Importing photos into Lightroom: Basic workflow

This question was posted in response to the following article: http://help.adobe.com/en_US/lightroom/using/WS427A4C94-2499-456d-8E17-AE09D3316A03.html

Rob Cole wrote:
Summary: I *do* think Adobe could help the poor beastherds just getting started, by including a tutorial and a checkbox:
"yes, I do solemnly swear that I thoroughly understand the notion of catalog/import, non-destructive editing/xmp, in-camera preview vs. Adobe-rendered raw..."
Until you check that box, you have no choice but to watch the tuturial - sorry: but it's a pre-requisite for successfully using Lightroom. (dj_paige agrees with me, no joke...).
Bottom line: importing is your friend - get to know her.
You're right and probably a tutorial would probably help many users. Maybe it could be suggested as a feature request.
I also understand the Import Dialogue might be a bit intimidating on the first run, but not so much if you take the time to read the manual or give the program a go (or reading the explanations included in the interface). Besides of my own stuff I work on regular basis for 3 photographers/studios and I can tell you most software for pros work in a very similar way to LR (Aperture and ACDSee for example) or you've been thoruigh an archival program (or have an archival system of your own).
I really don't think the difficulty is so much bigger than what PC users experience when switching to Mac, it's a matter of invetsing a little time in getting to know your equipment.
Especially in LR4 I would have said the process is slightly less complicated than in past versions.
I don't fully agree on what you see as the purposes of importing, as most of those features are optional (so not really a main purpose of the import process). If you don't want to bother with them, you don't (although bothering can be VERY effcient).
I think the main purpose of the import is to let LR know what pics you're working with and where they are stored. The rest (making copies, changing locations or formats, adding metadata or settings, backing up etc...) is completely optional. And with the "add" importing option it doesn't matter that establish your file order/hierarchy outside LR as it does not affect it in any way (the images are only incorporated to the catalogue, which is you're just creating pointers or "thumbnails" of those files in LR so that you can access them when needed; the folders remain untouched).
It's not so different a concept form the "recently opened" function in PS, but the catalogue keeps that access permanently unless you remove the the image form the catalogue ((while in PS it keeps a refreshed, limited pointers to the recent files).
To make the Import concept easier to grasp, you can work AS IF the only "difference" from "opening file" in PS for example, was that once you have "opened" your file to LR once, it is always available in the collection without you having to "reopen it" through the program again. I know import is not the same as opening a file elswhere (that's why I'm putting "open" in itallic) , but if you look at both processes as ways of letting your program know what files you want it to aknowledge/work with, it's not so different. If you don't want to take advantage of the database feature you don't have to (although thedatabase will be there for you); if you work with very few files, then you can just select those files you want to "open" in the Import window, just as you would select which files to open through the PS Open command.
I'm not too sure why would one invest in LR if you don't want to take advantage of some of its main features; there are plenty softwares that allow  great retouch, and especially if you're working with small volume of images, you can always switch to diferent applications in order to print or create slideshows/printing layouts etc...
But what allows you to work non destructively in a more efficient way than Photoshop, (and more so if you're dealing with several images) is that for many tasks LR is working with the catalogue, and only really applies the changes to the file on export.
I really think part of the problem is that people get flustered by a differnet interface and because they don't realize you can actually see "import" (especially in the "add" option) as not that different to "open file".
I understand it might be harder to get used to the concept of non-destructive editing, and even more so that "exporting" is necessary in order for the changes to be "seen" in other applications/devices, but how else could you safely keep things non-destructive otherwise without using huge ammount of resources or creating gigantic files?
I've actually adviced some of the photographers I've worked for not to use LR and to go for other applications instead. It all depends on your goals, requirements and workflow, and not because a product is popular or cool means it will work for you. It's like buying a Hasselblad simply because "it's the best", even if all you want is to post your pics online and half the time you work on automatic. Other more simple cameras will do the trick and give you less of a headache.

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