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

[Benzin]

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?

[JP Hess]

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.

[Benzin]

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 · Accepted solution]

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.

[Benzin]

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.

[Rob_Cullen]

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' .

[Benzin]

Did it again and I do not know what I did the first time when I lost the keywords but now if I

1) Export

2) Export to "Same folder as original photo"

3) "Add to this catalog"

4) TIFF or JPG

5) "Include all metadata"

it does not make a difference if I have Write Keywords as Lightroom Hierarchy selected or not, the keywords are in the newly exported photo in LR. But may new problem is that the Capture date gets changed to today and I lose the original chronology. Any way to keep the original capture date..?

[Rafael Aviles]

You can edit the capture time of the exported file. Select the picture, then click on Metadata on the top row, then Edit Capture Time.

[JP Hess]

Why not just keep the original image? It's cropped, but you don't see anything but the cropped area. It has the original date, it has all the keywords, everything is there. Nothing to worry about. Export a copy if it's needed for something else.

[Bob Somrak]

Benzin  wrote

But may new problem is that the Capture date gets changed to today and I lose the original chronology. Any way to keep the original capture date..?

If I sort by Capture Time, the EXPORTED file still sorts correctly in LR and is next to the original file.

[Rob_Cullen]

Bob, I do not see this happening for me. (v8.1 WIndows-10)

I exported a DNG (Capture Date = 29/3/2016)

The exported TIF (Capture Date = 20/1/2019)

What is even stranger, if I sort by 'Capture Time' on the folder of images, my 'new' TIF file appears right at the very top of the thumbnails (Sort Direction is A>Z) along with images from 2005. The original DNG (2016) is near the end of the screen.

Does the 'Capture Time' look at metadata other than 'Capture Time' shown in the default metadata panel?

And, regardless of my post being given 'correct'  - the more I read this thread, the more I support the advice in Post#8 from JimHess​

"Why not just keep the original image?"

[Bob Somrak]

I 100 percent agree to  "just keep the original" but that doesn't resolve why I get a correct derivative capture time sort and you don't.  Lr8.1 and Macos 10.13.6

I just exported a CR2 file to DNG, TIFF, JPG and PSD and ALL of them has a Date Time Original in EXIF that were the same.  I don't see a Capture Time in EXIF so I don't know what Lightroom considers the capture time.  The files ALL sorted in order in grid using Capture Time sort.

EXIF data of the JPG, TIFF PSD and DNG exported  files

EXIF data of the original CR2

[Bob Somrak]

WobertC

After rereading you post I see the capture time now in the DEFAULT EXIF panel.  They are ALL the same for all file types I exported.

[Just Shoot Me]

The Capture Time sort uses the Date Time Original and the Date Time Digitized as displayed in the metadata panel.

[Bob Somrak]

”Capture Time” is actually displayed in the “default” EXIF panel.

If I remember right Lr has ALWAYS exported keeping the ”original” Capture Time” for me.

[Rob_Cullen]

Mea Culpa -  (Hits forehead)  I checked my Export dialog and I did not have [Include all metadata] checked.

Must have arisen from the wrong side of the bed today- because I also had the [Stack] option set- thus 'hiding' my export 'copies.'

[gegjr]

Benzin, you finally figured this out by now but I've used LR since version 3 and just realized that LR shows different information in the metadata panel depending on whether you are showing default or exif and iptc or some other metadata format. I found that when exporting images LRC will sometimes meaning usually use the the date of creation which in LRC speak means the day of export to put in the creation date field when you have the default metadata selected. If you select the exif and iptc option you will all the dates correctly. That is assuming you had the correct options set in the export dialogue window. I consider this a MAJOR flaw in Adobe's documentation of how LR works. What LR does to and interprets metadata when a file is exported or when film is scanned such as with older film, slides or prints, should be a major tutorial in LR documentation because it is a major DAM issue. They seem to forget that not all of us were bought during the digital age and many of us used or still use negative or postive film.