Creating catalog on external drive from external drive

Question

I have all my photos on an external drive. I want to keep them there to free up space on my Macbook Pro. However I want to organize the photos into a catalog. I understand how to use the metadata to organize the photos, but get stuck before I get that far. If I choose "add" when importing the photos, will this create another copy? If I choose "move" will this move them from the external drive to the catalog folder I created on the external drive entitled "Apple Photos Catalog?" Ultimately, I don't want to have duplicates and I don't want a copy of them on my laptop's hard drive. Does anyone have step by step instructions for importing the photos with what I'm try to achieve? I appreciate any knowledge provided! I have searched and cannot find information specifically for this task.

JP Hess · Accepted Answer

The catalog is a database. When you choose the "Add" option, you are adding record to that catalog or database that tells Lightroom about the image. It tells Lightroom where the image is located and then keeps track of any adjustments made to the image. It does not create another copy of the image. So the image will remain on the external hard drive. If you choose the "Move" option then you will have to decide where you want to move the images to. I have never used that option myself. I haven't found the need to do so yet.

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