P: don't re-import deleted photos with "New photos"

> especially if you enter competitions and have to provide the originals

How do competitions come into this? You realize that the originals are stored on your hard drive, so you don't need to keep them on the cards?

I'm with Frank. SD cards are carrying much more data than they used to, so I might use the same card for a month. While I usually delete some photos before importing from the card, there are definitely many more to delete after I see them on the screen. We should not find these deleted images over and over and over again, each time we reload the card and then have to go through the laborious process of deleting them all over again.  And, many of us do not reuse our cards, especially if you enter competitions and have to provide the originals. Wish Adobe would address this issue soon.

I agree to this concept.  I do not want my images deleted off the card until I have finished with them in LR and/or PS AND I have made several backups of that shoot.

What I do when I import images from a card that I have used before is click on "uncheck all"; then, go to the end of the pictures, pick the last one, hold down shift and pick the first picture of the new shoot.  Then I put a check mark in one of the pics and all the pics from the new shoot are selected.  I rename my photos on import which includes the date, time, & custom text (where I type the event or shoot name).  This is easier than finding all the previously rejected pics and unchecking them.

I agree that if Adobe had the option to not import previously rejected pics, many would use that.  However, since I rename my photos, I don't think this would work for me, as Adobe wouldn't recognize the renamed photos from the card and would want to re-import them anyway.

I like the idea of alternating between card A and card B if you feel safe enough to format card A before it gets re-iserted for import.

Victoria - The "Delete Me" folder is another idea that I may consider.

Also voting for orig. post.
I am really frightened about such "ideas" to let LR delete images off the card after importing!!!  The risk is too high loosing images in case of a disk crash before the next backup starts (automatically or in worst case manually which takes place too late in most cases ...).
Yes I know, LR can store a second copy when importing. But thats not a secure solution regarding viruses, ransomware etc. because this location is online.
Hence, the best way is too keep the images on the SD card for some time.
My workflow is to switch to another card-B after importing from card-A.
But sometimes I have to reuse card-A at the same day and don't want to format it yet.
If I already have deleted some images in LR they will be re-imported again - and thats ugly.

The solution is very simple and could be implemented by Adobe with a small effort I think because they can re-use the program code of an already implemented feature:
- There is still a logic/algorithm behind the "Do not import duplicates" feature, that works well. It's based on the images metadata only.
- When images are deleted from disk in LR, it should keep that metadata (or at least those which are important for the "duplicate" feature) in the DB or a extra file (call it "stub" entries). From time to time LR can purge older  stub entries in this file (e. g. older than 1 year).
- in the import dialog LR has to check for deleted images by using the stub entries metadata in the same way as for "duplicates".
There should be a checkbox beside the "duplicate" option to activate the that "don't import deleted images". Also a setting in the preferences to set the purge period.

I'm sure the overhead (stub entries) for this feature is low in comparison to the space needed for all of our images we are still keeping on disk but are not worth ....... 😉
Hope I could help - and Adobe will answer!

Here's another vote from someone who on principle doesn't delete images off the card when importing. I want to know everything is fine and dandy before deleting anything. (And I'm surprised so many here seem to advocate the "delete 'em right away" tactic.)

If Lightroom could keep track of deleted files it would be a great help when importing new photos. To limit the overhead caused in the catalogue it could be limited to the N number of latest files.

Edward, I think most people do delete all images off the card after importing, and that's the main reason this idea has not had more traction.

Personally, I think Adobe should build auto-delete after successful import/backup into Lightroom (maybe after a prompt for approval). That would at least solve the part of this problem due to forgetting to delete imported photos after importing. It obviously does not address the problem people have who want to use the card itself as a continuing backup even after import.

I confess, it seems like a simple thing to remember previous imports and not re-import. Granted there would be complications for a 100% foolproof solution, since filenumbers can rollover or be reset..., but I guess that problem already exists in determining import duplicates (probably the reason Adobe qualifies by using the term "suspected").

Some interesting suggestions on work-arounds, but wouldn't it just be great if instead of requiring users to make quite complex routines to address this issue, Adobe took ownership of the issue and ensured that Lr kept a log of the images imported (whether subsequently deleted or not) so the problem was eradicated in the simplest, most user friendly way.

Shouldn't great software always be evolving to make life that little bit simpler, and in this case allowing us to focus on whats important rather than fiddling about with home grown work-arounds?

I have just started importing images to Lr direct from my built in card reader, and noticed the following problem:

If I have say 10 images on the card, 5 of which were imported earlier BUT deleted (from the library & catalogue) then even though I have ticked the box that reads "Don't import suspected duplicates" Lr will try to import ALL ten images.

Isn't there a way that Lr can recognize previously imported & deleted images, so as not to re-import them again?

If not, then the issue is that we'd need to delete all images off the card after an import, so as not to be forever re-importing previously discarded images?!

I don't think I ever had this type of issue when I imported from my cameras using their import utilities, and then imported them "in situ" into Lr, so it looks like Lr handles things differently direct from cards, or am I mistaken?

Thanks in advance

I use USB hard-drive(s) on trips for my redundant backups, putting them in different luggage or vehicles than the computer, just in case. A 500GB hard-drive costs $50, although my next purchase will probably be a 2TB USB3-speed drive. You'd want to put your catalog and your images on this drive.

If you have enough cards to use them as your trip backup, then a very simple thing to keep old images invisible to LR would be to rename the images on the card to have a non-image extension. On my computer, the steps to do this would be:

Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Command Prompt

Then within the Command Prompt:

C:\Users\username> E:
E:\> dir \DCIM
E:\> cd \DCIM\100CANON (or whatever folder(s) are listed)
E:\DCIM\100CANON> ren *.jpg *.jjj
E:\DCIM\100CANON> exit

For something besides JPGs, instead of *.JJJ use something that makes sense for the type of files you are renaming so you can rename them back in case you need to view them, again

For my part, I travel with a 160GB passport drive and make a second copy on import. It simplifies life greatly. The second drive is never hooked to power except at copy time and travels in a different bag than my laptop. Fingers crossed so far so good.