Lightroom Folders and importing

[Stefan A]

The folders in my lightroom library seem to have one too many levels of hierarchy. For example, I have a main folder called Wildlife. Then if you open the triangle, there is two folders - Birds and Squirrels. If you select Birds, you get folders indicating bird species or dates - depending on what I decided to name the folder. When you select any one of those folders, the pictures of that particular group of birds show up. The problem is that within each species folder there is another level. So, I click that triangle and there is a folder with a date - such as 01-27. Inside that folder are the exact same pictures - with edits, of the folder one level up. This folder level shouldn't be there and I can't figure out how it got there. I only imported the pictures once.

This has the potential to make my folder organization a mess. I just discovered this problem when I went to move a picture from one folder to another. As I dragged the photo to the correct folder, the triangle automatically opened and showed me that extra folder. But I dragged the photo into the folder I wanted it. Now, the correct folder has the 2 new pictures, but this "extra" folder does not. If I don't fix this now, I am going to have pictures in different places and won't know where to find it.

When I import, what always happens is that it creates a folder called 2008. Then I change the name and drag it to its correct location.

Thanks
Stefan

[gooble]

What I do is set the import preferences to import at current location. So you'd have to put the pictures in some folder outside of Lightroom then when you open Lightroom and import just tell it where the pictures are and to import at current location. This way Lightroom has nothing to do with your file structure.

[Stefan A]

I will try that, but this adds an extra step to the process. It would be nice if I could import the shots directly from my card into lightroom and have the folders be set up properly.

Stefan

[In2Photos]

When you click on the parent folder, like birds for instance, it will show you any and all files that reside in that folder AND any images in any subfolder, like 01-27. This is something you can change in the preferences. I forget the exact location or wording but there is a checkbox next to something like "show images in subfolders". I can check for you later on the exact location if you can not find it.

[Stefan A]

I think I recall seeing something like that in the inport screen. I will look in to that for future imports. I will have to see about the photos I have already imported. Right now I am at work and cannot check.

Stefan

[PixelMagic]

Start Lightroom and go the the Library Module. Click on the Library menu and uncheck the "Include Photos from Subitems" option.

You can explicitly uncheck the child folders and import only the parent folder, but I got the sense you want it all automated and as s far as I am aware there's no option to automatically manage this while importing images into Lightroom.

[Stefan A]

Ok - so I did that. But now, the species folder - such as "Northern Flicker" no longer has any pictures in it. In order to see the pictures, I have to go to that date folder which is in the next level. I tried going into my external drive (where I store my RAWS) and physically move the pictures into the main folder. Then I deleted the pictures from the date folder. But then that date folder turns red and all the photos are considered missing. Unchecking that option may help with future imports, but what about the pictures that are already imported?

Stefan

[PixelMagic]

Stefan,

The option to "Include Photos from Subitems" has nothing to do with importing images into Lightroom. All it does is filter whether or not you can view photos in sub-folders...but these images in the sub-folders would have already been imported into Lightroom.

I started to write a comprehensive response to you but then I realized there was some info missing.

How are you importing into Lightroom? Are you doing it straight from your camera or card reader or are you importing files that have already been transferred to your hard drive?

How did this folder structure come into existence? Was in created in Lightroom or in your operating system?

Answers to these and possibly other questions will put you on the right path.

As an aside, and I mean this as charitably as possible, it appears that you aren't tapping the power of Lightroom and the best possible thing you can do is read the manual. The problem you're describing has nothing to do with file importing, it is all because of your existing folder structure. When importing, Lightroom offers you checkboxes where you can choose to include or exclude sub-folders and their contents from importation to your library. I'm guessing that you did not exclude the sub-folders so now you have duplicated items (the Edit folders) in your catalog.

All this can be fixed, but in my opinion the first thing you need to do is correct your file/folder structure. If you intend to use Lightroom to manage your photos there's absolutely no need for the convoluted folder structure you have. I admit I read your initial post several times, and even diagrammed it to make sure I understood it, and its still confusing to me.

With Lightroom there's no need to create all those subfolders with descriptive names....that's the job of keyword tagging/metadata. My advice to you would be to keep your folder structure as simple as possible and utilize keywords/metadata to describe your images...that way you can use Lightroom or any other DAM to search your images and find exactly what you're looking for.

Personally, I use a very simple folder structure and use my DAM to desribe every image. I've used several Digital Asset Managers in the past, most recently I used iView Media Pro, before switching to Lightroom and to me that's the best approach. Then every image I import is keyworded so that its easy to find in the future.

If you're interested I can give you specific guidelines on how to set up your folder structure and how to keyword tag efficiently.





Ok - so I did that. But now, the species folder - such as "Northern Flicker" no longer has any pictures in it. In order to see the pictures, I have to go to that date folder which is in the next level. I tried going into my external drive (where I store my RAWS) and physically move the pictures into the main folder. Then I deleted the pictures from the date folder. But then that date folder turns red and all the photos are considered missing. Unchecking that option may help with future imports, but what about the pictures that are already imported?

