Lightroom is so frustrating

[Ayer Nielsen Media House]

As for developing photos, its amazing.

My rage stems from its organization. Catalogues, Collections, Quick Collections, Smart Collections etc

My god. I have my photos in files.

It should be so simple, but its not.

what is a collection

what is a catalogue

what does it matter???

You have Files.

You have Folders.

Why cant I put my files in a folder?

Take trying to sync a photo from your computer to your phone.

I have it installed and updated on both.

Why cant I just click on a file and sync it?

Why do I need to create a collection inside of a catalogue from inside of a smart collection?

Okay lets try this again. I have a synced catalogue, I found it! I know I found it because its got a little tiny greyed out squiggly next to it that is barely visible after navigating through tons of smart collections and quick collections.

Open Catalogue.

Nothing there, REMOVED.

Maybe I can import the photos on my desktop into my synced catalogue.

They are greyed out, wont let me. I guess I've already imported them, so I cant JUST PLACE THEM, I need to find them now and assign them to a collection, a synced collection inside this catalogue.

This program is littered with functions that are barely used, and the most important ones are hidden somewhere in a transparent box.

...If you can figure out how to navigate its functionality.

I OPENED THE WRONG CATALOGUE.

WHY OH WHY CANT I JUST IMPORT THE GODDAMN FILE AND PUT IT ON MY [REMOVED] PHONE.

Nope, gotta cruise adobes forums and read for hours just to understand simple functionality.

Im so glad Im a CC user, I cant imagine paying full price for this counter intuitive headache.

[Profanity removed... families visit this forum... Mod]

[JP Hess]

It seems that you are trying to use Lightroom like you would use a regular file browser. That isn't going to work. The only file that Lightroom opens is the catalog. The catalog is a database. You must choose which photos you want include in your catalog, and they have to be imported. You'll probably import different folders of images. As you do that those folders will begin to display in the folder tree of the library module. You'll have to design your own way of organizing. I usually organize my images in folders by date. I have my catalog with master folders for each year and then subfolders within that year for each project. A collection is used when you want to combine images from different folders because they belong together because of subject matter. Again, you will need to learn how you want to organize  your catalog. I would strongly suggest that you take some time to understand how Lightroom works. It is much different than other software that you have used. Here is a link to some excellent tutorials on YouTube:

Getting Started with Lightroom CC - YouTube

This next link,  you can download a free tutorial that will discuss the basics. It is definitely worth your time to read it.

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/quickstart/

[Hal P Anderson]

Here's an excellent free introduction: https://www.lightroomqueen.com/quickstart/

[John Blaustein]

Definitely download the Lightroom Queen's FREE ebook as Jim and Hal suggested.

In addition, Laura Shoe has some excellent articles and videos to help you get started with Lightroom and understand how the catalog works:

Lightroom and Photoshop Tutorials, Tips and Training by Laura Shoe

Lightroom Articles and Video Tutorials for Beginners, and Help Solving Problems | Laura Shoe's Light...

I empathize with your frustration, but I assure you that if you'll spend the time to learn Lightroom, you will not be disappointed.

John

[John Blaustein]

And don't forget the videos and tutorials on Adobe.com:

Lightroom tutorials | Learn how to use Lightroom CC

http://tv.adobe.com/videos/lightroom/

John