kakel60

Running a 2008 Mac desktop . using lightroom and photoshop.
All my files are raw format. have my system backed -up on to 2 external harddrives. Only want to save my pics onto a separate drive. Advise please on a couple subjects:
Best hardrive to use?
Do i hardwire one or just plug in when needed?
Only want to back-up the pics and not do an entire system backup.

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

The number of photos will determine the size of the backup. There are many options. How many GB of photos do you have?
Mark

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

If you wish to BACKUP your pictures, you can easily plug in a drive when needed and make use of several systems to automate a backup of only your images if you like, for exmple - Time Machine or Chronosync, or plug it in and leave it connected, only using it as a second copy of your images -

If you wish to move your pictures to an external disk, I would suggest add the drive, plan on leaving it connected and move your images via Lightroom so it will know where they are when you open Lightroom. You are free to "eject" the drive to disconnect it anytime, but if you launch Lightroom with the drive disconnected it cannot find your pics, so error will follow for you to correct.

I am not sure if you mean copy or store when you say "save".

kakel60

Hi , Yes I want to store. Basically want to free up my Mac hardrive and continue on. I would definitely like Lightroom to be able to access them when I need. So I question then would be.. Leave the new drive plugged in via usb or does it need to be hardwired and act as a slave of some sort. That is out of my field.
So far as how many gigs worth of pics... not sure, but man its a lot.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

A USB drive can remain connected 24x7 without an issue. Plug it in and it just becomes another drive automatically, should be no issue.

I myself have a Mac with a Thunderbolt connected external drive where my images are stored all the time, nothing on the internal drive.

Once you get your drive set up, you can move all your images easily with Lightroom. There are many tutorials that walk you through the process - basically drag and drop in Lightroom, you can do it in small segments or all at once, if you have a lot of images of course it will take some time depending on how fast your USB connection is.

Lowrider Loc: Kennesaw, GA

Anyone that stores their files on only one device, internal or external is taking a big risk. Depending on the manufacturer and the elements they all have unacceptable failure rates for something as irreplaceable as your one-of-a-kind photographs. For me, keeping your files on either a SSD or a HDD in addition to the Cloud is essential. Plus, with the cloud, you can access them from anywhere in the world.

SusanFromVermont Loc: Southwest corner of Vermont

You can use any HD you want that is formatted for a Mac. Everyone has their own favorite brand, I use WD, 4TB My Book. And you still will need those 2 xHDs you are currently using.

Hard-wiring is not necessary. The xHD can be plugged into your computer by the included USB wire, and left there 24/7. As OP pointed out, if you disconnect it, the LR Catalog will no longer have access to the images [until you plug it back in] which prevents you from managing them, including editing, printing, moving images, etc.

To transfer your images to the xHD, right-click on the master folder containing the images. Choose "send to" and choose the drive. [I use a PC, but Mac ought to have equivalent function/wording] The folder and all the images in it will be transferred. It will take time, how long being determined by the number of photos in the folder.

The xHDs usually have the capability to be programmed for regular daily backups so you will not have to do anything except check it now and then to make sure it is working properly. This is a good idea because when closing LR, the only backup it offers is of the Catalog itself, not your images. When setting the programming for the backup, you have the option to choose as few or as many items to back up as you like. You can choose only to back up the photos. And subsequent backups are incremental, so they don't take much time at all.

Hope this answers your questions.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

Unfortunately, by moving the images by the OS, (right click and sending or drag and drop) then the Lightroom catalog has then lost them, and the OP will need to reconnect them in Lightroom, taking more time.

Simply moving them within Lightroom assures that the catalog gets updated right away with the new location information. There are plenty of tutorials available to illustrate how Lightroom easily moves images from folder to folder or disk to disk.

Such as:

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/how-to/lightroom-move-folder-files.html

a6k Loc: Detroit & Sanibel

If the OP's household is pure Mac then it makes best sense to format the external drive for Mac. But..
1. be aware that Apple is on the cusp of moving to an enhanced file system and I'd be surprised if it isn't backward compatible but it will probably be better for this purpose. He may no want to wait, though.
2. While Mac does not natively write NTFS, it can do so with some inexpensive programs. NTFS, the Windows file system is (according to Mac-o-philes like me) not as good but it is universally readable.
3. If there is a Windows PC on the network, the Mac can read and write to a NTFS drive that's attached to the PC. On my network, at least, it's very fast and works very well. The OP may not have a need for this but I wanted to make him/her aware of this option. I gave up on 3rd party apps for directly r/w NTFS but over a Windows network it's hassle free.
4. It's sub-optimal but for smaller volumes, FAT32 is an available choice and Mac can handle that natively. That's why USB thumb drives and SD cards work pretty much everywhere.

