Lightroom Import

[josephj22139216]

Hi all,

Got a Q about best practices for workflow for importing RAW images from a DSLR. I've always imported all my images into LR from my camera through to an external hard drive. From there I've gone through and chosen my selects to edit. This leaves quite a few files that I essentially never tough again living in my LR library. I've tried to go through and purge those images, but with about 35K stacked up that has become a bit of daunting task. LR has started to run at a state that I wouldn't expect given my machine and it being current software.

Am I making a mistake by importing everything into LR? I have used Bridge a long time in the past and edited images in Photoshop, but that was long before I got introduced to LR (like 10 years ago). Do you find that importing to Bridge and sending only the selects to LR keeps it cleaner and running better? Is that potentially the issue, that I've got so many big files sitting in the program? What have you found to be the best way to manage your LR library over years and years of shooting?

Any other ideas on how best to manage that workflow for best performance?

[99jon]

Have you tried importing using the “embedded” method rather than generating standard or 1:1 previews.

It’s a very quick import method which uses the camera jpeg contained with raw files.

Then view in Library loupe and use the pick and reject flags while scrolling along the filmstrip. The rejects can be deleted from the catalog.

Then generate previews before going to Develop to start your editing.

[SeanMcCormack]

If you're beginning with 35K images and are used to Bridge, I'd start the cull in Bridge.

You can also use the Import dialog itself to cull. Uncheck All in the grid, then use Loupe view to go through the images. Press P to pick images to add to Lightroom. Use the arrows to move between photos. At the end you have the photos you want in Lightroom and a more tightly edited catalog.

[Conrad C]

josephj22139216  wrote

I've tried to go through and purge those images, but with about 35K stacked up that has become a bit of daunting task. LR has started to run at a state that I wouldn't expect given my machine and it being current software.

Those are actually two different issues. Issue #1 is working out an import strategy, and issue #2 is Lightroom performance being not quite what you expect. With 35K images, you actually have a relatively low number since there are many (including me) with several times that number of images in a single Lightroom catalog, running just fine on hardware that is not nearly top of the line. Lightroom performance is not correlated to catalog size. If there's a performance problem, it needs separate troubleshooting.

josephj22139216  wrote

Do you find that importing to Bridge and sending only the selects to LR keeps it cleaner and running better? Is that potentially the issue, that I've got so many big files sitting in the program?

Just to be clear, that isn't how Lightroom works. There are no "big files sitting in the program" because the Lightroom catalog is just a database with links referring to the actual original images that are stored in folders, and edit data associated with each image. While Lightroom generates previews, those aren't in the catalog database either; they're in a completely separate previews file. If you have 35K images "in" Lightroom, what you really have is a Lightroom catalog database with 35K records in it.

On the import strategy, you have many options. I use a method like the one 99jon wrote about:

1. Import everything with Embedded previews so that the initial shot-to-shot viewing time is quick, allowing very fast pick/reject flagging or rating with keyboard shortcuts. Keep in mind that the maximum magnification of an Embedded preview is the preview resolution that's set in the camera.
2. Mark any images that will never be looked at again with the Reject flag (x key). At any time after the pass is complete, use Photo > Delete Rejected Photos (or its shortcut) to purge all Reject photos at once, however many are marked that way in the catalog. Sometimes I wait a few days and reviews the Reject flagged photos to make sure I'm not deleting something I want to keep, but at some point I hit that shortcut and blow away hundreds of images at once. Making sure to use the option that deletes them from the storage drive, not just from the catalog.

The Bridge alternative is perfectly viable, if you prefer it. Narrow down images in Bridge before importing into Lightroom, avoiding the import step. But for that to work best, you should set Bridge previews to Embedded too, so it won't slow down building previews while you're trying to rate and delete.

Other photographers prefer to use a specialized tool like Photo Mechanic because they work fastest using its culling tools. After they cut down the number of photos to a few selects there, they import into Lightroom. But Photo Mechanic is not cheap, usually only practical for high-volume pros, so you might prefer to train yourself in speed-culling shortcuts in Bridge or Lightroom instead.

If you're concerned about the database getting gummed up by constant importing and deleting, just optimize the catalog (File > Optimize Catalog) once in a while, to clean it up.

[dj_paige]

josephj22139216  wrote

LR has started to run at a state that I wouldn't expect given my machine and it being current software.

I don't know what this means, what state you wouldn't expect, but the number of images in your catalog rarely causes speed issues (exception: backup time is slower with more images in the catalog).

Perhaps you could be a lot more specific about what this "state" is.

Am I making a mistake by importing everything into LR?

No.

People have catalogs 10 times larger than yours and LR works properly.