Bogin Bob Loc: Tampa Bay, Florida

I'm trying to help someone (through email) move from Mac Photos to Lr - I need advice from the Hogs
Here is her 'spec' I have an iMac she sent
1. Currently using the Mac Photos app to organize my photos
2. Want to use LR
3. All photos are automatically stored on an external drive.
4. Need to know how to export/convert my Mac photos library to LR.

Since her photos are on the external drive as she states ... is it not as simple as:
a) connecting the external drive with photos to the Mac
b) through Lr Library she simply File/Import Photos and Video
c) select the connected drive root
d) sit back and allow Lr to create its catalogue and let all photos remain on the external

She wants to import images to Mac hard drive, edit and finalize and then move those photos to the external. That's a workflow issue, no problem.
I will have to confirm if she is backing up the external drive and if not she will have to.

Thank you, Bob

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

It depends....

If she set up Photos to store all images within the standard Photos Library (The default method - called a MANAGED library) then the images are all contained within a special file. If this is the case, she will need to export all the images to a folder, then import them into Lightroom. She can export the original files, or export the edited JPG files.... but she will lose the edits done on the originals, and only get "baked in" edits on JPGs....

If however it is set up as a REFERENCED library, then the images are sitting on the external disk right there for all to see - they can be imported into Lightroom from where they are.

A word to the wise - set up Lightroom properly so that you know where it will put all imported photos and remember to always use Lightroom to manage the photo files until you fully get the library and storage options.


I would advise not doing the workflow you talked about.... You store the originals on an external disk, manage and edit with Lightroom, do not worry about making copies first, Lightroom does not change your original files. When finished editing you can export a finished JPG version, the original is still sitting on the disk as it came from the camera.

For what its worth - I only export finished JPG's to upload to my Flicker Feed, to print or to give away. The originals remain in my Lightroom Library/database. Lightroom can generate a new JPG at any time, or I can edit the original again any way I choose.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

And I will add that Photos is also non-destructive as was Aperture, (Aperture was the first non-destructive editing program), and today Lightroom Capture One, .. all are non-destructive to the original. Non-deastructive is in some ways a doubled edged sword. You don’t touch the originals but you are locked into the ecosystem of the retouching software if you want to preserve your retouching work.

Lightroom will import the originals but it will not import retouching instructions. So images that have been retouched in Photos will import as originals in Lightroom. One way to preserve retouching work is to export all the retouched images. Then Lightroom can import both the originals and the retouched exported versions. The downside is it takes up more space on ye old hard drive. But these are the challenges we face when changing softwares. (And we haven’t even touched on metadata which may not translate at all). There is no easy way to do this.

Making a plan for transitioning to new software is a good idea. Testing the plan before unleashing it on a photo library, is an even better idea.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

Agree 100%

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

Bogin Bob Loc: Tampa Bay, Florida

Thank you ... I can't see her file structure (may have to have her install Team Viewer). Thanks for the heads up on possibly losing edits (unless she has all images as Jpegs)

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

BTW - IF you find that she is using managed, she will have 1 file that contains all the images and edits.... if you right click on the file in finder and select show package info you will then be able to go thru the included folders - just like a disk file structure.... images should be in the MASTER folder...

Bogin Bob Loc: Tampa Bay, Florida

Thank you, Bob

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

My take on this:

Buy a second external drive (call it Drive B) at least as large as the on currently containing the images , which we will call Drive A.

With LR to to the Import dialog and simply [b]Add[/d] the photos to a LR library pre-made on Drive A.

She can then reorganize, make keywords, edit to her hearts content. Then when she wants to export, she can export to Drive B.

One approach of many. None are the "one right way" and none will be completely wrong. She will need to see what works for her.

I would avoid at all costs the importing of the images to the internal drive. I'm not sure if any prior edits will be lost in the process.

Bogin Bob Loc: Tampa Bay, Florida

Thanks ...

bcrawf

Dngallager, do you save edited images as JPEG because of file-size considerations?

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

No, I keep my original raw files - Lightroom manages them fine on my external drives. The edits are contained within the Lightroom catalog AND in the XMP sidecar files. Nothing is changed within the original raw file.

A JPG can be generated from Lightroom within seconds when needed.

If I wish to make a second version of an image, I can start with the raw as it was imported, or at any point in the editing process that was done previously by just selecting the point in Lightroom's history and creating a virtual copy of the image at that point and continue editing on the virtual copy.

I found it tedious to manage multiple copies of images/versions manually versus letting my Lightroom database do all the rudimentary book keeping.

The only time I deal with JPG files are exporting from Lightroom to Flickr or posting to web sites. I let Lightroom post my shots to Flickr using a great plugin from Jeffery Friedl that manages what album/group each image goes into, and Lightroom automatically resizes and watermarks everything that gets exported.

http://regex.info/blog/lightroom-goodies/flickr

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

Hi Bob,
She says she is "storing" photos. Does this mean she is also editing photos? If no photos are edited that makes things fairly simply. Edited photos would be more complex. Assuming no photos have been edited: find the location of the Photos files in the Picture folder and move all of the folders to wherever it is you want them to be stored on the external hard drive (hopefully all of her files are stored together in one main folder). Then open LR, go to import, navigate as usual to the sections on what to import and then click on add without moving at the top, and LR will do the rest. If she wants to rearrange folders prior to linking to LR she can do that or she can rearrange from within LR once they are linked. BTW, I am a long-time Mac user. It's always hard to help people without knowing all of the details. If she has done edits on photos, then she will need to export those completed photos, using a full-size tif would be best, to where she wants to keep them and then would need to import those files into LR wherever she wants them to go. Hope this is helpful to some small degree.

Bogin Bob Loc: Tampa Bay, Florida

This was a little all new to me ... so I suggested she contact Apple. She did. I reminded her that be sure to confirm any edited photos are brought over intact. I believe she only shoots Jpeg. She responded this morning that Apple brought all photos over to her external drive and then it should be a simple Lr Import after navigating to the drive. Thanks, everyone for the insight. Bob