Re-using an external HD with originals on a new Mac

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
July 18, 2021
2 replies
960 views

I have Lightroom store originals on an external drive. I'm migrating to a new Mac. It's easy enough to sign in on the new Mac nad have Lightroom download everything it needs to. But can I connect that external HD to the Mac, change Lightroom's preferences to use that drive for originals, and have Lightroom use it without downloading all the originals again? Or do I have to wipe it and start again?

Thanks for any tips.

How to

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Michael J. Hoffman

Community Expert

EDIT: I answered this but maybe incorrectly. In my response below, I was referring to the option in Preferences>Local Storage tab to "Store a copy of all originals at the specified location". This is different from the "Store Locally" option for an album, or the "Get This Original" option in a single image.

It's important to understand the the locally stored originals are nothing more than a repository for storing copies of the original files you've imported (without any edits or modification). In Lightroom (cloud), the real working copies of originals are stored in the cloud, and any edits are associated with the cloud originals.

If you were to inspect the locally stored originals, you'll find that they are just as they came out of the camera. So, I don't see any risks in mixing the backups from a different machine. Lightroom won't get confused, because it's only dumping copies into the folder you specify, during the import process. It never touches those files again after creating the copy.

Jim Wilde

Community Expert

Lightroom won't get confused, because it's only dumping copies into the folder you specify, during the import process. It never touches those files again after creating the copy.

Actually the primary purpose of the "Store a copy of all originals....." is not for backup, but is in fact for quicker (or offline) access when editing or 1:1 zooming any of your images. If the image you are working on is not currently stored locally, Lightroom has to download it from the cloud and it's then stored and accessed locally from the specified location. If the option remains unchecked, those locally stored originals will become eligible for deletion at some subsequent point (which depends on some complex rules). Thus the option is primarily provided to allow the user to have all images always available when working offline, or as a performance aid if using a very slow internet connection.

Lightroom will also monitor the contents of that local folder so that it knows when an original is held locally as well as in the cloud. You can check the Info status of individual images and it will report what type of file (Smart Preview or Original) is currently held locally.

S

sddawsonAuthor

Inspiring

Yes, this is how I understood it worked. If you have a new machine, and set up LR for the first time on that machine, with the "store a copy" option set, LR will download all the originals from the cloud to that location right?

Given that's the case, do you have a view on what happens when that location already contains all the originals?

I do view this as a sort of last-resort backup. What happens if Adobe has some sort of catastrophic failure of their cloud system, or a bug that wipes some photos? Not exactly unheard of - there's already been a bug in the iOS app that irretrievable lost photos. Ok, I wouldn't have my edits, but at least I'd have my originals. I guess this does lead on to a broader topic of how to have a complete backup of everything if the cloud storage fails.

Jim Wilde

Community Expert

You can try to connect Lightroom on the new Mac to the originals downloaded on the old Mac. Provided you ensure that, when you change the location for the originals on the new Mac from the default location to the external drive, you specify the location exactly as you had it set on the old Mac....and of course you'd need to be usiung the same Adobe ID. Also, obviously set the new location for the originals in the Lightroom preferences before you enable the option to "Store a copy of all originals at the specified location". Then keep you fingers crossed that Lightroom will detect all the originals are already there, and therefore doesn't start downloading them all again.

I have tested this a few years ago and it worked OK then, but I haven't tested recently.

S

sddawsonAuthor

Inspiring

OK, thanks for that insight. That's the way I'd hope it would work, but would obviously require some special logic on Lightroom's part. Do Adobe staff ever reply here?

Jim Wilde

Community Expert

Sometimes Adobe staff will answer in this forum, but they tend to be more visible at the official Adobe feedback site: https://feedback.photoshop.com/topics/lightroom-desktop-cloudbased/5f5f2093785c1f1e6cc40874

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