I'm having difficulty finding a solid workflow solution for archiving DNGs and Raw natives in Lightroom.

All of my keeper files are converted to DNGs then stored in a YYYY (2009) DNG folder. Roughly about 10% of my keeper files though I also want to archive the original Raw native file as well for NX2.

My library hierarchy: Pictures > 2009 > Masters (DNG) and Raw Natives (NEFs); DNG and NEF are separate folders within "2009".

I don't want to embed the original NEF when I convert to DNG, rather I want to maintain two separate files with two separate thumbnails in two different subfolders. The problem though is that when I convert to DNG and move the files to their respective home folders Lightroom tells me that one file version is already in the catalog and will not allow me to synchronize to show both file versions. That is, Lightroom treats the DNG and NEF as the same file and will not build separate thumbnails.

The only workaround I've discovered is to go in Finder but this is clunkly. I suspect I'm missing something.

How do others who use a similar workflow handle both file formats?

Thanks in advance. Eric

You may find the following discussion relevant, even though it does not deal with the question you asked.

http://www.adobeforums.com/webx?14@@.59b79390/0

Finally found a good workflow solution...

Developed this concept from the lasted DNG article from Photoshop User.

Convert Raw natives via an export preset and save to a dedicated DNG conversion folder. Now I have two separate files (DNG and NEFs) in my library with two separate and functioning thumbnails; once the export preset is done doing its thing I can redistribute the files as needed to their respected "Home" folders.

Eric

Why are you so happy about having two different file formats of the same image?

For highly rated print candidates. It is foreseeable that perhaps I may want to open these files with NX2 or some other converter in the future rather than a wholesale DNG conversion.

Eric

Keeping the original is only natural for me; but for what is the DNG version? Is the version of LR/ACR you are using not supporting the native raw file?

I'm glad to hear you found the article useful Eric!

As an alternative thought for you, do you actually need both formats on the same hard drive and in your catalog - do you go back to them that often? Other thought would be to archive one or other format (I've archived my proprietary files) into entirely separate storage as a much more protected backup.

I want the best of both worlds - I want smaller file sizes, no sidecars and updated on my working drive so I use DNG, but there are (very rare) occasions when I might want a proprietary raw file. That's fine, one of my disconnected backups is the proprietary raw file.

I want them to have matching names and folder structure, but I'm not worried about cataloguing them as I have the DNG's in my catalog, so my workflow is now:
1. Import with backup on - this is a temporary backup, just in case something goes wrong before I finish sorting.
2. Rename files - you might also pick out your favourites at this stage
3. Use the OS to copy the folder to my CR2 backup structure. Export as Original format to the other drive would do the same.
4. Right click > Convert to DNG with delete originals turned on swaps my CR2's in the catalog for the new DNG files - I don't need both formats in the catalog - why would I?

Just a thought!

This sounds very interesting and wonder if I can adapt it to my workflow. I'm using NEFs, importing and weeding in LR2. Then I go to DxO Optics for RAW conversion and these files are in DNG format which I save to a DNG folder. I then end up importing these DNGs before doing all other adjustments in LR2.

This means that catalogue contains many images in the NEF format which never get looked at again after the initial selection process. Not sure that I necessarily want to be as brave as you and delete the NEFs at this stage, occasionally I want to see how NX2 interprets the files.

Great to see that there are world experts living so close to Lymington!

You should be aware that DxO produces linear demosaiced DNG's. Quite a different thing from 'raw' DNGs (and 3 times the size, mind you). For a discussion and a quote from DxO's mouth about what this really means in terms of post processing functionality supported, search in the DxO threads in this forum. There are issues with colour management you should be aware of. I would just point out here that importing linear DNG's into LR does provide you with just a bit more flexibility than importing TIFFs. Don't ask me how much, I wouldn't know exactly, since Adobe have been very hesitant to clarify which LR/ACR functions operate in the pre-domasaicing vs the post-demosaicing 'space'.