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Benzin
Participating Frequently
January 12, 2019
Answered

I want to keep only the cropped photo and delete the original. I do.

  • January 12, 2019
  • 1 reply
  • 4944 views

Let's say I take a photo with some unwanted elements in the background and I reframe the photo by cropping. Now I really, really do not want to see those elements ever again so I want to have all the metadata, file name, capture time etc. with the photo but only with the cropped one and I want to delete the original. How can I do that? It cannot be that I have to export the photo/s from folder/s and import them again, try to put them back in their original folders, check & rename etc.

So "Crop + Discard the original". Anyone?

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Rob_Cullen

    I agree with everything said by JimHess​  but- if you insist (for a particular reason) it is not difficult.

    1. "Export" the cropped image to a TIF file.

    2. In the Export dialog- check the option to [Add to this Catalog]

    3. Delete the 'Original' from the Catalog / and Hard-drive.

    1 reply

    JP Hess
    JP Hess
    Inspiring
    January 12, 2019

    You cannot "destroy" a master image in Lightroom. Lightroom does not provide a way to remove pixels from a master image. If this is a raw image, Photoshop will not allow you to do that either. The only way to have an image without those unwanted regions is to export a copy that is cropped the way you want it, and then delete the original image. Frankly, I see this as a benefit. It could be that some time in the future (depending on the image) parts that were cropped could possibly be relevant for some unknown reason. It really isn't that big of a problem because the cropped area that is not seen is not part of the displayed image, but it is there because it is part of the original file. That's the way the program works, and you can't change that.

      B
      BenzinAuthor
      Participating Frequently
      January 12, 2019

      Ok thanks, I was hoping I just had not found the feature. I would like LR to trust me to say what photos or parts of the photos I want to keep. I can think of several personal interest, third party privacy or professional medicolegal elements that can not be in the photo now or later and have no potential benefit. So the workflow continues to be a pain

      Rob_Cullen
      Community Expert
      Rob_CullenCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      January 13, 2019

      I do insist With the above method I can get rid of the original and keep the cropped version and quite easily, no folder hassles etc, thanks! But I seem to lose Keywords and Faces, any way to keep those? I do have All Metadata selected in Export and all other boxes deselected (Remove Person Info, Remove Location Info, Write Keywords as Lightroom Hierarchy). I am practicing on a JPG-photo now.


      Well you DO have to "Write Keywords as Lightroom Hierarchy"  if you want the keywords to carry over to the exported file.

      So check/select that option 'ON'.

      You can Copy&Paste keywords from original to exported 'copy' in the library- but only before you delete the original!

      Also exporting to TIF will help to prevent image quality degradation from repeated 'Save to JPG' .

      Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.1.1, Photoshop 27.3.1, ACR 18.1.1, Lightroom 9.0, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.2 .
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