Lightroom backup help

[Focus North]

hi all,

I maxed out my iMac with a large Lightroom and aperture post (seperate questions for a different thread), and have moved them to an external hard drive. I copied and pasted from finder to the external drive, then updated folder location in Lightroom. This seems to have worked fine as I can open and view photos from the external. Now, I'm wondering how do I know if I'm able to delete from my Mac internal hard drive?

 

[kenoh]

hi all,

I maxed out my iMac with a large Lightroom and aperture post (seperate questions for a different thread), and have moved them to an external hard drive. I copied and pasted from finder to the external drive, then updated folder location in Lightroom. This seems to have worked fine as I can open and view photos from the external. Now, I'm wondering how do I know if I'm able to delete from my Mac internal hard drive?

Rename the top level directory where light room images are on your internal drive. Just add .safe to its filename or something.

Then see if all is still well...

If it is, you are cool, if not then you need to do some more work on it. Rename it back to what it was and start your process again.

 

[Ray2]

Te Lightroom: Have you done an image count? If it's the same you're there. I assume you left the Lightroom catalog on the internal and moved only the images. If so, as above or move it to a folder on the external as a temporary backup. If you moved the catalog to the external, move it back to the internal. Quicker.

Given you're using both Aperture and Lightroom, I assume you have a referenced library. You will need to check Aperture's image count against the individual folders. Aperture has always had a problem re-establishing links and even multiple attempts does not guarantee success. In some cases you will have to reimport some files (and lose any adjustments). Same as above, leave the library on the internal. Or, consider it time to cut the cord with Aperture. I was a long time Aperture user. Now 2 years with Lightroom. I miss certain aspects of Aperture but the Adobe catalog is dead-nuts solid. I have saved a countless amount of time and frustration not having to deal with Aperture's missing files and failures to reconnect.

 

[Focus North]

Rename the top level directory where light room images are on your internal drive. Just add .safe to its filename or something.

Then see if all is still well...

If it is, you are cool, if not then you need to do some more work on it. Rename it back to what it was and start your process again.

Thanks. I don't have a top level directory. It was just 2013, 2014, etc...

 

[Focus North]

Te Lightroom: Have you done an image count? If it's the same you're there. I assume you left the Lightroom catalog on the internal and moved only the images. If so, as above or move it to a folder on the external as a temporary backup. If you moved the catalog to the external, move it back to the internal. Quicker.

Given you're using both Aperture and Lightroom, I assume you have a referenced library. You will need to check Aperture's image count against the individual folders. Aperture has always had a problem re-establishing links and even multiple attempts does not guarantee success. In some cases you will have to reimport some files (and lose any adjustments). Same as above, leave the library on the internal. Or, consider it time to cut the cord with Aperture. I was a long time Aperture user. Now 2 years with Lightroom. I miss certain aspects of Aperture but the Adobe catalog is dead-nuts solid. I have saved a countless amount of time and frustration not having to deal with Aperture's missing files and failures to reconnect.

I just tried an image count and there is an item count on my internal, but not an image count. The item count is probably 10% higher than the images that show in Lightroom. Could this be the folders accounting for that variance, or is just that all the pics didn't transfer!

 

[lvar]

I just tried an image count and there is an item count on my internal, but not an image count. The item count is probably 10% higher than the images that show in Lightroom. Could this be the folders accounting for that variance, or is just that all the pics didn't transfer!

Folders, but also sidecar files can account for a difference.

What you can do is this; in Lightroom right-click on your top-level folder on the Library page. You have an option in the menu that is 'synchronize folder' or something similar. Select that.
It will start looking for files that are in the folder but not in the Lightroom catalog and the other way around.

Before it actually does anything it will give you a summary and asks to proceed
If that summary says it wants to delete a bunch of photos from the catalog you know you are missing photos on the external drive. If it doesn't say it wants to delete any photos you are not missing any files!

 

[Ray2]

I just tried an image count and there is an item count on my internal, but not an image count. The item count is probably 10% higher than the images that show in Lightroom. Could this be the folders accounting for that variance, or is just that all the pics didn't transfer!

Aperture can handle more file types than Adobe. Might be one reason. The only files I had in Aperture were images files so not an issue.

The only way I could figure out how to do it was go folder by folder, comparing Lightroom to Aperture. In my case, Lightroom was showing 1,331 more images than Aperture. To check, I imported Aperture's Library into Lightroom. Same 1,331 difference. Essentially, those images were in my folders, in Aperture's Library but no preview was available. Tried reconnecting, importing (no as Aperture believed the image was already there).

I spent a lot of time on this as I wanted a clean start. The images missing in Aperture and showing in Lightroom were frequently images I recognized. In many cases there were version exports showing in both but the corresponding master was in Lightroom but not Aperture. Essentially the Library must have been showing a link to an image that Lightroom picked up but Aperture could not.

People have had issues with Aperture's data base since day one. The net is filled with missing files stories. Not to mention many don't know they have missing files. If the preview is missing, as in my case, how does one know. Again, have been using Lightroom as my default DAM and developer for 2 years now. On the DAM side, delighted. I personally don't believe Lightroom's Develop side is all its reputed to be. Yes some sliders have more effect. But the result is a mess. Crank it down to where it looks decent and it's at the same level as Aperture (NR and highlights). The color module (HSM) is primitive. As are local adjustments. It's slow, no matter how much CPU one throws at it.

 

[Focus North]

To be clear this is simply a Lightroom transfer from internal to external drive

 

[dwig]

Thanks. I don't have a top level directory. It was just 2013, 2014, etc...

Then create a new folder (e.g. "old Lr files") and move the "2013", "2014", ... folders and their contents into the new "old..." folder. That will effectively hide them from Lr without damaging them. If Lr still sees your images then it is looking at the new copies on the external.

 

[Ray2]

To be clear this is simply a Lightroom transfer from internal to external drive

Then I wouldn't worry about the difference. If you're using the same catalog and the same folders (in a different location), Lightroom will account for whatever is supposed to be in its catalog. Check for missing files about the only thing I'd do.

Sorry, thought/assumed you were using the same folders for both Aperture and Lightroom. So both would be affected.

 

[besler3035]

Ideally, you should have moved these files through Lightroom instead of the Finder. That way, it keeps them organized and keeps them linked in your catalog.

 

[Focus North]

Thanks all.