What’s the Difference Between Folders and Collections in Lightroom?
In this video we’ll be learning about the differences between Folder and Collections in Lightroom Classic. Here is the video:
Link to the full Lightroom Workflow and Organization course:
Lightroom Classic Workflow and Organization course Like a Pro
Video Summary
This tutorial from Creative Pad Media explains a critical concept for Adobe Lightroom users: the fundamental differences between Folders and Collections, and why you should prioritize using the latter.
Folders: The “Strict House”
- Direct Mirroring: Folders in Lightroom are an exact representation of your physical storage (hard drives) [00:31].
- Destructive Connection: If you move, rename, or delete a file in the Folders panel, that action happens to the actual file on your disk [01:21].
- Risk of Duplicates: If you want to categorize an image into multiple folders, you would have to physically duplicate the file, wasting storage space [13:25].
- No Syncing: Folders and their sub-structures do not sync with the Lightroom Mobile app [05:14].
Collections: The “Grandparents’ House”
- Virtual Organization: Collections are “virtual” folders. They don’t exist on your hard drive; they only exist inside the Lightroom catalog [04:13].
- Non-Destructive: You can delete an image from a collection, and it will not be deleted from your hard drive [10:04, 12:05].
- No Storage Cost: You can add the same image to 100 different collections without creating any duplicate files or using extra disk space [14:07].
- Cloud Syncing: Collections are designed to sync with Lightroom Mobile, allowing you to access and edit your curated sets of photos on your phone or tablet [12:26].
The “Naughty Kid” Analogy
- Working in Folders is like being in a strict house where every move is monitored and has consequences [11:33].
- Working in Collections is like being at your grandparents’ house, where you can be as “naughty” as you want (organize, experiment, delete) without any real-world repercussions to your original files [11:57].
