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Archive 2017 · LR Catalog - One big one still okay?

  
 
IrishDino
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · LR Catalog - One big one still okay?


What's the latest on the performance difference of having one huge LR catalog verses say, creating a new one every year?

I remember a few years ago the prevailing logic was to create a new catalog for every shoot. I tried that and, as you can imagine, lost a bunch of catalogs due to changes in the way I manage folders, new hard drives, etc.



Edited on Nov 09, 2017 at 01:38 PM · View previous versions



Nov 09, 2017 at 09:04 AM
dhphoto
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · LR Catalog - One big one still okay?


I have always created a new catalog for each new job and stored it with the RAW files, which is then automatically backed up when the RAW files are.

I can't see the benefit of one huge catalog, but that's me.



Nov 09, 2017 at 09:13 AM
IrishDino
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · LR Catalog - One big one still okay?


dhphoto wrote:
I have always created a new catalog for each new job and stored it with the RAW files, which is then automatically backed up when the RAW files are.

I can't see the benefit of one huge catalog, but that's me.


For me:

- Sometimes I'd forget to create a new catalog until I was halfway through editing.
- It was harder and more time consuming to locate a previous job.
- The way I organize folders and files changes every now and then. Jobs I did in 2012 are organized differently from jobs I did last week.



Nov 09, 2017 at 09:20 AM
Paul Mo
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · LR Catalog - One big one still okay?


I have one catalog.

Can't see smaller (creating separate catalogs) being any faster in use with one exception; catalog back-ups upon closing.



Nov 09, 2017 at 09:30 AM
Zenon Char
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · LR Catalog - One big one still okay?


Creating a new one every years seems like a good idea. One for every job is really diligent keeping everything together. If something goes wrong you only have to re-edit that one job if you ever need to export it again.

I only have one but it is not that big. 36 MB so I can't compare to working pros. I never seem to have any performance issues when I go a few years to find, tweak and export an image. My catalogue is on an exterior drive and backed up.



Nov 09, 2017 at 09:33 AM
chez
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · LR Catalog - One big one still okay?


Big plus in having one catalog is the ability to organize and search images that were taken years apart. I travel a lot and like the ability to organize all my Kauai seascapes all into 1 group. I don't know if having one big catalog affects performance, but I'm happy with my performance and I have roughly 150,000 images in my catalog.


Nov 09, 2017 at 09:35 AM
Zenon Char
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · LR Catalog - One big one still okay?


How do you find out how many files are in there?


Nov 09, 2017 at 11:54 AM
chez
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · LR Catalog - One big one still okay?


Zenon Char wrote:
How do you find out how many files are in there?


In the library module, look under Catalog and it has an “All Photographs” folder.



Nov 09, 2017 at 12:58 PM
Zenon Char
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · LR Catalog - One big one still okay?


Thanks. Only 26,000. Not that many. I only started using LR for events but I'm not working pro. In the last year started to use LR more but I don't always import everything.


Nov 09, 2017 at 01:30 PM
chez
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · LR Catalog - One big one still okay?


I've taken many more images, but I'm aggressively purge images that don't cut the cake.


Nov 09, 2017 at 01:42 PM
davidrwilliams
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · LR Catalog - One big one still okay?


I have about 40k images spread over 13 years of annual sub-folders, with by-shoot day sub-sub-folders within each annual folder, all in one LR catalogue, and all's fine.


Nov 09, 2017 at 02:28 PM
butchM
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · LR Catalog - One big one still okay?


ZachOly wrote:
I remember a few years ago the prevailing logic was to create a new catalog for every shoot.



That was the 'prevailing logic' for a subset of users. For instance, if all you shoot are mostly weddings and portraits, it probably works ok ... OTOH if your shoots are varied in category and subject matter and you need to search out images for a client using more than the subject's name or specific date of a shoot ... using a single (or fewer) catalog could prove beneficial over time.

It's not wrong to use a new catalog/library for each shoot, but it defeats the purpose of a catalog/library DAM system.

For example, if you have a separate catalog for each shoot and you need to work up a print from the Smith-Jones wedding ... easy peasy to complete the task. Conversely, a client requests a gallery from you to select photos of bald eagles taken in the state of New York with autumn foliage visible and only in a vertical (portrait) view for a cover image for a travel brochure and you have 27 individual shoots that may contain what the client is seeking, using separate catalogs can be problematic and time consuming by comparison to put together a quick collection for them to view..

