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JohnEMHH
Participating Frequently
May 1, 2017
Answered

Link with Flickr

  • May 1, 2017
  • 2 replies
  • 2425 views

Over the years I've uploaded a selection of my photos to Flickr using Lightroom Publish services. What I hadn't realised was that the photos are now linked.  I want to sever that link without removing the photos from Flickr.  The reason I want to do this is to be able to experiment with editing some of the earlier photos but leave them alone on Flickr. I need a safe way to do this.  My photos are pretty popular on Flickr with nearly 3/4 million hits i really don't want to mess with them!

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    Correct answer johnrellis

    The reason I want to do this is to be able to experiment with editing some of the earlier photos but leave them alone on Flickr. I need a safe way to do this. 

    One way to do this is to use virtual copies, as dj_paige suggested.

    Another way to "sever the link without removing the photos" is to right-click the published collection in LR and select Delete.  LR will then ask:

    If you click Leave On Service, the published collection gets deleted from your LR catalog, but the photos remain at Flickr in their existing photo sets.  This permanently severs the link between the collection, the photos in the collection, and Flickr, so any changes you make to the photos in LR can never accidentally make it back to Flickr. You can't undo this, so make sure it's what you really want to do.

    2 replies

    johnrellis
    johnrellisCorrect answer
    Legend
    May 1, 2017

    The reason I want to do this is to be able to experiment with editing some of the earlier photos but leave them alone on Flickr. I need a safe way to do this. 

    One way to do this is to use virtual copies, as dj_paige suggested.

    Another way to "sever the link without removing the photos" is to right-click the published collection in LR and select Delete.  LR will then ask:

    If you click Leave On Service, the published collection gets deleted from your LR catalog, but the photos remain at Flickr in their existing photo sets.  This permanently severs the link between the collection, the photos in the collection, and Flickr, so any changes you make to the photos in LR can never accidentally make it back to Flickr. You can't undo this, so make sure it's what you really want to do.

    dj_paige
    dj_paige
    Legend
    May 1, 2017

    The reason I want to do this is to be able to experiment with editing some of the earlier photos but leave them alone on Flickr.

    If you don't tell the Publish service to Publish, then it won't publish your edits. You could also create virtual copies in Lightroom, and edit those.

    J
    JohnEMHHAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    May 1, 2017

    Thank you ..... perfect answer.  I saw the 'delete' option, but it seemed a little extreme! The situation does raise a further question with me..... Why would one want photos linked?  (I use Flickr to display photos from travelling, so I upload only a proportion of those that are in Lightroom.)

    johnrellis
    johnrellis
    Legend
    May 1, 2017

    Why would one want photos linked? 

    Here are some reasons I have linked collections:

    - I'm building up a collection in collaboration with others who are geographically remote, over many weeks.  They can all share the current contents of the collection.

    - I add metadata to the photos over time (keywords, captions, dates), and they can see it as I add/change it.

    - We all add comments to the photos, and I can then bring back those comments into the LR catalog.

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