minimalist lightroom?

Ok, a 'friend' asked me how she could get lightroom set up in the simplest way possible.

She want's no catalogs, no auto-importing, etc.

All she wants to do is to point LR at her own directories, get a thumbnail screen, and click on selected images for PP work.

I'm so heavily into LR that I can't see the trees for the forest.

thanks

She can fire it up point it to a directory and edit away. Lightroom is a parametric editor, so a catalog of the image "state" is unavoidable as is exporting for print to web display.

Maybe Lightroom is not the right tool for her?

newsposter said:

Ok, a 'friend' asked me how she could get lightroom set up in the simplest way possible.

She want's no catalogs, no auto-importing, etc.

All she wants to do is to point LR at her own directories, get a thumbnail screen, and click on selected images for PP work.

I'm so heavily into LR that I can't see the trees for the forest.

thanks

Click to expand...

--
-Dan Rode
http://rodephoto.com

Art is not real. Art is an artifice, an invention, the product of the imagination and the creativity of the artist. In short, expecting art to faithfully duplicate reality is a misconception, a misunderstanding of the very purpose of art. - Alain Briot

Can't be done.

Lightroom is a database so you absolutely must import photos into a catalog before you can work on them. Importing doesn't mean physically moving the photos, but establishing a link to their location in the database.

newsposter said:

Ok, a 'friend' asked me how she could get lightroom set up in the simplest way possible.

She want's no catalogs, no auto-importing, etc.

All she wants to do is to point LR at her own directories, get a thumbnail screen, and click on selected images for PP work.

I'm so heavily into LR that I can't see the trees for the forest.

thanks

Click to expand...

newsposter said:

She want's no catalogs, no auto-importing, etc.

Click to expand...

IMO that request, although understandable, is a little like someone saying:

"I really want to learn how to play the violin. Just one thing though: I don't much like the idea of scraping that bow thing across the strings. Can't I just blow through it? I already know that works really nicely, because that's how I play my trumpet."



RP

--
T---
http://www.crosman.org
http://www.portfolio-shots.com

As others say, you have to import images into LR's catalogue before you can use the images in LR. It's an inherent part of the way LR works. End of.
--
Simon

If you are "so heavily into lightroom that you can't see the trees for the forest", then you already know it cannot be done that way, but that ACR will be the solution to your friends every need.

But the last time I looked at 'Pro, I didn't think the Raw conversion was as good, that may have changed since then. And, of course you lose the ability to convert to DNG. But, it's hard to beat ACDSee for jpg photo management.
--
I'm so bright, my father calls me son.

Now that you've judged the quality of my typing, take a look at my photos. . .
http://www.jpgmag.com/people/glenbarrington/photos

Thank you
Russell

Pointing Lightroom at her directories is just another way of saying adding the directories to the Lightroom catalogue so that Lightroom can see the files. A screen of thumbnails is what the Lightroom Library module provides. Click on a photo and then clicking on the Develop module allows editing. Seems pretty simple to accomplish using Lightroom without disrupting her existing directory system.

Isn't that database driven? I could have sworn when I played with it I had to import the photos. Well, if not, then I would switch my recommendation to ASP. While I didn't like the raw conversion as much as Lightroom, it was better than the raw conversion (I thought) than the last time I played with ACDSee Pro.
--
I'm so bright, my father calls me son.

Now that you've judged the quality of my typing, take a look at my photos. . .
http://www.jpgmag.com/people/glenbarrington/photos

Glen Barrington said:

Isn't that database driven?

Click to expand...

http://product.corel.com/help/AfterShot/540111115/Main/EN/Doc/index.html?background_editing.html

Understanding non-destructive editing

Corel AfterShot Pro is a non-destructive image editor, meaning that adjustments you make to your images in Corel AfterShot Pro will never alter the data in the original image. You are free to experiment as much as you want, knowing that you can always revert to the original version. As a non-destructive image editor, the adjustments you create are stored either in a sidecar XMP file, within the Corel AfterShot Pro catalog database, or both. This means that when you're ready to share or export your work, you need to output the versions you want to a standard file format.

Understanding the Library

Your Library is where you store one or more catalogs of photos. It is a key part of the asset management system. It lets you access the master files (original photos) as well as all the versions that you create. You can read photo metadata, and search and browse for photos based on the associated metadata.

The Corel AfterShot Pro Library and catalogs

If you choose to use Corel AfterShot Pro's asset management features, you will start by importing images into a catalog. This catalog is where data and metadata for your photos will be stored. The Library consists of one or more catalogs, which store data such as:
• Links to original master files (path information and file information)
• Metadata for image searching and browsing
• Image adjustment settings, and a complete editing history
• Previews and thumbnails
• Catalog-specific settings

Asset management is optional

Although importing your photos to the Library is recommended, it is not required. You can still view and edit photos and use the RAW file conversion features without adding files to your Library. How? You simply click the File System tab and navigate to the photos in the Directory View.

When would I not want to import photos?

Here are some examples of cases where you may choose not to import photos:

• If you simply want to see what photos are on a memory card or other storage device. For example, if you want to grab a few RAW files from your friend's memory card, you can use the File System tab to find and view the photos. You can then copy only the photos that you want to your computer and import those photos.

• If you already have an asset management application and don't want to replace it. For example, perhaps you have third-party software that copies and builds an image folder structure.

• If you have many photos that you need to import and you simply want to get started quickly.

