Lightroom Question to all amateur users...

Harlequin565

Harlequin565

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Ian
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Hi folks,

I'm running a "Lightroom for beginners course" this month at my local college. I'm trying to get a broad spectrum idea of how amateur users use the colour labels and rating systems. There seem to be a lot of different thoughts on this and I'd like to present a few examples of how real people use it. (professional photographers will likely have a different system that suit their workflow I'm guessing)

So how do you use your colour ratings and labels?

I use four colour labels: Red = needs work, yellow = in progress and green = finished. I use blue to peg HDR separates and panorama separates prior to stitching/tone mapping. I only colour label stuff that is 1* or better.

I use 1* for all my better than average/photos or shots I just like. 2* for stuff I think is worthy of "showing off" on the web or in print. 3* for finished 2* shots, and 5*s for the absolute best of my 3*s. I don't use 4*s.

Thanks in advance!

Ian.
 
Mine isn't complicated I tend to like the KISS principle. Red = delete, Green = keep. 1-5 grading of the kept images for further culling! I have finally realised I just keep too many than don't add anything e.g. a burst shot - you only need one. But it's a better personally thing as we all work a little bit differently.
 
Red get rid of, Green Keep, Blue not sure as a first pass through the pics. Then Bin all the RED. Then * as follows 5* just needs tidy up etc for Flickr (not many of them) 3* are keepers to be looked at again perhaps 4* needs a bit more work for Flickr etc. See what I am left with and anything with nothing, colour or star, is binned. Do the Flickr check keep another odd few and bin the rest. Long winded but works for me!

Trev.
 
I flag the ones that I like most, and then go though and adjust/edit/unflag those. After I have my "keepers" I give them a green tag so that they're automatically added to my "green" smart collection. I don't use the other colours.

When I started using LR I knew nothing about it. I know a little more now, and if I'd known that back then I'd have done it all differently I think! Too deep into it now to start changing it all though lol
 
I run a pretty simple wf.

  • "X" to get rid of anything not a keeper e.g. oof, duplicates
After that it's simply no stars = keeper, 1* = potential for processing (needs reviewing), 2* = highlighted as a pick and needs processing, 3* = finished.

So after the initial cull fly through the image set and mark potentials with a 1*. Once complete filter for 1* and review them. They can either get 0* to demote, remain at 1* for still pondering or elevated to 2* for processing. 3* is the the finished product.

Never seen the point in colour labels, for one they are useless outside of LR as they are not stored in metadata (afaik). In simple terms it just seems like duplication of work with the stars. I need to add though i extensively use keywords so if i need to search for a finished panoramic image or whatever i can very quickly as it'll be keyworded. Keywords are also stored in metadata so if a LR killer appears in the future it'll be useful.
 
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y
Sharky said:
I run a pretty simple wf.

  • "X" to get rid of anything not a keeper e.g. oof, duplicates
After that it's simply no stars = keeper, 1* = potential for processing (needs reviewing), 2* = highlighted as a pick and needs processing, 3* = finished.

So after the initial cull fly through the image set and mark potentials with a 1*. Once complete filter for 1* and review them. They can either get 0* to demote, remain at 1* for still pondering or elevated to 2* for processing. 3* is the the finished product.

Never seen the point in colour labels, for one they are useless outside of LR as they are not stored in metadata (afaik). In simple terms it just seems like duplication of work with the stars. I need to add though i extensively use keywords so if i need to search for a finished panoramic image or whatever i can very quickly as it'll be keyworded. Keywords are also stored in metadata so if a LR killer appears in the future it'll be useful.
Click to expand...

Yep - pretty much the same way...

Really starting to give the keywording a proper kick now as its a lot easier to search using that.
 
Diving Pete said:
Really starting to give the keywording a proper kick now as its a lot easier to search using that.
Click to expand...
That's the kicker really the keywording but it's such a powerful tool and useful outside of LR. Once collections get into ten of thousands or greater you realise just how vital they are!
 
