Selecting only the lastly exported photos from a folder

[NikBg]

Hello all,

I find it MUCH easier to select my photos after being exported - I work with large amounts on a slow computer and I usually have to watermark them, which at times affects the composition in a way.

So my current workflow is to firstly export all of the photos with the watermarks, then make the selection outside of Lightroom from the exported jpegs (usually between 500-1000), then select them back in lightroom (with the export folder side by side), label them and THEN edit...

Though this may probably seem very unpractical to you, it does work best for me. 

My question is, is there a way to skip the long process of selecting the raws in lightroom when I've made a selection (jpegs) outside of it?

I was hoping that by exporting in the same folder again, but skipping the files that are left in the export folder and then in library mode arranging them by edit time (as export appears in the edit history) would work, but it doesn't... It would literally save me HOURS!

Hopefully, my explanation is understandable (though my method might not be),

Thanks in advance

[richardplondon]

So to understand this, it is specifically the result of an export that you need to review - showing visible watermark - so syncing to cloud would not serve? 

One option comes to mind. I only dabbled with this slightly, some years ago - but a Flickr.com gallery includes for a viewer of the images (within Flickr) to add comments. I don't mean saving an intermediate JPG and uploading that, I mean exporting directly to Flickr via an export plugin. For speed, only a very low resolution version will be needed and the Flickr settings can keep these images private to you.

There may be other options with the same functionality, but I don't have experience of those.

With Flickr, under this specific export plugin, a connection is made whereby web viewer comments synchronise themselves back down into the Catalog's Metadata panel.

If your overall set of images is defined as a Collection (say), you can make a Smart Collection whose rules are: membership in this named Collection AND a certain word present in the relevant metadata field.

In practice: perhaps some images turn out better if their watermark is positioned on the left: these images can be commented as "left" within Flickr. Then the above Smart Collection's selective content can be bulk exported normally, with the watermark set left. Then this Smart Collection's rules can be changed (in this Collection AND not showing "left"), then the remainder of the overall Collection can be bulk exported with the watermark set right.