Import workflow question

Kit. · May 20, 2020

By the way, can anyone explain (or provide a link to a tutorial) how to reasonably easily move from an exisiting ad-hoc Lightroom Classic catalog file directory structure (multiple cameras, each with its own directory structure and file naming scheme) to a more regular one? I'm sure Lightroom Classic should have something like that built in.

So, again. I have a separate (readonly) raw image file collection, for which a (separate, but only one) Lightroom Classic catalog is built and populated. I would like to rearrange the image files directory structure, but preserve the current metadata catalog (except for the positions of the files, of course). After that, I would expect a Lightroom Classic import routine to keep the new file structure for the newly imported files.

(Synchronizing the result with the NAS backup and the NAS backup with the Amazon Prime Photos account is another story)

LDS · May 20, 2020

Kit. said:
By the way, can anyone explain (or provide a link to a tutorial) how to reasonably easily move from an exisiting ad-hoc Lightroom Classic catalog file directory structure (multiple cameras, each with its own directory structure and file naming scheme) to a more regular one?

I think you should re-arrange the file structure inside LR Library module, so it will keep its database links updated. There were some bugs years ago in the file handling features, hope they've been fixed. LR is also able to look for "missing photos", but if the changes are extensive it may not work well.

Bulk file renaming is also supported, see for example https://lightroomkillertips.com/photo-renaming-options-lightroom/

You can define where new images go and how from the import dialog (and save presets)

Kit. · May 20, 2020

I want to do it inside the LR (Classic), I just don't want to manually sort 10 years worth of files into folders where I could otherwise import-move them automatically (but lose the existing metadata). And I definitely don't want to rename them.

Is there some easy way to do this?

Or is there maybe a way to script it?

LDS · May 21, 2020

I'm afraid I did not understand your requirements - could you show an example of what you need to change?

privatebydesign · May 21, 2020

If you post a screenshot of your file structure now and what you'd like it to be I'm sure we could help. It seems to me the smartest thing to do is use the text/attribute/metadata tabs to select large numbers of image files across your current folders and simply put them into your new folders. If you have a good idea for your new folders I'd think you could rearrange your images to a completely new folder structure in under an hour for a library with 10,000's of images. But if you tell us specifically what you want the new folders to be called and contain then we can tell you the best way to automatically select very large numbers of files at the same time.

Doing it like this would be very fast and it would maintain all your current image settings/data and LR wouldn't spend forever reimporting image files it already knows. It also means you can keep an eye on the number of image files LR is keeping track of, your total number should remain constant, so you will know if you have made a mistake or LR has lost track of anything.

Kit. · May 21, 2020

Currently, I have a mess like this:

Partly old archives of photos organized by ZoomBrowzer/DPP, partly manually copied (and library resynced), partly import-copied by LR itself.

I would like to rearrange it as if it were import-copied from the beginning, in the format YYYY/YYYY-MM-DD/<original-filename>, and then to keep importing it like this. Not sure if I want to keep the images from different cameras separated into the different folders.

What I definitely don't want to do is to run thousands of manual searches and then manually enter the name of the directory I want to move the files to for each successful search.

LDS · May 21, 2020

When you open the Library Filter, LR will already let you access photos grouped by year, month and date. for the selected LR "folders" (you can select multiple folders). So if a folder has been created in LR it's just a matter of dragging & dropping the photos to the new folder.

So say you select all the folders 10xxxx then open the Library Filter, and select Metadata, you will see a panel with Y/M/D grouping. You will still need to create the folders.

But there's no way to automatically create the required folders. I guess it can be scripted by querying directly the LR database and creating the missing folders, but not from LR itself (but writing a plug-in, probably). You could look for plugins that may help you.

privatebydesign · May 21, 2020

With so few images, 20,000 I’d just create the folder structure you want and then select all images and sort by date, then just select all the images by that date and move them within LR To your new date structured folders. You can do it in stages as and when you have the time and inclination as when you start your second session just select all the folders you haven’t yet emptied.

When you go to meta data you can select dates, that will tell you how many days you actually have images for so will tell you the names and numbers of the new folders you will need to make. I estimate I could do this entire library move as suggested in under a day of work.

Kit. · May 21, 2020

Well... the idea of a day of such boring and error-prone work already suggests learning how to script the damn thing. Especially as it seems to have a quite decent SDK.

(besides, such a script could also generate batch move scripts for backup devices, to avoid extra synchronization traffic)

privatebydesign · May 21, 2020

Kit. said:
Well... the idea of a day of such boring and error-prone work already suggests learning how to script the damn thing. Especially as it seems to have a quite decent SDK.

(besides, such a script could also generate batch move scripts for backup devices, to avoid extra synchronization traffic)

There is already a backup and double import options. Many people have written simple scripts that do many little things to make their use of LR easier, from displaying AF point used to exporting to social media with a single click. Personally I believe Adobe get a lot of unjustifiable hate thrown their way, even in this thread nobody has suggested a 'better' DAM, I can think of a few things it could do better but it does what to does well enough to maintain it's undisputed market position.

Seeker · May 22, 2020

HenryL said:
Sorry, yes DAM is digital asset management.

Yes, Lightroom requires the import step, some don't like that part. Myself, I figure I have to somehow get the files from a card to the computer anyway, so it's not like an extra step in my workflow since copy/import is the same step for me.

Of the programs I mentioned, DXO and ON1 allow you to open just a single file directly without any import. Others may as well, I just don't recall at the moment. As mentioned, their various cataloging features are lacking compared to LR, so like everything else it's a tradeoff. Not experienced with multiple computers as you describe. The way I understand it, if you keep the photos AND the catalog on one external drive, you can move back and forth seamlessly. There may be other scenarios that would work, but I'm not aware of them and I think all the other applications have similar limitations.

Good luck finding a workflow that fits your needs, it may take some. Best I can suggest is be flexible and don't expect a 100% solution.

koenkooi · May 22, 2020

Kit. said:
Well... the idea of a day of such boring and error-prone work already suggests learning how to script the damn thing. Especially as it seems to have a quite decent SDK.

(besides, such a script could also generate batch move scripts for backup devices, to avoid extra synchronization traffic)

Exiftool has a lot of nifty builtin features. I bet it can do the sorting in one go. The trick is to find the magic option, but a lot of people have shared their work already in the exiftool forum.

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