# Organize RAW and exported JPEGs



## Leonid (Jun 7, 2011)

Hi everyone!

I'm trying to find a best way for me to organize and store all my photos. I've read a number of threads on this topic, but still didn't find the best way for me.

So, I want to share with you my way to organize photos and it would be great to know your comments how to improve it. Maybe you can share the YOUR way?

I make pictures ONLY in RAW, then I import and copy them to hard drive by Lightroom. The pictures that I like and I want to continue work with them - I export to JPEG. I organize them the following way:

1. Pictures/RAW/2011/Portraits/25-05-2011 Krasnaya Ploshad Maria/ - here I store RAWs for exact photo shoot, the folder name starts with date, contains place and name of the model (or any other information to define photos folder). All RAWs are organized in Adobe LR catalogues.

2. Pictures/JPG/2011/Pictures/25-05-2011 Krasnaya Ploshad Maria/ - After I made some changes to RAWs in Adobe LR - I export them to JPEG to exactly the same folder, but in another parent directory. JPEGs are not imported to Adobe LR catalouges.

3. Pictures/JPG/2011/Pictures/25-05-2011 Krasnaya Ploshad Maria/PS/ - If I need to make some improvements to JPEG in Adobe PS, I store all PSD in this directory.

This way seems to me really complicated and useless, but I don't know to improve it. Which ways other RAW photographers usually use?

I never stored RAWs and JPEGs in one folder and in one Adobe LR catalogue, because it seems, that it makes very hard to navigate through a number of dublicating photos (raws and jpegs) and also it makes Adobe LR to slow. But if it is the best solution - OK, I buy another computer

Thanks!
P.S. Sorry if I wasn't very clear in expressing my question - English is a foreign language to me.


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## amazz (Jun 7, 2011)

It took me awhile to understand lr strengths, keywording and collections, and forget about the folder structure. Think of collections as pointers that "collect" photos and place them in groups. I don't understand exporting jpegs and then working in ps. LR will rounftrip to ps if use set "edit in" correctly. I use jpegs only for output. Try watching videos on Adobe TV about lr, there are some tutorials that cover what your asking.

Art


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## dj_paige (Jun 7, 2011)

I agree with Art, you are not making use of one of Lightroom's biggest strengths, its organizing capabilities. You are, in my opinion, making things hard on yourself.

One catalog is the way to go. This lets you manage everything in one place. If you don't want to see exported JPGs alongside RAWs, create a filter or smart collection to show only the RAWs, or to show only the JPGs.

Stop using folders as an "organizing" tool. They are storage locations only. Keep your folders as simple as possible, for example, named by capture date. Use keywords and other metadata to organize and find your photos. Using Lightroom, there is no need for separate folders for RAWs, JPGs and intermediate versions.

Many people do not keep the exported JPGs, and delete them once there is no longer a need for them, as you can always recreate them by doing another export. (I realize that some professional photographers keep their exported photos permanently as an immutable record of what they have provided their clients.)


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## MarkNicholas (Jun 7, 2011)

Whilst I agree that the folder structure is not that important it's always good practice to have things organised so that you know where everything is. My own structure is as follows :

Photos > camera > 2002_06_22_hong_kong_trip> Here I make a number of folders such as RAW Files, jpeg_fullresolution, jpeg_1200px, jpeg_b&w

There is no need to re-import your exported jpegs into LR.


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## clee01l (Jun 7, 2011)

MarkNicholas said:


> Whilst I agree that the folder structure is not that important it's always good practice to have things organised so that you know where everything is. My own structure is as follows :
> 
> Photos > camera > 2002_06_22_hong_kong_trip> Here I make a number of folders such as RAW Files, jpeg_fullresolution, jpeg_1200px, jpeg_b&w
> 
> There is no need to re-import your exported jpegs into LR.


Which is why LR defaults to one of several date named schemes.  The simplest solution is to use one of Lr's defaults for folders and let it do all the work.  Adding event information into your folder structure takes extra time up front on import  for something that should properly be managed inside of LR with a keyword and/or collection.  If you are going to be adding an event keyword you can do it at import by modifying the import metadata panel. keyword field.  If it is a  regular repeating  item, then you simply create an import preset and use that  when the need arises. 
 For me, I insert a camera card and when the import screen appears I either add a keyword or two or pick an import preset and hit the import button.  When the first imported images start to appear, I start culling and evaluating well before the import has finished.   Based upon this scenario, I am probably checking the focus on my first image while you are still typing in that special folder name.


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## Leonid (Jun 7, 2011)

Many thanks, now I am totally convinced, that my previuos storage method was incorrect. 

But how about productivity? Do you store ALL your photos, RAW, JPEGS and intermediates in one catalogue? Or you split them by years or months, maybe be genre? Currently my PC is extremely slow with LR, even if the catalogue is not so big. I am deciding to buy 21.5 iMac or 15inch Macbook pro, could these machines be effecient with such data or better to take something faster?


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## Brad Snyder (Jun 7, 2011)

I'd say that the general intent is to *not* store derivative files or outputs. Use 'em, send 'em downstream, forget about 'em.  Need them back? Re-export, ad hoc.

There are obvious exceptions, particularly for pros, who may need to *precisely* reproduce an archived image.


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## dj_paige (Jun 7, 2011)

Leonid said:


> But how about productivity? Do you store ALL your photos, RAW, JPEGS and intermediates in one catalogue?


 
Photos are not stored in the catalog! But yes, most people import _all _of their Raws into one catalog, and keep intermediates if necessary. As mentioned, some people keep the exports, but most don't.



Leonid said:


> Or you split them by years or months, maybe be genre?



In my opinion, splitting up your catalog is not a good idea. Splitting it up by years is an even worse idea. If your genres are completely non-overlapping (i.e. your landscapes never have people in the picture, etc.) then maybe splitting by genres will work, but for now, I think you are going down the wrong path by even considering multiple catalogs.



Leonid said:


> Currently my PC is extremely slow with LR



If your PC is slow, then this has nothing to do with Lightroom. If you meant to say that Lightroom is slow, this is almost never a function of catalog size, and almost always a function of hardware. Upgrading to a faster CPU and more memory will have a big impact on the speed of Lightroom; splitting the catalog probably won't make a noticeable difference in the speed of Lightroom.


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## Leonid (Jun 8, 2011)

Thanks to everybody!


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