Lightroom file management workflow best practices

I finally made the jump to Lightroom about a year ago and really like the capabilities it provides me without having to jump into Photoshop. Unfortunately it has left my file management workflow problem either unchanged, or maybe even slightly worse (due to the confusion between the copies LR creates when editing in Photoshop).

I'd love to hear from others on their process for getting the images off the camera and on to the computer, how they manage the file structure while within their digital workflow, and what the final result looks like.

I've always started by copying the images from my camera to the computer via Lightroom's import feature. From there, I've tried a couple different file management techniques, including:

CURRENTLY USED OPTION: FOLDER CATEGORIZATION

I create folders that are categorized at the highest level, such as:
- ACTION (for ski photography)
- LANDSCAPES

Underneath I indicate high level locations, such as:
- LANDSCAPES
- COLORADO
- RIDGWAY
- STEAMBOAT SPRINGS
- ASPEN

Finally, I have two branches within each location: one for the landmark and another to differentiate between my original files and versus the "final" versions after processing and enhancement, such as:
- LANDSCAPES
- COLORADO
- ASPEN
- MAROON BELLS
- ORIGINALS
- FINALS

ORIGINALS folder contains RAW files straight out of the camera and may contain multiple trips to that same location (ie. IMG_7520.CR2 from Sep 11, 2010 and IMG_2520.CR2 from Oct 1, 2011). I leave the file names alone since I can see timestamps on the file itself for determining what year it was from etc.

FINALS usually contains both a processed yet unsharpened version, a web sharpened version, and a print sharpened version for quick reference. I don't like the duplication here so I'm very interested to hear if others keep sharpened copies or just the unsharpened and export to a specific sharpen level when needed.

I've not really gotten into keywords much with this workflow.


AN OPTION I'M CONSIDERING: HEAVY USE OF KEYWORDS

Rather than categorizing folders, I'm considering putting files from each shoot into it's own folder based on the date (ie. "2011-10-06 Maroon Bells" or even just "2011-10-06"). This gives me a sane mechanism for looking at only the images from my "last trip" (as an example) for processing. I would then make use of keywords for the type (Landscape vs Action), location (Colorado -> Aspen - Maroon Bells), etc. Curious how many of you have gone to this extreme, which seems to be the preference from Adobe's evangelists.

One concern I have with such a heavy reliance on keywording is post-Lightroom...meaning, what happens when Lightroom is no longer the "hot thing" and "program XYZ" replaces it but doesn't support importing Lightroom's keywords. This makes me think the "Automatically write changes into XMP" is a required option (so I have keywords tracked in the XMP sidecar file) - is that overkill?

The same problem still applies here as my currently used approach: how to handle original files versus those that have been processed, sharpened, etc.

I use the keywording option that you're considering, though I'm about a year behind on my keywording. One thing I do is convert all files to DNG so that the metadata is automatically included in the file and you don't have to deal with sidecar files.

As Grant, I also convert to DNG on import to avoid the sidecar files.

Under each geographic location folder, I create folders by date of shoot, rather than dumping everything into one folder.

I don't keep multiple sharpened versions.

I don't believe in separating the raw and final images into separate folders.
It's too much work to determine what has been processed and which files need work.

For a quick visual of the image processing status, I use a color code:
- RED - If the processing is completed in LR
- GREEN - for final TIFF files from PS
I use stacking to put the final TIFF file on top of the raw file.

All exposure bracket, focus bracket, or pano sequences are also stacked immediately after import
I also use color codes to identify these catagories.
The final TIFF result is placed on top of this stack.

So, when I open a LR folder I can determine immediately the processing status of all the images
If I want a slideshow of only the completed files, I just filter on the green tags.

I do use keywords extensively. They are especially useful for generic catagories such as: waterfalls, rivers, mountains, trees, flowers, abstract, etc. Since my folders are geographic, I rarely need to use a location filter.

There are lots of ways to organize your files. My strong preference is to keep ALL versions of an image in one place, using stacking and color codes to cut down the clutter.

@Bill: Greatly appreciate your sharing here. I'm going to try moving to the keyword/label extreme, setting up my LR import process to automatically label images as "Red" when they're imported. I'll then mark them "Yellow" if they're still in process and change to "Green" when they're completed. I'm also going to try the stack method - it's a couple extra clicks, but I'll give it a go! Thanks again!

I'd like to highlight Bill P's comment to use geography as the top-category. My cataloging became pretty messed up as I add photos, travels and seasons. I finally realized I would never be able to find what I want unless I had things categorized at least by Continent/country/state. I do have a separate hierarchy for special events or special topics, like textures/colors or family.

I like using my file system to match my categorization scheme. Then I can do backups, copy out a directory or subdirectory from my big drive onto my local computer, then copy it back. As I understand it, Lightroom makes its own library/database so you can't independently move directories and files around without messing up the library. Correct me if I'm wrong, lightroom gurus.

Aperture has a setting that let's you work with the file system, instead of the Aperture Library, so if/when I move to a more robust cataloging program, I would probably choose Aperture. Meanwhile, I'm happy with my Apple file system, Bridge/ACR and Photoshop.

Tom, you can move files and folders within LR or outside of LR.
If you choose to move the files outside, then LR tells you it can't find them and lets you point to the proper directory.
No problem doing it either way. It's just easier to drag and drop within LR.
You can also create, rename and delete folders within LR.