Collections in lightroom

[Foreign Export]

I'm pretty new to lightroom and wondering how to structure collections within my catalogue so I can keep a clear record of which images I have sent to which agency

 

Wondered how others do this, do you for example have a different collection for each agency?

 

Thanks

[RedSnapper]

use the colour labels?
 

yellow: alamy
green :xxxxx

blue: yyyy

red: zzzz

 

km

[Joseph Clemson]

I have a collection set for each agency. Within each agency set I have sub-collections for Submitted, Accepted, Rejected and Not Submitted. The Not Submitted collection is for those images which are candidates for that agency, but I've decided not to submit for one reason or another - it simply reminds me that I made that non-submission decision and that I didn't simply forget to submit that particular image.

[MDM]

I keyword the images themselves - for example,  images that I have had accepted with Alamy are keyworded "Alamy". Then it is a simple matter of making a Smart Collection based on the keyword "Alamy". Images that are cleaned and ready for submission I keyword "submit". I also use the labels as RedSnapper has just suggested so I can see them easily and in case I make a mistake it is easy to find it. The advantage of using keywords is that they stay permanently with the images - they are not Lightroom or Adobe specific should I ever change to different imaging software such as Aperture (unlikely I admit).

[losdemas]

I keyword the images themselves - for example,  images that I have had accepted with Alamy are keyworded "Alamy". Then it is a simple matter of making a Smart Collection based on the keyword "Alamy". Images that are cleaned and ready for submission I keyword "submit". I also use the labels as RedSnapper has just suggested so I can see them easily and in case I make a mistake it is easy to find it. The advantage of using keywords is that they stay permanently with the images - they are not Lightroom or Adobe specific should I ever change to different imaging software such as Aperture (unlikely I admit).

 

+1

 

I prefix keywords that I don't want exported with an underscore (e.g. '_Alamy'), then specify that I don't want the keyword exported.  I then create a Smart Collection for agency collections with that keyword.

[Foreign Export]

Thanks all

Colour labels would make it easy- I will try that, would I then be able to differentiate as to those that have been sent and those that are to be sent?

[Foreign Export]

MDM

 

Thanks for your reply

 

When you keyword- submit- I assume you can then search for all images with that keyword- and therefore I could use that with a keyword for the relevant agency as well?

[Robert Brook]

Agencies are only half the story.  What about different licensing agreements, restrictions etc? 

 

I could pick eight images at random and come up with this:

 

1. With agency A:  The contract is exclusive, the image is RM, print restrictions have been applied so that I can produce a limited edition.  Also under the terms of the agreement I may license the image myself

2. With agency A:  As above but this time RF.  No restrictions can be applied.  Licensing myself?  Wouldn't want to go there.

3  Agency B:  The contract is non-exclusive.  The image may be distributed.  I can also distribute it.

4. Agency B:  As above but restrictions have been applied:  No distribution to USA and no prints.  The image has also been placed with a major US supplier.

5. Agency C:  For each image I can select one of three licensing options: Exclusive, co-exclusive, non-exclusive.  This one is co-exclusive and print restrictions have been applied.

6. Agency C: This one is exclusive.  Here ‘exclusive’ means I can’t even license it myself.

7. Agency D:  Exclusive, but if I can license the image myself provided I clear any usage with the agency.  The image is also on sale elsewhere as part of a limited edition.

8. No agency but is being kept apart to be included in an initial sub to a commercial agency

 

Have made many attempts to get a handle on all this. Haven't tried LR.  Worth a try?

[MDM]

MDM

 

Thanks for your reply

 

When you keyword- submit- I assume you can then search for all images with that keyword- and therefore I could use that with a keyword for the relevant agency as well?

 

Yes you can have multiple criteria so you could have Alamy, Agency B, submit, submitted, RM, RF and exclusive as keywords (looking at Robert's post) and then have any combination thereof as criteria for your Smart Collection including does include and doesn't include. It is a reasonably advanced search and does the equivalent of AND and OR which is very handy. 

 

Labels are useful when the criteria are simple and I use them in addition to keywords for quick visual cues. However, they have a few disadvantages. One is that they are very easy to change accidentally in Lightroom as the shortcut keys are simple numbers without modifiers such as command or control. Inadvertently hit a number and you change the label. Secondly they are Adobe specific. Thirdly, the label names do not move if you install Lightroom on a new machine and bring your existing catalogue over - the labels are still with the images but invisible until you change the names back to what they were on the previous machine which involves some fiddling with two different menus in Lightroom.  I'm not sure if that last bit is entirely correct but I recall having to mess about to reveal the labels.

