Session vs catalog

Jean Paul Reuland

• January 23, 2019 11:11

Good evening,
Oh yes I am sure this question is hidden somewhere in the thousands topics of this forum!
I quit LR as many others probably. I have spent hours reading about sessions vs catalog but I haven't found the right answer so far. I have installed sessions, deleted them, installed catalogs, deleted them and so far no satisfaction. I know I am using the best photo editing software on the market.
The point: I have some 95.000 pictures on an external hard disk. On my iMac only the Capture One 12 is installed.
My pictures are classified in folders by events, by cities, countries etc. I wish I could keep it that way.
What do you suggest me to do? Sessions for each events and each cities etc or catalogs for the same libraries.
I wish to permanently see all my folders on the left side in the General Library. Is this possible? A brief example: USA, France, Brazil,Hungary, Family,friends,weddings,names of villages etc etc...
Thank you very much for your understanding and precious help. Moderators please forgive me as a newcomer if this has already been explained in the past years. Have a good day
Regards
Jean Paul Reuland

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  Ian Wilson

  Moderator

  • January 23, 2019 12:29

  

  I wouldn't use a session for that many images. You can
  
  (1) create a new empty catalog
  
  (2) gradually import images to it as referenced images - so they stay where they are on your external disk, but capture one builds up a database of them. (DO NOT import them as "inside catalog" or you will end up with a huge catalog with 95,000 raw images stored inside it and everything will grind to a halt.)
  
  So to import the images you use File>Import Images. In the dialog box, choose the source folder at the top - perhaps Paris 2017 or whatever, navigating to the appropriate folder on your external disk. Once you have found the folder you want, click open and the import dialog will show all the images in that folder. DO NOT click Import all yet! Then in the destination section change the drop down option to Current Location (which means they will stay on your external drive). In the metadata section you can add a copyright line if you want. In the Adjustments section you can choose to include existing adjustments if these images are already in a Capture One session, to bring in your existing edits to them. Then you can click Import All. Capture One will add the images to the catalog. It will also add their folder into the Folders section of the Library tab.
  
  As you do the same with more folders, the Folders section will be populated.
  
  Now with that process you can do what you want and navigate your existing folders as you describe. But don't forget the power of C1's albums, smart albums, etc. What if you have images of family members in French cities for example? Are they organised on your file system as family photos, or as city photos? You can add the same image to a France album and to a family album, for instance. (They are just virtual copies - they don't actually duplicate the raw file.)
  
  There are good tutorials on YouTube. Try this one for instance. Almost an hour but well worth the time.
  
  Ian

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  Jean Paul Reuland

  • January 23, 2019 12:56

  Dear Ian,
  I will not have enough words to explain how good you made my evening here in Indonesia!
  Now this is 100% clear. By the way why nowhere I was looking for couldn't I find this explanation.
  I will immediately start the process.
  Thank you again Ian for your patience and long concise explanation!
  Best regards
  Jean Paul

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  Ian Wilson

  Moderator

  • January 23, 2019 13:21

  

  [quote="NN635625104829198437UL" wrote:
  Dear Ian,
  I will not have enough words to explain how good you made my evening here in Indonesia!
  Now this is 100% clear. By the way why nowhere I was looking for couldn't I find this explanation.
  I will immediately start the process.
  Thank you again Ian for your patience and long concise explanation!
  Best regards
  Jean Paul

  
  I’m pleased it helps. I do suggest doing a small number at first to get the idea. And do watch that video!
  
  Ian

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