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Dan McKinney
Inspiring
September 24, 2019
Question

Does importing from an SD card ONLY copy, not cut?

  • September 24, 2019
  • 5 replies
  • 1273 views

I'm a newbie with Lightroom, so forgive me if these are dumb questions!

When I insert my SD card, Lightroom opens and starts the import dialog. But I only seem to be able to copy from the card to my system. The "move" button is grayed out and can't be used. This gets a bit confusing after a while as I have to go back and them manually delete the originals from my SD card. Seems kind of cumbersome. 

Also, when the import dialog starts, any files that have been previously imported from the SD card still appear in the import dialog. Is that right? Isn't there a quick way to see what's alrready been imported?

I'm sure I'm missing some important details - let me know what they are! Thanks!

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    5 replies

    GoldingD
    GoldingD
    Legend
    September 24, 2019

    As stated this is by design by Adobe. But why?

     

    1. First up a bit of perhaps out dated bilef that defeating files on a memory card is risky. In older cards parts of the card could get damaged in the process. Basically the FAT got corrupted. You may have been told to never delete images on an SD card in camera? And that could have been extended to in computer.

     

    2. P.S. Along with the above. You may have been told to remove the images via format. And never format via in computer, always via in camera. The format via camera is still important as it creates the proper file structure for use in that particular camera.

     

    3. Another concern that Adobe probably took into account is a distrust of the Move process. If you in essence copy and delete in one process, i.e. move, what if a crash occurs? Do you loose both the data on SD card and hard drive? SD and other memory cards are not to be trusted, they fail, they fail a lot sooner than other data media.

     

     

     

    R
    Community Expert
    richardplondonCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    September 24, 2019

    "who leaves all their original files on an SD card?" - I do, temporarily. Using the write-protect tab for the meanwhile. Of course at some point an SD card is going to need to get re-used. Many people advise that the better way to prepare for that, is by re-formatting the card using the camera menu option - ensuring a known clean and camera-compatible file system is present on the card no matter what. The previously taken photos will naturally disappear then.

     

    But for the meanwhile, the SD card contents might as well act as a safety backstop. Then as soon as the copied files have participated in regular computer backup, that card becomes free for having its write-protect tab slid back, re-insertion in the camera, re-format.

      D
      Dan McKinneyAuthor
      Inspiring
      September 24, 2019

      Makes sense!! I would just need to adjust my M.O. In the past, I've always emptied the card after a shoot, and approached each new assignment with a clean card. You say, "At some point, an SD card would need to be reused." For me, that happens every day.

      Having old files on a card gives me the nagging suspicion that maybe I didn't copy everything over, and I would get paranoid about formatting the thing. The more old files are left on it, the more paranoid I get!

      I just need to get my file transfer procedure down to the point where I'm confident that I've moved over everything that needs to be moved, and that it all goes where it's supposed to go.

      The dreaded scenario of "Where the heck is that laundry room pic?! I know I shot it..."


      Todd Shaner
      Todd Shaner
      Legend
      September 24, 2019

      "Many people advise that the better way to prepare for that, is by re-formatting the card using the camera menu option - ensuring a known clean and camera-compatible file system is present on the card no matter what. The previously taken photos will naturally disappear then. But for the meanwhile, the SD card contents might as well act as a safety backstop. Then as soon as the copied files have participated in regular computer backup, that card becomes free for having its write-protect tab slid back, re-insertion in the camera, re-format."

      I totally agree with Richard!. Leave the files on the memory card at least until you've confirmed their inetgrity by viewing them inside LR. Buy more SD Cards if you need to so you can "shelve" the current card until doing as suggested! As far as future imports using the same card with new pictures on it make sure 'Don't Import Suspeced Duplicates' is checked in the Import module. 

      DdeGannes
      Community Expert
      DdeGannesCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      September 24, 2019

      https://community.adobe.com/t5/Lightroom-Classic/Which-forum-should-I-post-to-Feedback-vs-Forums/td-p/7085309

      See the link above for info about posting Bug Reports or Feature Requests.

      Regards, Denis: iMac 27” mid-2015, macOS 11.7.10 Big Sur; 2TB SSD, 24 GB Ram, GPU 2 GB; LrC 12.5,; Lr 6.5, PS 24.7,; ACR 15.5,; (also Laptop Win 11, ver 24H2, LrC 15.3; PS 27.0; ) Camera Oly OM-D E-M1.
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      Dan McKinneyAuthor
      Inspiring
      September 24, 2019

      OK, so it's not possible to move from a card to the computer using Lightroom import, only copy.

      That said, it would be great if the import process could provide a way to verify the copied files' integrity and then present the option of erasing the originals from the SD card only after verification that they've been copied correctly.

      I imagine Adobe doesn't want to be held responsilbe for files that might be lost in transition? And that's why they don't allow deletion from the SD card?

      I suppose the easiest thing for me to do would be to cut and paste contents of the SD card into a "dump" directory on my system, and then use the import dialog to organize and move the files to their final destination. 

      DdeGannes
      Community Expert
      DdeGannesCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      September 24, 2019

      This is so by-design since the release of Lightroom in 2006. Thus far Adobe has not shown any desire to allow users the delete files from their cards, SD or others.

       

      Regards, Denis: iMac 27” mid-2015, macOS 11.7.10 Big Sur; 2TB SSD, 24 GB Ram, GPU 2 GB; LrC 12.5,; Lr 6.5, PS 24.7,; ACR 15.5,; (also Laptop Win 11, ver 24H2, LrC 15.3; PS 27.0; ) Camera Oly OM-D E-M1.
        D
        Dan McKinneyAuthor
        Inspiring
        September 24, 2019
        Seems weird that we can move files from different hard drives, but we can't move files from the SD card. What's the rationale? If it's to protect the originals, then why aren't originals on a hard drive deemed worthy of this protection?
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