 

I'd highly recommend Martin Evening's Lightroom book if you want to really get to grips with the program. 

[MDM]

Agencies are only half the story.  What about different licensing agreements, restrictions etc? 

 

I could pick eight images at random and come up with this:

 

1. With agency A:  The contract is exclusive, the image is RM, print restrictions have been applied so that I can produce a limited edition.  Also under the terms of the agreement I may license the image myself

2. With agency A:  As above but this time RF.  No restrictions can be applied.  Licensing myself?  Wouldn't want to go there.

3  Agency B:  The contract is non-exclusive.  The image may be distributed.  I can also distribute it.

4. Agency B:  As above but restrictions have been applied:  No distribution to USA and no prints.  The image has also been placed with a major US supplier.

5. Agency C:  For each image I can select one of three licensing options: Exclusive, co-exclusive, non-exclusive.  This one is co-exclusive and print restrictions have been applied.

6. Agency C: This one is exclusive.  Here ‘exclusive’ means I can’t even license it myself.

7. Agency D:  Exclusive, but if I can license the image myself provided I clear any usage with the agency.  The image is also on sale elsewhere as part of a limited edition.

8. No agency but is being kept apart to be included in an initial sub to a commercial agency

 

Have made many attempts to get a handle on all this. Haven't tried LR.  Worth a try?

 

I'd say definitely you could do this with Smart Collections and keywords in Lightroom. You would need to think out the keywords and then combine them in whatever way you want.

[Robert Brook]

Thanks.  Will give it a go.

[Foreign Export]

Agencies are only half the story.  What about different licensing agreements, restrictions etc? 

 

I could pick eight images at random and come up with this:

 

1. With agency A:  The contract is exclusive, the image is RM, print restrictions have been applied so that I can produce a limited edition.  Also under the terms of the agreement I may license the image myself

2. With agency A:  As above but this time RF.  No restrictions can be applied.  Licensing myself?  Wouldn't want to go there.

3  Agency B:  The contract is non-exclusive.  The image may be distributed.  I can also distribute it.

4. Agency B:  As above but restrictions have been applied:  No distribution to USA and no prints.  The image has also been placed with a major US supplier.

5. Agency C:  For each image I can select one of three licensing options: Exclusive, co-exclusive, non-exclusive.  This one is co-exclusive and print restrictions have been applied.

6. Agency C: This one is exclusive.  Here ‘exclusive’ means I can’t even license it myself.

7. Agency D:  Exclusive, but if I can license the image myself provided I clear any usage with the agency.  The image is also on sale elsewhere as part of a limited edition.

8. No agency but is being kept apart to be included in an initial sub to a commercial agency

 

Have made many attempts to get a handle on all this. Haven't tried LR.  Worth a try?

 

Thank you

I'm concerned about setting up a structure that 6 months down the line - then realising it doesn't function as I need it to

 

Watched a fair few utube videos - but think I will get the book

[Foreign Export]

Sorry it's late - I meant to quote MDM post

[fotoDogue]

I'm using the Alamy Plug-In for Lightroom so I have a Collection Set of smart collections for All Images Uploaded, Images On Sale Images, Sold, Rights Managed Images, etc. which it tallies each time I "fetch" Alamy data. It's quite helpful for Alamy and will give you an example of how you might want to structure collections for other agencies as well.

 

http://www.lightroom-plugins.com/AlamyIndex.php

 

fD

[Reciprocity Images]

 

Agencies are only half the story.  What about different licensing agreements, restrictions etc? 

 

I could pick eight images at random and come up with this:

 

1. With agency A:  The contract is exclusive, the image is RM, print restrictions have been applied so that I can produce a limited edition.  Also under the terms of the agreement I may license the image myself

2. With agency A:  As above but this time RF.  No restrictions can be applied.  Licensing myself?  Wouldn't want to go there.

3  Agency B:  The contract is non-exclusive.  The image may be distributed.  I can also distribute it.

4. Agency B:  As above but restrictions have been applied:  No distribution to USA and no prints.  The image has also been placed with a major US supplier.

5. Agency C:  For each image I can select one of three licensing options: Exclusive, co-exclusive, non-exclusive.  This one is co-exclusive and print restrictions have been applied.

