images in my LR library manually!

what i want to do, is indeed export to email a low size copy of like 1500 images (so it would be light and easy for the client to work with), but in some way, and that is actually my question, when i get the picks back from the client, i would like to some how automate the labeling/flagging in LR according to the client picks.

[Steve House]

The weak link is how she picks the files off of the CD you provide her.  Asking her to copy the selects to another CD is too much to ask of a client.  So how do she get from the CD with 1500 images on it to another CD containing her 300 selects that she sends back?

[shacharoren79]

Well at the moment she does actually move or copy from my cd to a new one.

A part of my question is about changing that.

Let's make the weak link the strong link, she (the client) will pick how ever you will say!
As long as I can automatically integrate her picks in LR.

I will change whatever I'm doing wrong, just let me know what that is.

[john beardsworth]

Maybe look up my Syncomatic plug-in? You would import the selected JPEGs, apply a colour (for example) to them, select the JPEGs and raw files, then run Syncomatic to copy the coloured label to the raws.

[Steve House]

Well at the moment she does actually move or copy from my cd to a new one.

A part of my question is about changing that.

Let's make the weak link the strong link, she (the client) will pick how ever you will say!
As long as I can automatically integrate her picks in LR.

I will change whatever I'm doing wrong, just let me know what that is.

THIS client may have the computer literacy to copy files but don't count on the next one even having a clue where to start.

[luxborealis]

A paradigm shift is needed here... it sounds to me like a good website with client access to pick/check photos is the way to go - no CD exchanging/burning; no high res giveaways, no low res re-importing and comparisons. And, the client can sit with their iPad/laptop/computer with their mother, husband, girlfriends, etc and make selections virtually anywhere - on the couch, in a café, at Aunt Emma's house. Sure these websites cost money upfront, but there are many now with client side selection that would make this a much smoother workflow both for you and your clients. If you plan to do weddings on a regular basis then it's the way to go.

[Scott Hargis]

The Turning Gate proof galleries are all you need. Alex Campagna's client response gallery is amazing.

[David Eichler]

The Turning Gate proof galleries are all you need. Alex Campagna's client response gallery is amazing.

I haven't used the Turning Gate proof galleries, but I have used other TG stuff and I would like to add that, in my experience, Alex's customer support is excellent.

[shacharoren79]

thank you much!

i'll be looking much more into TTG galleries and options.