1 Correct answer
This is your problem. You are storing raw files on the internal and are running out of space there. The simple way to deal with this is to move older raw files to folders on your NAS or an external disk). You can do this inside Lightroom if the NAS disk is already referenced in the folder structure or by moving the folders outside of Lightroom and then reconnecting the folders at their new location. Internal disks are often simply not large enough to store all your raw files.
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thanks, the drive I'm running out of space is my internal drive. that's where the imported files from my camera are stored.
By @williamc32956547
So, you are not going to even comment on the rest of my points? Including my point to store photos straight out of the camera on an external drive?
…should I get rid of all the pictures on the "local raw files" or keep them they are taking way too much space and I don't think I will ever need them…
By @williamc32956547
I like to keep raw files because of two things:
The editing software keeps improving.
My skills keep improving.
Sometimes I need to find and use an old picture, and it was shot raw, and I realize that with today‘s tools and newer skills I learned, that could be a much better picture today. For example, sometimes a raw file from an old camera was originally thought to be too noisy to use, but can now be rescued and made into a usable photo using AI Denoise. Or, I find an old photo and realize it can be made much better today with the advanced masks we have now.
You can still decide to delete the raw files if you want, but it sounds like that won’t stop them from building up again. Depending on what kind of Windows PC you have and what upgrades it can take, I think your long-term options for keeping the raw files are any of these:
- Upgrade the main internal storage drive to a larger capacity.
- If there is an additional storage slot in the computer, add another internal drive and store raw files there.
- Add an external drive, and move the local raw file storage to that drive.
If you choose one of the options where you move the location of imported new files, it’s easy to show Lightorom Classic where those files moved to, so that it doesn’t mess up the catalog. You’ll still move them off to the NAS eventually.
Here’s what I do, and I’m not saying you have to do it this way:
My laptop doesn’t have a lot of internal storage. So if I’m going to work with photos, I plug in an external SSD that contains all of my photos. I have also set Lightroom Classic to directly import new photos to that external SSD, so those files never actually touch the internal storage.
I recently bought a synology NAS, that's where the LRC backups live, also photo back ups etc. thank you, most contributors are sugesting external SSD to store old RAW files.
By @williamc32956547
Good, you would be surprised at how many members (normally new ones) have no backups.
Please remember that you should have a 3-2-1 backup strategy, that is having three copies of your Lightroom catalog and photos stored on two different types of media, with one copy kept off-site. So say one an external drive, one on that NAS, and one on the Cloud (or perhaps another external drive that you send or keep offsite, like a family members home, think theft, and think natural disasters like a wild fire). Oh and none of those backups should be on the same drive as the working catalog/photos
Also, one point about RAW is to never ever delete them, as those are your masters, your negatives, BUT, yes, you could certainly off load them from your catalog onto that NAS.
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