It's not a glamorous topic, but managing an ever-growing photo catalog is something we all face. Here are a few smart ways to get yourself on the right track with Adobe Lightroom to spend less time searching and more time editing and delivering.
In this video, Tim Grey gives some simple to follow guidance on what to do before you develop your personal organizational structure, examples to get started, how to connect missing images in your catalog, and how to rename folders within Lightroom. With these tips, you'll be on your way to a stress-free catalog where photos are exactly where you'd expect them to be, and can be found easily.
My personal photo organizational method is heavily time-based as the primary structure. That involves all folders and photo files having the four digit year, two digit month, and two digit day at the beginning of all filenames to chronologically sort them, then followed by a specific location. However, you may find that sorting by a city or something else as the primary sorter to make the most sense for your work. The goal is to set things up in tandem with how your brain also thinks of these photo events, that way there is no friction between the two methods.
What are your own tips for photo cataloging? Share in the comments below.
I can't understand why anyone would want to name their LR Folders dates or events etc. Simply drop all your photos in folders that are numerical - I use ORG_0001 ORG = Orginal RAW files. Then use LR collections, which are far more powerful, to identify the image sets or events or dates which can be across may folders. This way no risk of losing any images. Or am I missing something?
It really depends on your workflow and type of photography. That's what's nice about Lightroom, you can customize it however you like. Personally, I use DATE_LOCATION or DATE_SUBJECT, like "20190321 Grand Haven Sunset" or "20190321 PM Waves". Typically I'm working with recently shot stuff, so by ordering by date I know right where to find the recent stuff. Also, my images themselves are named DATE_SEQUENCE "20190321_0001", "20190321_0002", etc. so when someone has a print of mine and wants a larger or different print of it, I know exactly where to find it in Lightroom and/or my file system because the filename is printed on the back of it. I also use keywording, titles, ratings, and collections.