Anybody use Lightroom ?

[Dave B]

Hi,

I have downloaded Lightroom and Aperture demos and am having a play with them to decide which one I prefer to use. At the moment am using PhotoMechanic and CS2.

I started with Lightroom but have a few questions.

I have imported some of my images but left them in the original folders as am use to how they are all laid out etc... The way I have them is JPG's that I have edited are in the main folder then a subfolder holds the originals.

\2008
\2008\Fred_Bloggs_20012008_5pics
\2008\Fred_Bloggs_20012008_5pics\Originals

1. When I click on the folder (Fred Bloggs) in LR I don't want it to show the subfolder (originals), I just wanna see the 5 edited pics.

2. When I edit a image in the originals folder, where is it saved ? Or is it saved as am editing ?

3. How or where do I apply IPTC information to images ?

This is my workflow at the moment -

Drag folder from CF card onto desktop.
Drag folder into PhotoMechanic.
Tag photos which I like.
Edit them in Photoshop (Crop and Levels) and save them as different filenames.
Using OSX copy the above files out into their own folder.
Drag this new folder into PhotoMechanic.
Rename them and apply IPTC.
FTP these files.
Then move all folders into appropriate directory for filing.

Any advice help appreciated.

Dave

 

[jtblueberry]

One possibility is this:

1.) Make a folder for your Job
2.) Make sub folders (captures, processed, trash, final)
3.) Copy CF card to captures folder (I capture in RAW format)
4.) Import capture folder to Lightroom.
5.) Sort and rate images (send ones you don't like to trash subfolder)
6.) Rename and add metadata.
7.) Make adjustments and/or crops in lightroom (best if adjustments are done while image is in RAW format).
8.) Export all images to processed folder (I export to .tiff if I am going to do more work in photoshop, use can use .jpeg if going directly to FTP).
9.) If you need to photoshop, open processed images into photoshop from processed folder (you can crop, make adjustments, and/or retouch in this stage if you want but lightroom has many tools also).
10.) Save photoshopped images into the "final subfolder"(save images in .jpeg format to be FTP'd)
11.) FTP files from your final folder.
12.) Move files to your storage/filing system (make sure there is at least one copy on-site and one copy off-site for backup purposes).

This way, you have your original captures in your captures folder and your adjustments are saved by lightroom using a method that doesn't overwrite your original as it was shot (raw format). You have a copy of your images with adjustments applied in your processed folder (.tiff format). Then you have your photoshopped images in your final folder (.jpeg format). You will have your rejected files in your trash folder that you can get rid of or not at the end. This is a very safe and efficient method that works great as a raw workflow. RAW workflow is the biggest reason to get Lightroom. You'll be amazed when you see how much better using RAW adjustment tools in Lightroom are than using levels in photoshop.

Hope the info helps. Cheers.

 

[Dave B]

Yeah that helps, cheers.

Dave

 

[ChrisA]

Reading all these complex work flows here..... Aperture can seriously reduce the complexity. With Aperture it would go like this. (1) plug in camera or cardreader to download images, no you don't have to specify where they go. (2) edit images as required. No "save" or "save as" required, just edit. (3) Export the ones you want.

The whole point of these workflow programs is they manage files and directories and so on for you. If you like to do all this manually then go with Bridge CS3. The Bridge version included with CS3 works well for people who like to move files between various folders and manually maintain the on-disk organization.

The "new" way is to just forget about folders and look at subsets of your work that are based on search criteria like "Smith Wedding Project, four or more stars". Then you just work right on the desktop, moving say a WB slider to suit. The programs use non-destructive edits to there is no need to save the edits files because there are no edited files until you export them.

If you try and use LR or Aperture in an old-school workflow you will go nuts and have wasted a bit of money too.

 

[James L]

If you try and use LR or Aperture in an old-school workflow you will go nuts and have wasted a bit of money too.

Quoted for emphasis.

 

[jtblueberry]

Ha...that's funny. Aperture and Lightroom don't mean you can forget about work flow...not if you do this all day, every day, for a living. It's still smart to control where your files are and then how they're backed up.
If I just loaded images in and did searches later to find things, not only would I go crazy, but my workflow would be a mess. Maybe that works for people doing this as a hobby but pros need more workflow than "plug it in, load it, and search later". That "workflow" if you can call it that, doesn't accomplish what the OP is looking for.
My workflow above is a tried and true method for lightroom, capture one, aperture, CS3 adobe raw, or any other software for that matter. It's not "complex" at all. These programs DO NOT replace workflow...they are tools for accomplishing workflow.

 

[law guy]

Ha...that's funny. Aperture and Lightroom don't mean you can forget about work flow...not if you do this all day, every day, for a living. It's still smart to control where your files are and then how they're backed up.
If I just loaded images in and did searches later to find things, not only would I go crazy, but my workflow would be a mess. Maybe that works for people doing this as a hobby but pros need more workflow than "plug it in, load it, and search later".

LR is a database program in part, with the need for copy to a seperate location on import built in. The Adobe design is that you'd import into LR and organize and backup as part of that step. The preferences allow you to import from a location, copy from a location, and import and save a copy to a different location as a backup on import. You can of course break apart your existing shoots into different folders, and then as you import new work, those are given their own folders, which you can batch tag with metadata, put virtual files into collections (e.g. main portfolio, print adjusted versions).

