Workflow with raw for editing (offline) and JPEG for viewing

Question

Hello,
Up to this point I have been using both Lightroom and Aperture. I do my editing in Lightroom, my raw files are in indexed in Lightroom's catalog. I then export to JPEGs and store them in Aperture for viewing, (internet) export, archiving etc.
I want to switch to a Lightroom-only workflow, so I have both my raw files and the JPEGs in one application, to minimize maintenance (keywords, collections, etc).
The only issue I cannot seem to work around (and also exists in the current workflow) is that if at some point after the initial JPEG export I reedit a photo, I have to reexport, reimport, add to my stack (different versions of the image), update keywords etc etc.
One obvious solution is not to export to JPEGs and keep the raws always available. But this is not local-space efficient.
Any ideas how to handle this?
Thanks in advance

Answer 1

Hi ahalatsis,
I understand the desire for having copies readily viewable outside Lightroom without having to export every time you wanna look at something. I recommend using a publishing service for accomplishing this goal, if not Lr's native hard drive publishing, then my (Rob Cole) TreeSyncPublisher or Jeffrey Friedl's Collection Publisher.
Note: you can take raws offline after publishing, but they must remain in the catalog for editing...
Whether to re-import jpegs upon publishing is an interesting question - I don't do it, in order to keep Lightroom "originals only", so if I see a photo in Lightroom, I can edit it and publish it without thinking. The downside: I have to use other programs for dealing with those exported jpegs (I use ACDSee for that, among others). So, some people like to re-import exported jpegs, and just be careful not to edit the jpegs - personal preference.
There are some (relatively few) souls who prefer to edit raws, export jpegs back to catalog, then remove raws from catalog and archive them "just in case" (editing jpegs from there on out, if need be). While it's doable, and there are some plusses (e.g. making minor tweaks to such jpegs is very fast compared to raws), I can't recommend it, since it's too limiting, and most people shoot raw to be less limited (for example, re-editing 2003 raws using current (2012) process version).
To be clear: photos do not have to be online for viewing (or editing of metadata) in Lightroom - that's what the "lib" previews are for. And you can even create "smart" previews and then photos don't even have to be online for editing in develop module (or exporting/printing at reduced quality) either. They do have to remain in the catalog though, even if offline.
And to be doubly clear: if you don't have enough space on internal drive(s) for photo files, you can just put them on a big external drive in the first place, and never move them.
Cheers,
Rob