Lightroom 3 query

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nikonuser

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Name
Dave
Edit My Images
Yes
I'm new to Lightroom so please bare with me.

Why has L3 created a folder in My Pictures, which has subfolders 0-9 and A-F + Previews + Root Pixels which again have many sub folders, I dont understand.
Can I delete any of these or would I be deleting my images as well.
thanks
Dave
 
Hi Dave. I guess that's where LR is storing its catalogue. I wouldn't delete any of the stuff in here if I was you.
Lightroom doesn't actually store any images, it just catalogues where theyare in your PC and what edits you might have made to them. When you open an image in LR it collects the original image, and applies the changes you've made. Only when you then export the image are the changes visible outside LR
 
Thanks Andrew for the explanation, just bought Martin Evenings book on L3 so looking forward to learning more
Cheers
Dave
 
When you import (virtual) images into Lightroom it gives you various options on how to categorise them - right hand side of screen under Destination. Choose the one that most suits you. I use "by date" "yyyy-mm-dd" and then once imported edit it to add a brief description as well. You can change your existings ones and then tell LR to find missing images (plus those around it as well)
 
You can create a LR catalogue wherever you want to. Anybody who puts anything of value in a My Pictures folder [i.e. on the C drive] is just asking for trouble. One day your windows installation will go belly up and you'll be here asking how can you get your catalogue and all your pictures back.

Provided you haven't done any LR work of significant value you can delete all the stuff in My Pictures and create a new catalogue in a place that suits your needs. If you have done some work then physically move the catalogue file to another drive and when LR opens and can't find it tell it where to find it in its new location. Personally, I create a new one each time inside the folder containing the pictures I'm working on. And as I use DNGs which contain all the editing info within, it doesn't matter to me whether catalogues get deleted or whatever.
 
MisterE said:
You can create a LR catalogue wherever you want to. Anybody who puts anything of value in a My Pictures folder [i.e. on the C drive] is just asking for trouble. One day your windows installation will go belly up and you'll be here asking how can you get your catalogue and all your pictures back.

Provided you haven't done any LR work of significant value you can delete all the stuff in My Pictures and create a new catalogue in a place that suits your needs. If you have done some work then physically move the catalogue file to another drive and when LR opens and can't find it tell it where to find it in its new location. Personally, I create a new one each time inside the folder containing the pictures I'm working on. And as I use DNGs which contain all the editing info within, it doesn't matter to me whether catalogues get deleted or whatever.
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This is exactly what I do. Having the catalogue on another drive will speed up LR too as the OS AND LR won't be thrashing the same drive at the same time.

For every shoot, I create a new catalogue. Editing a couple thousand pics is so much quicker if they are in their own catalogue.
 
ramyad said:
For every shoot, I create a new catalogue. Editing a couple thousand pics is so much quicker if they are in their own catalogue.
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If I did this I would never be able to find anything - I have all my pictures in one catalogue then if, for instance I want something for a background I just create a smart collection and it pulls out all the images with the criteria I have specified over the years so I can choose the best one. If I had a separate catalogue for every shoot I would not be able to do this - but I do shoot quite a wide variety of subjects :)
 
If you have a new catalogue for every job - surely you are losing one of the benefits of Lightroom - the catalogue - and being able to find pictures! My catalogue is 22,000 pictures approx and all works fine.
 
Everybody has different ways of thinking and working. I don't have problem finding photos or remembering where they all are. I use ACDSee for my photo management, everything is in its place and I can find anything either from memory or by its folder title. And I have tens of thousands of pictures. Since having LR from v1 and discovering its appalling photo management abilities I haven't tried using it to so much as rename or move a picture. It's purely a processing program for me. And as I use DNGs I don't really care much for catalogues.
 
Kerioak said:
If I did this I would never be able to find anything - I have all my pictures in one catalogue then if, for instance I want something for a background I just create a smart collection and it pulls out all the images with the criteria I have specified over the years so I can choose the best one. If I had a separate catalogue for every shoot I would not be able to do this - but I do shoot quite a wide variety of subjects :)
Click to expand...

awp said:
If you have a new catalogue for every job - surely you are losing one of the benefits of Lightroom - the catalogue - and being able to find pictures! My catalogue is 22,000 pictures approx and all works fine.
Click to expand...

For weddings, I don't want them all in the same catalogue. They are unique enough that I don't need to collate them.

For architectures, which I also shoot, I do put them all in a single catalogue.
 
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