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LlIGHTROOM TEMP IMPORT PHOTO FILE FOLDER

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greatzin

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I was looking for files to delete and came across the lightroom temp import photo file folder. This folder has over 8 GB of data. What is it for? Can I delete it?

May, 2'1' is the last entry.

What did I do that made Lightroom open and save this folder and what do I do to keep Lightroom from storing data here.

Thanks, greatzin
 
Hi greatzin, welcome to the forum.

I'm not aware of any "Lightroom Temp Import Folder", so am intrigued by yours. Could you supply a few more details:

1. What's the exact name of the Folder?
2. Where is it located on your system?
3. Does it actually contain individual picture files?
4. Are you actually running LR1.' as your profile says? If not, which version are you running?
5. Is it possible that until May 2'1' you used to make a second copy of your files on import? Could this folder contain those second copies?
6. And just to be certain, your original pictures files that you have imported into Lightroom are kept in a completely different location?

Sorry for all the questions, but just want to make sure we give you accurate advice.....don't want to mess around with 8gb of data without knowing exactly what it is.
 
1. What's the exact name of the Folder? "Temp Import Photo File". I might have named this folder.

2. Where is it located on your system? "F:\My Documents Folder\My Documents\Temp Import Photo File"

3. Does it actually contain individual picture files? Yes. 31 folders and 81' files, dated from 11/2''9 to 5/2'1'. 8.35 GB of data.


4. Are you actually running LR1.' as your profile says? If not, which version are you running?
I'm now running LR3, However I believe I was running LR2 then. I update soon after new releases are available.

5. Is it possible that until May 2'1' you used to make a second copy of your files on import? Could this folder contain those second copies? Yes I think that is correct, but how did I do it?

6. And just to be certain, your original pictures files that you have imported into Lightroom are kept in a completely different location? Yes they are kept in a different location.

Thanks for your interest and concern, greatzin
 
Hi, thanks for all your answers.

The import dialogs of both LR2 and LR3 contain an option to make a backup copy of the pictures as you import them (when using the Copy or Move options). There is a checkbox which you can select or not, if you select it you then have the option to choose where to have the backup copies stored.

It sounds to me that under LR2 you may have had that option checked, with "Temp Import Photo File" as the target folder, whereas under LR3 (here the option is to "Make a Second Copy") you either don't have the option checked OR you are making the second copy to a different location.

Another possibility is, given the name that you selected for this folder, that you were copying the pictures from the CF card to this folder before starting Lightroom, then importing FROM this folder into Lightroom. Is this possible? If it is then deleting this folder MAY be a bad idea if the pictures in it are in fact the Lightroom source images. You need to investigate this last possibilty BEFORE you go ahead and delete this folder.....perhaps a more cautious approach would be to RENAME this folder first and then observe for a few weeks to see if Lightroom starts reporting problems such as "missing or offline" picture files. Only when you are 1''% certain that the pictures in this folder are no longer used or required should you think about deleting it.
 
Jim, it was in the import dialog where the box is checked, that is where I must have set it up. What puzzles me is why I would call it a temporary file folder if I wanted a backup folder. I have an external hd where I normally backup photos. I don't do it that often and perhaps the temp file I set was supposed to be erased when I did the Ghost image backup. Good intentions sometime don't work as planned. I feel confident to go ahead and erase this filder.

Thanks for your interest and support, greatzin
 
Hi greatzin, welcome to the forum!

Your theory sounds good - the Import backup is really good as a temporary backup while waiting for your photos to get into your normal backup system, and you can then delete them when you're happy that they're backed up properly. It's just a safety net in case your hard drive dies before they get into your proper backups.
 
And in fact I use that "Second Copy" option for exactly that same reason.....the only thing is remembering to go back in every few months to do a 'clean-up'. At the same time I also clean out some of the older Lightroom-generated catalog backups.
 
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