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brucej7128428
Participant
December 29, 2016
Question

Consolidating photo drives with virtual files

  • December 29, 2016
  • 1 reply
  • 573 views

I want to consolidate several smaller drives in one new 8 TB drive. All the smaller files are catalogued in Lightroom. Is there any way I can move those images to the new drive without losing the virtual files?

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1 reply

elie_dinur
elie_dinur
Participating Frequently
December 29, 2016

The Virtual Copies will always go together with the master rendering to the new catalog. Just as the master is nothing more than lines of text in the catalog database recording the preferred edit, so each VC is nothing more than a few more lines recording an alternate rendering.

B
Community Expert
Bill SpragueCommunity Expert
Community Expert
December 29, 2016

Someone smarter may have a better suggestion. 

But, if it were me, I would consider creating an new catalog on the new drive.  Then I would use the Import From Catalog choice.  The procedure is commonly documented by or for people taking a small laptop on a trip and returning to home/office and wanting to move the work from the laptop to the primary computer. 

It might be slow if you have a lot of files.

dj_paige
dj_paige
Legend
December 29, 2016

Do not create a new catalog, there is no need to do this. The existing catalog can be used.

To move photos to a different drive and maintain the virtual copies, please follow the instructions in "Part 2 — Updating Folder Location" of this document: Adobe Lightroom - Find moved or missing files and folders

In essence, the procedure is:

  1. Copy (not move) the photos (using your operating system) to the new drive, keeping folder hierarchy unchanged
  2. Point LR to the new location of the photos using "Update Folder Location" command
  3. When you are 100% sure this has worked properly, use your operating system to delete the originals from the original location.
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