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Failure of import

Explorer ,
Dec 20, 2020 Dec 20, 2020

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I have had superb support from experts who have solved all of my problems, but have now encountered another one. I had a 4.5 gigabyte file of raw photos which started to import properly and then stopped. I didn't know what to do but thought that it was going to demand a massive reorganisation of the file structure so have left lightroom running overnight, but I can find no evidence of the file today. I should mention that I have the file running on a 5 terabyte external drive with nothing else on it. There are still 4.5 terabytes of free space available and the drive is running normally. Is it acceptable to try re importing the file? I wonder whether it has been placed in the wrong location but don't know how to search for it.

This is the largest file I have attempted to import at one time. Previous imports all ran smoothly.

Thanks

Sockit

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LEGEND ,
Dec 20, 2020 Dec 20, 2020

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“I had a 4.5 gigabyte file ...”

 

Do you mean a 4.5 gigabyte FOLDER ?? Are the other mentions of FILE in your statement really discussing a FOLDER?

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Explorer ,
Dec 20, 2020 Dec 20, 2020

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I apologise. Yes I meant folder.

Sockit

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Community Expert ,
Dec 20, 2020 Dec 20, 2020

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Did you get an error message or are you not seeing all the images you expected? If you search for some of the images in the folder in "all photographs" do you find them? If so, what happens when you select "Go to Folder in Library" in the found images contextual menu?

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Explorer ,
Dec 20, 2020 Dec 20, 2020

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Jao.

Thanks for your reply. I haven't seen an error message they have just
vanished , I will look for them in the folder you mentioned though there
are 43,000  there already and will do the search you recommend.Thanks
for the suggestion.  I will report back

Sockit

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LEGEND ,
Dec 20, 2020 Dec 20, 2020

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As these files were already on a hard drive as opposed to on a SD card, Are you trying to copy them to a different folder during LrC import, or were you simply Adding them to the catalog?

 

Difference in the Import dialog options, Copy as DNG, Copy, Move, Add.

 

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Explorer ,
Dec 20, 2020 Dec 20, 2020

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Golding Thanks for your reply.  My system is to have all of my files
imported into a holding file.   I then transfer them to a large file
which mimics the catalogue ie it is broken into subfiles by year from
1960 to the present time. These particular photos were from 1993 and I
imported them into the computer as Dec 20 and filed them in the 1993
slot on this big file.  I then went to the 1993 folder in my light room
catalogue and imported (hopefully) the Dec 20 file into that folder.Once
there I would then develop them with Neg Lab Pro and then move the files
into sub folders in the 1993 folder. That has been working fine up to
now, however I wanted to finish 1993 before the holiday and clear up the
mess so I did a big import which seemed to have overloaded the system. 
If I could find a Dec 20 folder somewhere in lightroom that would work
but I don't know how to search for it. I have been looking through the
"All Photos" access to the catalogue but it slows down to a dribble with
the 43000 plus files as I work slowly through it.  I have the numbers of
each of the photos, and If lightroom could search for a photo by its
number that also could work but I don't know if that is possible.

Thanks for your kind help

Sockit

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Community Expert ,
Dec 20, 2020 Dec 20, 2020

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What do you mean by : "My system is to have all of my files
imported into a holding file.   I then transfer them to a large file
which mimics the catalogue ie it is broken into subfiles by year from
1960 to the present time."

 

What do you consider a "holding file?"   NOrmal process is to 

1. Import images into the LR Catalog -  all that does is "catalog" or make a catalog of the photos where ever they are located, unless you chose MOVE on import.... as Golding said... 

2. Organize the catalog however you choose - by date is great...

3. You can and should back up. your LR Catalog regularly - and that is a setting in the LR preferences.  And do NOT tell Lightroom to put the Catalog Back up on the same drive as the main catalog... I suggest an external drive so that if your internal drive were to have issues, you can still have a copy of. your catalog on a separate drive with all your editing and organization in tact.

4. You can also make backups of your photo files themselves onto a separte drive or location.

Remember, LR catalog does not hold your photos, it just catalogs them, like the library book catalog in a public library.

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Explorer ,
Dec 20, 2020 Dec 20, 2020

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I think I have found the problem.

I just have tried importing a file into the catalogue from my 1993 folder. It is a file that I had previously imported and should not have worked. However it did load the files and with tick marks said that they were new pictures. So I clicked on import which occurred. However at the end of this no file had appeared in the catalogue. However I then realised that the system had created a new file called 2020 12 19 and had dumped the photos into that but without the containing file. Looking further I found that all of the recent images I had been trying to import had gone into that folder and back onto my hard drive. Strangely the catalogue entry for the 1993 folder said that there were no images in it even though there was the huge 2020 12 19 folder plus other folder with files that were accessible.

I am thinking that perhaps I should delete the 2020 12 19 folder in the catalogue and on the hard drive and start again, or is there something else going on? Is there some reason why I can't create new folders?

