Camera RAW & Bridge or Lr Classic

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542
Name
Joe
Edit My Images
Yes
Morning all, So over the last few weeks I have been learning how to post process images using adobe software, however what I have found (I know this I probably going to be controversial), is that I do not like the catalog system in Lr! I much prefer using the old fashion built in file system within my iMac/windows laptop.

With this in mind I have been playing with ACR within the Bridge program as this just reads the current in built file system, but also gives me most of the features in Lr that I actually use and also allows access to my presets.

Following this, I wanted to see if anyone else has this same thinking and agrees with not liking Lr catalog? and if so have any tip for me of how to still use the programs, but with ought catalog or if Bridge is a good program to use? I only ask as there doesn't seem to be as much online about ADC & bridge as their does for Lr.

Many Thanks, Joe :)
 
The folder structure in Lr is exactly the same as the folder structure on your Macs Hard-drive.

It does to an extent, but you still have to import images into Lr which then links it with its own internal cataloging system which I personally don't find user friendly, because if you then alter something outside of Lr through the standard file browser Lr then gets confused, which is why I would rather just assess processing software via my standard file browser, such as you can when using ACR.. Hence why I was a asking if anyone agrees and of course some won't and I totally understand that, but if there was anyone that did agree then I would be interested to see if they have any tip as to how they do things and whether they use ACR through Bridge or just going through PS. :)
 
It does to an extent, but you still have to import images into Lr which then links it with its own internal cataloging system which I personally don't find user friendly, because if you then alter something outside of Lr through the standard file browser Lr then gets confused, which is why I would rather just assess processing software via my standard file browser, such as you can when using ACR.. Hence why I was a asking if anyone agrees and of course some won't and I totally understand that, but if there was anyone that did agree then I would be interested to see if they have any tip as to how they do things and whether they use ACR through Bridge or just going through PS. :)
Once you get your folder structure sorted the amount of times you will be moving files should be few and far between.
I import files into a folder structure YYYY / YYYY-MM / YYYY-MM-DD
It may seem redundant, but you always know what specific month or day you are in. I have always been recommended to avoid ay folder naming by subject , eg Italy / Tuscany, Cars / Ford, or Portraits / Linda. You should use collections and metadata to manage the subject or location.
 
It does to an extent, but you still have to import images into Lr which then links it with its own internal cataloging system which I personally don't find user friendly, because if you then alter something outside of Lr through the standard file browser Lr then gets confused, which is why I would rather just assess processing software via my standard file browser, such as you can when using ACR.. Hence why I was a asking if anyone agrees and of course some won't and I totally understand that, but if there was anyone that did agree then I would be interested to see if they have any tip as to how they do things and whether they use ACR through Bridge or just going through PS. :)

I'm another long term LR user - and I use the LR import functionality to actually transfer images from Camera / Card Reader to my PC - LR automatically creates the folder structure I want (YYYY\YYYY-MM-DD\) and renames all the files to add a prefix (I have 3 cameras, so prefix with camera model & year to ensure filenames are unique). From then on, I never have to worry about moving files.

Like Phil I then use Collections and Keywords to be able to quickly find a given shot.

Once you've used it a bit it's quick and easy.
 
I'm another long term LR user - and I use the LR import functionality to actually transfer images from Camera / Card Reader to my PC - LR automatically creates the folder structure I want (YYYY\YYYY-MM-DD\) and renames all the files to add a prefix (I have 3 cameras, so prefix with camera model & year to ensure filenames are unique). From then on, I never have to worry about moving files.

Like Phil I then use Collections and Keywords to be able to quickly find a given shot.

Once you've used it a bit it's quick and easy.
Should have mentioned my rename settings:-
Date (YYYYMMDD)-HourMinuteSecond-Model-Filename
 
Thank you both for your advice & tips very much appreciated. I’m still working my way through it all and trying to work out the best workflow/filing system for me :)
 
The filing system in LR is excellent though as I do some LT talks at my club there are some who do not like it because they do not have the patience and discipline to use it as intended. The import system is very good because you can apply presets, make a back up automatically and file in you chosen folders. I create the folders on LR and import directly into LR which is as intended. There is never any need for me to move image outside LR so none of mine go missing. Using keywords in combination with the meta data for searches is very powerful. Not everyone needs to use complex searches but I do so regularly. For example, I need for the most current competition Macro shots taken since Jan 1st 2019 and only fully edited files with a rating of at least 4*. Selecting these from my 30,000 image takes a fraction of a second because the LR catalogue is a fast database. A similar search using bridge could take hours as it has no database but use the O/S and has to open and close every file. The Adobe LR Videos have some good advice in this area as well. LR also has a good export arrangement and is particularly good for printing. Since getting LR many years ago, I never use the Bridge or anything else that LR is not seeing. LR becomes the Command centre and you can open images in PS and various Plug-ins and external software and the output automatically returned the the LR catalogue.

Dave
 
The filing system in LR is excellent though as I do some LT talks at my club there are some who do not like it because they do not have the patience and discipline to use it as intended. The import system is very good because you can apply presets, make a back up automatically and file in you chosen folders. I create the folders on LR and import directly into LR which is as intended. There is never any need for me to move image outside LR so none of mine go missing. Using keywords in combination with the meta data for searches is very powerful. Not everyone needs to use complex searches but I do so regularly. For example, I need for the most current competition Macro shots taken since Jan 1st 2019 and only fully edited files with a rating of at least 4*. Selecting these from my 30,000 image takes a fraction of a second because the LR catalogue is a fast database. A similar search using bridge could take hours as it has no database but use the O/S and has to open and close every file. The Adobe LR Videos have some good advice in this area as well. LR also has a good export arrangement and is particularly good for printing. Since getting LR many years ago, I never use the Bridge or anything else that LR is not seeing. LR becomes the Command centre and you can open images in PS and various Plug-ins and external software and the output automatically returned the the LR catalogue.

