Need help with Lightroom 3.4.1 issues.

[jwbryson1]

So my LR arrived on Saturday. I installed it and it upgraded to version 3.4.1. First time user. On install, I selected to have LR use the same "groups" of photos as my PS Elements was using--made sense since I was under the impression the 2 would work together at some point. I'm having some issues however. When I open LR, there are over 22,000 photos in the current "group" (wrong word, but you get the point). It makes LR really slow. I'm not sure if I should have created new "groups" on install. Anyhow, I'll look into that.

The issues I'm having are that LR keeps hanging when I try to import new photos that I just shot. Every time I hit import, the box hangs and I'm stuck with ctrl-alt-del to get it to shut down.

Is this a known problem? Am I just using it "wrong"? Do I have too many photos open at once. I'm very frustrated at this point.

Thanks.

 

[KmH]

Yep, it sounds like you're just using Lightroom wrong.

Most personal computer users are familiar with how a browser manages files.

Lightroom is database management software, a very different animal from a browser.

Your entire image database should be in a single "Catalog" because Lightroom can only deal with/search one catalog at a time. But your images should then be organized in "Collections" within that Catalog.

I recommend you get and keep handy for reference the book: The DAM Book: Digital Asset Management for Photographers

 

[jwbryson1]

KmH, thanks. Looks like a useful book. I will pick up a copy. My biggest problem currently is that I have 10's of 1,000's of digital images that I have taken over the past 3 or 4 years and they are saved under 100+ separate files in my "family photos" file on my computer. (e.g., \family photos\2008 Easter or \July 4, 2010 or \XMas 2009, etc.). You get the picture. To go back and try to catalog them with dates, etc., would be impossible and extremely time consuming.

I picked up LR hoping to get RAW conversion software to improve my images and to improve my workflow. I selected "yes" to use the same catalogs (that's the word I was looking for) as PS Elements and LR took over from there. Now when I open LR, I have an open catalog with 22,400 images. Perhaps I should try to create a new catalog with just a few images and go from there.

I need to get past the learning curve with LR. Just frustrated at the moment.

 

[Big Mike]

Even within Lightroom, you still have your existing file structure. So you should still be able to view/sort them via the '2008 Easter' folders etc.
Lightroom works off of a database, but the files can (and should) have some organization before (outside of) Lightroom.

Whether or not you use one catalog or multiple catalogs is up to you. As Keith mentioned, one method is to put all your photos into one catalog, you can then use 'collections' or other filtering methods to categorize your photos. The advantage of this, is that you can search/filter through all of your images at once. But, the down side is that you create one huge catalog for Lightroom to open and operate for everything you do. This can be especially problematic with the backup catalog, as that is a huge file as well...and unless you pay attention, you may end up with several backups, filling up your hard drive.

Another method, is to use separate catalogs for groups of photos that you won't even need to group together. For example, I have a personal catalog, a portrait catalog, a wedding catalog and one for my point & shoot camera. I know some professional photographers who create a separate catalog for each wedding they shoot. It keeps the catalogs nice and small.

I don't know about your version or particular issue, but LR does tent to be unstable at times. I've certainly had mine hang up on me a few times. Is your computer hardware up to the task? How much RAM are you running?

 

[jwbryson1]

Mike, that's a good question and one I need to confirm when I get home. My box is about 4 years old (Dell) and I don't recall what I'm running at the moment. The only way I know to check is to download Belarc Advisor. Is there an easier way?

One other thing---does it make sense to upgrade my video card if I have an older version that may not be up to the task with LR? Thanks for all the great help.

 

[Big Mike]

I don't think the video card will help. Video cards mostly help with video & gaming...where your screen has to keep up with a steady stream of new/changing images. For dealing with still images and/or a large number of files...you need processor power and RAM.

 

[richardghawley]

It's not you using it wrong. There is a serious bug with the programme. Since upgrading to 3.4.1 I have found clicking File > Import Photos to be erratic at best. Sometimes it works for a few days and then the whole system will pack up and continually freeze. Sometimes the dioalogue box will 'over display' itself about 10 times on the screen and then not work. Using it right now I clicked import photos around 5 minutes ago. If I click to close it down t will again ask me if I want to close the import dialogue box even though that is not on screen.

I'm at a loss and go back to using Lightroom 2 which is the most stable version I currently have. If there was a way to roll back to version 3.3 then I would as that was again, much more stable. I would have thought Adobe would have sorted this issue by now as it makes the programme unusable.