Skip to main content
D
dmoffat322
Inspiring
January 5, 2017
Answered

Where are person keywords stored?

  • January 5, 2017
  • 1 reply
  • 2956 views

I use CS6 Bridge and CS6 Photoshop on an iMac to process my images off a Nikon 7200.  I have about 30,000 images with about half scanned from slides.  I use folders to break out years and major events.  I batch rename the image filenames to get rid of the camera nomenclature and to create an image sequence within an event.  I want to add face recognition and have essentially ruled out Photos because it doesn't handle scanned images well.  No sorting on filename!  Lightroom appears to have some potential but I need to know where the person keywords are stored.  The ideal place is in the image metadata so I can find people on any computer with Lightroom.  I add some names to test images then went back to Bridge but I could find the names in the image metadata.  If Lightroom creates it own separate file to store image and person keywords, then I can only do a search for people on the host computer.

Another potential problems is renaming an image in Bridge after Lightroom has created person keywords.  If the keyword info is stored in the image metadata, then no problem.  If not then linking is broken.

I am on a 7 day trial of Lightroom and need to sort this out quickly.  Really appreciate some feedback and guidance.

Dave

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer dj_paige

Photos have to be on one of your hard disks, or a network drive. So since Dropbox is a folder on one of your hard disks, Lightroom can make use of these photos that are in the Dropbox folder on your hard disk. Lightroom cannot use the version of the photos that Dropbox stores in "the cloud".

If your laptop Dropbox folder is the exact same folder path and name as on the other computer, your LR catalog should not have problems accessing these photos.

Hhowever putting the catalog in Dropbox to keep it "synchronized" on both computers is problematic, if you launch LR before Dropbox synchronizes the catalog file, you could wind up with corrupt catalogs on both computers, so I can't recommend doing this.

Also note that Lightroom needs the originals to be stored in Dropbox, the edited version are not stored in Dropbox unless you export the photos to a Dropbox folder or subfolder.

1 reply

dj_paige
dj_paige
Legend
January 5, 2017

The person keywords are stored in Lightroom's database. Bridge cannot access or use this information. If you want some other Lightroom to access this information, you have to send that other Lightroom installation the catalog file (or a portion of it).

Advice: it is best to not use Bridge and Lightroom together, just use Lightroom for all your image management tasks; but if you must use Bridge and Lightroom together (which I hope you don't do), DO NOT rename photos in Bridge. This essentially makes your work done in Lightroom useless.

D
dmoffat322Author
Inspiring
January 5, 2017

I poked around and found the catalogue file created by Lightroom, so I understand than part.  My test was not in Pictures.  I keep all my Photoshop edited images in Dropbox so I can access them anywhere or link in family and/or friends.  Will Lightroom create the catalogue in Dropbox if the images are there?  If I put Lightroom on my laptop too, which stays current with my main computer via Dropbox, will the linkages be OK such that I can access all the work done on the main computer when the laptop is offline?

dj_paige
dj_paigeCorrect answer
Legend
January 5, 2017

Photos have to be on one of your hard disks, or a network drive. So since Dropbox is a folder on one of your hard disks, Lightroom can make use of these photos that are in the Dropbox folder on your hard disk. Lightroom cannot use the version of the photos that Dropbox stores in "the cloud".

If your laptop Dropbox folder is the exact same folder path and name as on the other computer, your LR catalog should not have problems accessing these photos.

Hhowever putting the catalog in Dropbox to keep it "synchronized" on both computers is problematic, if you launch LR before Dropbox synchronizes the catalog file, you could wind up with corrupt catalogs on both computers, so I can't recommend doing this.

Also note that Lightroom needs the originals to be stored in Dropbox, the edited version are not stored in Dropbox unless you export the photos to a Dropbox folder or subfolder.

Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices