Lightoom catalogue/RAW storage

[tenohfive]

I've managed to store about 50gb of RAW files on my system HDD instead of my storage HDD and want to shift them over. I suspect that if I just cut and paste Lightroom will throw a wobbler about missing files. Any idea what the easiest way I can shift it all over whilst keeping Lightroom happy is?

[arch stant0n]

Move them inside lightroom so it knows where they went:
https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/help/create-fold...

Please do a bit of googling too though - 50GB is a lot of photos to lose if anything goes wrong! In fact, test it with a small, unimportant folder first...and probably do it in sections.

Edited by arch stant0n on Tuesday 2nd August 17:27

[ian in lancs]

Moving folders can be flakey in Lightroom. An alternative is move outside of Lightroom and get lr to sync the folder. The third way is to get lr to import and move the files into the library folders.

[Digitalize]

I do all my management through LR, when moving working files off to a storage server etc.

[Craikeybaby]

I always move the photos from within Lightroom in this situation and have never had any problems. However, I would reccomend backing up your system drive before making any changes like that.

[rottie102]

However I do it whenever I do - there are always issues... Some files "cannot be read", some files don't have any adjustments on them, despite me saving everything as DNGs and saving metadata info.

[ian in lancs]

rottie102 said:

However I do it whenever I do - there are always issues... Some files "cannot be read", some files don't have any adjustments on them, despite me saving everything as DNGs and saving metadata info.

Exactly. Never had a problem on Mac. It's windows that the LR move folder function is flakey.

[tenohfive]

I've just copied and pasted a copy of the RAW files to a backup location, so I'm happy to move within LR. How do I actually do that in LR? I can find the folder concerned in Library but it doesn't seem to give me the option to move the folder - the nearest I can see is exporting as a catalog?

[ian in lancs]

tenohfive said:

I've just copied and pasted a copy of the RAW files to a backup location, so I'm happy to move within LR. How do I actually do that in LR? I can find the folder concerned in Library but it doesn't seem to give me the option to move the folder - the nearest I can see is exporting as a catalog?

Click and drag to where you want it.

[SamHH]

ian in lancs said:

tenohfive said:

I've just copied and pasted a copy of the RAW files to a backup location, so I'm happy to move within LR. How do I actually do that in LR? I can find the folder concerned in Library but it doesn't seem to give me the option to move the folder - the nearest I can see is exporting as a catalog?

Click and drag to where you want it.

I wonder if the issue is that, given it has never previously been used in Lightroom, the new location does not appear in the Folders panel, and therefore there is nowhere to drag the photos to? If so, you need to add that folder to the catalogue by clicking the plus symbol at the top of the Folders panel, then clicking "Add Folder..." and selecting the new folder. You can then click and drag.

Edited by SamHH on Thursday 4th August 10:18

[rottie102]

ian in lancs said:

Exactly. Never had a problem on Mac. It's windows that the LR move folder function is flakey.

I'm talking about Mac

[Digitalize]

All you need to do is add the destination folder to LR, then you can freely drag stuff to it, drag entire folders etc.

Oh and let it do its job moving them of course.

[Colin RedGriff]

Moving within LR can be quite slow so not great if there are a lot of files to move in which case moving outside LR then rellnking them is better

http://www.lightroomqueen.com/articles-page/move-p...

[ian in lancs]

Digitalize said:

Oh and let it do its job moving them of course.

until it doesn't and looses the plot over what is where and you have a missmatch of folders to sort out. LR is better in the latest releases/CC but not reliable.

[ian in lancs]

Colin RedGriff said:

Moving within LR can be quite slow so not great if there are a lot of files to move in which case moving outside LR then rellnking them is better

http://www.lightroomqueen.com/articles-page/move-p...

Oooh! Lightroom Queen agrees with me! "If you’re moving a large number of files, I’d recommend using the Explorer/Finder option, as it tends to more reliable."

[Digitalize]

ian in lancs said:

until it doesn't and looses the plot over what is where and you have a missmatch of folders to sort out. LR is better in the latest releases/CC but not reliable.

Strange, as over the years I've probably moved a good few TB's worth of RAWs, along with referencing back to them once moved, without issues.

[rottie102]

Same st again... 4k+ out of 20k+ files not imported. All created using THE SAME Mac, THE SAME Lightroom install.
I had to format an external HD so had to copy files off it and then back to it.

[tenohfive]

I used the Lightroom option and it all seems to have worked fine. PC rather than Mac mind - no idea if that is part of it.