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DestregaEndZz
Participating Frequently
February 13, 2020
Question

Lightroom CC Catalog - manual backup

  • February 13, 2020
  • 4 replies
  • 2401 views

Ok so I managed to completly backup my catalog from one pc to another, the problem is that it breaks sync. if you navigate to C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Adobe\Lightroom CC\Data\<32-digit-GUID> you will find the folder list below. Those folders backup the RAW files and their edits, including star rating and Keep/Discard tags. 

- <originals>

- <XMP>

- <previews>

- <settings>

- Managed Catalog.mcat

- Managed Catalog.mru

- Managed Catalog.wfindex

- Managed Catalog.wfindex-shm

- Managed Catalog.wfindex-wal

 

HOWEVER, if you have a different username from one machine to another it will break SYNC, and the 32-digit GUID is different. A simple text editor to rename the text in the files didn't help the problem when i tried renaming the GUID and username.

 

Adobe since we're so close to being able to back-up our catalog locally can you just give us a break and make a tool to do the migration or at least add in a fix in Lightroom to detect and fix the catalog files for sync to work after the move and the catalog to stay in place? If anyone knows a way to edit the files let me know I will keep working on a community based solution.

This topic has been closed for replies.

4 replies

99jon
99jon
Legend
February 13, 2020

If the originals get purged then wouldn't we be losing that original data within the images? If it is a proxy it should still retain the original data within the RAW that was imported otherwise maybe I'm using the wrong application to manage photos non-destructivly. 

 

 

No. That is how the cloud version of Lightroom is designed. In fact once cloud sync is complete I often delete everything in the originals folder manually to free up space. Your non-destructive raw editing is always stored in the cloud with your originals. Space management is automatically optimized on computer hard drives and on mobile devices.

 

D
DestregaEndZzAuthor
Participating Frequently
February 13, 2020

That makes sense, I like your method of organization. I am a bit old fashinoned I guess where I want to make sure to also have a local copy of my files and not rely on a paid cloud solution to solely backup those photos for me. I guess I am more akin to the dropbox method of files being on the cloud but ALSO on my local machine, I can manage, move, backup those files as well. 

 

I do feel like my request would be very simple for adobe to implement though and could cover both user bases of Lightroom CC and Lightroom classic.

JP Hess
JP Hess
Inspiring
February 13, 2020

There is something in your original statement that concerns me. Among the items that are backed up, you indicate that the raw files are included in the backup. I just want to point out that in a standard Lightroom backup the images are NOT part of the backup process. If you want your images backed up then you need to devise your own routine for that using other software because image backup is not part of the Lightroom backup process. The images are not in the catalog.

D
DestregaEndZzAuthor
Participating Frequently
February 13, 2020

@99jon

If the originals get purged then wouldn't we be losing that original data within the images? If it is a proxy it should still retain the original data within the RAW that was imported otherwise maybe I'm using the wrong application to manage photos non-destructivly. 

 

@jim_wilde

So the reason I'm going through it all is because I need to migrate my catalog from one account to another. There is no straight forward way to do that without exporting everything and starting over and rebuilding it manually 

 

@jimhess

There is a setting in the application to save local copies of the originals and this is why they are stored there. 

 

My process is to choose the files to keep, import to lightroom, it handles the main library by copying the originals to the folder I specified above and then I can delete the photos that don't make the cut. Thereby keeping only the photos I want to save and retain for future edits. 

 

 

 

D
DestregaEndZzAuthor
Participating Frequently
February 13, 2020

Oh and as to why I'm migrating from one account to another. Account A was created for work, new account B for personal, and hence I now must migrate to the personal account. 

 

Maybe there is a simple way to do that but when I contacted Adobe support they said No there is no way to do that. 

Jim Wilde
Community Expert
Jim WildeCommunity Expert
Community Expert
February 13, 2020

Why jump through hoops trying to "migrate" the local library from one system to another. Simply start the Lightroom app on the second system, login to the same Adobe account, and Lightroom will build the local library from scratch. The local libraries, and the catalogs they contain, are a smaller part of what's stored in the cloud. So switch to another system, Lightroom will build it from the cloud "master", if you have a local drive failure and lose the local library then no big deal, Lightroom will rebuild it again from the cloud.

99jon
99jon
Legend
February 13, 2020

Those folders are managed dynamically so you would never have a complete back up. For example after a short period, originals are purged and replaced with proxies.

 

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