Using Lightroom to Reorganize File Structure

I've been using Lightroom for a few years now, and unfortunately I did not have a good file organization scheme when I first started. My portfolio is currently stretched across several portable hard drives. I recently purchased a Drobo, and I would like to move all of my photos to this drive. I would prefer it if all of my photos were organized in folders sorted by date on the Drobo.
Is there a way to have Lightroom move all of the photos in a catalog onto a different hard drive using a new organization structure (while preserving all of the edits that I have performed)?
Thanks!

Yes, there is a way but you have to do it manually.
First get LR to recognize your Drobo as a drive. Then - from within LR!! - create the folders and sub-folders you wish on the Drobo.
Then in Library Module Grid view go to "All My Photographs" (top left in the Catalog panel) - you might have given it a different name.
Go >View >Sort >Capture Time. All your images should now be sorted according to date and time.
You can then use filters to filter all photographs taken on a certain day / month / year.
Select all these and drag and drop them to your new folder on the Drobo.
Do this with all your images.
WW
PS: You'd be wise to do everything from within LR. If you create folders outside of LR and drag images into these folders also outside of LR, you will get "missing image" messages galore and you will spend a lot of time pointing LR to the new location of your images. If you do everything from within LR, the catalog will automatically be updated.

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Can I keep and use my pre-existing file structure with Aperture?

I currently use and love Picasa. I moved over from a PC and have all my photos in folders named by date and subject. That keeps everything in order... and I can search easily.
I would love to use the editing features of aperture which exceed Picasa's. If I use Aperture, I know I can leave my pictures in the folders they are in... but does Aperture have a left sided pane that allows me to see and browse my folders as easily as Picasa? Or is there an equivalent function?
Any advice, particularly from someone who has used both, would be appreciated.
Thank you.

You can import your photos in their current location. However, you won't be able to easily "browse" them from within Aperture. Aperture is essentially a database program and so it's not for browsing file location on disk. Photos can be anywhere, and Aperture can easily move them around.
I'll also note: Photos that are imported into Aperture should _not_ be moved around on disk via Finder after the fact. That is, unless manually updating their locations within Aperture is your idea of a sport or a hobby ;-)
Aperture is a different kind of application than Picasa. I'd suggest watching the video tutorials at www.apple.com/aperture to get some idea of how it works.

I use lightroom 5. Have always used the general automatic backup. I want to backup my catalog to an external backup drive. I go to file,, then export catalog and I get message that about 900 pictures will be exported. I have about 38000 pictures with key

I am out of space on my desktop. I want to export my catalog to an external drive and then work off that external drive which has more storage. I have about 38000 pix, which have keywords etc that I want to be part of this export so I can work on groups of pictures, when necessary.
When I go to files, export catalog I get a message that about 1000 pics will be in the catalog to be exported. How might I get all the pics with keywords metadata and other vital info exported?

With due respect, you appear to have a fundamental lack of knowledge on how LR works. The "pic" files are not in the catalogs. They are separate.
The catalog has NOTHING in it but the adjustments you've made. There are no "pics" in it at all. The 38,000 photos exist separately. So Exporting your catalog to another drive will do nothing to fix the crowded "desktop". It only would move the list of adjustment to another location.
The reason that it Exports a catalog with only 1000 "pics" is because that is what you have somehow selected. If you want to export a catalog for all the "pics", select all of them. But, that won't make room on your "desktop". You need to move the "pics".
To make room on your "desktop", you need to move the "pic" files themselves, not the catalog. To do that may require an understanding of computer file structure. In terms of how Lightroom ties your adjustments (recorded in the catalogs) you will have to use Lightroom itself to move the files. You do that within the Library module and, to do it right, will require an understanding of operating system standard file structures.
To keep the adjustments (recorded in the catalogs) connected with the "pics" you need to plug in the external HDD, and WITHIN LIGHTROOM, create a files structure on the external HDD you are happy with. Then, you can copy, cut and past or drag and drop from you "desktop" to the new file structure. If you do it within LR, your adjustments will remain intact.
It may be tempting to use your operating system programs, like Windows Explorer or the Mac equivalent to move the files, but that will fix the "desktop" space problem but you will loose all of you keywords, adjustments or whatever.
It is probably rude and impolite, but it amazes me that people trust their cherished photography to a program such as Lightroom without ever doing the homework to understand the underlying principles of operation.
Good luck! This can be terribly confusing.

