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A
archontic
Participant
November 27, 2021
Answered

Help with Lr catalogs and storing photos on an external hard drive

  • November 27, 2021
  • 2 replies
  • 2940 views

Sorry after browsing the discussions and solution on these boards but I am a new user and not at all tecchie. I have a 256 SSD internal drive on a 2020 Macbook Air with all my Adobe apps on it.

 

I want to start as I mean to go on... how do I put my Lr catalog and Photos on my 4TB external drive before I start filling up my internal drive? I already have my iPhotos folder and catalog of iPhone snaps on the external HD. That was simple. It was a "phone a friend" task. 

 

I would like to import my photos to my external hard drive from memory cards and work on photos one at a time and in batches on my internal SSD drive, space-permitting. And then store these photos on my external HD included in the Lr catalog or should I have separate Lr catalog? Also is it sensible to have an extra folder on my external HD for the processed photos.  

 

Is this a good workflow that I am trying to figure out and achieve? I imagine that there are many answers and alternatives.

 

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer dj_paige

I think this was already answered, but just to emphasize ... you said:

 

I would like to import my photos to my external hard drive from memory cards and work on photos one at a time and in batches on my internal SSD drive, space-permitting.

 

NO! Don't do this. Photos do not need to be on the internal SSD for Lightroom Classic to use them. There is no benefit to putting photos on the Internal SSD but there is extra work, because you will have to move them from the internal SSD to the external when space gets low.

2 replies

dj_paige
dj_paigeCorrect answer
Legend
January 19, 2022

I think this was already answered, but just to emphasize ... you said:

 

I would like to import my photos to my external hard drive from memory cards and work on photos one at a time and in batches on my internal SSD drive, space-permitting.

 

NO! Don't do this. Photos do not need to be on the internal SSD for Lightroom Classic to use them. There is no benefit to putting photos on the Internal SSD but there is extra work, because you will have to move them from the internal SSD to the external when space gets low.

    A
    archonticAuthor
    Participant
    January 19, 2022

    Thanks to you both. I now understood enough to know how to achieve a workflow and all I now need is a backup of my external hardrive. One question: Is buying bigger, but relatively inexpensive cloud storage service as I have at present with Apple (the 1TB plan) a good way of backing up my photos as I am in the process of learning about cloud storage and its advantages/disadvantages.

     

    Is burning to physical media like CD/DVDs/"key fob" flash drives a method that people use so that you can use a digital printing service to make the best quality prints to keep and for archiving?

     

    Is a cloud service mainly for advertising your work or networking and hopefully collaborating with other digital artists? I have a year to find out about all of this before the price hike forces me to make a decision what plan to go for in the long run.

     

    I was thinking about periodically taking a robust portable drive to my ex's in case of theft/flood/malfunctioning of my home computer and mechanical external drives. I was thinking that if my ex is a "family" member then he could access my most precious/important work from the iCloud rather than becoming an Adobe cloud user himself as he is an iPhone "vernacular" snapper with no interest in editing or processing his snaps (I dislike that term tbh) and has not as yet used my cloud storage with Apple. He only uses an iPad and iPhone to look at photos and sometimes streams them to his TV mainly when we are together.

     

    I know that it is probably inappropriate to talk about Apple and its services but if anybody knows of an alternative cloud-based backup or another kind of service before I go crazy with my digital SLR then a pointer what is available and poplular with beginners who intend to really have a go at pastime/ hobby leading to maybe paid employment. I seem to remember the names DropBox and Fickr.... or are there alternatives that people are particularly keen on so that you can archive and also show your work on at a friend's digital device. Do people just use pocket flash "key fob" drives, now?  

     

    Sorry for my ignorance. I'm asking here as I got such great answers from dj_paige and cmgap. Kind Regards.

    cmgap
    Community Expert
    cmgapCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 20, 2022

    Is burning to physical media like CD/DVDs/"key fob" flash drives a method that people use so that you can use a digital printing service to make the best quality prints to keep and for archiving? Your preference - it's not necessary. Most labs have online services that require uploading files for printing versus a walk in where you hand someone a cd or flash drive.

    Is a cloud service mainly for advertising your work or networking and hopefully collaborating with other digital artists? I have a year to find out about all of this before the price hike forces me to make a decision what plan to go for in the long run. No cloud services are used as another form of off-site backup. If you're using Creative Cloud and Lightroom it might make sense to increase your storage on Creative Cloud through Adobe. Cloud storage requirements will grow depending on how much you need it to based on how much you need to store. Check to see what you are getting now with your Adobe plan. You'll have to decide which service will provide you with what you need. With regards to advertising, networking, collaborating with other artists that's what Behance.net or Portfolio is for as well as your own social media and website.

     

    cmgap
    Community Expert
    cmgapCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 19, 2022

    how do I put my Lr catalog and Photos on my 4TB external drive before I start filling up my internal drive? It's recommended that you keep Lightroom on your internal drive and to save space store your photos on an external drive (with a back up of that drive). Lightroom will work more efficiently if it is on your internal drive. If you don't mind the read/write delay time you can move your Lightroom folder to your external hard drive.

     

    I would like to import my photos to my external hard drive from memory cards and work on photos one at a time and in batches on my internal SSD drive, space-permitting. Yes - import your photos to your external drive - it's not necessarty to work on them first on your internal drive. 

     

    And then store these photos on my external HD included in the Lr catalog or should I have separate Lr catalog? Your photos will already be on your external drive and No to have a separate catalog. There are some instances where additional catalogs make sense but not as a standard workflow.

     

    Also is it sensible to have an extra folder on my external HD for the processed photos. Not necessary - all of your edited work will be in the same folder as the originals and Lightroom will keep track of where they are. A separate folder again may make sense in some scenarios but it's not best practice.

     

    Check out Julianne Kosts video tutorial here to get started with learning Lightroom Classic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7yvmFrOixU&list=PLmXfFxjdp3CHCRpDULlvcaqWfK_zLPWF2

     

    Hope this is helpful

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