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I really don’t get the hate for the catalog…and I’m still unsure if there really is none in LR and the xmp files do it all or if the Lightroomsomething.lrsomething file previously referenced has something to do with it. I have that file, and it was last modified a couple months ago despite both adding images to the cloud in the cloud tab and editing in both that and local tabs…but my file is 6 GB so there’s something in there. Nonetheless…I have my catalog set to check consistency and backup on every exit in LrC and then my assorted backup routines back up those backups…and I‘ve never had a catalog go bad and even if it did…backups. The catalog isn’t any more or less likely to get corrupted than any other file that gets written to…
What you need to remember - is that just about every single person that walks into my office has no proper file management system to begin with.
For me, the hate comes in having to have LRC running while I edit outside LRC, it is ok on my machine but my daughter's laptop is not specced out like my iMac is. The metadata errors drive me bonkers, LRC periodically loses some keywords off files.
LR can easily search the complete drive. Just click on the drive letter up on top of the Folders side panel and then search. I do that all the time to find images with specific metadata or flagged or rated images.
So what advice do you give someone like that? Do you tell them to dump Lightroom?
If you have thousands of images and do a lot of searching/sorting smart collections can change your life.
I have used collections in a small way but never got right into it. It was easier to keyword but I may be changing that going forward
No, This client doesn't need anything beyond LR - so he will now go and think about it (on my instruction) and try out LR with LOCAL folders. He needs to do what works best for him - not what works best for me. If he wants to continue with LRc, H needs to get his house on order to do this. I find this is the part they hate the most - that house cleaning.
I did try that and it came up with the "black hole". I can easily do it in Classic but not LR
One problem with keywords is that they eventually turn into thousands. The you really have a mess on your hands. I spent days cleaning up my keyword list
This is searching for the keyword bear, for which there are many images. Hopefully this screenshot shows up
So far I have been able to keep them under control. Location, animal species, sky conditions if I am shooting stormy skies, common wildflower name, peoples names etc. I don't go crazy with keywords by adding colors, dates, scientific names, I just use the basics that I can remember easily. In LRC in Grid I can search by camera, lens, focal length, f stop so I don't use collections for any of that either.One problem with keywords is that they eventually turn into thousands. The you really have a mess on your hands. I spent days cleaning up my keyword list
In all fairness I'm a bit of a data analysis geek so maybe smart collections appeal to me more than the average person. One service they provided me that there was no other way to get at was deciding which telephoto lenses would be most useful when moving from F to Z mount. By looking at camera body, focal length, and post-crop dimensions of images in my entire portfolio I built smart collections for 300mm EFL up to 800mm EFL. Pretty good information for deciding the best use of limited funds.
You must have the patience of Job. I do find it a bit ironic that for some folks, to a greater or lesser degree, this same issue plays out when buying the latest, greatest camera body. Most are now small computers that need some attention even if the user wants to ignore many of the features offered. And while most folks do a good job adapting, there are still that group that thinks that if they just buy the best then that alone will improve their photos. I get that the catalog approach is not everyone's cup of tea, but it offers so much more DAM options than just raw converters. And I also remember working with programs like iMatch, and they were no more friendly than LRC.
Yeah, my error. I lost the main topic of this thread when I replied to your post and still after all these years forget about the poor naming of the products. I use Lightroom Classic and not straight LR. I just glanced at the thread title and your screenshot and realized my mistake.
Yes, it would have helped considerably if they had left LR as LR and named LB Mobile and Cloud as LR Cloud LOL
No you cannot. I installed and tried searching by keyword this morning, it only searches in the folder you are currently viewing, it will not search sub folders
Dan - yes - That's what I meant. thanks.
It would be nice if Adobe sat down and looked at Elements, LR Bridge/ACR and did a bit of housecleaning and possible consolidation. There is a need for a product that you describe, but none of these hits the bullseye dead center. Ideally, it would be great if something like Bridge/ACR was that introductory product for local use. Then it would be helpful if it had a clean interface with a cloud-based syncing program like LR that easily interfaced with Bridge/ACR. Finally, they could clean up the interface between that and LRC. The guts are all there, but things are not smoothly integrated. As far as Elements, I suspect it could be retired if the former programs were refined and better integrated.
You are right. LR (local) is halfway there - as can be seen from the comments above - it's almost like a Nikon vs Canon debate. Adobe can do a better job. I am hoping this is the start and that the bridge will be built better.
As a former IT guy…I’m not sure that a corrupted catalog is inherently better or worse than a corrupted directory that loses your images…but I can see your point. If a person has no file management system…then at least to me the use or lack of a catalog doesn’t make much difference. And a file management system also works if you do it properly…which still seems to me that catalogs get a lot of unnecessary hate. But OTOH…we continually see…irrespective of party…that our President gets plenty of credit when the economy is good and all the blame when it is bad…despite the fact that he has relatively little actual impact on the economy…and I’ve nerves understood that either so I just accept that neither of those issues makes sense and that’s just the way it is.
