kitrn23

I finally got most of my photos back into LRC after hard drive crash. The photos were scattered all over the PC. Now I want to start fresh. After importing photos into LR should I immediately backup? Do I do this by exporting into backup drive? Sometimes I feel like I have everything under control and know what I am doing then bang I am lost.

fredpnm Loc: Corrales, NM

I trust you understand that LR DOES NOT store you photos - only information on where the photos are located on your computer drive(s). The LR backup is for the catalog, not photos.

Verryl

I was hacked and photos were not scattered but folders were. what a mess! I wonder if it was the same hacker. The biggest batch of photos was of my model railroad, and they were not labeled as "Photo-named" folders. Other photos I put on SlickPic.

Verryl

Verryl

I was hacked and photos were not scattered but folders were. what a mess! I wonder if it was the same hacker. The biggest batch of photos was of my model railroad, and they were not labeled as "Photo-named" folders. Other photos I put on SlickPic.

Verryl

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

There are three parts to a photography backup.

1. The image files themselves should be backed up.
2. In Lightroom Classic, there is an option that creates backups of the catalog file and files that go with it.
3. Those Lightroom catalog files need to be backed up (copies) somewhere.

The way I do it, is to have all my image files, document files, catalog files, spread sheet files, etc. in a folder structure. Then using synchronization software, I keep that folder structure backed up to a pair external discs.

kitrn23

I know all this but putting into place is what I do not understand how to do. I backup my LRCAT file whenever I quit LR and I am aware that LR is a database, but where do I go to backup my images? In the import file on right there is a check box to import images to 2nd file, do I use this? Sorry if this all sounds simple or beginning LR, but I just do not understand. And what does sync. accomplish?

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

"where do I go to backup my images?"

You image files are on your computer somewhere. You put them there using Lightroom or some other method. Now that they are on your primary drive, you want copies of them somewhere. You could use Windows Explorer (or iOS Finder on a Mac), select all your folders with images and "Copy" them to an external drive. You could also use Lightroom "Export" using the setting "As Original".

If you have very many photo files this will take a LONG time every time you do it. Once done the first time, you could use the 2nd copy option.

Many, including me, pay to use sync software like "GoodSync". It magically looks at the primary drive and backup drive and keeps them matched. The big advantage is that when you delete files on the primary, it also deletes them on the backup drive.

There are as many backup strategies are there are computer users! Some with lots of money use "RAID Systems" with built in redundancy. Some pay for cloud systems like Backblaze or Carbonite.

jscorbin Loc: Woodinville, WA

1. "Sync" works with the "Adobe Lightroom CC" app, to synchronize your photos with the Adobe cloud storage. If you use only Lightroom Classic to store photos on your local computer, you should ignore Sync. I ignore it, and never use Lightroom CC, just Lightroom Classic. Adobe has created endless confusion with poor choices for its app names and functions.

2. In the Import dialog box, the option "Make a Second Copy To" allows you to make two copies of your imported photos -- for example, one copy that you work with, and one copy to another drive that could be a backup of the original. I never use that either, but prefer to do regular backups of the photo storage with a different backup app. That way, I know that everything gets regularly backed up.

3. When you import photos to LrC, you should use the "Copy" option, not Move (which deletes the original), or Add (which keeps the original on the camera chip or wherever it came from). "Copy" lets you specify what folder to put the photo in, so you know where it is.

4. If you don't know where your Lightroom photos are, in the Library module, right-click on a photo, and select "Show in Finder." The actual location in the Finder window that pops up will correspond to the location view that you get in the "Folders" dialog box in the Lightroom Library. Then you can use a backup app to copy that drive or set of folders to another drive.

For example, I use the ChronoSync app on a Mac to automatically back up any changes in a subset of folders on my Photos drive -- and in my Lightroom catalog -- to a separate drive every night.

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

Quick and easy version: get two external drives. Copy to both all your data files (images, word processing, email, spreadsheets, PDFs, program configuration files, etc.), basically anything that would cause you pain if it disappeared. Take one of the external drives and store it somewhere safe, away from your computer and not plugged in. Keep the other one handy because you will refresh it from time to time. Every so often, update both the handy one and the away one, then swap them. If you use the OS to do the file copy, it will tell you which files are already on the disk and won't copy over them (unless you tell it to). If you have a lot of files to update, just run it overnight.

Safer version: Do the quick and easy version and supplement it with a cloud backup system and an automatic update to your local backup disks. Use a program that saves versions of the file so if a file gets corrupted your backup will have an old version you can go back to.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Please understand that when you "backup" your LRCAT when exiting the software, you are not actually backing up anything.

Rather, you're executing a database verification of the single file that is named *something*.LRCAT. Lightroom also checks the age of your previews and purges the out-of-date files that exceed some retention parameters you may / may not have customized. Lightroom makes a ZIP copy of the LRCAT file, but it doesn't put that ZIP anyplace 'safer' than a subfolder where the master LRCAT resides.

Also, Lightroom has no retention nor automated clean-up process of this ZIP files. They easily and quickly can cause a space problem, especially if you're creating these files at every exit.

As you address the various ideas presented in the other replies, consider the following specific actions related to the LRCAT:

1, Update your parameters to store all your presets in the same folder at the Catalog. See Edit / Preferences / Presets / Location check-box.

2, Change your back-up frequency to weekly rather than every exit. See Edit / Catalog Settings / General Tab / Backup drop-down box.

3, Go into your \Back-up folder for all the LRCAT back-up files you've created to date and delete all but the most recent date-stamp. If you're unsure of your LRCAT location, See Edit / Catalog Settings / General Tab / Location / <Show> button.

4, The same folder above containing the LRCAT should be copied in its entirety (i.e., all subfolders and files) into / onto your back-up media, whether you use the cloud or a connected external HD, just add it to wherever you're placing your original image files.

5, On an ongoing basis, periodically return to that \back-up folder and manually delete all but the most recent date-stamp ZIP files.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

I use an external hard drive for mass storage.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I backup half a dozen data files every few days to three drives. Every time LR closes, it backs up the catalog.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

See my comment, three above. Update your 'LR back up" actions, as needed.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Thanks. Funny, but I deleted all but one this morning.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

And, you then copy the entire \Lightroom folder into your back-up media?