are my raw files saved in lightroom after import?

[mynstern]

Hello fellew photographers.

I've been trying to figure this out for a while now, but couldnt find a proper explenation online.

Dew to little space on my computer, my editing process has always been this way:

Import from memory card, edit and flagged all chosen photos, rejecting and deleting everything else, than exporting as jpg and deleting everything from card. Basicly my lightroom album becam a storage for only my chosen photos, the ones who ended up being expotrted and used.

Im interested in saving the raw versions of my flaged photos so that I could always go back and re-edit them. I was sure that by not deleting them from lightroom the raw files are autmaticly saved somewhere but unfortunetaly lately I discovered that when I try to re-use those photos on lightroom, I recieve the following message:  "this file could not be found" ot "source files are offline or missing".

Does that mean that I do not have access to all of my photos from the past anymore?

Is there a way to change the setting so that my raw files will be saved automaticly in the future?

If not, can you recomend of a different method that will allow me to keep only the chosen photos as raw files, after editing?

Thank you very much.

[Theresa J]

It sounds like you are using Lightroom Classic, not Lightroom. (Or maybe you are using an older version of Lightroom like Lightroom 5 or 6 which is the same as Lightroom Classic).

Lightroom Classic does not store photos, it stores the information about the photos, and any edits you do to the photos. Based on the workflow you have described I'm pretty sure your original raw files are gone.

If you use Lightroom instead of Lightroom Classic, your photos would get imported into the cloud and you would still have access to the originals. You posted this question in the Lightroom forum, not the Lightroom Classic one, so I am going to move it to the proper place.

[dj_paige]

When you import the photos into Lightroom Classic, the photos are not stored in Lightroom Classic, they are stored on your hard disk somewhere; wherever you put them or wherever you told Lightroom Classic to put them. You do NOT want to import the photos into Lightroom Classic and then remove them from Lightroom Classic; this also eliminates all of your edits. Once you import photos into Lightroom Classic, leave them in there.

If you have little space on your hard disk, import them to a different hard disk that has more space available. This can be selected in the Import dialog box, under Destination on the right, where you can choose to import the photos to any disk and any folder you want. You certainly don't want to delete anything (except for photos that are so bad that you choose to ged rid of them permanently). 

[cmgap]

If you right-click on an image in the Library module and  choose Show in Finder you  will see where your images are actually stored. If you've not selected a location on your own, it is likely your Pictures folder (this is a default setting). Your RAW photos should be here  unless you have deleted them from your disk.

If you are shooting with a high-end camera your files will quickly fill up your local drive. You may want to designate an external drive as your 'All Photos Go Here' storage device. When you want to work with images without being connected to this external hard drive you can create Smart Previews and Synced collections.

Smart Previews will allow you to continue to edit without your hard drive being connected. Synced collections will allow you to work on your images on any device or even browser. If you  have a tablet or smart phone you can download the app and sign-in with your Adobe ID and password and you will see any images that you have synced via collections here. In a browser you can go to lightroom.adobe.com, sign-in and you will see mostly the same tools. When you open Lightroom on your desktop any editing you have done will  be updated  into your catalog.

Collections are a powerful tool to use to keep your favorite images organized and accessible. Take a look at more information here: https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/help/photo-collections.html

[GoldingD]

Dew to little space on my computer, my editing process has always been this way:
Import from memory card, edit and flagged all chosen photos, rejecting and deleting everything else, than exporting as jpg and deleting everything from card. Basicly my lightroom album becam a storage for only my chosen photos, the ones who ended up being expotrted and use

So, some clarity may be needed. Can you revisit your workflow above and restate it step by step. At this point it looks like (I have added a few steps based on assumption)

1. Launch Lightroom Classic.

2. Place SD card in reader

3. Enter Import dialog

4. Choose Copy

Inquiry, Copy? Copy as DNG, Add (very improbable) Move(nah..)/

5. Select photos to copy to catalog

6. Select destination to copy to

7. Accomplish the import

8. Color grade thru photos (i.e. cull thru photos) Flag undesired as rejected

Inquiry: Made an assumption, you do mean you flag them as rejected?

9. Delete the rejected photos

Inquiry, you stated rejected and deleated everything else. What does everything else mean?

10. In the Develop module edit the keepers

11. Flag the edited keepers.

inquiry: Flagg as what? Mostly curiosity, but perhaps a misunderstanding

12. Export the flagged keepers. As JPEG

13. Delete everything from card

Inquiry, how? How and where did you delete photos on your SD card. from within Lightroom Classic (wrong) or via your OS File Manager?