I use the (U)pick, (P)pick, (X)delete initially. Stars are used on developed images, * Basic ** Better, *** Best (**** and ***** are spare for casual selection purposes).

The colour labels are used to denote different activities.

The attached image shows a modified end marks setup using an aide memoir I have set up in Lightroom.

Anthony.

Ratings3.jpg
 
I used to stars so 1 star = bin. 4 stars = keep. 5 stars = I well pleased with that.

But the other day I found flags. So I used the reject flag for bins. The pick flag for keep. 4 stars for any worth spending a lot of time in LR or PS.

But its something that needs refining and i like your ideas @Harlequin565

I do find I keep some that aren't perfect in case there isn't better later eg when I've used burst on the camera. I need to start labeling them so I can delete if I do find better ones.
 
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Thanks for all the replies everyone. I think I may just direct the students here as it seems there's a myriad of different views and teaching how the tools work is different to teaching a workflow. I do think it's important as LR is a workflow tool too, but it's about giving people the knowledge to use the tool how they want.

These ideas are all brill though.

@Anthony.Ralph I thought I was the only one with a modified end panel to help me remember! I'd definitely recommend it as a very good idea.

Also, I think Keywording is the best way forward for building Smart collections and helping you find images. It can be a huge task to tackle - especially if you don't have a structured approach. I've adopted the plan to only keyword anything portfolio (2*+) worthy to begin with, although having Smart collections to let me know how many more I've got to do is another real help.

Colour labelling is saved to the metadata (if you force save with CTRL+S or auto save to .xmp) but flags are NOT. This was a pain for me, as I reject then remove (rather than delete - I hoard), so I now need to add a "rejected" keyword to my removed-from-catalogue photos in order to keep that rejected status.

Thanks again everyone. Really helpful.
 
Mine is very simple. Yellow for images I'm going to keep. Red for those I've adjusted and exported. Rest are binned.
 
If you keyword everything that isn't deleted then it is always very easy to find it.
Only key wording the stuff you have worked on means you will miss something at some point.
 
Raptor Mike said:
I used to stars so 1 star = bin. 4 stars = keep. 5 stars = I well pleased with that.

But the other day I found flags. So I used the reject flag for bins. The pick flag for keep. 4 stars for any worth spending a lot of time in LR or Ps.
Click to expand...

If you just use the x key for rejects then everything else by definition is a pick...

Then in conjunction with the Stars you can on The 1st pass get:

X - Rejects
1 star - keep
2 star - work on now

The 1's and 2's get promoted to 3 after editing
 
Harlequin565 said:
[..]

Also, I think Keywording is the best way forward for building Smart collections and helping you find images. It can be a huge task to tackle - especially if you don't have a structured approach. I've adopted the plan to only keyword anything portfolio (2*+) worthy to begin with, although having Smart collections to let me know how many more I've got to do is another real help.

[..]

.
Click to expand...

In fairness your OP you were asking about labels and stars. Keywording and collections are other essential tools in asset management I think we would all agree. This is another whole area where individual approaches abound. John Beardsworth argues for a flat set of keywords* and the use of collections whereas many people like hierarchical keyword sets for example.

For what its worth, I find that you can take the sting out of keywording by applying at least some during ingestion. For example; Place, Season, Activity etc. then as much or as little individual keywords as the image deserves. Bear in mind I am talking about amateur, ad hoc requirements; a professional with thousands of pictures per session would doubtless tackle things differently.

Anthony.

* http://www.beardsworth.co.uk/?s=hierarchical+keywords+rant
 
Diving Pete said:
If you just use the x key for rejects then everything else by definition is a pick...

Then in conjunction with the Stars you can on The 1st pass get:

X - Rejects
1 star - keep
2 star - work on now

The 1's and 2's get promoted to 3 after editing
Click to expand...

I do this as well Pete

First run through and cull the no promise shots and then go from there.

My 4* are edited and may warrant a further final tweak (I like to leave my edits overnight and comeback later with a fresh perspective). 5* is me being happy that the shot is a final edit

Colour wise I tend not to use so much

I do use key words though and smart collections from that. I.e. I have ones with my sons and wife's names and one for Flickr; one for landscapes; Portraits etc.