Lightroom 5 isn't seeing my file structure. Please help!

I just recently upgraded lightroom at the same time that I switched harddrives. Basically, I installed LR 5 on the new harddrive. Then I opened my LR4 catalogue on LR5 and had it do the "update" to the catalogue. Everything seemed to be working properly. However, this is the first time I have imported a memory card and it is really having problems.
I imported and had the files put into Pictures>Client Sessions>Weddings (and then wrote in the subfolder name). It shows in my finder that that is where the photos are. However, in Lightroom it is like creating a whole new section. For some reason it isn't "linking" to my current file structure. See the 2014 Mclennan-Reeser file. It is under "wedding" on my finder.
See how it is is like its own separate thing on my Lightroom (even though if you scroll down you will SEE the wedding folder. I have even tried to drag and drop it into "wedding" on LR... but it says it already exists OF COURSE IT DOES! I then tried to right click on 2014 McLennan and say "show parent folder", but it just creates a NEW "Wedding" folder in LR. Why is this happening??? Any fixes?
two images below.

OK, now that we know what the problem is the trick is to get Lightroom to forget about the "LindseyPortugal" path, and to merge everything in that path with the new 2014 folders' "lyndseyportugal" path. To do that we need to employ a bit of a roundabout route:
1. Backup your catalog, just in case something wrong.
2. Create a dummy (i.e. new but empty) folder at the root of your SSD drive (i.e. not in the users library), call it something like "Dummy Images".
3. In the Lightroom Folders Panel right/ctrl-click on "Pictures" and in the resulting context menu select "Update Folder Location". A file browser window will open, use this to navigate to and select the "Dummy Images" folder. Don't be alarmed when "Pictures" disappears from the panel to be replaced by "Dummy Images", and all the sub-folders will have the "?" mark to indicate they're missing. This step is needed to get Lightroom to forget all about the "LyndseyPortugal" path.
4. Next, right/ctrl-click on "Dummy Images" and again select "Update Folder Location".This time browse to and select the "Pictures" folder (so Lightroom should now register the path as being under "lyndseyportugal"), and if all goes to plan you should now see everything back as it should be, with that 2014 sub-folder showing with the other sub-folders under "lynsdeyportugal/Pictures". One thing to note, there MAY be a "Merge" warning message, i.e. along the lines of "This folder already exists in the catalog, do you want to merge", if so choose "Merge".
Report back with any issues.

Disconnected Use(with external drive)= Corrupted file structure

Help. Really like the way LR handles RAW. Big problem for me is that my Mac Book Pro HD is too full. I'm using an EHD from OWC(FW800). If I launch LR with the drive unmounted LR starts verifying files and pulling all sorts of garbage into the LR Folder panel. If I reconnect the drive there is no repair and only a fraction of the files show up with their terminal folder- the folder structure on the EHD is flattened to useless. Fatal flaw? or my error?
Thanks,
Steve

Hi Dan- Happy to try and help. It has happen under 2 scenarios, the lrdb files are at MacHD/users/srp/pictures/LightRoom/...irdb in both cases.
Scenario 1: I had a folder with some duplicates in MAC HD/users/...pictures/My Photos/duplicate files. When I would dismount the EHD and launch LR it would pull the dups on the Mac HD into the DB and reference what looked to be temps for missing files as well with fairly random preview distribution. The EHD file structure is OWC/users/srp/pictures/My Photos/files by date.
Scenario 2: I ditched the duplicate folders on the MAC HD (they were not referenced in LR before disconnect anyway) and launched LR. It initiates checking for files and photos again and pulled random preview references to odd files replacing the original folder structure. In this case there were no valid references to pull so it was mostly garbage, it did preserve a few "?" files.
Folders Panels: http://aktlr.smugmug.com/gallery/2668872#141260988.
Ive included scenario 1 & 2 grabs and an example of a garbage path
My work around is that I delete the lrdb and replace it with a clean copy, better than re-importing everything.

Using Adobe Bridge file structure with iPhoto (latest version)

I use Adobe Bridge and have all my pics in named folders in Pictures/PICS/Folder Names. Inside the PICS folder is the iPhoto Library (only a few pics in it). Is there any way I can use the file structure I have set up with Bridge and iPhoto (latest) simultaneously? I really dont want to import (copy) all my pics into IPhot because I am pretty sure I will end up with two versions of each. I havent been able to manage pics manually the way I like to in older versions of iPhoto.

