Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: different catalogues same keywords...  (Read 3184 times)

phoTOMgraphy

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 110
    • thomas|ebruster|photography
different catalogues same keywords...
« on: February 26, 2012, 01:10:18 pm »

hi everyone,
sorry i didn't find an answer by searching the forum, although i can't imagine that nobody has ever discussed it.

i would like to manage two lightroom catalogues - one for personell work, one for client work.
how can i sync the keywords, as well as the presets, as it would make sense to use the same in both.

the keywords are somewhere in the catalogue, so i'm afraid, that i can't sync them. to export and import the keywords is not practical in use, because it's only a matter of time, when i loose control.
it would be obvious to add keywords in both catalogues - if i would forget to ex/import each time i add a keyword, i would be screwed...  :-\
but i can't believe that adobe implements the feature of multiple catalogues, but no workflow which supports it in a practical way  ???

is there a way to manage this?
how do you manage multiple catalogues?
Logged
thomasebruster.com
Arca Rm3di | SK43 | RS28 | CFV-50[

wolfnowl

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5824
    • M&M's Musings
Re: different catalogues same keywords...
« Reply #1 on: February 27, 2012, 02:07:31 am »

You don't specify, but are you keeping both catalogs on the same computer?  If you are, then it's relatively simple.  Here's what I do.  On Windows 7, so I have a 'My Pictures' folder where I keep all of my images, sorted into folders by camera and month/year.  Within the Pictures folder is also a Lightroom folder.  Within the Lightroom folder I have my catalogues, as well as previews, etc. in different subfolders.  Under the Lightroom Preferences (Edit/Preferences or Lightroom/Preferences on a Mac), Presets tab there's a check box to 'store presets with catalog'.  Therefore, within the Lightroom folder there's a Lightroom Settings folder and within that are folders for presets, templates, keywords, etc.  Everything's contained in one place, and by backing up my Pictures folder I back up everything.

Mike.
Logged
If your mind is attuned t

john beardsworth

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 4755
    • My photography site
Re: different catalogues same keywords...
« Reply #2 on: February 27, 2012, 03:38:42 am »

Under the Lightroom Preferences (Edit/Preferences or Lightroom/Preferences on a Mac), Presets tab there's a check box to 'store presets with catalog'.  Therefore, within the Lightroom folder there's a Lightroom Settings folder and within that are folders for presets, templates, keywords, etc.  Everything's contained in one place, and by backing up my Pictures folder I back up everything.

I think it's worth saying here - if you want to share your presets with all catalogues, leave this check box unticked (the default). Only if you really want them different in each catalogue, tick it.

But keywords are not affected by this setting (keyword sets are, but keywords themselves are not).

If you want your keywords to remain the same in your personal and client work, then keep one catalogue. If you want to try to keep control of your pictures with multiple catalogues, just accept that one price of doing so is that keywords are probably going to diverge unless you put in a lot of effort and discipline.

John
« Last Edit: February 27, 2012, 05:36:22 am by johnbeardy »
Logged

phoTOMgraphy

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 110
    • thomas|ebruster|photography
Re: different catalogues same keywords...
« Reply #3 on: February 27, 2012, 06:43:23 am »

thank you mike and john,

thats just what i was afraid of - so like john said - the keywords are not easily to keep in sync  :-\
just can't understand why adobe has not thought of this ...  ???

will there be any change in lr4?
Logged
thomasebruster.com
Arca Rm3di | SK43 | RS28 | CFV-50[

john beardsworth

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 4755
    • My photography site
Re: different catalogues same keywords...
« Reply #4 on: February 27, 2012, 10:08:20 am »

There's no change.

Adobe probably have thought about it, and then decided it wasn't a good idea. I happen to agree with them - improvements in the DAM area happen slowly enough without them making it easier for people to break up control of their work into separate catalogues.