I also have a smart collection that shows , by year, any photos that don't have any keywords I.e. That I have missed and so, I can quickly select add and it removes the photo from that collection.
 
Anthony.Ralph said:
In fairness your OP you were asking about labels and stars. Keywording and collections are other essential tools in asset management I think we would all agree.
Click to expand...

You're right - I got distracted. I've got the keywording thing covered, it was definitely an OP about stars and colours. It's still an interesting idea that good keywording can negate the need for stars and colours. As is the way in most Adobe products there's always quite a few different ways to do the same thing. I derailed my own thread :)
 
I star 'good' photos 2-4 depending on how much I like them. Anything processed in PS gets a 5 star. No idea why I don't ever use 1 star.

I only use colours as a sub filter eg I'll view a folder ranked on star rating - I'll then assign a random colour to photos that I want to do something with e.g. Upload to a shared family folder etc..

The other time I use colours is for panos. E.g. Grouping 6 photos from the same pano that will need stitching in PS with the same colour just to make it easier to see which files should be grouped together
 
This is something I don't do and really need to start doing. I tend to use LR as a basic cataloging (by month/year) and developing tool only. A large hard disk makes me lazy and there's way too much crap in there. Getting some good ideas here though.
 
dandeakin said:
The other time I use colours is for panos. E.g. Grouping 6 photos from the same pano that will need stitching in PS with the same colour just to make it easier to see which files should be grouped together
Click to expand...

I find this really useful. I've removed images in the past thinking they were a bit dull only to realise that they were one end of a panorama set.
 
Harlequin565 said:
Hi folks,

I'm running a "Lightroom for beginners course" this month at my local college. I'm trying to get a broad spectrum idea of how amateur users use the colour labels and rating systems. There seem to be a lot of different thoughts on this and I'd like to present a few examples of how real people use it. (professional photographers will likely have a different system that suit their workflow I'm guessing)

So how do you use your colour ratings and labels?

I use four colour labels: Red = needs work, yellow = in progress and green = finished. I use blue to peg HDR separates and panorama separates prior to stitching/tone mapping. I only colour label stuff that is 1* or better.

I use 1* for all my better than average/photos or shots I just like. 2* for stuff I think is worthy of "showing off" on the web or in print. 3* for finished 2* shots, and 5*s for the absolute best of my 3*s. I don't use 4*s.

Thanks in advance!

Ian.
Click to expand...

Hi Ian..I use exactly the same as you!

Robin
 
Harlequin565 said:
I find this really useful. I've removed images in the past thinking they were a bit dull only to realise that they were one end of a panorama set.
Click to expand...
How about 'stacking' the pano set even in combination with colours? Works wonders and reduces the images to scroll through in the library view by keeping things concise.
 
Harlequin565 said:
I find this really useful. I've removed images in the past thinking they were a bit dull only to realise that they were one end of a panorama set.
Click to expand...
This is the first thing I do when I've imported a series of pano images to Lightroom. I wish they had a few more colour options in LR
 
This could be an opportunity to discuss with the class what they do now, as although a Beginners class, there will be learners at different levels, and some may already be using the organisational side of LR. Everyone will have justification for what they do, but as long as they know the options, and the strengths and weaknesses of the different tools, colours, ratting, flags etc, they will make up their own system. The main thing is to be consistent. It is very hard to change to a whole new workflow if you have been doing things a certain way for years.

The best demonstration of LR I have seen, both for organisation and editing, has been by Jared Platt. (on Creativelive) It may be useful to try and track down some of his stuff online.
 
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Diving Pete said:
If you just use the x key for rejects then everything else by definition is a pick...

Then in conjunction with the Stars you can on The 1st pass get:

X - Rejects
1 star - keep
2 star - work on now

The 1's and 2's get promoted to 3 after editing
Click to expand...

Near enough the same as I do.. 1 star anything worth keeping, 2 for photos to go onto blog.. I then go through at a later stage and selected all unrated and delete from disc..
 
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