How do you organize your photos in PP software?

[QUOTE=CincyTriGuy;167​67502]

5. Export to jpg the images that are going somewhere (email to model, posted online somewhere, submitted somewhere, print, etc.)

6. Once the jpg's have been "delivered", delete them, they're just wasting space and I have the original RAW in LR if I ever need to create a JPG again.


Okay....I just read an article on this and using DAM within LR to keep my images organized, and it makes sense, but its new to me, and to be honest, a little counter intuitive, but I like letting the software do the work where it performs better than myself. Just to be sure I am grasping the concept correctly:

I edit my photo, I export my photo and do whatever it is that I needed to do with said photo (post online, burn to disc, etc.). I then delete the exported JPG file. I get all that. My confusion comes to when I want to use that edit again....would all of the edit information still be retained in the file in LR?

Also, how can I export the JPGS and delete them without mixing them up with the files that I want to keep? I like to keep my stuff as organized as possible.

Thanks!

gunngirl4life wrote in post #17455143
My confusion comes to when I want to use that edit again....would all of the edit information still be retained in the file in LR?

Also, how can I export the JPGS and delete them without mixing them up with the files that I want to keep? I like to keep my stuff as organized as possible.

Thanks!

As long as you don't make further edits, a JPG exported six months from now would contain the same edit info as one exported today. If you want to make further edits, you can create virtual copies in Lr or use snapshots.

When you export the JPGs, export them to a different location than your RAW files. That should make it easy not to mix them up.

After I've exported and deleted the exported jpg, say my client emails me 6 months later and wants to re-order another print of one of the edits, what would I reference to find that, the original? Will the original in LR still show the edits after I delete the exported jpgs? (Assuming that after delivery of the initial product, I left everything as is).

On paper this all makes sense, but my head is reluctant to wrap around it. (I have a really hard time deleting anything....I'm an image horder. But I am discovering that the more work I put it out, the more selective I have to be in order to maintain the kind of organization that I need.)

gunngirl4life wrote in post #17455188
After I've exported and deleted the exported jpg, say my client emails me 6 months later and wants to re-order another print of one of the edits, what would I reference to find that, the original?

Yes, the original RAW file assuming you're shooting in RAW.

gunngirl4life wrote in post #17455188
Will the original in LR still show the edits after I delete the exported jpgs? (Assuming that after delivery of the initial product, I left everything as is).

Yes

If you're not already using Lightroom now, why not download the 30 day trial and use it so you can see for yourself instead of having to grasp the idea on paper.

There is one thing you have to consider. LR is great at processing RAW files, and all of what has been said applies for images that have only been processed in LR. If you have to go out from LR to say PS, so that you can do some complex processing, such as needing to use layers, or even using some of the LR plug in systems, then you will also have to create a master .PSD/.TIFF file to maintain that processing from the other application. As long as you use LR's edit in functions, that is quite simple, as in the case of a default edit in PS say, the LR processed RAW image will be opened in PS. Once you have finished the editing, you simply do a Save, NOT a Save As, and the .PSD/.TIFF file will be created in the folder next to the RAW, auto imported into LR and stacked with the original RAW in the Library. All of the meta data that goes with the original RAW will also apply to the .PSD/.TIFF file. You must just remember to export the right file when you need the JPEG created. The way that LR uses stacks ensures that the processed image is the top one in the stack, and so will normally be the one that is selected/shown. The only time this might be different is if you create your own stacks of images. I've been using LR now for three years, the only real issue was going back and doing all of the key words for my existing images. It took about three months to go back over about 10K images. Only have to do that once though. Then just key word as you go. The more thorough you are in this the easier it becomes to find images that you want.

Oh and if you do need to go back and re-export an image six months down the line, ti will still be there with all the LR processing intact. As it keeps a record of EVERY editing step you take, it is even easy to go back to an older version of the processing. Although if you do do that, be careful, as making a change while halfway down the edit history will erase the steps above it. Going to the correct step, and making a Virtual Copy to work on will not erase the history above that point though.

Alan