John
Logged

phoTOMgraphy

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 110
    • thomas|ebruster|photography
Re: different catalogues same keywords...
« Reply #5 on: February 27, 2012, 10:38:33 am »

btw is there any chance to create a smart collection or any filter to view files with the downside arrow, where i have not saved the metadata in the xmp file yet?
Logged
thomasebruster.com
Arca Rm3di | SK43 | RS28 | CFV-50[

john beardsworth

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 4755
    • My photography site
Re: different catalogues same keywords...
« Reply #6 on: February 27, 2012, 10:53:18 am »

Not in Lr3. I'd have to check if it's in Lr4 - it may be.

Do remember that saving to xmp misses some of your Lightroom work - stacking, history, pick flags, virtual copies.

John
Logged

phoTOMgraphy

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 110
    • thomas|ebruster|photography
Re: different catalogues same keywords...
« Reply #7 on: February 27, 2012, 10:58:01 am »

yes i know, but it is only for the case the catalogue crashes ...

as far as i know - snapshots can be saved to xmp? so it's a workaround for saving virtual copies.
Logged
thomasebruster.com
Arca Rm3di | SK43 | RS28 | CFV-50[

john beardsworth

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 4755
    • My photography site
Re: different catalogues same keywords...
« Reply #8 on: February 27, 2012, 11:05:56 am »

Hopefully you do backup the catalogue.

Yes re snapshots, and there is a plugin called Snapshotter which converts virtual copies into snapshots.

John
Logged

wolfnowl

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5824
    • M&M's Musings
Re: different catalogues same keywords...
« Reply #9 on: February 28, 2012, 02:43:33 am »

I think it's worth saying here - if you want to share your presets with all catalogues, leave this check box unticked (the default). Only if you really want them different in each catalogue, tick it.

John: That's not necessarily true.  To test this I opened LR4 and created a new, empty 'Test' catalog. Since it defaults to the above-mentioned 'Lightroom folder', it created a Test folder within that and added a Test catalog, a previews folder, etc. I closed Lightroom, went into the file manager and moved the 'Test.lrcat' and 'Test Previews.lrdata' from the folder it was in up one level to the Lightroom folder, where my other catalog files are. Clicked on Test.lrcat to open and since it's using Pictures/Lightroom/Lightroom Settings (the same as my other catalogs) it has all of the Develop presets that my other Lightroom catalogs have. It also has the same keyword sets.  Keywords, however ARE catalog specific, so while it's possible to export keywords from one catalog and import them into another, it's going to be difficult to keep them synched unless you put them all into keyword sets.

Mike.
« Last Edit: February 28, 2012, 02:46:41 am by wolfnowl »
Logged
If your mind is attuned t

john beardsworth

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 4755
    • My photography site
Re: different catalogues same keywords...
« Reply #10 on: February 28, 2012, 04:38:57 am »

I strongly prefer to leave that "keep presets with catalog" setting unticked, Mike. Ticking it is fine if you always work from a catalogue that's kept on an external hard drive, but I think that in other circumstances it confuses the task of managing your presets / templates. It doesn't recognise that some presets might be catalogue-specific while you might want others in every catalogue, people switch the setting off and on and get even more confused, and you do quickly end up in lots of "not necessarily" exceptions and nuances.

But even leaving it unticked isn't perfect. The closest I have to an ideal solution is using symbolic links, so I now point my entire Lightroom presets folder (Application Support) to Dropbox. It's great to share presets, templates, plugins etc between my main PC and my Mac laptop, but it also made it easy to set up a new Mac Air recently and will mean I can access it when I'm on the road. Maybe Adobe will implement something similar one day, especially with their interest in cloud-based services, but if you're confident with computers you can certainly roll your own.

« Last Edit: February 28, 2012, 07:43:13 am by johnbeardy »
Logged

wolfnowl

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5824
    • M&M's Musings
Re: different catalogues same keywords...
« Reply #11 on: February 29, 2012, 02:12:13 am »

To each his own!  Or her own, as the case may be.  Heard a lot of good things about Dropbox but haven't tried it yet...  :)

Mike.
Logged
If your mind is attuned t
Pages: [1]   Go Up