How to access files organised in Lightroom for upload to other apps

[George5E5C]

I am currently using Lightroom Classis and CC as a trial. I am planning to use Lightroom to organise and store photos for projects I run. Each project includes around 1000 photos.

Finally I have to a upload my project photos to a online database that out clients have access to. I am planning to use Lightroom to store, organise and edit the photos before upload.  

I can't seem to work out how to access the photos I have organised in Lightroom from other apps. If I search for photos to upload there is no lightroom folder structure where I can select the photos to upload to our database. How can I access my Lightroom organised photos from other apps in a search? Is there something obvious I am missing? I was hoping the Lightroom folder structure would be visible from other apps

I am sorry if this is a very basic question.

Many thanks. 

[JohanElzenga]

I'm not sure what you are trying to do. There is no 'Lightroom folder structure'. Lightroom shows you the real folders on your disk (but only those folders it has imported). Other apps should still see the same folders, but if you edit images in Lightroom Classic then you should not try to access them directly in other apps. The reason is that Lightroom Classic is a non-destructive editor. It does not change the pixels of the images, but keeps edits as instructions in its catalog. If you open an image directly in another app, you will see the unedited image. In order to get the edited version to another app, you need to export it from Lightroom Classic and then open this exported version in the other app.

[dj_paige]

For project 1, you give all 1000 photos the keyword "Project 1", or some meaningful name that describes the project.

For project 2, you give all 1000 photos the keyword "Project 2", or some meaningful name that describes the project.

When you want to export the photos from Project 1, you select all the photos that have keyword "Project 1" or whatever you have named the keyword.

Honestly, this is such a basic fundamental matter when using Lightroom Classic, you need to spend some time learning how Lightroom Classic works. There is a free beginner's e-book at lightroomqueen.com

[Just Shoot Me]

Please take this the right way, Constructively.

You need to view some online tutorials on how LrC works and how to properly work with LrC.

Lightroom Classic tutorials | Learn how to use Lightroom Classic

It seems you don't have any of that knowledge presently.

Until you have that basic knowledge all your work will be futile.

Same goes for the Cloud Centric version of Lr

Even if you Edit your images in LrC none of those edit are actually made to the original image file unless you Export it to a New File. Then and only then are the edits you made to that image Burnt into, Added to, the New exported file.

So you could do many many edits to an image and if you Uploaded the original file to your online database none of the edits you did would be included.

[JP Hess]

While it's true that you would do well to watch a number of tutorials, I will try to provide a very basic answer to your question. But it will be your challenge to learn how to do it. After you have made adjustments to your images in Lightroom to get them to look away you want them to look, one way would be to organize those images into collections according to your projects, and then export copies of those collections. Then those copies would be what you would use to add to your projects, not anything that is "in" Lightroom. There are no images in Lightroom. The Lightroom catalog is only a database that keeps track of where your images are stored on your computer, as well as the work you have done on them. So take some time to learn how Lightroom works and then put it to work the way it is supposed  to work.

[Conrad C]

First we have to make sure we’re using the product names consistently:

• If you use Lightroom Classic, it should be no problem at all. You can use Lightroom Classic to catalog images in any normal folder in any local volume, including all folders searchable with desktop search in macOS and Windows. If you already have an existing folder somewhere that you use to stage uploads to the database, no problem…add that folder to the Lightroom Classic catalog, and maybe use it as a destination in an export preset for your work.
• If you use Lightroom (cloud-based, formerly known as CC), there is no folder structure exposed to other apps. All photos are managed inside a hidden folder hierarchy inside a private container, and the only way other applications see the images is if you export copies out to normal folders; those copies in normal folders can no longer be managed by Lightroom. The hidden Lightroom folder structure is just a temporary cache for master photo storage in the cloud.

And no need to apologize about this “basic question” …the difference at the folder level is not obvious to new users.

[George5E5C]

Hi all, thank you very much for your feedback! It is really appriciated. I am sorry for my novice questions.

Maybe I also didn't explain my background enough.

We often use IpadPros to work on projects including taking photos. I was hoping to use lightroom on the ipad and synch this to lightroom classic to sort and organise the photos after. Would this make sense?

We also work simultanously with 2 or 3 people on projects, I was hoping with lightroom on Ipad we would be able to work simultaneousy with other people adding photos to the same folder / album which I would review later with Lightroom classis. Would this make sense and has anyone experience doing something like this?

Many thanks, 

George

[Conrad C]

You might investigate the Group Album feature. It’s designed to allow contributions from others.

What I am not sure about is how fully Lightroom Classic integrates with this. I have a Collection synced from Lightroom Classic to Lightroom Photos in the cloud, and the web version of Lightroom (lightroom.adobe.com) lets me set it as a Group Album. I’d like to assume that if invitees are set to Can Contribute, the images they upload to that album will be downloaded to Lightroom Classic. But I haven’t really tried that, so you should test that workflow to make sure it will work as you expect.