More Missing Files

I am using 10.4.1 Tiger on a Mac Pro.?When using Bridge I got in the habit of moving files from storage on my internal or external drives onto my desktop-main drive?to work on them and then back into storage on the internal HD when I was thru.?I thought I would be able to do the same with LR2, or LR would be able to actually track the move but that doesn't seem to be the case. Even when I move the files back onto the main drive, LR still can't find them.

This is a 2 part question.

1.?Is there anything I can do to ''find'' these files and reopen them with all my ''developments'' intact

2.?If I moved the files from my main HD to an internal HD by exporting them via LR and then deleted the files on the main HD, would I then be able to export them back to the main HD to upload to my online gallery or work on them again?

Sorry! I accidently posted this in LR SDK as well.

More Missing Files

Right click (ctrl-click) on the folder or image in LR and then locate the files wherever you have moved them. Changes you have made to images are retained in the LRcat file and not in the image files themselves, unless you choose to write the changes as xmp data to the images. In this case the changes will be recorded in the headers of most file types, except for proprietary RAW formats where the data will be written as sidecar files.

LR is a database and needs to be told where files are. If you move them outside of LR you have to tell LR this.

You can always use LR itself to move your files around and then you won't need to do this. However for large amounts of files, LR will be significantly slower than using the OS. If you keep the folder structure the same as it was in LR it will make it a lot quicker to relocate. So if you do intend to move files around outside of LR and wish to make changes to folder structures and names, do this first in LR and then move the whole lot in the OS. You then only need to update the location of the highest level folder for LR to update everything.

It is also a good idea to write any changes to xmp (and if these are done as sidecar files make sure you move them along with the RAW file) before making any moves, just in case.

More Missing Files

While I understand and agree that files on your main HD will allow Lightroom to operate faster than if they are on an external drive, the time and effort it takes to move the files back and forth probably wipe out any advantage there might be.

Furthermore, I don't consider a workflow of moving files, editing files, and then moving files to be a good workflow. In particular, there's a lot of work for very little advantage.

I would recommend that (unless your external drives are horribly slow) you simply put the photos on the external drive and edit them right there without moving them.

As Pete points out, you can fix this problem in the future by moving files in Lightroom, if you absolutely must move them. And you can ''reconnect'' the files that have been moved. But better, IMHO, is to not move them.

Thank you for your suggestion. I am working that way now but it is

slower. I could work on 2000+ files, export them and then send them

to storage while I did something else faster than working on the

internal HD but as you pointed out the headaches are killing me! Its

just the first few jobs I did when I transitioned to LR that are

causing me trouble now. Thanks again for your feedback--the

professional quality and timely responses I get on this forum are

magnificent!

Chris Volpe Photography

on the web: chrisvolpephoto.com

contact: info@chrisvolpephoto.com

phone: 203-314-1637

Thank you for your suggestion.?I already tried that with the files and the folders but it always says the files are already part of LR even though in Develop it says that the files are offline or missing.?Am I doing something wrong?

I already tried that with the files and the folders

Sounds to me like you are trying to re import images that are already in LR. Read what I said...relocate the images, not re import. Right click (ctrl click) on the image or folder with the ?. A dialogue will open asking you if you wish to locate the images or folder...do that.

By the way editing images on an external disk does not slow you down much (and as has been said nowhere near as much as moving files and having to relocate them all the time...rather defeating the purpose of LR) if the catalog and preview files are located on the internal disk. The only time LR needs to read or write to the images themselves is initially when building previews, again when exporting a final image and when writing xmp data to the file (or a sidecar file). Whilst you are actually working on an image LR is reading and writing from the lrcat file and therefore the fact that the image file itself is located on an external disk is irrelevant.

Save your self a lot of time and effort, keep your images on external disks and back up copies to an internal.

Thanks for getting back to me again Pete %26amp; DJ.?The control-right-click was the correct fix, I was still looking at the old listing under the main HD and did not notice the new listing in the current location-very stupid.?Sorry.