My first Lightroom problem.

[Geoff]

I installed Lightroom today, I've used a 30 day trial in the past and I've been reading lots of info and tutorials so I've got a fair idea of how it works. My first task was to start importing several thousand images from several DVDs containing photos from the past 12 years, mainly photos that I have restored or retouched for customers.

My problem is that Lightroom does not record which DVD the image is off. Other cataloging software that I've used will do this. For instance, I can find an image in the database, Lightroom tells me that it is off line and says it is from the d: drive. Previous software will tell the volume name such as DVD01 or DVD02, or whatever I've called the DVDs.

Anyone got any suggestions?

Regards,

Geoff.

[devilgas]

[Geoff]

Re: My first Lightroom problem.

Thanks for the idea Dave but I have got lots of images already on DVD, these are duplicated with copies being kept in a separate location for safety. I don't really want to have to pay out more money for drives if not necessary.

The DVD's are mainly customers photos. I have a lot of my own photos on 3 or 4 external drives as well as my 2 internal drives which leads to another problem. If I plug in an external drive it comes up as F:/drivename, but when I unplugged it Lightroom shows the file as being on F: but not the name of the drive so I would be in the same boat.

This seems odd as an old version od Photoshop Elements used to record the drive name or DVD name, as did a free program called Picajet. I will ask in the Adobe forum to see if there is a simple answer.

Regards,

Geoff.

[Tom Holle]

Re: My first Lightroom problem.

I'm certainly no Lightroom guru but the first thought that comes to mind is to make a separate catalog for each DVD.

Tom

[Geoff]

Re: My first Lightroom problem.

I'm certainly no Lightroom guru but the first thought that comes to mind is to make a separate catalog for each DVD.

Tom

Thanks for the suggestion Tom but I think that this would defeat the object of being able to find images of subjects that are on different DVDs or external hard drives.

Regards
Geoff.

[Patrick]

Re: My first Lightroom problem.

Thanks for the suggestion Tom but I think that this would defeat the object of being able to find images of subjects that are on different DVDs or external hard drives.

Regards
Geoff.

Could you not set up a folder for each DVD with a name and date in Lightroom.

Incidental there was a study some years ago and it was discussed on this Forum about CD/DVD burned on our computers, they can over time loose there information so they are not the safest method of storage.

Patrick

[Ian]

[Patrick]

Re: My first Lightroom problem.

Could you not set up a folder for each DVD with a name and date in Lightroom.

Incidental there was a study some years ago and it was discussed on this Forum about CD/DVD burned on our computers, they can over time loose there information so they are not the safest method of storage.

Patrick

I have just looked at it, its simple.

Select import from disk, select the DVD, on the destination side select other make a new folder name it and import.
Job done and identified.

That said I agree with Ian and the others the H/D is the way forward.

Patrick

[Ian]

Re: My first Lightroom problem.

Thinking about this some more - I'm sure this would work although there may be a better solution - when importing from a disc using the ADD option, keyword all the images with a unique name for the DVD, like - DVD_123_12-06-2007, or whatever. The images will be searchable using this keyword or you can see the DVD keyword in Library mode when browsing your catalogue. Simple really.

It boils down to how you identify the DVD itself in the first place.

Ian

[Geoff]

Re: My first Lightroom problem.

Have you tried using the import 'Add' option so the catalogue is updated without copying the images from the DVD. Previews and thumbnails will be stored in the catalogue on your PC and so the images will be tagged and searchable as normal, but when you need to work on the images you will be prompted to load the DVD. If you have got this far then the question is - can Lightroom indicate which particular DVD is required.

Ian

This is the problem, Lightroom does not record the volume name of the DVD or external HDD, just the drive letter, so it is not possible to see which disc any images are on.

I have just looked at it, its simple.

Select import from disk, select the DVD, on the destination side select other make a new folder name it and import.
Job done and identified.

Patrick

I can only make a new folder if I select "copy" instead of "add" when importing which is defeating the object of having the images on external media.

Thinking about this some more - I'm sure this would work although there may be a better solution - when importing from a disc using the ADD option, keyword all the images with a unique name for the DVD, like - DVD_123_12-06-2007, or whatever. The images will be searchable using this keyword or you can see the DVD keyword in Library mode when browsing your catalogue. Simple really.

It boils down to how you identify the DVD itself in the first place.

Ian

This looks like the best workaround, I will start again from scratch which isn't a big problem. Or I may even put them onto my second internal drive, I've done some housework in there and dumped some completed video projects so have more room now. Thanks Ian and Patrick for your help

I've been on the Adobe Lightroom Forum and it seems that people have been complaining about this for years. The software does not remember the name of the DVD or drive, just the drive letter so people with several drives also have to have workarounds. As I said earlier in this thread Elements and other cheaper (or free) software can do this so why can it not be done in Lightroom?

Regards,

Geoff.

[kennykodak]

Re: My first Lightroom problem.

just a word on storage be it a hard drive or a compact flash card, always leave at least 10-15% of it free.