I give up : Lightroom is not for me

[Throckmorton]

Why does Lightroom need to keep separate "library" files of all my photos, which I may or may not have edited? It's doing a bunch of crap without me having asked it to do so.

It doesn't keep a library of all your photos. It has a catalog that stores thumbnails and all the edits you've done

 

[Brainonska511]

So you never run into a situation where you edited a photo and looked at it later and decided you didn't like the changes you made? I'm always finding something I can tweak when I look back through my pictures. It's a lot harder to undo changes without the original file.

This. I recently decided to go get some of my photos printed. Having the originals allowed me to re-crop them to the appropriate aspect ratio. It also let's me do more artistic things if I wanted to later without harming the original in any way.

As for my photos, I store them like this:
My Pictures/Digital Camera/dated folder-location (exported photos or photos from my P&S)
My Pictures/Digital Camera/Archive/dated folder (original RAW files)

I've found LR to be an invaluable tool for handling my photos from my dSLR. I generally use it to flag photos I like, then I can quickly tweak and export them.

 

[NAC]

OP,

I guess your main objection is that you don’t want to have to export every time you adjust photos. I kind-of agree, I'd like to be able to setup some export settings, and have them auto-run every time I shutdown LR. Or something like that.

Here is what I would like to be able to do, but don't think I can:

Import all of the pictures into the computer in My Pictures, and a subfolder with date.
Adjust some in Lightroom.
On export, MOVE the ORIGINALS to a new subfolder called "originals" and save the newly exported files in their place.

I could import right into an originals subfolder, but will then need to select the export folder every time (one level up from originals). Not a huge deal, but not ideal.

I think it comes down to this: Adobe wants you to always use lightroom for photos, and not other programs – even when just viewing them or transferring to another devices. I like the speed and ease of use, and especially the face recognition of Picasa, so I'm going to have to continue to always manually export after adjusting photos. Can't complain though – Lightroom is clearly better for the processing of lots of photos quickly, needing to manually export is not that big of a deal. Using LR and exporting is faster than adjusting pictures one by one in a paint program, as long as you are adjusting more than about 3 photos at a time.

 

[NAC]

Export will by default save to the folder it found the photos in. And there is a setting to "Overwrite WITHOUT WARNING". So as long as you always export, I think that would solve your workflow.

In fact, I guess it would also work for mine. If I save as RAW and JPEG from the camera, then anything I adjust and export – I'll just replace the JPEG files.

I might look for a file management program or script which can just take the RAW versions and move to an "originals" subfolder.

 

[JohnnyRebel]

Check out Aperture. Simpler than LR with a lot of features. I prefer LR, but I think you'd like Aperture.

 

[Midwayman]

I always figured using lightroom is a lot like shooting RAW. Its really technically the 'right' way to do stuff. However it requires a couple extra steps that if you're a casual user you won't care about or need. However for a pro or serious amateur photographer its a godsend.

Check out a plugin I found for lightroom- Treesync publisher.
http://www.robcole.com/Rob/ProductsAndServices/TreeSyncPublisherLrPlugin/

It simplifies exporting your library. I keep my original lightroom files on my personal docs and use treesync to produce a exact duplicate in the public photos directory. It comes complete with all the associated date/day folders instead of publishing 25,000 photos into one directory. The wife knows to look for photos here and she can do whatever she wants to them without me worrying about her destroying the originals (or her having to learn lightroom)

 

[finbarqs]

just get instagram for the PC

 

[Throckmorton]

Even cats like Lightroom

 

[shortylickens]

just get instagram for the PC

As much as I hate to say it thats actually what a lot of people really want. They get into the cute shit and then wonder what else is out there. Suddenly they're buying big expensive suites they dont understand and arent ready to learn.