In my Lightroom Classic Workflow Collection Set post, I wrote about and provided a set of smart collections that I use for each photo shoot in order to setup images in Lightroom. This post started as a number of “notes to self” about my Lightroom Classic process and may be useful to understand my rational for using the Workflow sets. With this re-writing for a general audience, I must apologize to Mr. Hess, MHS english teacher, for mixed usage of first- and second-person in this article.
Overview
I define steps for editing photos in a systematic manner and reflect the status for any photo in the process. By indicating which files have had image processing and which are ready for “publication” (i.e. sharing with others).
Photos that I want to “develop” get at least a 3-star rating. Those images finished Lightroom processing have a yellow label. Only developed images get Titles, Captions and Keywords applied and when ready to be shared get a green label. Published, printed or otherwise deemed completed photos have a blue label.
I give any image that I want to continue processing in Photoshop have a “photoshop” keyword added to it. Likewise any set of photos that need external processing (e.g. focus stacks) get a unique keyword.
At a high level the steps to prepare photos for sharing with others:
- Cull
- Rate
- Lightroom Processing (Develop module)
- Add Keywords and Titles
In order to not spend too much time setup any set of images I use the following guidelines:
- Only Develop photos that are 3-stars or higher and give them a yellow label when finished processing
- Only spend the effort applying keywords and captions to photos that are finished processing. Once completed apply a green label indicating the image is ready to share
At any time in the future, from the Library view using the filter bar or custom collections, I can identify images that still might need processing and images that are ready to share.
Rating & Label Meanings
Workflow Stages
Culling
In the Library using the Grid view (G), I run through the set of photos flagging images I wish to continue processing with the pick flag (P). Any images I want to delete get (X). For culling I use the Library Grid view instead of Loupe view. I hide the side panels (type Shift-Tab) and make the thumbnails size as large as possible. This allows me to see the context for any single image in the collection. If I need to check focus, I will use Loupe view (type E) for that image.
In the past I made sure every photo got an X or a P, that way any unmarked photo had not yet been evaluated. That meant too many photos survived to the next round and needed a rating. Now I only wish to continue with picked images and feel comfortable leaving some un-tagged.
Sequences of photos
Some sequences I create have “sentinel” photos marking the beginning and end of the sequence, but many bursts of photos do not (e.g. camera auto focus stacks and drone bursts). In that case, I group sequences of photos by using the auto stacking feature. For each stack I apply special Keywords SEQUENCE and Focus Stack or HDR or Panorama, as appropriate (HDR really means “exposure blend”). I give each photo in the stack a 2-star rating and tag them as picked. The 2-star rating indicates the individual file is not ready for Lightroom processing, but is a “constituent part of an image” that may be developed later. The pick flag keeps me from accidentally deleting them.
Optionally I can use Lightroom “photo merge” on HDR or panoramic sequences during culling, and if I want to further process the result in Lightroom, the result gets a pick flag and 3-star rating. However, processing focus stacks and dynamic range blending etc. will take you out of Lightroom. This consumes time, most often I tag them so I can quickly find and do the extra processing later.
Rating
I filter my view to only picked photos and give any image that I wish to Develop a 3-star rating. Images that I feel particularly good about can get a higher rating. At this point I use the higher star ratings mostly to prioritize the Lightroom image processing. Many picked photos will get no rating and will not progress to the next stage.
For sequences of photos, the individual constituent files will not be processed so get 2-stars. Except if there is a particularly good image in the stack that I wish to individually process, it gets 3-star. Once the sequence of photos is merged, the resulting image gets a pick flag and 3-star to indicate more processing.
Lightroom Image Processing
I use the Develop module only for images rated 3-star or higher. Many images can be completed just by using the Lightroom Develop module and once I am satisfied, mark them with a yellow label. Some images require additional editing in Photoshop, so before setting the label, I add the “photoshop” keyword. Even though the photo processing is not yet complete, I set the yellow label on the RAW file, reflecting it is done with respect to Lightroom. If at this point I create a Photoshop file, it gets at least 3-stars, and set the RAW file to 2-star (it is a “constituent image”). Only if I am finished with the Photoshop processing I set the label to yellow.
For added efficiency, I prioritize photos for the Develop module using star ratings, 5-star first, then 4-star, then 3-star. Note this is only a transitory rating, and gets revisited after the keywording step.
If you get to this point with a particular photo and you think processing is not going anywhere, there is no sense in flailing about. Either do not set the yellow label or change the rating to 1- or 2-stars. This makes the file drop out of the workflow smart collections.
If you use third party tools as part of the RAW processing, they often generate an additional file into Lightroom. Much of the metadata is carried over, but usually not the pick flag. If using the Workflow collection set, these need to be added to the 0-WorkSet collection. You can drag the file there, or if 0-WorkSet is the target collection type the B-key. [When evaluating a new tool, I write the application into the Copy Name field (e.g. DxO or Photo AI) simply for tracking purposes. I do this rather than a keyword because it is easier to see/identify in the metadata panel than in the keywords list; both are searchable. ]
Add Keywords, Title and Caption
Publishing/sharing a photo works best with a good Title and Caption. Keywording, while essential to find your photos, it is a pain, particularly when manually adding them to an image. To reduce the suffering, I apply the metadata after the set of images has been reduced to a manageable quantity, specifically those I have finished processing. This is enforced by using my _00WORKFLOW collection set.
