How to save photos then delete from All Photos

[Randy5E93]

I am new to LR CC.  I would like to understand folders vs albums.  If I store pictures in a folder, then can I delete them from "All Photos" and still have them in folder?  I tried this with the pictures in an album and when deleted, they deleted everywhere.

[JP Hess]

A photo only exists physically one time. That photo can be placed in many different albums because those albums are just separate entities within Lightroom. But the actual physical file only exists once. So if you go to All Photos and delete the actual photo file, that will remove that image from any and all albums in which you have placed that photo.

[Randy5E93]

Thank you. I do understand that. What I am asking is this: If I create a folder and place certain pictures in it, then delete those same pics from All Photos, will the picture in the folder remain?

Thanks,

Randy

(Personal information removed by Moderator)

[JP Hess]

It is my understanding that folders will enable you to group collections together as a method of organizing collections. But I don't think it's possible to move individual images into folders. You can try, but I don't think you will be successful.

[Randy5E93]

The issue is that I have a lot of photos in All Photos. In order to have this be a manageable size, I must physically remove or copy them to an external drive, then delete them from All Photos?

Randy

Randy Freeman
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices
310-420-9242 Mobile
“Representing Extraordinary People and their Homes since 1991”
License # 01088639

[selondon]

Everything is stored in All Photos, this is the main Library.

When you add a Photo to an Album, think of it as you are adding/moving an alias of that photo rather the photo itself. Or alternatively you could say you are assigning it to an Album.

You cannot delete out of All Photos without deleting from the Cloud. The Cloud Based Lightroom cannot reference local disc based photos as Lightroom Classic does, everything is stored in the Cloud.

[Theresa J]

A Lightroom folder is not like a folder on your computer. It is more like a group to organize your albums. You can remove a photo from an Album without deleting it. You can also delete albums from folders without deleting the images in it. If you delete a photo from anywhere, it deletes it from everywhere.