Here's some info to help you setup Photoshop for use with iPhoto:
Using Photoshop or Photoshop Elements as Your Editor of Choice in iPhoto.
1 - select Photoshop or Photoshop Elememts as your editor of choice in iPhoto's General Preference Section's under the "Edit photo:" menu.
2 - double click on the thumbnail in iPhoto to open it in Photoshop. When you're finished editing click on the Save button. If you immediately get the JPEG Options window make your selection (Baseline standard seems to be the most compatible jpeg format) and click on the OK button. Your done.
3 - however, if you get the navigation window
that indicates that PS wants to save it as a PS formatted file. You'll need to either select JPEG from the menu and save (top image) or click on the desktop in the Navigation window (bottom image) and save it to the desktop for importing as a new photo.
This method will let iPhoto know that the photo has been editied and will update the thumbnail file to reflect the edit..
NOTE: With Photoshop Elements the Saving File preferences should be configured as shown:
I also suggest the Maximize PSD File Compatabilty be set to Always. In PSE’s General preference pane set the Color Picker to Apple as shown:
Note 1: screenshots are from PSE 10
Note: to switch between iPhoto and PS or PSE as the editor of choice Control (right)-click on the thumbnail and select either Edit in iPhoto or Edit in External Editor from the contextual menu. If you use iPhoto to edit more than PSE re-select iPhoto in the iPhoto General preference pane. Then iPhoto will be the default editor and you can use the contextual menu to select PSE for your editor when desired.
OT

I am using both PSE 13 and Lightroom 5. When I use Lightroom as an external editor and save the photo, it shows up in PSE13 as an edited file but does not look any different. Why doesn't it appear edited?

I am using both PSE 13 and Lightroom 5. When I use Lightroom as an external editor and save the photo, it shows up in PSE13 as an edited file but does not look any different. Why doesn't it appear edited?

People who have Photoshop, but don't have Lightroom, need ACR so that they can use Raw files. Without ACR they could do nothing with those (they may also like having ACR so that they can work on other kinds of image using the same kinds of adjustments and techniques, as are used with Raw files).
People who have Lightroom, can get access to Raw files regardless whether ACR is present or not. They can use Lightroom on other kinds of image also, using the same methods. LR can pass images directly into Photoshop without passing via ACR (or else does so transparently, which amounts to substantially the same thing).
ACR does not, strictly speaking, even need to be installed for this external editing to happen. In fact, not even PS needs to be - since a different image editor can be used instead, while still retaining the Adobe Raw conversion etc.
Lightroom "subcontracts out" specialised external tasks, in this workflow, but is still your "main contractor": the image is otherwise located, viewed, managed, adjusted/presented and output entirely using LR.
So IMO we can divide image processing into:
operations that involve pixels and layers and layer masks and adjustment layers etc (of the kind done inside Photoshop)
operations that involve parametric edits (of the kind done in ACR where you are not using a Lightroom based workflow; otherwise, done inside Lightroom)
When PS is called in, that's because those tasks are impossible or unsuitable to do in Lightroom. But those tasks can't be done in ACR either - by definition, since LR and ACR have exactly the same image processing "feature set".
Lightroom is irrelevant to the Bridge + ACR + PS workflow. This workflow requires both your PS and your ACR to be current enough, to support your Raw format etc.
ACR and Bridge are irrelevant to the LR + (image editor) workflow. It is in this case, only LR which needs to be current enough to support your Raw format etc.
RP

Have been using Lightroom on my Apple computer for years. Now, ever since upgrading to Apple's Yosemite operating system I get an error message (150:30) every time I try to open a lightroom file. Has anyone else experienced this problem? Also how do I s

Have been using Lightroom on my Apple computer for years. Now, ever since upgrading to Apple's Yosemite operating system I get an error message (150:30) every time I try to open a lightroom file. Has anyone else experienced this problem? Also how do I subscribe to Adobe's Premium Support? Every time I've tried (through contact support) I just get taken on an unending loop.

I think we need a lot more information.
Exactly what does the message say?
Exactly what files are you trying to open?
Exactly how are you trying to open them (what menu command or button or mouse action or keyboard shortcut)?
And lastly, what version of Lightroom are you using?

Can you somehow use Lightroom to rename RAW files?