Adobe LR is designed to round trip into PS, but the design notion is that PS is for limited needs (a certain type of sharpening, soft proofing [which folks complain about having to leave LR for], targeted color adjustments). I highly recommend the LR tutorial put together by Jeff Schewe and Michael Riechmann over at http://www.luminous-landscape.com. It's $14.95 for several hours worth of walking through the features / work flow and after you order the hi-res version, they send you a free code for a video iPod-compatible version. The presentation is very useful.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=126

 

[Eauboy]

This is a very timely thread.

I'm working for now on a still-quite-functional Thinkpad. A MacBook Pro purchase may follow later in the year, but for now I'm on Windows.

I installed the Lightroom demo. After I pointed it to my digipix folder it churned through the folder structure for quite a while, presumably making thumbnails and recording file names. No problem; I just let it run.

Over the weekend I did a shoot (I'm a hobbyist; I just like saying 'shoot') of maybe fifty RAW+JPEG shots. When I inserted the card, Lightroom happily imported the files to the folder root I specified, and once again churned away, processing what it found. A bit slower than I would have thought, but it *is* an older machine processing RAW files, so I forgive it.

What I don't understand is that even when I'm not importing anything new Lightroom still seems to slow down from time to time, dragging the entire machine down with it. Particularly, when I navigate to a new folder, LR seems to suddenly have a lot to do, spiking the processor and often tying up the hard disk for quite some time. I basically can't use the computer until it finishes.

Is this at all normal? I know I'm not on the same OS as most of you, but surely a 2.5 year-old machine shouldn't be brought to its knees simply by selecting a new folder. Is there a way I can force LR to do whatever it needs to do in advance?


Thanks...

 

[jtblueberry]

I'm not denying that there are very powerful organizational tools in lightroom. You can certainly accomplish the same thing that my workflow does with other methods but it doesn't get much more straight forward. My workflow doesn't lose any of the advantages to be gained from lightroom's tools. You can certainly utilize lighroom's import tools to streamline the workflow (ie. add metadata on import). There are many other ways to improve/streamline the workflow as well but I tried to keep it as simple as possible.
Notice you don't have to use photoshop with my workflow but you can.

 

[jtblueberry]

My G4 powerbook 1Ghz, 2gb ram struggles with lightroom too. My new macpro 2.8 octo, 14gb ram never slows down for a second. This software seems to need a powerhouse.
There is a way to have lightroom process previews on import so that later, when you're switching between folders, the previews will already be processed and you shouldn't see as much slow down while you're working.
Another good lightroom resource can be found at http://www.shootsmarter.com
Click on the Michael Clark link. He has some good free articles as well as an ebook for 24.95.

 

[Dave B]

Some interesting stuff here.

Am going to just use LR as much as I can and hopefully learn it. I have been using my workflow for years (couple of shoots a day sometimes) so it's hard to change but I can see the advantages to LR.

Thanks for all the replies so far.

Dave

 

[Abstract]

There are many other ways to improve/streamline the workflow as well but I tried to keep it as simple as possible.

Is your method something you would consider "Simple"?

 

[bgd]

LR performance on my macbook is fine. Aperture on the other hand was very slow (v1.5) which convinced me to go the LR route.

 

[frood02]

Eauboy: a couple optimizations are to turn off the "automatically write changes to XMP sidecars" and building all standard previews (or the 1:1 if you have the time/space).

I've heard from others that Lightroom runs faster on OS X than XP.

 

[frood02]

also, wanted to mention a good book on workflow:

http://www.thedambook.com/

 

[Eauboy]

Eauboy: a couple optimizations are to turn off the "automatically write changes to XMP sidecars" and building all standard previews (or the 1:1 if you have the time/space).

I've heard from others that Lightroom runs faster on OS X than XP.

Thanks Frood, I'll try those. I take it with respect to the standard previews that you are suggesting that there is a way to build more of the previews up-front. I seem to recall that I had 'minimal' previews set on the imports I've done so far.

 

[Binford]

hey dave! i'm inthe same shoes as you, about to download lightroom, just started checking out aperture.

do you see any big pros/cons between teh two? any comparative advantangse?
thanks!

 

[Dave B]

hey dave! i'm inthe same shoes as you, about to download lightroom, just started checking out aperture.

do you see any big pros/cons between teh two? any comparative advantangse?
thanks!

I haven't got to Aperture yet and still playing with Lightroom.

I watched vids on both of them and thought Lightroom was more suited to me, so thought I would try that first.

Dave

 

[frood02]

Thanks Frood, I'll try those. I take it with respect to the standard previews that you are suggesting that there is a way to build more of the previews up-front. I seem to recall that I had 'minimal' previews set on the imports I've done so far.

You can build 'standard' previews on import. That may be what the delay when you navigate to a new folder; otherwise I think it builds previews upon image selection. You can also build them by selecting all your photos and running Library -> Previews -> Render Standard Previews

(oops. I guess it calls it rendering previews... sorry I keep calling it building)