Features available after importing photos to the Library

After you import your photos to a catalog in your Library, you have full access to the following features:

• Browsing multiple folders — select multiple folders and view all the thumbnails in the folders and subfolders in one flat view.

• Full editing history — an editing log is maintained for every change that you make to photos and versions over time. If you do not import your photos, the edit log is maintained only for the current session (the log is cleared when you exit the application).

• Image search — find images by searching for filename, EXIF, IPTC or other metadata.

• Metadata browsing — browse through your catalog using EXIF, IPTC or other metadata.

• Image stacks — group versions from one or many master files together into stacks.

• Offline image browsing — find and manage images that are stored on offline media like CDs, DVDs or external hard drives.

• Initial image settings — Corel AfterShot Pro stores the first set of adjustments found for every image when you import. This lets you quickly revert to these settings at any time. The Initial Settings might be the same as the Default Settings, or they might be different because they include any edits or adjustments made in Corel AfterShot Pro before importing.

Thank you
Russell

newsposter said:

Ok, a 'friend' asked me how she could get lightroom set up in the simplest way possible.

She want's no catalogs, no auto-importing, etc.

All she wants to do is to point LR at her own directories, get a thumbnail screen, and click on selected images for PP work.

I'm so heavily into LR that I can't see the trees for the forest.

Click to expand...

she wants Adobe Bridge + ACR

DRode said:

Lightroom is a parametric editor, so a catalog of the image "state" is unavoidable

Click to expand...

all raw converters are parametric, yet not all of them (or rather most of them do not) force you to import images first to create a "catalog" - they just use sidecar files for example

That's what the catalogs are. So it doesn't meet the OP's original requirements.

Any process that uses sidecar files makes the editing process non desctructive,(Including ACDSee Pro and a host of others) though it complicates image management some, since you have twice as many files to keep track of.

That's one of the reasons I like Lightroom and the DNG file format, it can store the image and the 'sidecar' data in two different locations within the same DNG record/file. (It's a record within the database and a file when exported).

So you have the original image and the cumulative instructions applied so far to the image all stored in the same record/file. when the file image is displayed, just like a sidecar file, the raw image is displayed first, then the 'sidecar' stored instructions are applied in the same order as they were originally applied. In this way, you keep the edits and can still go back to the ORIGINAL image. But I digress.

Your friend is only interested in a browser based organizer, not a database (or catalog) based organizer.

--
I'm so bright, my father calls me son.

Now that you've judged the quality of my typing, take a look at my photos. . .
http://www.jpgmag.com/people/glenbarrington/photos

I'm not sure how you missed that using a catalog was totally up to the user in my post, but you did. Aftershot supports xmp sidecar files, or writing the editing data to the catalog, or both. You can have a catalog and still go directly to the file system to access a file there as well. It's pretty flexible.

XMP data that saves editing information is proprietary no matter what the software used. Writing the data to your DNG files with LR only means that other Adobe software will be able to use the data. If you are always going to be using Adobe products then maybe it is important.

I'm not really sure that writing the data to the file is an advantage, however. I personally want to minimize the amount of writing done to the DNG files, it just seems safer to do so. The DNG files are also supposed to be universal, so why pollute them with proprietary information?

The advantage Aftershot has over LR is layers. It also has the most complete lens correction database that I've seen. LR also has advantages, but there are enough people trumpeting them, that I don't feel it is necessary for me to as well in this post.

Thank you
Russell

I guess that depends how you define things. LR is different than most raw converters, in that there is no inherent converted image. When you use most converters, it creates a new file (TIFF, JP, DNG - whatever) from the raw file. LR creates no such image - it just stores the original RAW and a database that allows it to display/export/print a 'finished' image on demand. That is why it requires import and a catalog - the actual image consists of the raw file plus the edits contained in the catalog.

LR may not be the right tool for everyone, but the benefits for me far outweigh the extra step of importing.

exdeejjjaaaa said:

DRode said:

Lightroom is a parametric editor, so a catalog of the image "state" is unavoidable

Click to expand...

all raw converters are parametric, yet not all of them (or rather most of them do not) force you to import images first to create a "catalog" - they just use sidecar files for example

Click to expand...

plugin said:

I guess that depends how you define things. LR is different than most raw converters, in that there is no inherent converted image.

Click to expand...

for all raw converters there is no inherent converted image unless you save the results as .TIFF or .JPG or something else.

plugin said:

When you use most converters, it creates a new file (TIFF, JP, DNG - whatever) from the raw file.

Click to expand...

no, not unless you specifically instruct to save - the same as export in LR

plugin said:

LR creates no such image - it just stores the original RAW and a database that allows it to display/export/print a 'finished' image on demand.

Click to expand...

the same do others, parametric edit are stored in sidecars (previews can be stored too - like C1 for example).

no t

OK - technically you are right. But unless the raw converter is part of an image management program, you can't do anything unless you print or export. When you make adjustments in DPP, for example, if you don't export as a converted file, you cannot do anything with the result except open it again in DPP. LR is the same in a way. except that as a very good image management program, you always work in LR (edits is PS are kicked off within LR, printing is done from LR, but the images are always loaded from, managed and contained in the central DB).

I stand corrected though - you can use any raw converter the same way if you are willing to use it as an image management program too. I don't think of them that way because many (not all) raw converters are not good image management programs. But you are correct , for what it's worth.