Okay let's say in one folder on my hard drive I have three RAW files: _DSC0001.NEF and _DSC0002.NEF and _DSC0003.NEF. Now let's say I have reformatted my memory card so my camera will once again start labeling new images with _DSC0001.NEF.
So let's say now I go out and shoot three more RAW files: _DSC0001.NEF and _DSC0002.NEF and _DSC0003.NEF.
If I try to transfer these brand new images into my original folder there will be some duplicate naming which you can't do.
What I have been doing is going into the new folder that holds the new three images and renaming them: so I change _DSC0001.NEF to _DSC0004.NEF and I change _DSC0002.NEF to _DSC0005.NEF and I change _DSC0003.NEF to _DSC_0006.NEF.
Instead of me having to manually rename each photo I was wondering if I could import these new photos into Lightroom and then tell Lightroom to export these RAW images but starting at the sequence _DSC0004.NEF...and so forth.
I mean I can't have a folder that has this: _DSC0001.NEF and then _DSC0001.NEF.
I hope I have made myself clear.
Or am I doing this all wrong?
And I would want Lightroom to export the original, unedited RAW file. It's just that I would be using Lightroom to rename them to keep proper sequencing.

This is the Help page you should read: http://help.adobe.com/en_US/Lightroom/3.0/Using/WSCF140965-2440-4b65-9F88-AA0283034B11.htm l
It can take a little getting used to but once you have you will find it quite easy.
By the way I rename my files with the date first (GW20110514-12345.xxx) which may be useful to you.

I have used lightroom for years on my PC and just installed it on my new iMac. I cannot import NEF files from iPhoto or from my Lacie hard drive into Lightroom. I have tried Lightroom Help but still cannot import NEF files. What am I doing wrong?

I have always used Lightroom with a PC and now have installed Lightroom 3.6 on my new iMac. I cannot import raw (NEF) files from iPhoto (or from my Lacie drive for that matter into Lightroom. I have tried Lightroom Help to no avail. How do I import NEF files from the iMac into Lightroom?

If they are the same nef files that you were importing into your PC, see if the reason is an error message like the thread above this one. Permissions issue.

Can I use lightroom 1.4/1.4.1 without damaging my files?

I've been contemplating purchasing lightroom and from what I've seen of it I like it, however from what I've read on these forums, I don't know if I can!
I'm an amateur who takes a few thousand pictures per year with a canon 300d. I shoot in jpeg and want to use lightroom to tag my photos and manage my pictures.
If this is all I intend to do, will lightroom damage my files? Delete makers notes? Do I need to wait till v2.0? Or is it up to the task?
Cheers,
Warren

And prepare for Lr2 as well by trying the 30 day trial, that you can extend to August by being "invited". Here is a link to the Lighroom 2 beta forum:
http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/webforums/forum/categories.cfm?forumid=72&catid=678&entercat= y
Look for the "Beta 2 Invite" topic, it is always near the top, this is the current link to that thread:
http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/webforums/forum/messageview.cfm?forumid=72&catid=678&threadid =1358963&enterthread=y

I use lightroom with the soft proofing feature for my printing. I used to make a copy proof, but all of the sudden something changed, and even if I'm on the copy in the developing mode it prints the original. Also, If i chose a file that was already in li

I use lightroom with the soft proofing feature for my printing. I used to make a copy proof, but all of the sudden something changed, and even if I'm on the copy in the developing mode it prints the original. Also, If i chose a file that was already in light room to print, even though I have the chosen file up in the developing mode, it will instead print the most recent file that I added to lightroom. If found a way to work around these problems, (check make this the copy in the soft proofing, and copy my settings and delete and reload the old files) but it's a slight hassle and it didn't use to do this. Not sure why it changed. Could I have accidentally changed a setting?

See
iOS: Device not recognized in iTunes for Windows
- I would start with
Removing and Reinstalling iTunes, QuickTime, and other software components for Windows XP
or
Removing and reinstalling iTunes and other software components for Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8
However, after your remove the Apple software components also remove the iCloud Control Panel via Windows Programs and Features app in the Window Control Panel. Then reinstall all the Apple software components
- Then do the other actions of:
iOS: Device not recognized in iTunes for Windows
paying special attention to item #5
- New cable and different USB port
- Run this and see if the results help with determine the cause
iTunes for Windows: Device Sync Tests
Also see:
iPod not recognised by windows iTunes
Troubleshooting issues with iTunes for Windows updates
- Try on another computer to help determine if computer or iPod problem

I'm having troubles converting my raw files from Nikon D5200 (NEF) to DNG. I tried using Lightroom 4, but it didn't identify the folder containing the files. So i downloaded the latest DNG converter but that too didn't identify the files kept in the folde

I'm having troubles converting my raw files from Nikon D5200 (NEF) to DNG. I tried using Lightroom 4, but it didn't identify the folder containing the files. So i downloaded the latest DNG converter but that too didn't identify the files kept in the folder location. So I downloaded DNG converter v7.3 for D5200. It identifies the folder and files; but it is giving me parsing error on trying to convert files. I'm running Windows Vista Home Edition SP1. Kindly advise. Thank you.

