New Lightroom Catalog For Faster Performance

[Abel]

Why Use Multiple Lightroom Catalogs?

Many photographers that use Lightroom typically still work in the same default Catalog that came as a default when the software was installed. Continuing to work in the SAME catalog for several years will drastically diminish it's efficiency because every time you load the application it's referencing a VERY large catalog which can include thousands of photo thumbnails, edit recipes and settings etc.

I highly recommend creating a NEW Lightroom Catalog every new year simply to help speed up the performance of Lightroom. I've been doing this for the past couple of years and I've found it very beneficial. As you can see in the directory listing below of one of my Photo Drives is that I currently have 4 directories total: 2011 Catalog, 2011 Photos, 2012 Catalog and 2012 Photos. This method allows me to categorize my photos by year which then lets me create separate Lightroom Catalogs for each in order to running as efficiently as possible.

This article will explain how to create these New Catalogs in Lightroom.

How To Create A New Catalog

While in Lightroom simply click the FILE pulldown menu and select the NEW CATALOG option.

You will then be prompted to locate and name the new directory which Lightroom will create the new catalog in. In my particular case I have a dedicated drive where I store my photos and this specific drive that is set for 2012 Photos is named Photos 3. I simply navigate to the Photos 3 and type in the name I want to give the catalog which is 2012 Catalog and click CREATE.

This will create the new directory as well as create the new EMPTY Lightroom Catalog but will include all of the loaded presets and such that you've been using in the old catalog.

Then it's just business as usual. Import photos, edit then export etc but you should notice a significant speed difference in the performance of your application. This extra speed is very nice to have!


How To Open Previous Catalogs

While in Lightroom simply click the FILE pulldown menu and select the OPEN CATALOG option.

You will then be prompted to navigate and select which Lightroom Catalog you would like to open. In this example shown below I am simply wanting to open my 2011 Catalog so I navigate to that directory, highlight the 2011 Catalog.lrcat and click OPEN.

After clicking the OPEN button Lightroom will close the current catalog I am in which is 2012 Catalog and then open the 2011 Catalog and allow me to work within it.



In Closing

Keep in mind with separate catalogs you can not work within both meaning things like copying develop settings from one image in one catalog over to another image in a different catalog. The work around for this is to create a preset based on the develop settings you want to copy from one catalog and when you open the other catalog that preset will then be available in order to apply it to the new image in that different catalog.

I highly recommend using this method in creating several catalogs based on different years in order to keep your Lightroom Application running as smooth and as fast as possible.

Adobe's Lightroom Catalog Help Section is VERY handy and discusses how to merge, split, delete, copy and/or move Lightroom Catalogs. To view this resourceful section visit this link: http://help.adobe.com/en_US/Lightroo...8C4F92D6D.html

Thanks!

[Abel]

Thread is completed... Thanks.

Enjoy!

[Sonny]

Oh snap! The bossman has start a highly controversial discussion about Single catalogs vs Multiple catalogs. To be honest, there is no wrong or right answer. It's all a matter of preference. Love to see where this goes.

Until then here's some info.

Adobe Evangelists - Julieanne Kost - Single or Multiple Catalogs in LR3? | Adobe TV

Single Catalog or Multiple Catalogs? | Lightroom Secrets

Choosing Your Lightroom Catalog System | Jerry Courvoisier