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danielg22609008
danielg22609008
Participant
June 12, 2023
Answered

Missing photos and failed imports

  • June 12, 2023
  • 2 replies
  • 1607 views

When I recently started Lightroom Classic I was very confused as I found quite a few recent imports missing. Luckily the photos are not completly gone. Since I imported them into my catalogue befor, the photos have been stored on my SSD drive. (I can view them in Bridge or via the browser.)

 

To make these photos reappear, I assume I have to reimport them. Which will produce the following mess:

  • Since the photos are allready stored on the ssd it will effectivly duplicate every photo.

 

I could save the photos onto another device and import them from that location. But clearly there must be an easier way? Is there any solution to this?

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer danielg22609008
    quote

    Ninety-nine times out of a hundred the photos are in fact in the Catalog somewhere, even if not where you expected to see them. Any reorganisation on disk that LrC does not know about, even just renaming a folder, is not automatically reflected: the Catalog would still show them at the old location, knowing no better. The fix for that would not be a re-import - it would be informing the Catalog about folder(s) "change of address". Re-importing would in that case be highly counter-productive. 

     

    If you know that the image already exists on disk where you want it, and you also know that it is NOT imported anywhere at all within your Catalog, you can use the ADD option of import instead of COPY or MOVE - these options are shown at the top of screen when importing. That avoids producing any further duplicate of your source file (the camera Raw or the camera JPG).

     

    But in those ninety-nine times out of a hundred, this would not be needed. Images don't just delete themselves from the Catalog.

     

    Second, images do not just remove themselves from a Catalog. It may be that the particular view of the Catalog that you have, is not showing them. As an example, by default immediately after you import a batch of photos LrC displays that batch. But that does not persist: on another occasion different photos will be seen or none, when viewing this special collection. Instead, their folder or else any Collection(s) these photos may have been added to, must be viewed instead. Or you can view All Photographs and then they will (necessarily) be seen somewhere. One would filter down to help so it is necessary to use another way 


    By @richardplondon

     

    That might just be the solution I was looking for. Thank you.

    What I found was that the last time the catalogue file has been modified dates way back. So I think after the last import I somehow failed to save the catalogue accordingly. That might be why the files are on the disc but not in the catalogue.

    2 replies

    R
    Community Expert
    richardplondonCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    June 12, 2023

    Ninety-nine times out of a hundred the photos are in fact in the Catalog somewhere, even if not where you expected to see them. Any reorganisation on disk that LrC does not know about, even just renaming a folder, is not automatically reflected: the Catalog would still show them at the old location, knowing no better. The fix for that would not be a re-import - it would be informing the Catalog about folder(s) "change of address". Re-importing would in that case be highly counter-productive. 

     

    If you know that the image already exists on disk where you want it, and you also know that it is NOT imported anywhere at all within your Catalog, you can use the ADD option of import instead of COPY or MOVE - these options are shown at the top of screen when importing. That avoids producing any further duplicate of your source file (the camera Raw or the camera JPG).

     

    But in those ninety-nine times out of a hundred, this would not be needed. Images don't just delete themselves from the Catalog.

    danielg22609008
    danielg22609008AuthorCorrect answer
    Participant
    June 12, 2023
    quote

    Ninety-nine times out of a hundred the photos are in fact in the Catalog somewhere, even if not where you expected to see them. Any reorganisation on disk that LrC does not know about, even just renaming a folder, is not automatically reflected: the Catalog would still show them at the old location, knowing no better. The fix for that would not be a re-import - it would be informing the Catalog about folder(s) "change of address". Re-importing would in that case be highly counter-productive. 

     

    If you know that the image already exists on disk where you want it, and you also know that it is NOT imported anywhere at all within your Catalog, you can use the ADD option of import instead of COPY or MOVE - these options are shown at the top of screen when importing. That avoids producing any further duplicate of your source file (the camera Raw or the camera JPG).

     

    But in those ninety-nine times out of a hundred, this would not be needed. Images don't just delete themselves from the Catalog.

     

    Second, images do not just remove themselves from a Catalog. It may be that the particular view of the Catalog that you have, is not showing them. As an example, by default immediately after you import a batch of photos LrC displays that batch. But that does not persist: on another occasion different photos will be seen or none, when viewing this special collection. Instead, their folder or else any Collection(s) these photos may have been added to, must be viewed instead. Or you can view All Photographs and then they will (necessarily) be seen somewhere. One would filter down to help so it is necessary to use another way 


    By @richardplondon

     

    That might just be the solution I was looking for. Thank you.

    What I found was that the last time the catalogue file has been modified dates way back. So I think after the last import I somehow failed to save the catalogue accordingly. That might be why the files are on the disc but not in the catalogue.

    D Fosse
    Community Expert
    D FosseCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    June 12, 2023

    Or you started a new catalog?

     

    You don't Save the catalog - it updates live as you go.

    dj_paige
    dj_paige
    Legend
    June 12, 2023

    If you have indeed imported the photos into the catalog, then you go into the catalog (Library Module) and search for the photos. That's really all you need to do.

     

    Please follow this 4-step process to search for them (all 4 steps need to be followed in order) in Lightroom Classic.

    1. Click on "All Photographs"
    2. Turn off all filters (Ctrl-L once or twice)
    3. Expand all stacks (Photo->Stacking->Expand All Tabs)
    4. In the LrC Filter bar, search for at least one of these photos by file name.
    danielg22609008
    danielg22609008Author
    Participant
    June 12, 2023

    Thanks for your comment. I tried that but it didnt work. To clarify my problem further I will add a few pictures.

     

    So this is a picture of my current catalogue.

     

     Whereas this shows the "physical files" in my lightroom catalogue folder. Note that I did not copy the files over there but that they have been placed there using the import function.

    dj_paige
    dj_paige
    Legend
    June 12, 2023

    I tried that but it didnt work.


    Did you click on "All Photographs" which is under the Catalog menu on the left hand side of the Library Module —  and which is not the same as clicking "Fotos" on your screen capture? Did you follow all four steps?

     

    Agreeing with @richardplondon when he says "Ninety-nine times out of a hundred the photos are in fact in the Catalog somewhere, even if not where you expected to see them." 

     

    The photos are in your catalog somewhere. You need to find them.

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