I probably missed this detail in what you’ve posted, but do you see the thumbnails of the three cameras’ raw files in Finder if you don’t convert to DNG?
What has happened in the past is that the Apple raw interpreter doesn’t read thumbnails of DNGs it doesn’t like, where at least one thing it didn’t used to like was embedded lens corrections for mirrorless cameras. Are the Olympus and Panasonic mirrorless—meaning there is no optical viewfinder and everything is seen on an LCD screen or perhaps an electronic view finder? If so the reason these are different is that the camera is doing the lens distortion corrections automatically and this information is stored in the raw files and in the DNGs but Apple doesn’t know how to use these embedded lens corrections or doesn’t know how to read the newer DNG spec that does allow for this information to be embedded in the DNG, at least.
Apple could just extract the embedded jpg preview and ignore the other parts of the file it doesn’t understand, but it apparently doesn’t do this.
What I’m not sure about is if the Apple raw interpreter still has this problem or if you’re on an older system without the latest updates for camera raw decoding by Apple.

How to use Lightroom 5 [was: 6] to transfer related .WAV files for VISIBLE display next to my Nikon D4s NEFs?

Please help me. The ability to do this crucial to my workflow as a photojournalist and columnist.
Today I discovered that I have a serious problem when I tried to use Lightroom 5 to transfer my RAW images and their associated .WAV files from my Nikon D4s memory card. I did a search online and found that a Canon user has this same problem:
Part way through the transfer a message box appeared on-screen telling me: "Some import functions were not performed. These files are not photos or videos," followed by a list of all of the .WAV files.
I rely on those audio files to remind me of things that I need to know about for my column with regards to the associated photos. Sometimes I even use those short audio files to record sound effects.
I am using a Mac running on the new Yosemite operating system.
I like the fact that Lightroom does not do destructive editing vis a vis the added description and other metadata, as opposed to Nikon transfer which apparently does do "destructive editing," but I've been using Nikon Transfer 2 and, before that, previous versions of this program for years. I have never had an issue with corrupted photos due to the transfer process. This is a significant drawback for me of Lightroom 5.
Surely many, if not most, people at Adobe use Canon and Nikon DSLR cameras, so why would they allow such a serious flaw to be in Lightroom 5?
Am I missing a step that will eliminate this problem or is there a workaround for it?
Thank you for your help.

I entered the Library drop-down menu, clicked on "Find" and typed .wav in the search window. Lo and behold, only the 13 photos that had associated .WAV audio files were then visible in Library view.
Hmm, I wouldn't have guessed that would work. It doesn't work in my LR 5.7 -- it doesn't find any photos with associated .wav files. I wonder what's different about your situation. In your Library Filter bar, when you do Library > Find, what appears in the two red circles below?
In my previous message, I was referring to the third-party plugins Data Explorer and Any Filter but forgot to include the links. Though the two plugins are quite a bit different, they each give you the ability to specifically search for associated files with a given extension.

Question - is it possible to view Lumix G5 .rw2 files using Lightroom 3.6?

I'm not great with IT. I've just about worked out how to use Lightroom 3.6 with my Canon images, then gone and blown it by buying a Panasonic Lumix G5, and Lightroom cannot read its RAW files. I downloaded Camera Raw 7.2 as the forums seemed to suggest but Lightroom 3.6 still can't handle the rw2 files. Should I have done something to link the download to the Lightroom program? It shows in the program list on the "start" button.
Not sure whether it is just not possible or if I have done something wrong. Any help appreciated. thanks.

Linzini wrote:
I can't upgrade at the moment so I guess it will be the DNG option.
When I handle a .dng file in Lightroom does that have a similar amount of data as the RAW file?
If you can't upgrade, then converting to DNG is the thing to do. The raw data is re-compressed losslessly in the DNG file, i.e. preserved exactly.
Editing DNGs in LR3 is essentially the same as editing the original raws.
Enjoy,
Rob

Using Lightroom to Reorganize File Structure

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