# Adice needed on workflow and catalogue issues



## BananaRepublic (Jul 14, 2015)

Following on from some considerable issues I've had I have decided to look again at my cataloguing and workflow procedures.

Initially  I was taking the images from my cards and importing them to my hard drive, Mac, via Lightroom, this wasn't a big deal  as I was only selecting the ones I wanted and deleting the rest.

Now I have an external SSD and I have been having some problems. I would like to know how others deal with importing utilising an SSD. It has been suggested to me, by a non photographer/user of adobe, that I should upload the files/photos to my SSD first using my own structure and then import the files into LR, giving LR its own folder on the SSD and leave it do it business and not go near it afterward. Would this be the right way to go about it ?. The SSD is a 3 TB unit.

I would welcome suggestions that would help me going forward,

Thanks,

So far 55 viewers and no responses, I don't know why I bother posting.

Here is a link to a more detailed description of the trouble I was having, its a post from a few weeks past. Help required with Lightroom library Photography Forum


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## Braineack (Jul 20, 2015)

a 3GB SSD?


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## BananaRepublic (Jul 20, 2015)

Braineack said:


> a 3GB SSD?



that should be terabyte


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## Braineack (Jul 20, 2015)

okay i was going to say...

Why aren't you just importing with LR and doing everything there?  why move to drive first?


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## Dave442 (Jul 20, 2015)

I import with LR to an external disk connected to my mac. At that time the RAW files have the yyyymmdd added in front of the file name (eliminates any chance of a duplicate file name). Also select any develop and metadata preset to apply at that time.


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## JacaRanda (Jul 20, 2015)

Does this help you at all?  Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Help Specify import options


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## BananaRepublic (Jul 21, 2015)

Why aren't you just importing with LR and doing everything there?  why move to drive first?[/QUOTE]



Dave442 said:


> I import with LR to an external disk connected to my mac. At that time the RAW files have the yyyymmdd added in front of the file name (eliminates any chance of a duplicate file name). Also select any develop and metadata preset to apply at that time.



That was what I was doing but one day Lightroom announced that all my photos had lost there source and I had to attempt to relink them but my edits were entirely lost meaning I had to restart that process.

FYI backups didn't do what I thought they did.


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## Braineack (Jul 21, 2015)

Did you move the physical files after you imported them into LR?

your backup is a single file that says "here all where all my pictures are, and here is how i edited them". It's only a reference file.

This is from LR documents:



> After you start working in Lightroom, if you need to move or rename photos — say that your hard drive fills up and you have to switch to an external drive — perform those tasks from within Lightroom. Do not use the Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac OS) to move photos. If you do, you’ll likely encounter the dreaded “photos are missing” error and you’ll have to relink everything.


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## BananaRepublic (Jul 21, 2015)

No What I did originally was download them from a memory card, camera, onto the storage via lightroom. I selected the location using ligtroom preferences for name, date, etc, the same way the adobe videos suggest, that was fine until one day BOSCH they disappeared from the LR libary even images which I had selected for online media. Backups files were locatable but were not accessible, i.e. were shaded out in the relevant section of finder.


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## Braineack (Jul 21, 2015)

the only time that's happened to me was when I moved files from one drive to another and didn't relink properly.  Unsure what the dealio here is.


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## The_Traveler (Jul 22, 2015)

When they 'disappeared' from LR, could you locate them using the Windows Explorer or some other file viewer?


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## The_Traveler (Jul 22, 2015)

You have a 3 terabyte SSD?


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## BananaRepublic (Jul 23, 2015)

The_Traveler said:


> When they 'disappeared' from LR, could you locate them using the Windows Explorer or some other file viewer?



Some I could locate but I could only link them to un edited raw meaning my edits, LR & PS that were in LR catalogs would have to be re done. It appears as if LR has no link to files which were previously saved using LR cataloguing. To frank I would appreciate if people would say ye or ne to my strategy as mentioned in my original thread.


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## The_Traveler (Jul 23, 2015)

It is difficult to say yes or no to a strategy because it isn't clear what is going on.
If you can't find the files using the OS file manager then it is very possible that it is the storage medium itself that is losing the files and LR is not at fault.

LR doesn't hold the files internally, the catalog is just that, a database of where they are, what has been done to them as raw files and other data.

If the files are actually physically missing, LR doesn't have anything to do with that.

If you backup LR routinely, you can open an older version to see if the files appear in that.


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## SnappingShark (Jul 23, 2015)

I run my system drive (c drive) on a 512GB SSD - lightroom is installed here.
I import photos onto my secondary laptop drive a 7200rpm HDD via lightroom.
I then run a full backup monthly of that HDD, and differential backups daily to my NAS - this would be time machine in your case.

I end up with a copy on SD card (eventually disappears).
Copy on 7200rpm.
Monthly backups (keep 1 year of full backups)
and 365 differential backups.

I can go back to any point/time pretty much.


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## BananaRepublic (Jul 26, 2015)

The_Traveler said:


> It is difficult to say yes or no to a strategy because it isn't clear what is going on.
> If you can't find the files using the OS file manager then it is very possible that it is the storage medium itself that is losing the files and LR is not at fault.
> 
> LR doesn't hold the files internally, the catalog is just that, a database of where they are, what has been done to them as raw files and other data.
> ...




I've noticed that my own post are sometimes stupid, words are misspelled or put in the wrong order and or left out for this I apologies 

To the Traveller,
I went into LR today and it doesn't recognise the SSD as a folder. I have to import the files again to proceed.

Description: On the left of the LR window there are various drop down menus, Navigator, Catalog, Folders, etc. Under folders it list Mac HD and other devices, memory cards which have been plugged in previously, the SSD is not mentioned I don't why but thats what my problem is one day it was fine the next it wasn't. The OS does register the SSD and all it contents and LR recognises it as an import source.


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## BananaRepublic (Jul 26, 2015)

BrightByNature said:


> I run my system drive (c drive) on a 512GB SSD - lightroom is installed here.
> I import photos onto my secondary laptop drive a 7200rpm HDD via lightroom.
> I then run a full backup monthly of that HDD, and differential backups daily to my NAS - this would be time machine in your case.
> 
> ...



Thats what I was doing


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## The_Traveler (Jul 26, 2015)

I have assigned static drive IDs to my external HDs using Windows
I have always assumed that the MAC OS does the same thing.
If the Drive ID varies from bootup to bootup, that may be when LR is dropping the link.


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## BananaRepublic (Jul 27, 2015)

Again I did the same. I don't know!


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## jaomul (Jul 27, 2015)

I'm not great at this stuff but one thing that did help was naming my hard drive. You plug in a hard drive and its D, E, F or whatever. Next time you plug it in its something else because you have a few flash dives connected. This can cause confusion, name your ssd drive something and then at least its the same everytime lightroom opens.

If you save to computer drive can you make a copy in another location. Isn't that an import option when you have said extra drive plugged in?


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## The_Traveler (Jul 27, 2015)

To be certain that your drive name doesn't change when different storage devices are plugged in, rename it in a range above the usual group.
For example, I have 2 internal drives, sub ports for cards readers, etc and usb 3 backup drives. To keep the backup scheme from getting derailed by drive letter shifts when card reader is plugged in, I named the  sub 3 BU drives as letter m and n.


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