Lightroom: LR4: Is there an option to revert the flag status back to LR3 behavior? i.e. "Local Flags"

That's correct. Flags are now a global property like stars and color labels. There's no option to revert back to the Lightroom 3 behavior.

Regards,
Tom

Thanks for the quick reply.

though....

Tom,

Sorry to be late to the party. BUT, this "new" global flag behavior is REALLY screwing us (and other colleagues and our workshop students) up.

We have many collections that contain Client Proofing selections via the Picked/rejected flags. They often contain overlapping images. One client might want to order Image123 (so click "Select"), but the next client may not (so click "Reject"). Similarly, their "maybe's" are left unflagged.

With LR4 we can no longer allow this proofing (without a huge hassle of maintaining separate, little catalogs for each client/job/interaction/output type). Seems like a big step backwards.

Additionally, all the selection criteria we have in LR3 up until this point is wiped out when "upgrading" to LR4. This seems like DATA LOSS, which we'd consider to be a bug.

(Similarly, we have collections that contain output jobs that use Local Status selections (and ordering) for what was/wasn't included. Examples include various Calendars, Books, and even Gallery Shows. )

Pretty, pretty please can you make local vs global flag behavior a simple Preference? (if local was confusing folks, then global could even be the default).

Please don't go the way Apple seems to be heading, in "dumbing down" your products, and create a Lowest Common Denominator situation.

appreciatively,
-c

*Duplicate reply from other thread*

Chris, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but they're not likely to come back.

It wasn't just an issue of dumbing down, although it's had a minimal impact because very few people understood it. During the whole of the beta period, I only remember one thread on the subject, and it wasn't that long.

Picks/Rejects have become a primary method of refining image sets since it was originally implemented, and LR's local flags ruled out any possibility of cross-program compatibility. With them now globalized, future compatibility with other software such as Bridge, Photo Mechanic, Photosmith, etc., becomes a possibility.

The good news is it's not a data loss situation. If you right-click on any collection that previously had local flags, you'll be able to select them again, and use another rating system.

I know it's tough to have to change your workflow. Rather than adding to the collection and then flagging, you could flag in the folder, and then save their picks and their maybes as collections, before resetting the folder flags ready for the next person. No need to go into separate catalogs.

Best to correct a misconception here. Local flags do not rule out any possibility of compatibility with other applications. If LR did save local flag and collection data to an XMP structure, other apps could then read those details - it would only be a question of their deciding it was worth doing. But on a purely practical level, how likely is it that local flagging data would ever become widely supported? Even the global flag's cross-program compatibility amounts to little more than pie in the sky.

If one chooses to defend this change, it's more convincingly done simply on the basis of not enough people understanding or using the old local flags. The right click menus are just about acceptable as a means of not losing the old data.

Victoria, thanks for the tip about the contextual menu options - are truly THE FAQ Queen after all!

Please see http://feedback.photoshop.com/photosh...

for the bug/missing functionality associated with this approach, and also the kludgy, error prone reality of 36 steps required to split the 1 LR3 collection into the now required 3 LR4 collections.

bummer.