Is Lightroom Really a Data Base Program???? (Sneak preview, “NO”), but it does contain a database of your photo edits
I got into a conversation awhile ago with someone who said, “Lightroom is a data base,” and I said, “no, it’s not.” He said that everybody that he read said it was a database, but obviously he had not reviewed and read the Adobe web site. Since Adobe made the product I’ll go with their interpretation of what Lightroom is, an application that contains a catalog that is a data base. None of your photos are contained in a data base, they are simply viewed through a portal of a sort or an interface, which is what I recall Adobe calling it. Lightroom does have a data base component (the catalog), but the software itself is not a data base program.
In Lightroom, once a catalog is opened, you see a set of folders showing on the left side in a panel called Folders. These folders are simply a reflection of what your photograph folders look like on your hard drive, wherever it is that you store them. Lightroom, upon “import,” simply links to your folders on the hard drive, allowing you to move folders around within the program, and once linked, this is the only place that you should ever move a folder in. Lightroom does not “store” your photos, but you can instruct it on how to handle your photos as you import them, based on your filing system.
The Lightroom catalog is what contains all of the changes and edits that you do in various modules of Lightroom. This includes anything done in the Library, Develop, Slideshow modules and your collections, and any virtual copies you’ve made, although not the original photo, just the edits that you did on the virtual copy. There is never more than one original photo, everything else is a, well, virtual copy, that enables you to work on it with the edits saved to the Lightroom catalog.
It is very, very, very important to know where your catalog is stored and to know where you are storing your catalog backups, assuming you are making backups. Do not keep everything on only one disk. If you are not making backups, you need to start RIGHT NOW. If a catalog gets corrupted beyond repair, and this does happen, and you don’t have a current back up to use then you will lose any work you’ve done in recent times. You can only recover what you have saved in a backup catalog, so back up often. You can set your preferences for backing up the catalog in Lightroom>Catalog Settings>General at the bottom of the screen. (This might be File>Catalog for a PC.)
Since Collections are “virtual,” I use folders for my photo organization. I like doing this because I’m familiar with folders, I don’t want duplicate virtual copies in numerous collections, folders are permanent, and I use either a keyword or a star system to filter for my top photos. I did try the collection storage approach when I first started Lightroom since Scott Kelby recommended it (he still does) but it just did not work well for me and I viewed it as cumbersome. I use Collections for special uses, such as what was entered in a competition or went to a gallery or was used as an export collection or a collection for a slide show. I delete and make them often, as need dictates.
I got into a conversation awhile ago with someone who said, “Lightroom is a data base,” and I said, “no, it’s not.” He said that everybody that he read said it was a database, but obviously he had not reviewed and read the Adobe web site. Since Adobe made the product I’ll go with their interpretation of what Lightroom is, an application that contains a catalog that is a data base. None of your photos are contained in a data base, they are simply viewed through a portal of a sort or an interface, which is what I recall Adobe calling it. Lightroom does have a data base component (the catalog), but the software itself is not a data base program.
In Lightroom, once a catalog is opened, you see a set of folders showing on the left side in a panel called Folders. These folders are simply a reflection of what your photograph folders look like on your hard drive, wherever it is that you store them. Lightroom, upon “import,” simply links to your folders on the hard drive, allowing you to move folders around within the program, and once linked, this is the only place that you should ever move a folder in. Lightroom does not “store” your photos, but you can instruct it on how to handle your photos as you import them, based on your filing system.
The Lightroom catalog is what contains all of the changes and edits that you do in various modules of Lightroom. This includes anything done in the Library, Develop, Slideshow modules and your collections, and any virtual copies you’ve made, although not the original photo, just the edits that you did on the virtual copy. There is never more than one original photo, everything else is a, well, virtual copy, that enables you to work on it with the edits saved to the Lightroom catalog.
It is very, very, very important to know where your catalog is stored and to know where you are storing your catalog backups, assuming you are making backups. Do not keep everything on only one disk. If you are not making backups, you need to start RIGHT NOW. If a catalog gets corrupted beyond repair, and this does happen, and you don’t have a current back up to use then you will lose any work you’ve done in recent times. You can only recover what you have saved in a backup catalog, so back up often. You can set your preferences for backing up the catalog in Lightroom>Catalog Settings>General at the bottom of the screen. (This might be File>Catalog for a PC.)
Since Collections are “virtual,” I use folders for my photo organization. I like doing this because I’m familiar with folders, I don’t want duplicate virtual copies in numerous collections, folders are permanent, and I use either a keyword or a star system to filter for my top photos. I did try the collection storage approach when I first started Lightroom since Scott Kelby recommended it (he still does) but it just did not work well for me and I viewed it as cumbersome. I use Collections for special uses, such as what was entered in a competition or went to a gallery or was used as an export collection or a collection for a slide show. I delete and make them often, as need dictates.