Using Lightroom with existing folder...

Hello,



What would the recommended work-flow be for using a Lightroom with an existing folder hierarchy? (mix of raw and Jpeg)



Other imaging programs rely on the directory structure, and it is occasionally reorganized.



Basically, in Lightroom I'd like to be able to navigate to the images i want via the directory tree, or a via custom lightroom ''collection / group'' for specific events, etc.



Thanks for any idea,

David
Using Lightroom with existing folder...
Probably just import the root of that folder hierarchy including all subdirectories. Then, if you do want to move things around, move them around in LR.
Using Lightroom with existing folder...
Thanks Lee.



Though, this does not help if the files are added / moved in that folder tree. (And this will happen.)



Basically, I need lightroom for browsing and developing, but NOT file management.



How can I get lightroom to display a hierarchical tree view my folders on disk?



Thanks,

David

If files are added or moved into the folder tree, you have to tell Lightroom to look again for new files for each folder. Lightroom currently has only one ''watched'' folder.



It is not a file browser for files that are not in its catalog.



If you want to use it as a catalog, then you may not want files to appear in there without your knowledge or action on your part, which may be why Lightroom doesn't currently include more ''watched'' folders. When you do ask it to check for new files, the first thing it shows you is that import so you can deal with those new files without being confused by the rest of the files in that folder.



Reading your initial post, you said you want to ''navigate'' the images and mention collections. I suggest you spend some time thinking about how you are going to tag your images in Lightroom. Lightroom can be very helpful for cataloging your images because there are many metadata fields you can use to help you find images later.



You mentioned events. I want to be able to find trips we take not only by the directory I put them in but also from metadata. One reason I moved from Elements is they didn't have any way but collections to use for this. I didn't care for collections to be used this way for several reasons, one of which is ''collections'' are entirely in the program, whereas metadata can be permanently saved for use outside of the current program you are using.



I selected the IPTC ''Job Identifier'' field to identify groups of photos I may want to find together such as trips, workshops, events. I generally fill out caption, keywords, and the various location fields. I created my own metadata preset to make it easy to fill out the fields I generally use.

LR is a datbase so file management isn't it's purpose. It's not like Bridge, which reads your HD, when you open it. LR will only show what you imported into it.

Using the folder panel to ''browse'' your images will depend on your heirachy. I use year-month-day. I can ''browse'' the entire year or an enire month or one day. Using Keywords I can also ''browse' images. Using metadata by lens I can also ''browse''