If the contents of my computer (all 38,217 items in my digital stash) could fit in my office, I would hope they could look as pretty as this.

I keyworded the last item in my digital stash on Saturday night (19 Feb 2011)!

My goal was to get it done before class started – and I did!  I may seem a little to happy about it, but  I can honestly say that the results are better than I thought they would be!

At the end of this process I am STILL excited and glad I took the time to convert all my PNG files because now the keywords I embedded into their files (now TIF format) will stay with them forever and ever so if I ever leave Lightroom I am good to go!

Just for fun last night I searched in Mac's Spotlight (like Windows Explorer) with the words: red, damask.  I got this – apparently there are 137 items on my computer with those keywords…

See – this works OUTSIDE of Lightroom too because your metadata is INSIDE your files!!  

Another note for Mac users – technically you can get the same results keywording with other software like Bridge as long as the information is written inside the files – even with PNG – but PNG files are so fickle and easily lose tags (see this post) so i would still recommend converting them to a safer format.

However, you won't find me regularly searching in Mac's spotlight because one of the best things about Lightroom is its awesome search capabilities (I'm only going to cover the TIP of the iceberg in this post – don't worry we'll talk more about them in class.)

For example, if I click on the folder for Shabby Princess in my file folder structure and then in the text search red, damask, I get only the red damask items in her folder:

Let's say I just want to see EVERY butterfly item in my digital stash – I just click the arrow to the right of the # of items keyworded butterfly and I get this:

Or let's say I am jogging through my previews folder and I see a kit I want to do a layout with – I just click on its thumbnail and scroll down the list of keywords and I can click the arrow to the right of the checkmark and # of items (it appears when you mouse over it) and voila – I get to everything in that kit!

Let's say I'm in an ORANGE mood and want to quickly find everything in my stash that is orange.  I just click on the keyword and then voila:

Let's say I am only looking for ORANGE paper – I just switch the sort options and I get this:

Or let's say I just want ORANGE embellishments – again just switch the sort order:

Or let's just say I want to write a LOVE note to my husband and need a cute heart:

Anyway – I could go on and on with endless scenarios but you get the picture.   It's done, it works and I'm excited to share it with you starting March 1st!

Another note – this blog will be silent until class starts March 1st.  After spending a couple of weeks slow and sick, I need to catch up on laundry, housework and a few special projects that don't have anything to do with my computer so I'm ready to run with class. 

A creative break if you will…  which includes a break from emails…  Please forgive me for not responding – I just need to keep my priorities straight so I can be where it is most important for me to be.

So I'll see you here bright and early next Tuesday morning with your first assignment of class!