Dave

Thank you for this Dave, very much appreciated. It does seem to be that I should try give Lr more if ago and TBH I love the software for processing, for someone like me who is totally new to it all I found it the easiest to learn, however just had issues with the catalog system, But I think I need to give it some more usage & time and try and get it to work for me :)
 
I prefer Bridge and ACR. I like Bridge as I am just looking at the file structure I have set up, and can open any image instantly. I prefer ACR for processing too, although the same processing engine, I liked the layout of ACR, having started with that before Lightroom. ACR seems to be morphing into the Lr layout with an update I got recently. :rolleyes:

There is still one benefit I think ACR has over Lr, and that is when trying to straighten an image to a small element in the scene, you can zoom into the image to draw a line along an edge to align the image to. I think with Lr you still have to have the whole image visible when trying to do the same thing.

I do use Lr, and the catalogue functions, to organise my travel images. I don't do it for all my images as the catalogue with Smart Previews would add Gb's of extra data.
 
I store my images yyyy / yyyy-mm-dd description of shoot followed by HI / LO / RAW as I tend to shoot different formats to different cards and I find it easy to locate images I need. I import the different formats into different folders.

I use a lightroom plug in called Syncomatic to copy keywords, processing, labels, flags etc from one folder to another with identical file names. The plugin is a paid option, but its only a modest sum to purchase and its been a good buy.
 
I prefer Bridge and ACR. I like Bridge as I am just looking at the file structure I have set up, and can open any image instantly. I prefer ACR for processing too, although the same processing engine, I liked the layout of ACR, having started with that before Lightroom. ACR seems to be morphing into the Lr layout with an update I got recently. :rolleyes:

There is still one benefit I think ACR has over Lr, and that is when trying to straighten an image to a small element in the scene, you can zoom into the image to draw a line along an edge to align the image to. I think with Lr you still have to have the whole image visible when trying to do the same thing.

I do use Lr, and the catalogue functions, to organise my travel images. I don't do it for all my images as the catalogue with Smart Previews would add Gb's of extra data.
This is one thing I do like about camera RAW & bridge is that it just reads your files system & doesn’t require the need for backing up catalogs & previews ect!
 
But you still need to back up your computers hard drive, and you still need to back up your images.
Lightroom will automatically create a back up of the catalog when you close the programme depending on how often you have scheduled it, to the location of your choice.
And regardless of whether you use Bridge and Camera Raw, or Lightroom, your photographs will be in the exact same place on your hard drive.

This is true, but for me my computer (iMac) is only being used about once a week purely for processing photos I have taken over the weekend and nothing else & im not keeping my raw files either, so back up wise... my system back up will be apples time machine & as for the photos well the only photos on the internal drive will be the raw files until they have delete after the have been processed to a jpg. The final jpgs will then be saved (Exported) directly onto my external storage drive, out of Lr completely to which i will then remove the raw files from the internal drive. I will then back up my final (most important final images) from the external storage drive to a couple of other external drives I plug in and online by making manual copies.
So even if I do decide to use Lr it will really only be because of the processing side of things it offers as I will only have one working folder attached to Lr so I can at least import the raws to process, but then as I say my final images will be on an external drive in the end. This also means I don’t have to worry about haveing catalogs backed up etc.. I would rather focus on having copies of my final importan images and not worry about automatic back ups & using previews or synced copies etc I’d much rather have a final jpg. And presides if I ever did need to re size an image for a particular medium then you can still do plenty with a jpg without loosing quality. I also am not bothered about exorting for every online/media type. At the end of the day any jpg will upload to any online place even if it’s not is ‘optimum settings’
 
But you still need to back up your computers hard drive, and you still need to back up your images.
Lightroom will automatically create a back up of the catalog when you close the programme depending on how often you have scheduled it, to the location of your choice.
And regardless of whether you use Bridge and Camera Raw, or Lightroom, your photographs will be in the exact same place on your hard drive.
One of the downsides of Lr is that it takes a lot longer to ingest the files and create previews. As an example, most weekends over the summer I go over the park and take pictures of the Cricket. I may end up with maybe 1k+ images to go through. If I were using Lr it would take a lot longer to download the files and create previews. If I download the images just to the computer, I can be (if I wanted to) previewing images as the enter the computer and rejecting and rating pretty much full screen images quite quickly.

Now after all that for the remaining 50-100 images, I could add them to a Lr catalogue quite quickly if I wanted to use the cataloguing features, or other features of Lr, if I wanted. ;)

It's whatever way you want to work. Nice to know different workflows, and the reasoning behind them though. ;) :)
 
I import everything in date order joe , luckily my memory is still sharp enough to know where I was on what month
 
I took some insect shots yesterday at a Nature reserve. This morning I uploaded the Raw images from the camera to LR. LR automatically applies a basic bespoke pre-set, creates standard previews, saves a backup to my NAS and stores the images where I choose on my HDD. I then reviewed the images, rating them and culling those not wanted. I colour coded, renamed and added appropriate keywords. For the 75 images it took a total of 20 mins to do all of this which is fine for me.

Dave
 
Photomechanic is really of benefit when you need to sort a lot of photos quickly. I think most sports photographers use it due to its speed.
 
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