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Is it possible to automatically export a specific Collection to a backed-up location?

New Here ,
Sep 18, 2022 Sep 18, 2022

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I have 65,000 photos/videos.  Not all of them are life changing.  What I envision is the ability to fulfill the criteria called for by a smart collection, then automatically export the new content of the smart collection every day to a folder that's backed up by my backup server to AWS S3.

 

I can take care of the AWS connection.  What I can't figure out is how to tag something in Lightroom Classic, have it show up in the smart collection -AND- be duplicated or exported to a backup folder whilst retaining the origina file meta data (creation date, etc.)

 

Any ideas?

 

 

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Community Expert ,
Sep 19, 2022 Sep 19, 2022

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Create a special tag (keyword) and apply that to those images you want to export. Then create a smart collection that searches for this keyword. Lightroom can't automatically export images at a certain time, however. You have to manually select them and export them. It requires frequently looking for new, not yet exported, images however and that is a PITA.

 

I would suggest not to use export for this reason, but to create a publishing service to the backup disk. It still means you have to remember to click Publish every day, but Lightroom will keep track of what's new, what's changed and what's already published and publish accordingly. You can choose in what file format you publish, a finished RGB file like tiff or jpeg, or DNG with edits in metadata for example. Capture dates will always be retained, but the file creation date will obviously the date this new file was created.

 

-- Johan W. Elzenga

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LEGEND ,
Sep 19, 2022 Sep 19, 2022

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In Lightroom Classic, you need to back up the original photos, and the catalog file. Making daily or weekly backups of your edited photos in a (Smart) Collection is not necessary (and in my opinion, this is the wrong way to go), it affords little protection. (And I ask, why are you not making backups of all of your photos?)

 

I would recommend getting true backup software that can backup your original photos and catalog file automatically, you can set it to different configurations, such as making backups of only files that have changed or are new, for example, on a daily basis, and once a month make backups of everything.

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Community Expert ,
Sep 19, 2022 Sep 19, 2022

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My entire workflow is based on keywords and smart collections!

 

Just give a group of images an odd keyword like "AWSbackup" and then set a smart collection with a rule for that keyword.  I believe the keyword rule option is located under the "Other Metadata".

 

I've never had any trouble keeping metadata with photos when they are exported, unless specifically checking the box to strip metadata.  Are you finding the data is missing?

 

Let us know how it turns out.


George F, Fine Art Landscape Photographer

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LEGEND ,
Sep 19, 2022 Sep 19, 2022

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Why would you need a Smart Collection to find photos with a specific keyword? This can be done easily (in my opinion more easily than Smart Collection) via the Keyword List panel.

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Community Expert ,
Sep 19, 2022 Sep 19, 2022

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The benefit in this particular situation would be a visual presence of the folder which I find extremely helpful.  It is one of many ways though.

 

I actually like @JohanElzenga's method of a publishing service to backup a bit better as it will automatically re-save only the files that have changed and you wouldn't have to remember the files that have changed.

 

In general I'm a big fan of smart collections because you can apply multiple rules to them.  I have probably 50 or so keywords that filter photos into various smart collections in different ways in combination with color labels and star ratings.

 

Cheers!


George F, Fine Art Landscape Photographer

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LEGEND ,
Sep 19, 2022 Sep 19, 2022

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Lightroom Classic does not change the image portion of the photo files. There is no need to backup the photo file each time you edit it. 

 

In addition, the meaning of the word backup is EXACT duplicate copy. You need your original photo files and the catalog file. The output of a publish service is not an exact duplicate of the original; it is essentially a modified version of the original in a different file format. These are not backups, you cannot restore your Lightroom Classic catalog and photo files from these publish service exports.

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Community Expert ,
Sep 19, 2022 Sep 19, 2022

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@dj_paige wrote:

Why would you need a Smart Collection to find photos with a specific keyword? This can be done easily (in my opinion more easily than Smart Collection) via the Keyword List panel.



Each have their own pros and cons. A smart collection is constantly available. You just have to click on it. That makes it easy for keywords you have to select over and over again, and for more complicated searches. It also shows a running image count, so I actually use quite a few smart collections for just that: to see the image count, which often should be zero at all times (like the 'no keywords' smart collection). To search for the odd keyword that I do not regularly search for, the keyword panel is indeed easier than setting up a new smart collection for just this search would be.

 

I use the filter bar to filter within (smart) collections. For example to see only the images rated five stars within the chosen (smart) collection. Or see only tiff files, or only images from a certain camera, lens, focal length, ISO value, etc.

 

-- Johan W. Elzenga

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LEGEND ,
Sep 19, 2022 Sep 19, 2022

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Yes, as soon as multiple criteria are needed to do a search, the Keyword List panel is not a useful choice. But this was not mentioned by the OP as a criterion.

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Community Expert ,
Sep 19, 2022 Sep 19, 2022

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quote

Yes, as soon as multiple criteria are needed to do a search, the Keyword List panel is not a useful choice. But this was not mentioned by the OP as a criterion.


By @dj_paige

 

In the example of the OP, a smart collection makes much more sense than the keyword panel, because you can use a smart collection for publishing to disk. The keyword panel can only be used manually, so that is a much less attractive option for him, because that would mean everything he wants to do becomes a manual process.

 

-- Johan W. Elzenga

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Community Expert ,
Sep 19, 2022 Sep 19, 2022

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And exporting as a dng would preserve the edits with the ability to reset to the original unedited version, right?  

 

This is something I may have to try myself to further backup my most valued photos!  I've always been a bit nervous on having a corrupt catalogue back up.


George F, Fine Art Landscape Photographer

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Community Expert ,
Sep 19, 2022 Sep 19, 2022

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Yes. Exporting to DNG keeps the raw data in the DNG and adds the edits to the metadata of the DNG. The advantage over exporting 'as original' is that the edit data and the raw data are in one and the same file, not in a proprietary raw file and a separate XMP sidecar file. The disadvantage is that each time you backup again (because you changed edits) the whole DNG is exported again, not just a small XMP file. For publishing to disk that is not a major issue however.

 

-- Johan W. Elzenga

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LEGEND ,
Sep 19, 2022 Sep 19, 2022

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You can create a Hard Drive Smart Publish Service and use this Plugin to automatically run the Publish at a specifiec time.

 

http://regex.info/blog/lightroom-goodies/bag-o-goodies#publish-at

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