I have no idea how all this interacts with LR. This whole point of concern is why I much prefer to use the OS's file system for my cataloging needs and use editors as editors. I know that's not a universally popular view but I thought I'd make this a teaching moment anyhow. By using file hierarchy, naming conventions and EXIF tags your collection can be both highly searchable and yet under your vendor-independent control. I don't even use the tags that Mac provides if they don't embed in the file itself. For example, if you post pictures on a web server (Flickr, OneDrive, GoogleDrive, etc.) your Mac tags vanish but your EXIF metadata survives.

Checkmate Loc: Southern California

I use a portable 1 TB hard drive that I copy all my photos especially the family and all my travel photos then store it in a safe deposit box at my bank. These same
photos are kept on 2 hard drives in the house and on Carbonite. Maybe over done but the cost is minor and the safety is always there. The portable HD gets its power
through the USB cable. Cheap insurance.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

FWIW - Lightroom does not care about the file system, THAT is an OS duty. The OS mounts, presents and manages the file system used. Lightroom simply says read this or save that and the OS takes care of it.

What most people miss out on, by handling cataloging themselves, is the ease of use of the database built into Lightroom that allows instant sorting, location and management of several hundreds of thousands of photos potentially.

The most misunderstood aspect about Lightroom is the catalog, but it is simple, its just a SQL database - very good at what it does - use it or not, fight it or not, everyone gets that choice, however, there is no off switch, you will STILL need to import images prior to editing them, which is adding them to the catalog.

a6k Loc: Detroit & Sanibel

Correct. Already understood. Makes my point. Some prefer it and that's OK.

The way around it (the virtual OFF switch) is just to use a dummy catalog so it can deal with an individual image, keep that catalog empty or nearly empty. One of the things I have struggled with (probably just my ineptness with it) is to add only one image from a given directory to the current catalog. It should not be so hard.

My additional point is that if you allow yourself to be dependent upon a single vendor's database then you are, in fact, dependent and at risk of changes they introduce later. Aperture? Yes, my DIY approach is more work but it's a rational choice. If you, for example, use LR for your "asset management" then you need to use it even for such a mundane task as copying a branch of a file tree to another volume. At what point do work arounds cost you more effort than they are worth? It's a personal choice.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

Pretty much for me, I live in Lightroom when working on images. I begin and end editing with a Lightroom session, my images are managed in a single catalog, I can put my hands on pretty much any image within moments from my entire catalog.

If I was to need to copy several folders of my raw files, no problem, I would do it in finder since copy does not move the original.

If moving to a new folder configuration I would most likely do it in Lightroom, just as fast and it would keep my catalog intact, but it could easily be done outside of Lightroom, but then the catalog would need repopulated - not a terrible task, but an extra step.

Realize, the catalog is not where your images are located, it is only a pointer to where they are on disk, so I guess I am not seeing why using the Lightroom program they way it was designed locks me into Adobe?

I struggled with Lightroom for a little while then a light went off - and I figured out the catalog system - not a big deal, just an entry in a database (import). Life became so much easier for me.

BUT, yes, it IS a personal choice for sure!

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

I concur with the advice to keep the external HD plugged in and move the files to it within LR.

I would also like to suggest that the catalog be stored on the external HD as well. I think it makes sense to have all the important files accessible on one drive rather than have the catalog on one drive and the data on another. It also means that when you back up the external HD, you can back up the catalog as well. It also means that you can carry the external HD over to another computer that has LR on it and everything is right there to start using it.

I'm not really familiar with the way Mac handles disk naming but in Windows it's the drive letter that's important so you will want to ensure that if you unplug your external HD and then plug it back in again, the system recognizes it with the same drive letter.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

Not the same drive letter issues on a Mac. The volume name is what OS X goes by.

Solid advice!