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mwhiteaz
Participating Frequently
August 20, 2019
Answered

Add, not Copy, to Library

  • August 20, 2019
  • 4 replies
  • 1270 views

I just installed the 7-day trial of LR Classic on my laptop yesterday.  Following the handout from a class I took over the weekend, it says to sratrt LR, click File>New Catalog, give the file a name, click Import.  So far, so good. I can see all the practice images and they are all checked.  The handout instructs to make sure Add is selected.  Copy is highlighted, though, and it won't let me choose Add.  Is it because I'm using the trial version?

Thanks for any advice.

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer dj_paige

    Okay, I went in and manually highlighted every image in the thumb drive folder, then copied them to yet another folder on my desktop (there have been many so far, all with different names).  Then I ejected the thumb drive and finally got the images imported correctly into LR.  I've never had this issue with PSE, but then I've never gotten images off a thumb drive, either.; they've always been uploaded to my computer from the camera.

    Whew, this has been a trial in many senses of the term.  Thank you for your patience.


    mwhiteaz  wrote

    Okay, I went in and manually highlighted every image in the thumb drive folder, then copied them to yet another folder on my desktop (there have been many so far, all with different names).  Then I ejected the thumb drive and finally got the images imported correctly into LR.  I've never had this issue with PSE, but then I've never gotten images off a thumb drive, either.; they've always been uploaded to my computer from the camera.

    Whew, this has been a trial in many senses of the term.  Thank you for your patience.

    mwhiteaz But this isn't necessary. The instructions have misled you, thinking you have to use ADD. You are (because of these instructions) working hard to avoid the benefits of Lightroom.

    It can be done much more easily, in fact in one simple step, if you select the photos on the thumb drive using the Lightroom import dialog box and then click on COPY and click on IMPORT. Then you don't have to do the copy yourself. The same is true if the photos are in your camera.

    4 replies

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    Mike Stevo
    Participant
    January 1, 2020

    I think i've had a similar problem ... I copy my files from Camera to Hard Drive and then import from Hard Drive to Lightroom... at this point it seem LR "copies" and creates a Folder which effectively replicates the images off a different place in my Hard drive (double staorage) ..It seems the option is best (and Adobe intention) to store all photos under "Lightroom" and thus not store two copies ....

    For a Windows user who sees file Explorer like a filing Cabinet that I go and look into this is challenging but I'm hoping a new way for 2020 will save on hard drive space, workflow time (as it seems I am forever waiting for LR to "copy and import", and results.

     

    Hoping i have read the runes of peoples comments and am getting it right. 

     

     

    D
    dj_paige
    Legend
    January 1, 2020

    I think you are making unnecessary work for yourself, as well as doubling the space needed because you now have two copies of your photos on your hard disk.

     

    If the photos are on the camera card, you can use COPY to store them in any folder you want on any of your hard disks. In essence, you are making the photo known to Lightroom (importing the photo) and causing the file to be copied anywhere you want, all in one step.

     

    However, if you first copy the photos to the hard disk (in my opinion this is unnecessary extra manual step), you would import them via ADD, this leaves the photo in whatever folder you copied it into; and now you are not making two copies of your photo on your hard disk.

     

    So I strongly recommend using the method in paragraph #2. While there might be valid reasons for using the method in paragraph #3, usually there are not.

    Theresa J
    Community Expert
    Theresa JCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    August 20, 2019

    Your photos have to be on a local drive. If they are on a memory card Lightroom has to copy them to a local drive before they can be imported. The best way to keep track of your photos is to organize them on a local hard drive before you import them to Lightroom. When the photos are already on a drive, you will be able to use the Add method.

      TheDigitalDog
      TheDigitalDog
      Inspiring
      August 20, 2019

      Add works IF the images are on a drive LR can access and then catalog those images.

      But if the images are on a memory card, you have to copy them to one of your drives, then LR will catalog them (add to the catalog and copy).

      Author “Color Management for Photographers" & "Photoshop CC Color Management/pluralsight"
      AxelMatt
      Community Expert
      AxelMattCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      August 20, 2019

      Where are the pictures located that you try to install? Memory card, external or internal hard disk?

      My System: Intel i7-8700K - 64GB RAM - NVidia Geforce RTX 3060 - Windows 11 Pro 25H2 -- LR-Classic 15 - Photoshop 27 - Nik Collection 8 - PureRAW 5 - Topaz Photo
      M
      mwhiteazAuthor
      Participating Frequently
      August 20, 2019

      The class images, videos, and handout are on a thumb drive.  The image folder is on my desktop. 

      D
      dj_paige
      Legend
      August 20, 2019

        wrote

      The class images, videos, and handout are on a thumb drive.  The image folder is on my desktop. 

      COPY is really the only option you have when the images are on a thumb drive.

      The instructions talk about ADD, this works when the images are already on a hard drive.

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