I want to start using Lightroom to manage my library, but what is the best way to sort my files on a hard drive before importing them to Lightroom?
I'm thinking of just creating a folder for my raw files, dumping everything in there organized by date or event, and then having a separate folder outside of that for exported images. Is that a proper way to do that?
>>2811409
Folders
Year/Month/Day-Subject
Inside there are raws. Once you convert to jpegs, put a subfolder called "Edits" or "JPEG" or whatever you want right in there.
>>2811410
If I put the JPGs in a supfolder with the raws, wouldn't that cause Lightroom to import the JPGs as well the next time it scans the folder? Or is there a way to prevent that?
And thanks!
>>2811409
i organize them by film emulsion :^)
>>2811409
Year/Event/originalname.jpg
Year/originalname.jpg for snapshits
Let Lightroom handle file management for you.
Use the Library module to browse through dates using metadata. Tag your images when you're bored.
Literally don't ever touch your files outside Lightroom, and make Lightroom create copies of your local files wherever it pleases.
Dates are in the raw file and not relevant to the content of my pictures unless it is a specific event. In those cases I will date the folder that those pictures are in.
Country
|
Province
|
Town/city
|
Specific place/area
|
event (if needed)
I also organise the raws in folders manually. I don't keep a large archive of processed files, I'll often process things slightly differently according to what they are to be used for (ie a picture I want for online will be processed differently than one for a glossy magazine) or how I feel on the day. It helps that I don't process heavily. In most cases a couple of minutes is all that is needed
I keep a separate archive for friends, snapshits and fond memories since they don't get curated so rigorously
For personal stuff
Year / date - description
For work
Photo jobs / date - description
Has helped alot over the last five years as my hardrives get fuller.
Also my backup drives are labeled by year and have copies of my lightroom catalogs just in case.
>>2811409
For my opinion, i prefer this way
/Photo... - /Files........ - /20YY..... - /[1..12].Mounth ..... - /YY.MM.DD - Shot tag (model name, place)..... - /RAW (TIFF, if need)
............. - /Archive..................................................................................................................................... |DDmonYY - NNN(-x).jpg
............. - /Import
............. - /Export
............. - /Support
For example: Photo / Files / 2015 / 1. Jan / 15.01.28 - Town. Snow / 28jan15 - 015.jpg
- uniq file name (if two shot in one day just add prefix "-2")
- quick navigation by date
- normal subfolders tree in lightroom
- possibly find files w/o LR only by OS search (win/mac, no matter)
- additional folders for new, non selected files (import), export and stuff - textures, grain and so on
>>2811409
When you import new pictures (for example directly from your camera, an SD card, or some folder on your hard drive) you can let Lightroom copy them into separate sub-folders per date automatically.
So it makes sense to organize your existing raw files in the same way.
Or just dump them all in one temporary location and have Lighroom do it for you.
I wouldn't even bother keeping exported images.
Just export them again whenever needed.
Often you'll want to export to a different size/quality anyways, depending on what you're going to do with them.
>>2811412
Yes, his is a stupid idea.
Never mix raw files and exports.
It makes things a lot more complicated.
For example: how will you backup just the raw files, or just the exports?
And what will happen if you switched to a different program?
Here's how I have 4 years of my shit organized:
I have a huge folder called 'Photo archive' that I backup every couple weeks. It's organized by year going all the way back to 2012.
In each year, folders are named by the event or context of what I shot that day. I manually enter the format "YYMMDD - [event name]"
Every event folder has another folder with the RAWs. The 'good' photos are then edited via LR/Photoshop and exported into the main event folder.
I keep my Lightroom catalog backups saved in an entirely separate folder from my 'Photo archive' folder
>>2812284
>continued
When I import my RAWs from my SD card, I try to remember to batch rename them via Adobe Bridge to the following:
'YYMMDD-[my initials]-[sequence #]'
That being said, I'm lazy sometimes and I forget to do it. If you import the photos to Lightroom without renaming them first, it fucks shit up and I can't be bothered to rename them afterwards.
Anyway, this is how the US military organizes photos in their archives so it's how I learned. I know there's fancy features in Lightroom like adding tags to your photos, but in my four years of shooting I've never found any real reason to do so because I know where my photos are located.
