# LR CC, Photo Merge HDR, and the catalog



## E. Seale (Sep 21, 2015)

Another Lightroom CC newbie question...

So I'm trying to use Lightroom's built-in HDR functionality.  I pick a group of files, right-click to get Photo Merge -> HDR, and things seem to start off well.  The HDR dialog comes up, I pick my options and click on "Merge."  Lightroom does its thing, the progress bar moves, but the HDR file isn't in my catalog when things are done.

Digging around on my hard drive reveals that Lightroom has created an HDR file -- but it's not anywhere in my Lightroom catalog (so the only way to get it in is to "Import" the result of Lightroom's own work).

Any idea what's going on here?


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## DGStinner (Sep 21, 2015)

Do you have a filter on?  If you do, it would be filtering out the resulting DNG file created during the HDR process.


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## clee01l (Sep 21, 2015)

The HDR file that's created by LR is a DNG file and it takes the name of one of the input files, appends "-HDR" to it and catalogs the file in the same folder as the other HDR input files.  If you don't see the file after HDR, you are not in the Grid View of the folder where the HDR file was created. and/or your grid sort option was not by Capture time.   Often times the default sort order is "Added Order" which means the HDR file will be at the end of the grid listing. If you are working in a collection, it won't be added to the collection. If you are working  in a folder view, you need to make sure that there are not filters being applied that will exclude the HDR file from the filter view. 

There is no way that you should have to import this file into LR as it is already in the catalog by the time LR completes the merge.


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## JimHess43 (Sep 21, 2015)

I find it best to have the sort order set to filename. Then the HDR DNG file is created  with the group of images that I have chosen.


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## E. Seale (Sep 22, 2015)

*Found the resolution*

OK, I figured things out -- but it still doesn't make full sense to me...

My problem started with what the Lightroom "Import from Aperture" tool did to my old library structure.  In Aperture, I cataloged my photos within (Aperture parlance) one Project per shooting day, each labeled with the date & subject, and all in one folder per year.

When Lightroom imported these, it translated my old structure into one Collection Set per Aperture Project, each of which contained a single Collection labeled "Project Photos":






So it turns out that if I had one of the "Project Photos" Collections selected when doing an HDR merge, the result landed next to its "parents" in a very well-behaved way.  But if I had the corresponding Collection Set selected, the merged HDR file landed outside of all my collections, and I had to go hunt it down.

This seems to be an annoying behavior from my perspective, but at least now I know what it's doing (if not *why* it's doing this).


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## clee01l (Sep 22, 2015)

Membership in a collection (Static Collection) is by user assignment.  Simply stated, when a new image (your HDR) is created, it is not assigned to any collections until you (the user) make that assignment.  It will (by virtue of coming into existence) be assigned to a folder by the file system. And LR will show all cataloged image files by reference location in the Folder panel. 

I've noticed that a lot of Aperture/iPhoto converts don't seem to grasp the importance of the file system folder concept and how it relates to LR. They also don't seem to understand the collection concept in LR.  I like to use this analogy:  You live at an address on a street in Littleton Colorado. That's your "folder".  You can choose to join a camera club, church or company that you work for. These are the "collections" which you maintain membership in. While you can change jobs, churches, clubs etc., you still live at an address on a street in Littleton Colorado.  While you can MOVE to a different address, you can only live at one address at a time. Changing addresses does not affect your membership in the clubs that you belong to.  You are not a member of a new club until you join.  That HDR is like a new baby.  It lives at the same address that you do.  It does not belong to the same organizations that you do until it becomes a member of those organizations.


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## rhynetc (Sep 22, 2015)

clee01l said:


> Membership in a collection...



Excellent analogy!


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## Johan Elzenga (Sep 22, 2015)

clee01l said:


> Membership in a collection (Static Collection) is by user assignment.  Simply stated, when a new image (your HDR) is created, it is not assigned to any collections until you (the user) make that assignment.  It will (by virtue of coming into existence) be assigned to a folder by the file system.



It depends where you are when you create an HDR. The HDR will always be in a folder (it has to be), but if you create an HDR while you are in a collection, that HDR will automatically be assigned to that particular collection too. In your analogy I guess it means that if your mother is a member of a club, and she happens to give birth to you in the clubhouse, that makes you a (honorary?) member too.


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## rhynetc (Sep 22, 2015)

Cletus says the new HDR file "is not assigned to any collections until you (the user) make that assignment."  and Johan says "if you create an HDR while you are in a collection, that HDR will automatically be assigned to that particular collection too."

Seems to me one of you must be wrong since you are stating opposites.  Which one has it right?


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## Johan Elzenga (Sep 22, 2015)

rhynetc said:


> Cletus says the new HDR file "is not assigned to any collections until you (the user) make that assignment."  and Johan says "if you create an HDR while you are in a collection, that HDR will automatically be assigned to that particular collection too."
> 
> Seems to me one of you must be wrong since you are stating opposites.  Which one has it right?



The HDR is not assigned to any collection if you create it while you have selected a folder. If you create it while you have selected a collection, it is also assigned to that one collection, but to no other collections. Cletus probably forgot about that because he was thinking about creating the HDR while you have selected a folder. Just try it yourself.


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## clee01l (Sep 22, 2015)

JohanElzenga said:


> The HDR is not assigned to any collection if you create it while you have selected a folder. If you create it while you have selected a collection, it is also assigned to that one collection, but to no other collections. Cletus probably forgot about that because he was thinking about creating the HDR while you have selected a folder. Just try it yourself.


Johan is correct  with this statement. I have only one static collection in my entire LR catalog.  I create Pano's and HDRs only while in a folder or in a Smart Collection.  Even when all the source images are in a collection the resulting HDR/Pano is not UNLESS I begin the process in that static collection. 

The criteria for all of my Smart collections begins with the criteria {Collection}{Contains Words}{[_the name of my one static collection_]}.  So my Smart collections will exclude any Panos/HDRs that are not specifically assigned to my only static collection. 

Having recognized that Johan is correct with his example, it also explains the OP's post #5


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## Johan Elzenga (Sep 22, 2015)

If you think about it, it makes a lot of sense that an HDR is assigned to a collection if it is created from within this collection. Just imagine what would happen if this wasn't so: 

You are in a collection, you select a number of images and you ask Lightroom to generate an HDR. Lightroom shows you the dialog, you click OK and then... ...nothing! You don't get to see the HDR, because you are still in the collection and the HDR is not assigned to it! It is only somewhere in a folder, but do you know which folder?... 

That would clearly be unacceptable and would raise zillions of complaints.


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## clee01l (Sep 23, 2015)

JohanElzenga said:


> If you think about it, it makes a lot of sense that an HDR is assigned to a collection if it is created from within this collection. Just imagine what would happen if this wasn't so


  It did not used to be the case in prior versions.  Of course prior versions did not have the Photo merge option.  Before LR6, your only choice was to use a photo merge plugin and the derivative image was only saved by the third party app in the original folder and not even cataloged unless you used PS.  So this is a great improvement.


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## AndreasM (Sep 25, 2015)

clee01l said:


> ...  Before LR6, your only choice was to use a photo merge plugin and the derivative image was only saved by the third party app in the original folder and not even cataloged unless you used PS....



But then it just was a badly written plugin.
 The HDR-plugin from HDRsoft/Photomatix, which I use since Lr 4, catalogues the merged 32-bit images.
(Don't know about collections at the moment, because I don't use them - apart from publish collections.)


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## Johan Elzenga (Sep 25, 2015)

I think that is correct. There were poorly written plugins that would not add the result to the collection, but I'm pretty sure there were also well written plugins that did. In fact, this may not have changed at all.


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