I use multiple catalogs but for specific reasons. Since Lr does not really support multiple simultaneous usage I split my images by relative subject matter.

For long-term needs, my archive uses several libraries. I have one library for all wedding and portraits, one for sports, one for hard news/journalism and another that is for corporate/business clients. I have different staff members that fill orders for various clients and they have their own individual libraries always at their disposal.



Nov 09, 2017 at 02:50 PM
rdeloe
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · LR Catalog - One big one still okay?


One big catalogue for work in each major "type" of work (i.e., one for art, one for teaching images, one for work-related). The number of images doesn't matter because of the database structure LR uses.

I make a lot of use of keywords and smart collections to automatically organize images into groups. Like chez says, this works great for images spread across many years. I also just like the 'big picture' overview I get from having one catalogue for all my work in the 'art' catalogue.



Nov 09, 2017 at 02:51 PM
Zenon Char
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · LR Catalog - One big one still okay?


chez wrote:
I've taken many more images, but I'm aggressively purge images that don't cut the cake.


Me too.



Nov 09, 2017 at 11:43 PM
dhphoto
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · LR Catalog - One big one still okay?


butchM wrote:
It's not wrong to use a new catalog/library for each shoot, but it defeats the purpose of a catalog/library DAM system.



If you use the library system, which I don't. I find it much easier just to have a folder tree system with jobs listed in date and client order with the RAW files stored apart for safety.

I love LR for it's RAW processing, I don't use it for anything else (which is why I'd like Adobe to make a simple standalone RAW converter based on LR, but they won't)



Nov 10, 2017 at 01:46 AM
chez
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · LR Catalog - One big one still okay?


dhphoto wrote:
If you use the library system, which I don't. I find it much easier just to have a folder tree system with jobs listed in date and client order with the RAW files stored apart for safety.

I love LR for it's RAW processing, I don't use it for anything else (which is why I'd like Adobe to make a simple standalone RAW converter based on LR, but they won't)


That will work, but you lose any abilities to keyword, search, rate, group into collections etc... Your approach is very much the way film was managed back in the good old days in filing cabinets.



Nov 10, 2017 at 08:16 AM
mogud
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · LR Catalog - One big one still okay?


Hope the "one big catalog" is backed up and I don't mean the Lr cloogy backup on exit. My catalog is backed up in three places. Don't see a reason why having one catalog is a bad thing.


Nov 10, 2017 at 06:29 PM
dclark
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · LR Catalog - One big one still okay?


I have a single catalog with >250K images. It is unmanageable for me to have a bunch of small catalogs. the only reason to have smaller catalogs is to load and backup faster. Some people claim that navigation and processing is faster, but I have never been able to see a difference. Keyword management is a major headache if multiple catalogs are used. If keywords are added or the keyword hierarchy is modified it is a colossal pain to keep the catalogs synchronized. I also like to be able to use LR to search my database of images using keywords, dates, image metadata, and ratings. If they are spread across multiple catalogs that is not possible. I also use LR publication services to manage my web sites. Again, very difficult to do with multiple catalogs.

The only time I have a small catalog is if I am traveling and and acquiring images (like right now). I create a catalog on my laptop and do some preliminary culling and processing. When I get home I import the catalog and images into the main catalog, and then apply keywords using my keyword hierarchy.

I see lots of major problems with multiple catalogs and only a few minor advantages.

Dave



Nov 11, 2017 at 11:53 PM
cruscher
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · LR Catalog - One big one still okay?


I bit off topic...

Dave (dclark) how to you store your photos?



Nov 24, 2017 at 02:39 PM
John Caldwell
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · LR Catalog - One big one still okay?


While I used to use multiple catalogs based on assignment, which were also coalesced into a master catalog after the assignment work was complete, I no longer do that. One master catalog, with no assignment-based catalogs, has been my workflow for the last three years.

Dave Clark lists above the only exception to this method, and that's during travel.

I have no regrets to moving to a single catalog, and feel a bit more secure having everything under one hood (230k images). My catalogs and images are backed up twice, with one copy being kept off site in event of a fire. The Catalog, Previews and all image files are stored on an external 6TB drive. The backup process is to clone the master drive to the two "backup" drives using the Super Duper application.

The current LR Classic CC seems a little crisper in navigating large catalogs than prior versions. Aside from a few bugs and instabilities of the current program, I'm pleased with it.

John Caldwell




Nov 25, 2017 at 12:04 AM
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