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

I hesitated but then decided to remove the 2020 12 19 folder with its hundreds of files. I was told that they would be removed from lightroom but not the hard drive. However suprisingly all the other  folders in the 1993 folder were also removed even though they had been loaded several days prior to the big file that caused this problem and were not subfolders of this lightroom created  2020 12 18 folder. The 1993 folder was completely emptied. I therefor shut down lightroom and restarted it an hour later. I then tried to reimport one of the deleted folders. The photos were displayed but washed out, with the error message that these files were already in lightroom even though they had been deleted an hour earlier.

Is this problem in the 1993 file? I need to reload all of these files into lightroom and then to develop them again. What should I do? The files should not be in lightroom at this time.

Thanks

sockit

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Explorer ,
Dec 20, 2020 Dec 20, 2020

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Kentdesign   Thanks for your comments.   I was  trying to explain that I keep a copy of every folder that I load onto the drive in a separate spot from the  large folder that I use for the creation of the catalogue. I do this just in case lightroom damages that folder. I realise that the lightroom catalogue needs to be backed up and do it almost daily because of the big changes I have been making daily to the lightroom catalogue. I have only been using import to add to the catalogue as it filters input and is based on the lightroom folder where I want the new photos and their folders to be stored. I also have a separate NAS which I use for back up and for my final file where I plan to export my catalogue when it is up to date. For some strange reason the Lightroom Catalogue seems to be misbehaving and is not allowing me to import my photos.

Thanks

Sockit

 

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Community Expert ,
Dec 21, 2020 Dec 21, 2020

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Sockit,

 

from your writeup it appears that you used "move" instead of "add" in the import panel. You then also selected the option to file the files into subfolders that are named after the capture date of the images. Since these are scans from film, the files will have a capture date that is the date you scanned them. Your use of the word "file" for "folder" is a bit confusing but that appears to be what happened. Within Lightroom Classic, you can simply move the images into any folder that you like by dragging and dropping but my recommendation is that the next time you import images, you make sure to select the correct option. It sounds like you have already filed or your files into the folder structure that you want them in so the best thing is to make sure to use "add" in the import panel.  With the already imported images that are now refiled into the wrong folders, move them by dragging and dropping inside Lightroom Classic. You can move them outside of Lightroom but this will make Lightroom lose the connection and get confused. That is recoverable by reconnecting the files or folders in Lightroom Classic from the contextual menu but it is easier to just move them inside Lightroom. 

 

That's what I think has happened based on yopur writeup, but it is hard to know for sure without seeing your actual setup.

 

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Explorer ,
Dec 21, 2020 Dec 21, 2020

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Jao.   Wow.  Thanks.  I don't even know how to use the move or add
commands, but maybe in haste I might have mistakenly done that.   I will
immediately go over them and your analysis and let you know what happens
when I try to correct the problem.

Thanks so much for your insight.

Sockit

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Community Expert ,
Dec 21, 2020 Dec 21, 2020

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Hi Sockit,  When you "IMPORT" in Lightroom CLassic, a new window opens. Work that window from the top Left to pick your Source (where your want to import the photos FROM) , then go across the top from left to the top right,  and choose COpy as DNG, COpy, Move, or Add. THen follow the next arrow TO - and click that to fin your Destination - selecting down the right hand side, then across the bottom of the window and when you have been all around the window, clockwise, then click IMPORT. Take your time on the import dialog box because that helps you set up everything correctly from the start.Screen Shot 2020-12-21 at 14.36.03.png

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Explorer ,
Dec 21, 2020 Dec 21, 2020

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Jao I think there is something else going on. I have not yet looked at Move or Add but did another experiment.

I switched to the 1994 folder which was completely empty. I then tried to import a completely new set of photos in a folder that I had put into the 1994 folder on my computer. The import command worked perfectly and the photos showed up with the tick mark . I then clicked import and they were duly imported into the 1994 folder in lightroom.

I then went back into my catalogue and clicked on the 1994 entry. This said that the 1994 folder was empty with no photos and I could not find any of the photos or folder in the 1994 folder.

Looking back I find that many of my annual folders which contain all of the photos say that they have no photos in them even though there are many subfolders which do have photos in them I thought that these annual folder should contain the total of the sum of photos in their subfolders. However they say 0

It makes me concerned that something is going wrong. I have probably switched something off but I don't know what that is nor how I did it.

Anyway the problem has now grown to the 1993 and 1994 folders. I now have no idea where the 200 photos that I imported into 1994 have gone

It is all mysterious.

Thanks

Sockit

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LEGEND ,
Dec 21, 2020 Dec 21, 2020

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So I don't know what previous conversation your are referring to. But, if your 1994 folder says 0 photos, but there are subfolders that have positive numbers of photos, and you are concerned that the 1994 folder doesn't add up to the total of the subfolders — the answer is simple. Lightroom is not a file browser. It doesn't have to follow the rules of a file browser. So there is nothing wrong here.

 

In fact, Lightroom gives you an option to have the parent folder show zero, or have the parent folder add up to the total of the subfolders. If you click on the + sign to the right of the word Folders, you can select or deselect "Show Photos in Subfolders".

 

 

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Explorer ,
Dec 21, 2020 Dec 21, 2020

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Thanks this seemed different from many of the other folders that I have
in Lightrooml. However at the same time the folder should have contained
the 200 photos that I had just imported or at least their containing
folder with the photos in it. That is the crux of the problem

Sockit

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LEGEND ,
Dec 21, 2020 Dec 21, 2020

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Post Screen Shots of what you are seeing.