Once the Title and Caption are set and a reasonable set of keywords added. I mark the images with a green label. By “reasonable set” I mean enough keywords to find the photo again. Note I don’t feel keywording is ever really complete, as over time my need to find may evolve and I may come up with additional descriptive words.
There are a number of AI based plugins and applications that can assist with keywording and adding Titles and Captions. I currently use Any Vision plugin for Lightroom. This plugin allows me to create custom prompts that can integrate Lightroom metadata fields from the image into the AI response. When my prompts use some location data I need to make sure those fields are populated to get optimum value from the AI response. But this actually is optional. I created custom prompts to supply the Caption and Title for different sharing situations. I run the plugin, inspect and edit the results, and label the image(s) green to mark them as done.
I first write Titles and Captions for my most promising photos and rely on the AI plugin to finish off the remaining processed files. I also add keywords to identify projects, image processing techniques, workshops, etc., words that are unique to me and my interests. Good keywords aid in building a set of collections and filters to find and manage my images.
Ask “how would I ever find this photo again?’
Not Quite Done
The images rated 3-stars or above and with a green label are ready to share with the world. Except for those photos tagged for Photoshop processing or the SEQUENCE stacks that need exposure blending or focus stacking etc. Check that the resulting file has a set of useful keywords, a title and caption, then give it a green label. Now these images are also ready for the world to see.
At this point I revisit the transitory star ratings used to prioritize the order of image processing. Images good enough to publicly share are 4-star, those for the portfolio 5-star. Think of 3-star as “angels waiting to get their wings”. Even if you used this criteria for initially setting the transitory ratings, things may change, particularly after doing the extra processing with Photoshop or third-party editors.
Publishing/Sharing
I use the star ratings to indicate “where a photo should go”; rather than a value-based scheme. For example set photos to 4-star or higher if I want to put them on my blog, and 5-star in my portfolio. A variation on the theme might be to mark 4-star to go to the printer; or 4-star could reflect selects made by a client and sent to them. Criteria such as these seem better than trying to define what makes a 5-star image better than a 3- or 4-star image.
Some of the Lightroom Publishing services add a metadata field to indicate which photos have been published by that service (e.g. Photoshelter), others do not. I have created keywords under PUBLISH for the services I use and add the appropriate keyword to the photo when it is published. It may be a stretch, but I did consider sharing on Instagram publishing, so I apply the Instagram keyword.
Any 3+-star green-label can be published to many places, so it will have many ‘PUBLISH’ keywords. You can make filters or smart collections to see which photos went where. Just make sure that these special keywords do not get exported, since the rest of the world really does not care where the photos went.
Printing
I have a collection set called Custom Prints, in it are sub-collection sets named for individual projects or locations. When using a third party service, I extract a file to the vendor specification, add it back into Lightroom and put it in the appropriate sub-collection. You can give it a keyword associated with the vendor. Some of these steps might be automated in a custom Export preset for the print vendor. All this is to make it easier when I need to make re-prints.
When I use the Lightroom Print module, I click on “Create Saved Print” and put it in the Custom Prints collection.
When You are Really Done with an Image
I use the blue label to mark files that are “done done”, that is no more processing to this particular file. These files are the end result of the entire image workflow. For example the print files get a blue label. Also since print files may have inherited a star rating from the master, to avoid having them show up in 4-star queries you might consider lowering the rating to 3-star or 2-star. CAUTION if you occasionally purge the catalog of all 0- or 1-star or unflagged files, you do not want to get rid of “end result of the work”. But it is not just printed files, it could be a virtual copy with edits for a unique situation or client (e.g. a special aspect ratio). These “once and done” images I consider complete.
For Photoshop files that are “done”, I save it with all layers, rename the file replacing all the generated “…Edit_” suffices with a “_Master” suffix, and give it a blue label. When I make subsequent derivatives, I make a duplicate, optionally flatten the layers and work on the duplicate, e.g. resize for printing, explore creative effects, etc. The derivatives get the appropriate label and star rating to indicate their state in the overall process.
- 3-star or higher get image processing
- Yellow, green or blue labels have been processed
- Green and blue labels are ready to share
Compress or purge
RAW file sizes can be very large and if you shoot a lot of images, then you eventually will have to confront storage space issues. This is an even bigger issue if you backup in three locations. The brave thing to do would be to mark every file that did not survive the workflow process with an X and delete them. But if you have the pack rat mentality and just cannot part with even your weak images, then at least compress them. I have a filter for RAW images with no flag that have 1 or less stars. Select them and convert them to compressed DNG files so they take up less space using the menu Library/Covert Photo to DNG …
Lightroom Classic as Image Management System
What I outlined above suggests a repeatable way to setup your photos into a system for organizing and managing images.
A more complete image management system involves much more however, such as:
- Ingesting images into the system in a repeatable way
- Naming and storing the original files in some type of organized structure.
- A set of tools to develop the raw data into an image
- A set of queries (or collections) that provide additional meaning and organization to photos beyond the storage organization
- A layer of organization of metadata to support those collections. (ratings and labels and keywords) all of this guided by your specific goals for your photography
In my 2014 training presentation slides I made some suggestions that are still helpful for using Lightroom Classic as an image management system. Also see my Lightroom Classic Workflow Collection Set post for a set of smart collections that I use for each photo shoot to setup images for my Lightroom system.