Stefan

[jnev]

If you're interested I can give you specific guidelines on how to set up your folder structure and how to keyword tag efficiently.


I would be very interested to know how you organize your photos by keywords. I've been trying out a few different methods, but have yet to settle on one way.

[danpass]

If you're interested I can give you specific guidelines on how to set up your folder structure and how to keyword tag efficiently.I would be very interested to know how you organize your photos by keywords. I've been trying out a few different methods, but have yet to settle on one way.


As would I. Currently I have simply keyworded as I import.



.

[Stefan A]

Thanks a lot for your willingness to spend all this time to help me. To answer your questions: The pictures I am talking about have been imported directly from the card via a card reader. I have an external HD and these pictures are stored in a folder on my external drive called "Raw". Other than creating that one folder called Raw, I don't mess with it. I import the photos directly into lightroom. When I do this, I get a new folder under the Raw folder with the current year. I rename it and either let it move to where it's going to go, or I move it into another folder within the Raw folder - like birds. As I shoot new subjects, I create a new folder to place the photos in.

I did purchase the Kelby book and have gone through it step by step. I did the steps as they were presented, but perhaps I did something wrong. My problem with this book is that it is hard to review concepts because all the info is layed out in these long winded steps. It's hard to find a specific concept.

I also do keywords. I put some general keywords for all the shots at the import stage. Then once they are imported, I put in more specific keywords using the paintbrush.

Any advise you can provide would be appreciated.

Stefan

[Stefan A]

Just wanted to bump this because I still haven't gotten this problem solved.

[KarlMarsh]

This folder level shouldn't be there and I can't figure out how it got there. I only imported the pictures once.

There are options on the "import from device" dialog box that are causing your problems.

The first box on the top should be set to
"Copy photos to a new location and import"

The second should have the exact folder selected where you would like to copy the photos to.

The third line which is another pull down list should be set to
Organize: Into one folder
(This one could be causing your extra levels of folders if you have the wrong item selected here)

Clear the next 3 check boxes especially the one that says "put into sub folder" because that could cause an extra level.

After the check box there is an option to backup the images on export. This could also be causing your problem if you have it set up wrong.

Check out these things and see if it fixes your problem.


Hope it helps:lol:

[Stefan A]

I had the organize pull down list option set to date - so I will try changing that. But I still need to know what to do with the photos I have already imported.

Stefan

[KarlMarsh]

I had the organize pull down list option set to date - so I will try changing that. But I still need to know what to do with the photos I have already imported.

Stefan

There are a couple of ways to deal with that. Here is the easiest way I have found. Close lightroom.

Open you file manager and manually move the image files on your disk to the directory where you want them.

Start light room. Go to folders and find the folder than you just moved the images from. Its name should be in red. Right click on it and select "Locate missing files on disk". Then you go to the folder that you moved them to and click OK. Lightroom will check to see if all the missing images are there and once satisfied everything will be groovy.

Hope it helps:D

[danpass]

There are a couple of ways to deal with that. Here is the easiest way I have found. Close lightroom.

Open you file manager and manually move the image files on your disk to the directory where you want them.

Start light room. Go to folders and find the folder than you just moved the images from. Its name should be in red. Right click on it and select "Locate missing files on disk". Then you go to the folder that you moved them to and click OK. Lightroom will check to see if all the missing images are there and once satisfied everything will be groovy.

Hope it helps:D


Kind of a brute force way to do it, don't you think?

















I'm ok with that :D

(having done it myself lol)

.

[Stefan A]

Thanks Karl, I will try that method.

Stefan

[PixelMagic]

.... But I still need to know what to do with the photos I have already imported.

Stefan

Oops, I had forgotten all about this thread...sorry about that.

Stephan, it seems to me that you're trying to make this problem more complicated than it actually is. While Lightroom is good, functional software it is not a specialized File Manager. I think that you should use the file manager that's in your operating system, Explorer in Windows or Finder in Mac, to organize your files then use the Synchronize command in Lightroom to update its database.

This is of course contingent on how your file structure is organized. I would use my File Manager to drag the duplicated folders outside of the Lightroom path (the Wildlife hierarchy) or to an entirely different drive for temporary safekeeping. When I'm satisfied, I'd open Lightroom, go to the Library Module, select the highest level of your folder hierarchy, then from the menu, select Library > Synchronize Folder.

Lightroom will pop up a dialog box; and if you've done your file cleanup correctly it should calculate that you have no images to import. Just make sure the "Remove Missing Photos from Catalog" option is checked and the Metadata option is unchecked, then click the Synchronize button in the dialog box and Lightroom's database will be updated. After you're sure that your Lightroom catalog is the way you want, you can delete the images you moved for safekeeping.

Here's an example. I keep all my photos on a single drive that is further divided into folders organized by Year and Date. To synchronize my 2007 images I would simply select the 2007 folder in the Folders panel....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/BigDave30/Folderorg.gif

Then go to Library > Synchronize Folder

You should not have to import any photos and make sure you "Remove missing Photos from catalog"


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/BigDave30/settings.gif