Inspiring

Not Prioritized

P: Delete Images on Card after Import

Forum|Forum|14 years ago
June 4, 2011
113 replies
5662 views

I would love to get an option to let LR automatically delete images from the card after they have been successfully imported. Images on the card that have not been imported, are let alone, of course.

It would serve two purposes for me:
1. It would save me deleting the images manually.
2. It would dramatically improve the experience of importing images from one card into different catalogs.

An incremental import of subsets of images on one card into a single catalog (but e.g., different folders) is well supported by the "New Photos" filter in the import dialog. However, when I switch catalogs while downloading images from a card -- because some subset of images on the card needs to go into a different catalog -- the "New Photos" filter no longer works. As a result, I have to remember and wade through a lot of images I already imported into a different catalog.

I realise that deleting images from the card is a sensitive issue. It must not happen prior to having verified that the image indeed has been copied (or converted) to a new location. Picasa supports this double checking.

As a safety net, Lightroom could offer a "restore deleted images" feature that would resurrect deleted files from cards. Users will find such a feature tremendously useful for other occasions as well.

I'd be happy with the following compromises as well:

* The option to delete images after import is available only if one activates a second backup location.

* Images are not deleted but the tracking of which images have already been imported is extended to work across catalogs. A record of what images still need to be imported could be associated with a currently inserted card.

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john beardsworth

Community Expert

And that from you??? When you've nothing worth saying, stay quiet. Might be too much to ask, I know.

areohbee

Legend

TK said: "As a safety net, Lightroom could offer a "restore deleted images" feature that would resurrect deleted files from cards. Users will find such a feature tremendously useful for other occasions as well. "

Might even be worthy of a separate FR/Idea, although since I already have a 3rd party utility for it, I shan't bring it up. I'll just say they do work extremely well. They can simply recover recently deleted photos, or even recover files from many shoots ago, *after* dozens of reformats - amazing really...

F

FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor

Inspiring

Jim, thanks for your input.

I disagree that the user you are talking about would be "unsuspecting". The user would have had to confirm a warning dialogue (either when choosing the option once, or -- if it has to be -- before they remove the images).

The ultimate fall-back would not really be taken away as it is very easy to recover deleted images from a card, provided the card has not been written to in the meantime.

I take your word regarding users having had to resort to the card again. Yet, we are talking about quite rare situations here, right? If my card reader played up once, I'd replace it immediately.

BTW, I was aware that you personally use the second backup option. My use of "you" was mean in a general sense, as in "one".

Once Lightroom has checked previews can be generated from the files, has compared them to images on the card (hash code or byte-for-byte comparison), made a backup, and imported them, I'd be fine with the immediate deletion of the images on the card (knowing that I could get back to them anyhow). If someone still thinks this would be a too haphazard approach, they need not tick the option in the preferences.

F

FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor

Inspiring

Victoria, I realise that user mistakes are not the only source for import problems; I was just replying to one of the points Jim made.

I'd be fine with a manual triggering of the deletion of images on the card after one had a look at the previews (the rendered ones, not the previews contained in files).

In principle, however, the problem isn't as big as it appears. After the images on the card have been deleted, they are not gone. It is very easy to bring them back again, provided the card is not written on. A "recover card" feature integrated into LR would be most convenient, but there are also free software solutions available that could be used to restore a card, should it become necessary. We are really talking about exceptional situations, aren't we?

F

FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor

Inspiring

Thanks, Lee Jay. I'd be fine with what you propose.

areohbee

Legend

If Lightroom can generate a successful preview of the imported images and backup validates, they should be safe to delete, and in the rare case that the user would have been able to discover a problem before deleting that the software couldn't before deleting, there's always card recovery software.

So it really should boil down to personal preference, in my opinion.

Delete manually if it makes you feel safer, or otherwise works out better for you, or have software delete if it is a pre-requisite to optimizing your workflow, and you are willing to take what are really very small chances.

Summary:
=======
It may actually be safer to let the software decide when to delete, rather than the user. But both options should be supported, in my opinion.

areohbee

Legend

This is the first counter-argument I've heard that seems compelling to me.

If a faulty reader could result in a bad read of good data, then the backup validation would succeed and good files would be destructively deleted.

For this to be a problem however, the faulty reader would have to read in the same faulty data twice in a row, and in such a fashion that the faulty data still passes Lightroom's own data integrity scrutiny that occurs upon import.

I can see that in the manual case, one might have a chance to look at the thumbs before deleting. But doesn't Lightroom detect these bad files shortly after importing - when generating the previews?

Perhaps a solution that would be more foolproof would be to wait until the previews have been created to delete the files, instead of doing it immediately after import & backup validation.

And of course as was already mentioned, if Lightroom is able to generate a successful preview, and backup validation succeeds, but the user would be able to detect something wrong that the software couldn't and so files were deleted by software that wouldn't have been by user, there is still card recovery software...

L

Lee Jay

Inspiring

"What is the normal procedure after images have been imported into Lightroom? "

Generally, I wait for previews to be rendered, and then I look at the thumbs. If the thumbs could be adequately rendered from the original data, then it's highly likely that the original data is okay.

I'd be okay with adding this feature under two conditions:

1) Some sort of strong hash technique is used to check the data automatically.
2) The method of deleting the data off the cards is to open the imported images in grid mode (possibly using the previously-imported temporary collection), waiting until a render of some sort has been done from the original data, and then opening up something similar to the delete confirmation box while the images are still on the screen - a box with appropriate warnings including the suggestion to have a look at the displayed thumbs. The box must not restrict the user's ability to scroll through the grid.

areohbee

Legend

John - sounding as if you know what you think is not a problem, but sounding as if you speak for all that is sensible Lightroom-wise is. And voicing your opinion in a fashion that seems denigrating to other people's needs/desires fosters negativity and is disrespectful, whether that is your intention or not. Check your attitude man...

Victoria Bampton LR Queen

Community Expert

Please keep this a positive respectful debate guys.

Victoria - The Lightroom Queen

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