On Mar 5, 2015, at 9:39 AM, Darren Addy <[email protected]> wrote:
> I've got a question. I've never used Lightroom but right now would be
> a good time for me to start (i've got a big internal HD that I can
> basically dedicate to it's use). I want it for the organizational
> aspects as much as anything, although as I learn its features it
> sounds like I will need to use Photoshop less and less. But since I
> know next-to-nothing about Lightroom's "ways" I have a couple of
> questions:
>
> I use my cameras at my work for work stuff (product photography
> mostly). But I use the same equipment for my personal photography. I
> like the idea of using my work computer for the catalog, because of
> the automated backups, and the massive amount of HD space I have here
> as opposed to home. If I purchase the photographer's Lightroom CC for
> photographers ($9.99/mo) and put the catalog on my work computer, can
> I still edit images in the catalog from home? How would you recommend
> setting things up to differentiate between my personal and work
> images?
>
> What happens if I do this and ever leave my place of employment? Do I
> basically have to take that internal HD with my catalog with me in
> order to keep my images? Confused on how to handle this.
>
> Appreciate any words of wisdom anyone might share.
If you are looking for wisdom, you came to the right place!
1. With a normal purchase of LR, you can install a second copy on e.g. a laptop
so that you can continue work when away from home. I would assume that the
subscription version also allows dual installation so that you shouldn’t have
to pay twice.
2. Given a 2nd copy of LR at home, yes you can edit at home those images on
your main catalog sitting back at work.
a. you can generate a Smart Preview which is intended for this purpose.
b. Or you can Export portions of your main catalog, including original
files, then work at home on those images and, maybe if you want to, sometime
later synchronize your edits back to the main catalog.
c. Working in two locations adds the nuisance of moving files back and
forth. Thumb drives, external hard drives, Dropbox etc. are all viable options.
I personally find it to be a royal pain and have struggled to find a really
smooth workflow for merging photos from my travel laptop into my main catalog
on my main computer. I personally would avoid situations where I thought I
would be going back and forth from one system to the other as you imply. But
the tools are there and with a bit of thought I am sure that a simple workflow
could be established to fit your planned distribution of work.
3. Some would argue that you should work with two Catalogs; one for work, one
for personal. Not hard to manage. Only one is open at a time, just be aware
which is open when you go to import new images. You lose a few seconds every
time you shut down one catalog to open the other, you gain simplicity in
organizing.
4. I have one massive catalog for all my images, mostly. But I do have a
separate catalog for images I’ve scanned. If you chose the one-catalog
approach, then it is fairly simple to maintain an organization that
differentiates work vs. personal.
a. use keywords.
b. On Import, always, without fail, include Work or Personal as one
keyword to be applied to the files you are importing.
c. Set up two Smart Collections. One includes all images which have
keyword=Personal, the other has all files with keyword=Work.
d. If you have images that fall in both categories, (pictures of an
office party perhaps) no problem. Keyword(s) = Work and Personal. The images
will show up in both collections.
5. Careful file naming plus keywording plus LR’s search and sort capabilities
make it very straightforward to catalog and keep track of and find your images
no matter their source.
stan
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