cleaning op the HD, but with all acces in catalogue

[JoeriM]

hi all,

Since my internal HD is filling up now, I want to get rid of my oldest files. The most common way of doing it would be to export the files to an external harddrive, but then I won't see them in my big all-time catalogue any more. I backed up all the original files, make regular backups of the LR catalogue, so can I just physically remove the older folders from the finder - or explorer in windows - ? In that way, I'll still have the previews in the catalogue, but not the huge original files on the internal HD, right? Or does that make LR a lot slower, because it is 'looking' for missing files all the time?

Hope the question is not too stupid...

Joeri

 

[clee01l]

Joeri, welcome to the forum.

It is easier than you think. With your EHD attached, open LR and click on the (+) on the right side of the Folder panel header.

Choose {Add Folder...} from the context menu.
Navigate to a folder that you want to use as parent that exists on the EHD and select it.
Once that folder appears in your Folder panel, drag other folders from their current location to the EHD folder that is showing. This will move the folders images and all to the EHD As long as the EHD is attached to your computer, the images will be available to you in LR.

 

[JoeriM]

Joeri, welcome to the forum.

It is easier than you think. With your EHD attached, open LR and click on the (+) on the right side of the Folder panel header.

Choose {Add Folder...} from the context menu.
Navigate to a folder that you want to use as parent that exists on the EHD and select it.
Once that folder appears in your Folder panel, drag other folders from their current location to the EHD folder that is showing. This will move the folders images and all to the EHD As long as the EHD is attached to your computer, the images will be available to you in LR.

Thanks! However, if I want to see my files without having my EHD attached? Is removing the files physically the best option?

 

[clee01l]

You can not see, export or work with the images that are stored on the EHD unless it is attached. If you have 1:1 previews stored in the previews folder you will be able to see the 1:1 previews but that kind of defeats the purpose of freeing up space on your local HD.

Lightroom maintains reference pointers to each image it has cataloged. Those reference pointers can point to images located on the local HD, and EHD, or a Network HD (NAS). As long as LR has a thumbnail or other preview stored in the Previews folder, it can display a view of that image. If the preview is missing or if LR has been requested to merge the adjustments with the original to create an export JPEG, LR need access to the original.

While I don't recommend it, you can Export parts of your catalog off onto a EHD with the master original images, but you can not search across catalogs in LR you need to open each separate catalog to search. I think most people are like me. I have recent images stored locally and have images older than about three months stored on an EHD. All is contained in one master catalog. The idea behind this is that older images are not likely to be needed except for special purposes. While my EHD is always attached to my iMac, it does not need to be. Because everything is in one master catalog, I can use Smart Collections or the filter bar to locate any image that is in my inventory. If my EHD were not attached, I can still search my catalog for images contained on it. These may show up in my serch as missing (with the ?) and will remain so until I attach the EHD. I don't see why this can not work for you too

 

[JoeriM]

You can not see, export or work with the images that are stored on the EHD unless it is attached. If you have 1:1 previews stored in the previews folder you will be able to see the 1:1 previews but that kind of defeats the purpose of freeing up space on your local HD.

Lightroom maintains reference pointers to each image it has cataloged. Those reference pointers can point to images located on the local HD, and EHD, or a Network HD (NAS). As long as LR has a thumbnail or other preview stored in the Previews folder, it can display a view of that image. If the preview is missing or if LR has been requested to merge the adjustments with the original to create an export JPEG, LR need access to the original.

While I don't recommend it, you can Export parts of your catalog off onto a EHD with the master original images, but you can not search across catalogs in LR you need to open each separate catalog to search. I think most people are like me. I have recent images stored locally and have images older than about three months stored on an EHD. All is contained in one master catalog. The idea behind this is that older images are not likely to be needed except for special purposes. While my EHD is always attached to my iMac, it does not need to be. Because everything is in one master catalog, I can use Smart Collections or the filter bar to locate any image that is in my inventory. If my EHD were not attached, I can still search my catalog for images contained on it. These may show up in my serch as missing (with the ?) and will remain so until I attach the EHD. I don't see why this can not work for you too[/QUOTE

I guess it could work for me as well. When you export files to your EHD, how do you make a backup? Because after the export, its only in one place, right?

 

[clee01l]

I use Time Machine for my backups. My "Image Archive" Volume is included.

Please note. I am not exporting master original files. The "Image Archive volume is a part of my folder panel display and continues to be a part of my master active image inventory. The "green" icon to the left of the volume named "DataTale" indicated that the volume is connected and active. If the EHD is disconnected, the icon shows "black".

 

[JoeriM]

I use Time Machine for my backups. My "Image Archive" Volume is included.

Please note. I am not exporting master original files. The "Image Archive volume is a part of my folder panel display and continues to be a part of my master active image inventory. The "green" icon to the left of the volume named "DataTale" indicated that the volume is connected and active. If the EHD is disconnected, the icon shows "black".

Thanks for your explanation!