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Lightroom Classic and External Hard Drives

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
March 31, 2024
8 replies
11104 views

I'm at a loss here and cannot find an answer anywhere. I just bought an external hard drive for my photos. I've fairly new to lightroom and have been figuring things out as I go. I am stuck on the importing process, I cannot seem to get it down. I plug my memory card into my Mac and I copy/move photos to my external hard drive first. Just drag and drop. Then I open LRC, click import, choose my photos on my external hard drive and click "add" at the top and then import. They show up in LRC under my external hard drive, I create my collections and collection sets and organize how I like.

Where I get stuck is when I eject my external drive, LRC can no longer find the original files and gives me that little exclaimation point in the top right corner of the photos. I understand that it cannot find them because the external drive is no longer connected... but how do I go about this? I've tried googling this problem in all sorts of questions and I am so frustrated. How do photographers navigate using LRC and an external drive? I don't want to have to have my drive connected anytime I want to edit photos....

There's no way my photos have to be stored on my computer... what would be the point of the external drive then? I'm so confused here. I followed step by step on Scott Kelby's youtube video on Lightroom organization (specifically how he imports photos).

Please simplify any solutions, I am very beginner here in Lightroom!

Correct answer F. McLion

If you don't want the drive connected for editing, you can create Smart Previews. These are stored with the catalog on your computer and mainly are lower resolution, compressed special previews which LrC can use for development instead of the original files.

However, for the final export, printing and what not, you'll always need the originals to be connected.

This shows old version, but still basically the same, otherwise use Google: https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/help/lightroom-smart-previews.html

chrisk11883799

Participant

Plug the card into your card reader Open Lightroom and click on eos digital in the window on the left side of the window in Lr .

Click on all photos or just the images you want; then they shuld automatically be copied / go into the catalogue you choose or they go to C drive by default I think unless you change it under the destination Tab on the right side of your window. As for the external drive Leave the external drive plugged into the computer. I move my images (catalogue) to the external drive and work from that. If the external drive isn't plugged into the computer it can't be found by lightroom.

Hope this helps

I too am a newbee.

Z

zabi_7641

Participant

If you're using Lightroom Classic with an external hard drive, make sure your photos are stored on the drive and that it's always connected when working in Lightroom. Lightroom stores the catalog (edits and metadata) separately, so it's best to keep the catalog on your internal drive for speed, and the photos on the external drive. Just don't change the drive letter (Windows) or volume name (Mac), or Lightroom will lose track of the files.

GoldingD

Legend

Where I get stuck is when I eject my external drive,

Very few of us actuality disconnect external hard drives at all , much less do so while using the computer. If the external hard drive has it's own power supply, we might turn that off after turning off the computer to save electricity, maybe??Or if the computer is a laptop and we are on a trip, then yes disconnect when packing up.

And the term Eject normally implies removable media like flash cards/sticks.

This makes me ask, what is the make/model of that external hard drive?

L

Lumigraphics

Legend

Leave the external hard drive plugged in. SImple.

Lori R E

Participant

That's exactly what I do: I have all of my photos on an external hard drive AND I have my LRC catalog on the same hard drive, as well as the LR back ups. I also have an additional hard drive to back up everything on the first hard drive. I can use the first hard drive on two different computers - one desk top and the other a Mac Air when I travel.

JeweledFern

Participant

Hi Lori,

I saw your reply and this is what I want to do. I have a pc at home and I am getting a mac air m3 for studio tethering and editing in studio when i want to get away from home office editing. I want my mac to have classic so i can tether and intitial edits and then take the external use on pc with lrclassic to edit there with photoshop etc or vice versa on mac..... errrrr let would i upload or sync previews to cloud if i forget my extefnzl in one p,ace or theother then recoo ectand sync to external ... i cznt edit in photoshop or other apps like topaz etc without krig8 sls though right .. arghh jow im goung 8n circkes ... canyou clar8fy for me. Thznks so much

Sean McCormack

Community Expert

Personally I have my catalog and images on an external.. Well two actually, one is an SSD with the catalog and recent years folders. The other is a 24TB drive with older photos, still in Lightroom. I simply couldn't fit them on an internal, so I have to use external drives. The catalog could be on my internal, but sometimes I'll take the SSD with me to work away from my desk.

Lightroom Classic catalogs the files you import, but they must be connected to do full work on. Yes, you can use Smart Previews as @F. McLion says and that will allow you to get basic edits done, but not at a detailed level. You simply have to keep the drive connected to work on the file properly. This would be true of most programs. You could use Lightroom, where the files are stored in the cloud, but that's charged in 1TB increments at $10 per month. If you never go over 1TB you're fine on the base subscription, but more means more outgoings.

Sean McCormack. Author of 'Essential Development 3'. Magazine Writer. Former Official Fuji X-Photographer.

barryd37372784

Participant

Very intertesting strategy of some images on an SSD & others on HDD. how does it work ? .it may be intertest to me as my images are on an a 4tb external SSD but it wil eventually fill up . Am I correct to say just put the approriate folders on each drive and ensure both are connected to have access to all your images. However if one drive disconnected then only the connected drive is visible to LRC , in which case you will see the previews for the disconnected drive but told image not available if you wish to use develop module for those images. Thanks in advance

dj_paige

Legend

Very intertesting strategy of some images on an SSD & others on HDD. how does it work?

Images can be on multiple drives, Lightroom Classic doesn't have a problem with this.

Am I correct to say just put the approriate folders on each drive and ensure both are connected to have access to all your images.

I don't understand. Please explain in more detail.

GoldingD

Legend

 I don't want to have to have my drive connected

Why?

There's no way my photos have to be stored on my computer.

An external drive is part of your computer (at least when connected)

Now in theory the photos can be on the Cloud, but that often fails. Not advised.

F. McLion

Correct answer

Community Expert

If you don't want the drive connected for editing, you can create Smart Previews. These are stored with the catalog on your computer and mainly are lower resolution, compressed special previews which LrC can use for development instead of the original files.

However, for the final export, printing and what not, you'll always need the originals to be connected.

This shows old version, but still basically the same, otherwise use Google: https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/help/lightroom-smart-previews.html

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D Fosse

Community Expert

Well, if you disconnect the drive, the photos are obviously no longer available.

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