Create a backup for the originals that LR recognizes

[Steffie5FCA]

Hi (apologies if this has been posted before, I have been unable to find an answer),

I copied photos onto an external hard drive (using LR 10.1. / MAC OS Catalina 10.15.7/ 2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5/ 16 GB 3733 MHz LPDDR4X/ Intel Iris Plus Graphics 1536 MB) because my internal SSD is quite full. In order to make double backups of the originals (and to make sure LR recognizes them), I enabled ‘save copy to second location’ on import. LR did put the originals there (i.e., the second external hard drive), but all of them in a single folder. Now when I connect only to that second hard drive, LR tells me that the originals are missing. I have to search for each photo. I have been an avid photographer for a quite some time, so when I search, for example, for “IMG_4306.CR2,” the search engine identifies a number of different photos from different years. When I then choose the correct photo on the hard drive and reference it, LR no longer recognizes it on the first backup disk.

What can I do to make LR also recognize the photos that it has created as a second backup?

If it's too complicated to have make backup for the originals in this way, could I just copy the masters folder as a whole (i.e., abandon second copy command)? The activity monitor on my (new) Macbook Pro indicates 82% (LR) and 16% (system) and only 2% idle during the import on two external hard drives, creating smart previews on the computer at the same time– and that although I only imported 150 pictures at a time and waited until the fans turned off again.

So in short, how can I best create a backup for my originals that LR recognizes?

Thanks for your help !!

[dj_paige]

The best backups are created with the same folder structure as the originals, and are done on a regular basis (daily, weekly, etc.) and via some automated process. The Import feature to make a second copy doesn't really meet this requirement.

Yes you could also manually copy all the folders to an external drive, this is a valid backup, but this fails the "automated" part of the requirement. Why is "automated" needed? Because humans can forget, or be lazy, or too busy, and so if its not automated, you put yourself at risk of not having a recent backup when you need it.

So, to back up your originals you need some software that will do this on an automated basis. I am not a Mac user, but I thought Time Machine does this. You can also purchase third party software to do this, some of which is probably freeware.

Also, with regards to the title of this post ... Lightroom Classic does not recognize backups of your photos. It doesn't know about them at all. If for some unfortunate reason you need to use the backups, you have to specifically tell Lightroom Classic where the backups are located.

[Steffie5FCA]

Thank you very much for your answer.

I had thought that I could do my backups through LR – just by giving the proper commands. Oh well, I’m somewhat disappointed.

I do use Time Machine for backups of my originals and the catalogue that are on my computer. In addition to this, I also copy the catalogue and the masters onto two different external hard drives, which I store at different locations (I really don’t want to lose any of my photos!).

However, my internal SSD is getting full; I can’t put more photos on my computer. I continue to work with the same catalogue, but no longer copy new originals into ‘Masters’ on my computer, but instead into a folder on an external hard drive called ‘LR-Masters not on PRO,’ and keep only the previews on my computer (these still take up a lot of space).

Keeping in mind what you wrote, I think I can just make a copy of this folder, which actually has the correct folder structure.