[nicoprod]

Hello

Here's what I do in LR when I work on a photo session and I want to organize my edited / keepers images and create a collection: I import all my images, edit my keepers and then select all of them one by one (ctrl select) and create a collection including all the selected images.

I was wondering if there is a way to select or filter the edited images automatically so I don't have to select them all manually to create my folder... Should I just flag them, or tag them "quick collection" so they are already all at the same spot when I want to create my collection? Or is there a better way?

How do you guys do it?

Thanks!

[nicoprod]

And is there a way to throw away all my non edited images, from LR AND from my hard drive ?

[jatrax]

There are many ways to do the same thing in LR and I suspect different people will have a preference. Here's what I do:
Import everything off the memory card.
Run through quickly and mark 'rejected' (that's the black flag) everything that is obviously OOF or not going to be useful.
Go back through and select and edit each one I am going to keep and mark as rejected the others as I go through.
If I am undecided on one, just leave it alone.
When finished, use the Photo>Delete Rejected Photos command
Select the remainder and create the collection

You could also sort by edit time, that would put all of your edits at the beginning or end and make selecting easier.

[TomTextura]

I star my throwaways with 1 star, using the easy to hit #1 key. Then I filter by equal to 1 star only. I click on the pic at one end of the displayed filtered pics, press shift and hold while clicking on the pic at the opposite end, then right click on the any pic in the selection and choose delete photos from the options. Hopefully I explained that well enough to follow.

I haven't used flags, mostly because I don't know a short cut for them and try to use as few mouse movements as possible (I have tendonitis), but I might try that way as what jatrax described sounds pretty slick too. There's probably a short cut for flags that I just don't know or haven't set up.

[Venturi]

I use a combination of flags, rating, and coloring in my workflow.
I use flagging now simply as a workflow tool
I score my photos with ratings.
I use color codes to organize when I'm putting collections & sets together with diverse keywords.

Here's an outline of my normal process:

1. Import from the card, assigning basic keywords.
2. Set the filter to Flagged & Unflagged.
3. Review pass #1: Reject ("X" key) the outtakes. They will disappear from view thanks to the filter.
4. Review pass #2: Flag ("P" key) the favorable frames.
5. Set the filter to Flagged only.
6. Review pass #3: Rate the flagged photos.
   • 0~2 = will probably get culled.
   • 3 = good enough for facebook snapshots
   • 4 = Good enough for clients, Flickr, Smugmug.
   • 5 = Portfolio quality.
7. Run my basic retouching edits - white balance, tone & contrast.
8. Reject anything that I didn't like after the basic edits.
9. Delete all rejected photos (Ctrl+Backspace, select "delete from disk"). I do this now, rather than later, because I don't want to be tempted and/or distracted by them.
10. If I feel like I need to pull anything from the fire that I didn't "flag" before in order to round things out, I'll re-review the "un-flagged" frames.
11. Refine Photos (Ctrl+Alt+R). This sets all the un-flagged frames to rejected and sets all the flagged to un-flagged. It's like resetting everything, except it keeps the ratings intact.
12. Delete rejects w/ Ctrl+Backspace.
13. Set filter back to flagged & un-flagged.
14. Full re-touching edits starting with the top-rated frames and working down.
    • I'll adjust ratings during this step; some get promoted, some demoted.
    • I reject photos here too. Sometimes after a hard look during edit I hate the shot.
15. Final review pass. Flag everything I intend to keep and adjust ratings.
16. Refine Photos again.
17. Reject all photos with a rating less than 3.
18. Delete all rejects (Ctrl+Backspace) one more time.

I'm pretty brutal with my culling; I don't pack-rat shots anymore. I toss at least 80% of my shots in the bit bucket. My photos don't get better with age, and if I didn't like it today I know I won't like it next year.

[jatrax]

There's probably a short cut for flags that I just don't know or haven't set up.

Shortcut is 'x', so with left hand on the 'x' and right hand using arrow keys you can scroll through pretty quickly.
Shortcut for white flag is 'p' (pick?) I usually do not use but it is available. So many different ways to do this. Filters and sorts mean you can slice & dice almost anyway you want.

[Nuff]

And is there a way to throw away all my non edited images, from LR AND from my hard drive ?

You can use smart collections for that. Create one with variables which select unedited images (I'm sure there's an option for that hidden in there). Whenever you want to go through them again, deleted them whatever. Go to that collection, select all, delete or what ever you seem to fancy.

[NKK]

[*]Delete all rejected photos (Ctrl+Backspace, select "delete from disk"). I do this now, rather than later, because I don't want to be tempted and/or distracted by them.

I'm using LR 3.6, and after one of the updates this option is no longer showing when i press CTRL+Backspace? So i still have the files on my hard drive
I have not been able to find a solution to get that option back - does anyone know how to "bring that back" (delete from disk), so i can get save some space on my drive after a shoot?

Sorry for a little OT - but i still think it's related

[ChooseAName]

NKK, I'm using LR 3.6 as well, on Windows XP. I just tested this and it's working for me, i.e. it deletes them off the hard drive as well; I confirmed that there was additional space on the drive after I deleted Rejected photos. Are you sure you're selecting "Delete from Disk" and not just "Remove"?

[Venturi]

Also bear in mind that "Delete from disk" does a soft delete. They will be in your Recycle Bin, requiring you to empty that to permanently delete them.

[NKK]

@ChooseAName & Venturi - i will try again later to be sure, and post the result. Thank you for answering

[NKK]

Hmmm.... CTRL + Backspace does not give me the option to delete.

In the photo menu i have the following options:
Backspace = remove from collection
ALT + Backspace = Remove from Catalog
CTRL + Backspace = Delete rejected photos.

When i try CTRL + Backspace i do not get the option to delete from disk

[jatrax]

Just tested this in LR 4.1 and CTRL + Backspace brings up the "Delete from Disk" menu box.

Also bear in mind that "Delete from disk" does a soft delete. They will be in your Recycle Bin, requiring you to empty that to permanently delete them.

This is true if the files are located on a local drive, it is not always true if the files are on a network share or NAS drive.

Does it work if you use the menu command rather than key board shortcut? If so, it is possible your keyboard is not sending the correct code on one of the keys. Could be a reprogrammable keyboard or maybe you just need a complete shutdown to reset. Just speculating, something to try.

[NKK]

Just tested this in LR 4.1 and CTRL + Backspace brings up the "Delete from Disk" menu box.

This is true if the files are located on a local drive, it is not always true if the files are on a network share or NAS drive.

Does it work if you use the menu command rather than key board shortcut? If so, it is possible your keyboard is not sending the correct code on one of the keys. Could be a reprogrammable keyboard or maybe you just need a complete shutdown to reset. Just speculating, something to try.

Same from the menu command

But i forgot to say that it is indeed on a nas drive - does this change it's behaviour?
If so do anyone have a workaround on this issue, as there will be left a lot of "bad files" that i will never touch again this way.

[Quicksand]

Same from the menu command

But i forgot to say that it is indeed on a nas drive - does this change it's behaviour?
If so do anyone have a workaround on this issue, as there will be left a lot of "bad files" that i will never touch again this way.

I use LR 4.1 with photos on a network drive, and the menu works for me. (I don't know if I have tried keyboard, since I tend to batch-delete, and rarely delete one at a time.)

Because they are on a network drive, I get a confirmation dialog box that says essentially "LR can't move these to the trash, so they will be permanently deleted -- cancel/confirm."

Do you have write permission on the network folder and files you're working on?