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@cmackenzie1
Last active March 23, 2023 04:12
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My cheatsheet / quick guide to using Adobe Lightroom.

Lighroom Manifesto ✊

🚩 Flags:

Assign flags right after an import to filter out the obviously bad shots and ones you'd like to keep. Use your first instinct and leave undecided ones as unflagged.

  • Pick (P): In focus, eyes open, good positioning
  • Reject (X): Out of focus, blurry motion, eyes closed
  • Unflag (U):

~ can be used to toggle between picked and unflagged.

πŸ’« Stars

Upon importing, each photo should be given a star based on the following criteria. Stars 4 and 5 are assigned after editing only.

  • ⭐️ (1): Meh, could delete and wouldn't care (but I don't actually delete cause I'm a data hoarder)
  • ⭐️⭐️ (2): Ok, but wouldn't spend too much time editing (or any)
  • ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3): Good and I should spend some time editing it
  • ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4): Publishable and professional
  • ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5): Impeccable photo (IMO)

[ and ] to decrease or increase star rating.

🏷 Labels

Labels are used to track the progress of the editing and publishing processes.

  • πŸŸ₯ (6): To-do
  • 🟨 (7): In-progress
  • 🟩 (8): Ready for export
  • 🟦 (9): Published / Printed
  • πŸŸͺ: Source(s) for blending a final product

πŸ“‚ Folder Structure

The folder structure is simple and serves one primary purpose:

If my Lightroom catalog gets unrecoverably nuked, I at least know where each photo belongs in my library.

.
β”œβ”€β”€ 2021/
β”‚   β”œβ”€β”€ 01-January/
β”‚   β”‚   └── Weekend in Tahoe/
β”‚   β”‚       β”œβ”€β”€ 1.arw
β”‚   β”‚       └── 2.arw
β”‚   └── 02-February
└── 2022/
    └── 01-January

But what if my photos span across the end of a month?

Use the earliest date for that photoshoot. For example, If I went on a trip Jan 31 - Feb 5, 2022 I would use ./2022/01-January/My Awesome Trip.

Ok, but what if there is multiple trips in that range?

I mean, the world is your oyster πŸ¦ͺ. Use keywords with the locations, drop them on the lightroom map, create new folders based on location name, or give the event a recognizable name, like Weekend in Tahoe and California Coast. This is fine because how many times did you really do a Weekend in Tahoe in a month? If it's more than one, venmo me money pls.

FAQ

How many catalogs should I have?

One.

Where should I store my photos?

NAS, Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud, etc.

Where should I keep my Lightroom Catalog

Keep it on your local computer and back it up regularly. I don't recommend storing it on a NAS or in a Cloud-Sync'd folder since they contain all the generated thumbnails and will thrash a lot trying to upload when actively editing in lightroom.

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