6. Agency C: This one is exclusive.  Here ‘exclusive’ means I can’t even license it myself.

7. Agency D:  Exclusive, but if I can license the image myself provided I clear any usage with the agency.  The image is also on sale elsewhere as part of a limited edition.

8. No agency but is being kept apart to be included in an initial sub to a commercial agency

 

Have made many attempts to get a handle on all this. Haven't tried LR.  Worth a try?

 

I'd say definitely you could do this with Smart Collections and keywords in Lightroom. You would need to think out the keywords and then combine them in whatever way you want.

 

Definitely doable- I am rather OCD myself and use a combination of color labels, star ratings, keywords (which are used in the LR library but not exported), and Smart Collections.

 

Stars: Star ratings in combination with flags serves as my initial selection. Rejected images deleted, and 3* or more gets a color tag that lands them in 'pending stock' smart collection.

Color Labels: Workflow- Red, needs editing; Yellow; need retouching; Green, good to use; Blue, keyworded; Purple, completed workflow...

Keywords: Agencies, submitted to, accepted, rejected, etc; Also, license details, model/property releases; anything else you may need.

Smart Collections: bring all of above metadata together and provide instant access to any subset necessary: Agencies (accepted, rejected, which license), Stock collections: Potential, pending, and completed... the list can go on depending on individual needs!

 

May seems complicated at first but is not really. Just pick a system that works for you and stick with it. Once it's set up it takes no maintenance other than adding adding metadata (as part of standard workflow) and creating new smart collections which are fed by the metadata within your images. Saves a huge amount of time in the long run. Lightroom is as powerful or as simple as you need it to be!

 

-Jason

[Foreign Export]

Well I'm still battling with this - spent hours on it today- seemed easier when I just used hard drive folders.

 

I've started to use a smart collection by agency, and keyword that agency name on an image, having quite figured out how it works if I keyword two agency names on an image.

 

I know I'm doing something wrong, because my workflow is now dreadfully slow

[MDM]

It shouldn't slow down anything as long as you have generated the image previews in advance which you should do as soon as you import the images into Lightroom and have the Automatically write changes into XMP tickbox selected in the Catalogue Settings if you are keywording raw files. If you keyword JPEGs, TIFFS or PSDs, the keywords are written into the metadata of the files. Then you would have one smart collection for each agency - the same image can appear in both collections.  

 

As I said above, if you really want to get to grips with Lightroom, Martin Evening's book is excellent and well worth the price in terms of time saved.

[Foreign Export]

 

 

I prefix keywords that I don't want exported with an underscore (e.g. '_Alamy'), then specify that I don't want the keyword exported.  I then create a Smart Collection for agency collections with that keyword.

 

Thank you I'm taking this approach, could you tell me how you specify that a keyword isn't to be exported?

[Guest]

 

how you specify that a keyword isn't to be exported?

 

Double click on the keyword in the keyword list which brings up a menu for the keyword tags - you can unclick the 'include on export' box.

[Foreign Export]

Just found it

[Foreign Export]

Thanks everyone for your help

I've spent many long hours on lightroom over the past days and it's really working for me now

I couldn't find a way to add 2 colours to an image when I needed to, so have gone for agency name in keywords and a flag for all images to alamy in addition- it's working fine

 

Thanks again

[Russell Watkins]

Thanks everyone for your help

I've spent many long hours on lightroom over the past days and it's really working for me now

I couldn't find a way to add 2 colours to an image when I needed to, so have gone for agency name in keywords and a flag for all images to alamy in addition- it's working fine

 

Thanks again

 

For future reference, if you want to apply different metadata sets to the "same image", just create however many virtual copies you need and you can apply different colour labels, stars, flags, keywords, whatever to each virtual copy.

[Foreign Export]

Thanks- hadn't heard of the virtual concept - I shall explore

[MDM]

I think virtual copies are useful if you want to have different versions of the same image but I'm not sure there is any advantage to having virtual copies of the same image for keywording purposes. 

[NYCat]

I think virtual copies are useful if you want to have different versions of the same image but I'm not sure there is any advantage to having virtual copies of the same image for keywording purposes. 

 

Actually, I picked up that idea very quickly as I use color labels to sort and can use a single image in a couple of my categories. I had never thought of the virtual copies for that. Very useful. Thank you, Russell. There are lots of different ways that people use the stars and labels. Mine are particular to my workflow.

 

Paulette