What metaphor will explain Lightroom to a non-computer person?

[RichardSwearinger]

How would you explain the Lightroom file management system to a humanist? Is it like a strict parent? A kindly but not-very-smart file clerk? A pirate who steals your files and buries them on a desert island? Is it just another system of files and drawers?  In other words, how would you articulate the metaphor that underlies Lightroom?

The reason I ask is I'm trying to help a friend learn Lightroom but he is 100 percent baffled by file management and what he sees as the inexplicably random way you have to search for files within the program. Plus he's on a PC which, of course, means the finding files becomes 1000 times more daunting.

He is an extremely talented photographer who has exhibited all over the world, but he's also one of those people who keeps all his files in folders on his desktop.

So, how do you explain the Lightroom file management system to your more artistic friends?

[Bob Somrak]

RFSLeander  wrote

So, how do you explain the Lightroom file management system to your more artistic friends?

I don't.   There are plenty of videos on the Adobe site and Youtube that explain the Lightroom file management system.  Sometimes I send web links to a few good videos to people on the issue they are having and then it is up to them to take the time and effort to watch them and learn.  I will also take time to do a little training IF and only if they make the effort to learn on their own too.

[dj_paige]

I hate metaphors in this situation, I despise them, because I don't think Lightroom is like anything else, so metaphors don't apply.

I have seen people liken Lightroom to cooking; I failed to see the analogy. I have seen people liken Lightroom to iTunes, but since I never used iTunes, the analogy was meaningless to me.

The other problem with metaphors is that it is an incomplete explanation, and the listener will apply his own understanding on top of the metaphor to cover areas where the metaphor is silent, and come to a conclusion that is not correct.

So, my opinion is that metaphors won't work, and you need to actually explain Lightroom without a metaphor. And also remember that Lightroom is not for everyone, and some people will never develop the understanding to use Lightroom effectively and without frustration.

Lightroom is a database. It does not contain your photos, but it knows about their location and other important facts about your photos. It remembers the location and other important facts about your thousands (tens of thousands? hundreds of thousands?) photos, so you the human user of Lightroom, don't have to remember ... And because human memory cannot remember the details (location, other important facts) of thousands (tens of thousands? hundreds of thousands?) of photos.

The most logical use is that humans remember photos by content (photos of kids at the beach; photo of Aunt Mary at Christmas; photo of Mount Rushmore), and so if you use Lightroom by providing that content to your photos via keywords and other metadata, then that's all you need, that's all you have to search for, is the content. You don't have to remember the folder or the file name, you just have to remember you want the picture of Aunt Mary at Christmas, and then search for photos with that information in keywords or in other metadata.

[John Waller]

but he's also one of those people who keeps all his files in folders on his desktop.

Nothing wrong with that if it works for him. Plenty of photographers use solutions other than Lightroom.

As the others have said, metaphors often confuse more than illuminate. They help when you have a strong example with lots of parallels. I can't think of any close parallels for Lightroom unless you have experience with other database driven apps in a creative environment.. You just learn it. Then embrace it or find something else. The "For Dummies" books often resort to metaphors to explain concepts but I've never found them helpful to me.

Perhaps he'll be better off with Bridge+Photoshop or a DAM (with no Catalog)+Editor such as OnOne Photo Raw which I am enjoying using.

[dj_paige]

Yep, people who are struggling with the concept and use of a database might be much better off with Bridge+Photoshop /ACR, or similar.

[RichardSwearinger]

I’ve been scolded by at least a dozen different IT people who said keeping all of your files on the desktop was the worst possible thing for your computer and would bring it to a halt eventually. 

Sounds like you’re saying that advice is out of date.  Thanks. 

[John Waller]

It has its downsides for sure but I've never heard of it being a major issue for anyone who chooses to work that way.

The pros and cons (mostly cons) of saving files to the desktop | PCWorld

But if it works for your friend then it works and suits him, even if it's his default workflow rather than a carefully planned one. I've seen some atrocious desktops in my time which would give any IT professional nightmares but...they work for those users who somehow manage to get stuff done.

If your photographer friend had any issues with it over the years, I'm sure he would have a different workflow by now. He probably has no disaster management plan, and possibly no file backups. One day it might bite him. Or maybe never.

[john beardsworth]

Take away the guy's computer one morning and ask him to pretend it has been stolen or damaged. Then ask him to tell you how he's going to get everything back. Don't spoil your friendship - give it back once you've made the point and got him thinking.

[dj_paige]

RFSLeander  wrote

I’ve been scolded by at least a dozen different IT people who said keeping all of your files on the desktop was the worst possible thing for your computer and would bring it to a halt eventually. 

Sounds like you’re saying that advice is out of date.  Thanks. 

I would certainly advise against that. With LR, there is no need to put files on the desktop. It doesn't help anything, it's not convenient within LR (whereas with other software maybe its convenient to put files there). And eventually many files on the desktop (which is just a folder, really) or any folder can cause problems.

But back to the main point, if the person you are trying to educate via this metaphor (and other methods) is not willing to change his workflow to be more "Lightroom friendly", if this person absolutely will not change the workflow and must have photos on the desktop, then have this person use Bridge. Lightroom is the wrong tool. If the person is willing to change his workflow  to be more "Lightroom friendly" (which really is a benefit to most people, as Lightroom can streamline your workflow and make you more efficient), only then would I move forward with Lightroom.

[elie_dinur]

>> I’ve been scolded by at least a dozen different IT people who said keeping all of your files on the desktop was the worst possible thing for your computer and would bring it to a halt eventually.

The main technical problem that I see there, especially for a professional or advanced photographer who probably has a large volume of stored Raw files and/or layered Tif/Psd files, is that he may soon be overloading the System (C:) drive which needs about 25% free space to function well. Tell him to buy a couple externals and to put short cuts to them on the Desktop.