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bartmeyvis
Participant
May 23, 2017
Question

Adding pictures in Lightroom: changing source destination will lead to loosing metadata in Lightroom?

  • May 23, 2017
  • 2 replies
  • 604 views

-When I’m adding  pictures in Lightroom, instead of copying them, do they have to stay then always at the same location in the original map (in Bridge or at my computer for example) for recognizing the metadata in Lightroom? Or will I by changing my source destination loose my metadata in Lightroom?

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    2 replies

    cmgap
    Community Expert
    cmgapCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    May 24, 2017

    Or will I by changing my source destination loose my metadata in Lightroom? No - pick an image, make an obvious edit such as making it black and white, then move the image to a new folder and see what happens.

    After you move your test image, right-click and view in finder. The image will be in it's new location and the edits / metadata will be intact.

    dj_paige
    dj_paige
    Legend
    May 24, 2017

    cmgap  wrote

    Or will I by changing my source destination loose my metadata in Lightroom? No - pick an image, make an obvious edit such as making it black and white, then move the image to a new folder and see what happens.

    Do you mean: pick an image, make an obvious edit such as making it black and white, then USING LIGHTROOM move the image to a new folder

    B
    bartmeyvisAuthor
    Participant
    May 24, 2017

    Thanks a lot for the comments. Dj paige: I mean moving my pictures on my laptop to another place, not in Lightroom but in Bridge for example.

    Brad Lawryk
    Brad Lawryk
    Legend
    May 23, 2017

    You should not lose the metadata. The metadata is generally embedded right in the image file and should transfer along with the path change.

    dj_paige
    dj_paige
    Legend
    May 23, 2017

    https://forums.adobe.com/people/Brad+Lawryk  wrote

    You should not lose the metadata. The metadata is generally embedded right in the image file and should transfer along with the path change.

    In Lightroom, the metadata and edits are stored in the catalog file, by default the metadata and edits are not stored with the photo itself, and so moving photos outside of Lightroom will cause Lightroom to not be able to find the photos. It's simple to reconnect, but you're better off not doing this in the first place.

    The original poster said:

    When I’m adding  pictures in Lightroom, instead of copying them, do they have to stay then always at the same location in the original map

    You can import new photos into any folder you want, Lightroom doesn't care, everything works fine.

    Or will I by changing my source destination loose my metadata in Lightroom?

    It's very unclear to me what you are asking here.

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