How can I reorganize a large Lightroom photo library into folders without losing edits?
Asked 3/20/2014
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I have thousands of photos in one computer folder and manage them in Lightroom 5. I’ve already added keywords, so searching works fairly well, but the files themselves are still all in one large folder. I’d like a better long-term organization system, such as sorting into year-based folders, while keeping my Lightroom edits and metadata intact. What’s the best way to do this in Lightroom, and are there other organizational techniques I should consider?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
12y ago
2 Answers
1
You can just re-import the pictures into a new Lightroom catalogue. On Importing the files, you can specify a folder structure and even a filename-pattern, that Lightroom applies while it's importing.
To successfully do that, you need to do the following steps:
- Make sure that all lighroom adjustments are saved to either xmp-sidecar files or into the files themselves (e. g. DNG-Files can do that), you can do so by either enabling that option in the catalogue-settings, or selecting ALL images and using the function Metadata > Save Metadata to file (Strg+S or CMD+S)
- If you have any virtual copies, export them first as DNG, or they will be lost in the process
- Now create a new catalogue in lightroom, go to import and navigate to the folder where your images are in
- In the import select copy to keep a backup of the old catalogue around in case something goes wrong
- On the right side you can now specify the Folder Structure Lightroom should create (also multiple "By Date" Variations), select one that you like
- Now click on import. Lightroom should recognize all keywords and development settings.
- After the import, if you have any smart-collections you want to keep, you can go to File > Import from other catalogue and select your old. Now select only a single photo to import, and do nothing about its location. You can delete it from the "Last import"-Collection later. This import wir copy all collections from the old to the new catalogue, but the non-smart collections will be empty.
- Don't forget to import the previously exported virtual copies. If you like you can create new virtual copies in your new catalogue and transfer all development settings from the dng files, or you can just keep the dng around.
Originally by user26144. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user26144
12y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
You don’t need to start over. In Lightroom, it’s usually best to reorganize files from inside Lightroom so your edits, metadata, and catalog links stay intact.
A practical approach is:
- Decide on a folder scheme first: usually by date, event, place, or subject.
- Use Lightroom’s Filter bar and Date attributes to find groups of images, such as all photos from a given year.
- Create new folders within Lightroom, then drag photos into those folders. Lightroom will move the files on disk and keep your catalog information with them.
- If you want extra safety, save metadata to files/XMP first.
For future imports, organize as you import. Lightroom can place files into a folder structure automatically, including date-based subfolders and optional filename patterns.
Keywords are still very important: folders are helpful for basic structure, but keywords and metadata are usually the fastest way to find older images later. A good system is to use both: simple folders (often by date) plus strong keywording for people, places, and events.
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