Lightroom DNG Converstion

[Sabrowenie]

I have been using Adobe LR since version 1.0. All my imports to the catalog have been in the native Sony RAW (.arw) or Minolta (.mrw) format. Since the external drive where I store my working images from cameras, videos and PhotoShop, is getting full (400GB) I was thinking about transferring the files over to to a new 1TB drive and importing them again this time into Adobe's DNG format.
Does converting my working photo library into DNG make any sense?
By the way, when I import I also back up the photos to a 4TB DROBO drive. There they are kept in their native format.

[felix.reichardt]

You can save up to 20% of disk space so IMHO it makes sense. Another advantage I found is that LR assigned keywords are stored in the DNG files searchable by a variety of applications including windows search. LR does not store the keywords in native RAW files to my knowledge.

[aram535]

I still haven't found a way to do this after the RAW images are already imported. Well without redoing all of the work that I have already done. It would be nice if could you export out a RAW + changes/keywords, labels, crops, history to DNG but if LR can do it, I haven't found it... but than again I haven't looked very far either.

[Jaleel]

Originally Posted by aram535

I still haven't found a way to do this after the RAW images are already imported. Well without redoing all of the work that I have already done. It would be nice if could you export out a RAW + changes/keywords, labels, crops, history to DNG but if LR can do it, I haven't found it... but than again I haven't looked very far either.

Correct me if I'm wrong but there are 2 ways of converting RAW to DNG, I haven't taken the plunge yet, except with JPEG files, so I try with 1 file before doing them all.

1. Go to Library then Convert Photo to DNG You can use this on multiple photos too.

2. Go to Export to DNG

I hope this helps or I'll look foolish for not understanding what you wanted to do correctly.

Jaleel

[aram535]

I have no idea on #1... I'll try that later today.

#2 I was aware of but than you have to delete the existing entry in the database, delete the file and re-import back in the DNG you just exported. The really bad part of that is that all of the history/keywords will be lost.

I know I make a big deal about keywords with my photos, but with sports which is 80% of my library, keywords are the biggest pain. Not only is it the generic keywords, but the score, location, players names in the photo (usually the ones in focus), their teams, etc. All of this takes longer than anything else.

[Pony]

Originally Posted by aram535

I still haven't found a way to do this after the RAW images are already imported. Well without redoing all of the work that I have already done. It would be nice if could you export out a RAW + changes/keywords, labels, crops, history to DNG but if LR can do it, I haven't found it... but than again I haven't looked very far either.

Ed Pierce over at Photovision has a great 6DVD tutorial called Lightroom Simplified along w/others.They are on Sale.Go to www.photovisionvideo.com

[Jaleel]

Originally Posted by aram535

I have no idea on #1... I'll try that later today.

#2 I was aware of but than you have to delete the existing entry in the database, delete the file and re-import back in the DNG you just exported. The really bad part of that is that all of the history/keywords will be lost.

I know I make a big deal about keywords with my photos, but with sports which is 80% of my library, keywords are the biggest pain. Not only is it the generic keywords, but the score, location, players names in the photo (usually the ones in focus), their teams, etc. All of this takes longer than anything else.

Glad I could help!! I don't believe that option #1 changes anything other than converting the RAW. While #2 would change things as it exports the Photo out thus making a muck of your metadata.

[felix.reichardt]

Originally Posted by aram535

I have no idea on #1... I'll try that later today.

#2 I was aware of but than you have to delete the existing entry in the database, delete the file and re-import back in the DNG you just exported. The really bad part of that is that all of the history/keywords will be lost.

I know I make a big deal about keywords with my photos, but with sports which is 80% of my library, keywords are the biggest pain. Not only is it the generic keywords, but the score, location, players names in the photo (usually the ones in focus), their teams, etc. All of this takes longer than anything else.

Try the following:

1. Lets say you have some RAW files in a LR folder
2. Apply keyword(s) to the RAW file
3. Convert to DNG and have the DNG file created with the following options:
- Export to same folder as original import
- add the DNG to the catalog
4. Now the DNG and RAW shoudl both exist in the same catalog folder and the DNG
automatically gets the keyword from the RAW.
5. Create a filter to show only RAW file type and then delete the RAW

No need to re-import anything.

works in LR 2.2 and 2.3

[Mr. Pickles]

Like Jaleel mentioned, Convert them. I use 2.3 now (been using LR since 1.0), and from what i remember you can only do it from inside the Library Module, with the Library menu item, and choose Convert to DNG.

This will open an option window, with some interesting options. You can set the thing to Lossless compression, set the extension to lower or upper case, and some others. Note the option to Delete the original image. It can ruin your day. I would convert all the images and then with Windows Explorer delete the originals if you want (your choice).

As far as Lightroom is concerned, if you do NOT delete the original, the image INSIDE the catalog will become a DNG. Both versions will NOT appear in the catalog unless you re-import the original raw image.

Also, any settings that were made ot the original RAW file, ARE still in place after the conversion. At least they are for me, and for the record I use ORF files and version 2.3...

As always, it is good to try it on a couple images, and if it works as you planned, do a giant batch...

[aram535]

Originally Posted by felix.reichardt

Try the following:

1. Lets say you have some RAW files in a LR folder
2. Apply keyword(s) to the RAW file
3. Convert to DNG and have the DNG file created with the following options:
- Export to same folder as original import
- add the DNG to the catalog
4. Now the DNG and RAW shoudl both exist in the same catalog folder and the DNG
automatically gets the keyword from the RAW.
5. Create a filter to show only RAW file type and then delete the RAW

No need to re-import anything.

works in LR 2.2 and 2.3

Than I must have some weird option, because the DNG does not have the keywords or history of the RAW file.

I'll try it on a virgin catalog to see if its a catalog setting that I have set somewhere.

[felix.reichardt]

Weird indeed, I just tried again and it works fine. How exactly are the steps in your workflow?

[aram535]

No idea, the steps work however I lose all the keywords and history on the image. I just tried it on my personal catalog and it did work on several different photos. I'm in the middle of an export, and I'll create a new catalog and import it in to see if that fixes it.

Thank you all for the assistance.

My work flow consist of:

1. Copy CF to HD
2. HD to DVD & Duplicate to 2nd drive (use SyncToy from Microsoft)
3. Import HD as DNG into LR w/Generic Keywords (date, location, type, etc) [everything is shot in RAW]
4. go through photos and flag bad, * = process further
5. go through photos and flag GOOD ones with 2 to 5 stars depending on outcome. Color code any needing Photoshop,
6. 2 stars or higher get generic processing, leveling, etc.
7. Photoshop any tagged ones.
8. Export 5 stars for main portfolio (if any)
8. Export 4+ or 3+ (try to deliver at least 5 images) stars for delivery to customer as sample set. These are sent to Costco for pickup.
9. Export 2+ stars for web gallery.
10. Print/JPEG Export 4x5 proof sheet of of all images for customer. These are 8x10 pages and are sent to Costco for pickup.
11. Backup entire catalog using nightly automated process.