Mundj Loc: Richmond TX

I just tried to do the same thing using an old SD card and our new iMac Pro. Both Lightroom and Photo want to import the images to a actual hard drive before allowing processing. I was able to view the image and make some adjustments using the Apple Capture program but received a warning error when trying to cancel the processing. Paraphrasing here, "The image media does not support multiple versions and any version history will be lost". I am guessing that since the SD cards can not be formatted for either a Windows or Mac PC they are not intended for editing but only for storage.

My own experience here is to use a true external hard drive. I have in the past used a WD Passport drive for this process. They are powered by the USB port and are very cost effective and can be formatted for either Mac or Windows use.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

I am getting some good info here. I am getting the idea that the SD cards or thumb drives are good for storage, so I won't lose any photos should the unthinkable happen, but it also looks like a good external hard drive is going to be the answer. I'll need one that isn't designated as just a backup drive.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

My initial idea was that I could insert the thumb drive, call up an image, and work on it using Photos in the Mac. That was an incorrect assumption on my part. While the computer will show the image, it does not do so IN photos, so all I can do is view it or print it. I discovered that I can drag a copy of it onto my desktop screen, then bring up, in my case, Affinity Photo, and drag it into Affinity. Then I can play around with processing the image. It also looks like after I process a photo in Affinity, I can save it and store it there, but I can't import a series of photos directly into Affinity like I can with Photos, since Affinity doesn't have a storage library feature like Photos.

Mike1017

You could buy a western digital external hard drive 1 or 2 Terabyte put your photos on the external hard drive and use the software in your computer and run with it. I have 6 external drives. works great plus storage. Good luck Mike

Kuzano

WHY are you using a thumb drive.

The most costly per Mb storage media
Easiest to lose
Easiest to short circuit when pulled from the source
Simply not reasonable as a backup device

No better than the fact that they short cut you on Your MacBook Pro when they built it. A lesson learned and repeated by using thumb drives for storage. At least a 500 Gb external hard drive for $50 would be more reasonable???

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

Sure it would. I just have't found a TB hard drive I can afford just now. If I could find one for under $100.00, I'd get it. I chose using a thumb drive as a stop-gap measure. Since my photo generating efforts aren't as prolific as some here, it seemed like a thumb drive or SD card might work to store images on, year by by year. I think, though, given the small storage capacity of my MacBook Pro, at 128 GB, I might consider going back to an IMac with a TB HD, and use the cloud for backup.

OutdoorNH Loc: Atlanta, GA

I use a WD my book thunderbolt duo in a raid 1 config. The 2 drives are a mirror of each other so if one goes down just swap it out with WD (3 year warranty) and it rebuilds itself. The drive is also backed up to the cloud with back blaze in the worst case. The my book is plugged into an uninterruptible power supply and always ejected when I leave the house.

orrie smith Loc: Kansas

Once again, you are not confined to an apple hard drive. Amazon, and probably many other online and brick and mortar stores, has the Western Digital My Passport at 1 TB for $59.00, 2 TB for $88.93, and a 3 TB for $114.33. When you get the drive, reformat it to exFAT or FAT32 format. the FAT32 will limit you to 4GB individual files, but unless you are doing a lot of video, this should be okay, although I format mine to exFAT. when the drive is formatted this way, I am able to use the drive on my MAC Pro and my HP desktop. do not waste your money thinking you can only buy MAC external drives for a MAC computer, it is simply not true.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

Thank you for that tip.

Forest Loc: Central Florida

Wingpilot, As others have said you can use any brand of hard drive--doesn't have to be Apple.

If you're replacing your Mac's internal hard drive it can be any brand (although some are better than others), but it has to be compatible specifically for your particular MacBook. Check out Other World Computing at:

https://www.macsales.com/

Other World Computing is a retailer and manufacturer of Mac related hardware and software including memory, accelerators, hard drives, etc. I've used them for several years and IMO they're the best. Their customer service is excellent, and they have great videos to walk you through just about any DIY project that you have the ability and confidence to do on your Mac.

Also as others have said using a thumb drive is not the best route to go for storage, and I agree. But, if that's all you have, it's a lot better than nothing until you can do more.

Did you know that you can format a thumb drive just as you can any hard drive? And, if a thumb drive has a large enough capacity you can use one to make a rebootable clone of your entire operating system.
Google that.

Also, check out Mac Backup Software named Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC4). Then whenever you have an external hard drive/s and are ready to start making backups of all your images CCC will walk you through how to do that. CCC is no longer free (I believe it's currently $39.), but IMO it's easy to use and makes incremental backups (only copies new files--not the files you've already backed up). There are other apps out there such as SuperDuper that I've also read excellent reviews about. I've only used CCC, so that's why I'm recommending it. Here's the CCC link:

Carbon Copy Cloner
https://bombich.com

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

Thank you. I'll check that out.

traveler5450 Loc: Maryland, USA

Keep the editing software on your computer. Upload just the pictures you may want to work on. When you are finished transfer what you want to keep back to your external hard drive and delete the rest on your Mac.

I also have a Macbook pro and only keep the last 12 months worth of pictures on the Mac. The rest reside on an external hard drive.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

That has been my thought.