Use the Insert Photos icon on the tool bar to do that.

 

2020-11-19 10_13_55-Pasting images into posts - Adobe Support Community - 11608749.png

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Community Expert ,
Dec 21, 2020 Dec 21, 2020

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If you are sure you selected "add" which is what you should be selecting based on the workflow you are describing, it could simply be that you have not turned on the option to show images in subfolders. What you want to do is click on the plus and make sure "Show Photos in Subfolders" is checked. This should then show the images in the subfolders of your 2013 and 2014 folders. If you don't it will only show the images that Lightroom knows about at the exact level you select but no images that are stored deeper down.

Screen Shot 2020-12-21 at 6.58.09 PM.png

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Explorer ,
Dec 21, 2020 Dec 21, 2020

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Jao thanks for that information. I knew nothing about this until
recently and had not knowingly changed any of the settings. It seems
however that the plus command somehow was influencing whether photos and
files could be removed as after I had clicked on it and had found a
folder that I thought I had removed from light room, I then had a
statement that clicking one the subtract would then cause these photos
to be deleted.   I sent a shot of that interaction to the forum this
afternoon. Does it also explain why I found that after removing folders
and photos I was not able to re import them as the system thought they
were still present was this + - system still keeping a list of folders
in the system? I currently am unable to import photos and folders as the
system says that they are all ready present though not where I want them
to be.

Sockit

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Explorer ,
Dec 21, 2020 Dec 21, 2020

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Thanks for your recent reply.   I have found the + sign that you mentioned and it showed up 423 files in the 1993 folder which I thought was empty.( You will find the discussion of this with the thread that I was following with Jao)   I was interested in this and thought I would check the effect of the minus sign and got a response that if I wanted to proceed I would erase my file. It seemed totally disconnected from simply showing or not showing the sub folders.   I took a screen shot but could find out how to send it to you.

My reply to Jao was a continuation of a response that I got from Adobe from my thread however I was not able to reply via my e mail and had to log in which seems to have become disconnected.My problem which you partially replied to a couple of days ago was trying to find how the import command seemed to have become fouled up and was pushing my files back out on to my hard drive and not leaving them on my catalogue. I had just tried the import on another empty folder(1994) and it did not put them in  the catalogue either. The 200 photos have just vanished.  It is something I may be doing wrong but as I have done this many times before  without a problem. I am  at a loss.

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Explorer ,
Dec 21, 2020 Dec 21, 2020

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Here is the screen shot to match the text I have sent separately

Sockit

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LEGEND ,
Dec 21, 2020 Dec 21, 2020

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I have now Merged all your different conversations into this one you stareted on December 20th.

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Explorer ,
Dec 21, 2020 Dec 21, 2020

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Just shoot me..  Thanks for all of that effort. I was floundering around
and answering questions but not progressing.    Did you get my reply
that the system rejected twice?

Thanks

Sockit

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Explorer ,
Dec 21, 2020 Dec 21, 2020

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I am still trying to clean up the importing of a file into the 1993
folder. I found that interfering files were put out onto the hard drive
which I have now removed. Hopefully I will be able to get a clean import
at the end of this

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Explorer ,
Dec 21, 2020 Dec 21, 2020

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Jao Things are becoming clearer to me

1 I have always been using Copy as I had thought that the structure in Lightroom should mimic the structure on my hard drive. Thus I first moved a folder on to say 1994 on my hard drive, then went into lightroom and imported the folder into folder 1994 in my catalogue. It seemed natural to copy it as I did not want to rewrite it to the drive.

2) I therefore have always done the lightroom importation by first of all navigating to the destination folder and clicking on import which then led me to the folders on the hard drive and I navigated to the same folder on the hard drive and proceeded with the importation.

3) Thus I never thought that if I was importing that somehow lightroom would move it somewhere other than where I had navigated to. I thus did not see or learn the interaction where I could be in one folder and import to a different folder. I suppose somehow some other folder got into the system and the photos I had imported flew off there. '

4) This raises the question that if these import commands can move photos all over the place, does lightroom keep a copy of the destinations it has sent them to. If it doesn't then it is a bit like a post office which is sending letters to addresses that some unthinking third person cooks up and can't retrace its steps or tell anyone what happened

I will try to do a better job in the future but be aware of the power and untraceable behaviour of the mail room attendant.

Adendum

Since writing that piece which was returned by Adobe   I have deleted the 1993 folder in lightroom and deleted the file 2020 12 19 folder on my hard drive as it was a double copy of my original files which were named Dec 19 and Dec 19b

I then created a new 1993 folder in lightroom and Imported the file Dec 19 into it. This interaction does not give me any other address where I can send the folder as 1993 was the only destination.

Now looking at my folders in 1993 in lightroom I find

1993                               302

      2020                          301

            2020 12  20         301

there is no mention of the dec 19 file and it is not the structure I want as I have to  break the 300 photos

into files with 6 different subjects.  What is going on

At the moment I am not allowed to take a screen shot

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