How do I get Lightroom 4 to delete off camera when importing (like iPhoto and Aperature)?

[caspersgrin]

When I import photos using iPhoto or Aperature, I get an option to delete them off the camera when the import completes.  That feature is really helpful when there are deveral hynred photos in memory.  How do I accomplish the same thing using Lightroom 4?

Thanks,

Rob

[FoBoys]

This is very, very bad that Lightroom 5 does not allow us to delete photos from our cards after import. Very, very, Very bad.

[DdeGannes]

The best place for carrying out that function is in the camera using the format feature. Which you can do after you have ensured that your backup on your computer has been completed.

Then when something goes wrong you can figure out how it happened.

[johnrellis]

This is very, very bad that Lightroom 5 does not allow us to delete photos from our cards after import. Very, very, Very bad.

This forum is a user-to-user forum that Adobe rarely participates in. You might add your vote and opinion to this topic in the official Adobe feedback forum: Lightroom: Delete Images on Card after Import

[photoshack]

Although I have been using LR for about five years now, I really do think it is stupid that I don't have the option to clear the card after successfully importing.   Many (many many) other image management tools do this, and the argument of "safety's sake" is rubbish.   I am able to back up my card a host of ways, and my images are backed up on import along with the fact that I have dual cards.

I have not seen anything from Adobe on this obvious omission of common industry-standard functionality.    I'd be happy to have some plugin for LR if it worked.  But again, it is stupid not to have this feature as a built in option.

[DdeGannes]

There is an Adobe site dedicated to New Feature requests and Bug fixes. Post your request there, see the link below.

Recently active topics in Photoshop Family about Photoshop Lightroom

[Ratfinkle]

Interesting that while people don't trust their own fingers to properly manage file through Lightroom there are a large number of people who will format their cards on a whim. In my case I usually do not want to erase the entire card but want to erase only the photos that I have successfully imported. The format function in computers, including cameras, was meant to rebuild the file structure on the device and loss of data was an unfortunate by-product. I find it interesting to see that people are now treating the format function as simply a "delete all" function. I prefer to know what is being deleted at any time and don't trust any "erase all" feature. Although some of the new cameras at least have an "erase all" feature which will clear the disk while still honoring any "do not delete" locks on individual pictures (format erases everything regardless of status).

I was hoping that Lightroom was going to be flexible enough to let me manage my photos without having to use a second product to manage the images on the camera. It is close but what is missing is the ability for me to delete the pictures on the camera WHEN I AM FINISHED WITH THEM. I agree I do not want delete to be automatic after import but it is insulting to have software imply that I am not smart enough to be able to manage my own images on the camera from the product. For people who are deathly afraid to delete things under software control and prefer the format sledgehammer there could be an option switch in preferences to disable / enable the ability to select / delete photos on the camera.

As you can tell by some of my comments, I am not a professional photographer and I understand the need to quickly delete large numbers of files and the practice of using cards for single photo shoot but to build a product that assume we all work like professionals is as silly as building a product that doesn't take professional behaviour into account.

Oh well, back to the multiple product approach until Lightroom matures in this area.

[RikkFlohr]

Ratfinkle wrote:

Oh well, back to the multiple product approach until Lightroom matures in this area.

You will be waiting a long time.

[FoBoys]

Add me to the list of those very, very disappointed and ticked off that we cannot delete photos from our camera card after photos are imported to Mac. This was never an issue with Aperture and iPhoto during my 10+ years of using.

It is now a HUGE issue with LR5, when my SD card fills up while taking important photos.

Come on Lightroom!!!, please add this feature and let us consumers to use it or not.

[Bob Somrak]

You might as well change your workflow or choose a different Raw Editor as Lightroom is probably not going to change this behavior.   I would never use a delete option but have no opinion one way or another.

[FoBoys]

Thx Bob,

I am sure that as iPhoto/Aperture users migrate to LR5, there will be many more that want this option. Makes not sense why this option is not there.

[FoBoys]

p.s. I have been waiting hours to delete my SD card as if you have anything in your laptop trash you have to wait for the laptop trash to empty, before the SD card files can be deleted.

[rainmann1955]

After having unsuccessfully looked for the LR feature "delete photos from camera" I find via this forum that this feature is not in LR nor ever will be.

Can't stress this strongly enough . . . I would not have purchased LR if I knew this in advance.

Don't know if I'm going to continue to use this product . . . .

[D Fosse]

rainmann1955  wrote

I would not have purchased LR if I knew this in advance.

If you have never lost files this way, you should consider yourself lucky. A flaky USB cable is all it takes.

You do know that there is a "format memory card"-function in the camera, which should be used after confirming that all files have been successfully transferred to your hard drive - and backed up?

I just surfaced from a critical assignment where I had a total of 1650 shots on the two cards in the camera. The very words "delete from camera" is enough to give me nightmares.

[rainmann1955]

Mr. Fosse,

Sitting at my feet is an 8-core AMD workstation, used for derivative trading.  I put this machine together myself, integrating the mainboard, CPU, ECC memory, PS and cooling.  So I know something about solid state (SS) components.

The memory card(s) that we all use is/are basically NOT designed to be repeatedly mounted (put into the camera) and unmounted (removed from the camera).  Though you can do this many times over, you will shorten the life of your card by an exponential amount.  And please let me repeat that word "exponential".

Murphy's Law (know him?) says that after you have taken those "critical 1650 shots" and in pulling your memory card from your camera you break something in the SS memory chip.   And there goes that work . . . .

Though admittedly not a working pro (but a very serious amateur) if I was working an event I would first DOUBLE back up those pics onto two separate devices.   And I would try to do this (ongoing) during the event, not after.

This hyper-caution comes from years of dealing with hardware failures . . . and that from SS parts that were never touched by human hands.

My point is this, LR is an "editor" and part of that editing work is deleting pictures that I don't want.  Either on my WORKING hard drive, or my camera.  Especially now that modern DSLRs have Bluetooth connectivity, there are pics that I want (temporarily) to remain on my camera. 

And under no circumstances, and I mean NO . . . do I want to be repeatedly handling those in-camera memory cards.

As for putting a delete feature on LR, it would be easy to program safety features into a "delete" function.  It could easily be made into a three step process with multiple confirms. 

Past that, if you manage to accidentally delete critical photos, you should also not be using scissors and/or sharp knives of any kind.

Cheers.

Kenny

[johnrellis]

Kenny,

This is a user-to-user forum in which Adobe product developers rarely participate.  If you want to influence Adobe (as opposed to other users), please add your me-too vote and detailed opinion to this feature request in the official Adobe feedback forum: Lightroom: Delete Images on Card after Import | Photoshop Family Customer Community

[KR Seals]

"After having unsuccessfully looked for the LR feature "delete photos from camera" "

Dumbest idea I have heard in 10 years of using LR and 15 years using digital cameras. Last 7 as a professional. 25 years building my own Win systems.