1 Correct answer
tamc2015 wrote:
I have a very large amount of photos and therefore folders. I am hoping that I understood correctly that there is a more streamlined, efficient way to move everything if there is one.
If you have a large amount of files & folders I recommend using Windows Explorer or Mac Finder to move them to the new external drive. There have been numerous posts where users have lost entire photo collections when moving files & folders to an external drive from inside LR. Here thwo posts th
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Replies
tamc2015 wrote:
Thank you again. After watching some videos, it seemed that my file naming system was an issue. I only just changed it after a trip last month and created a folder during import with the place we travelled to. However, it is still within the 2016 main folder. It's a little reassuring that I wasn't off the mark from the beginning then.
That's perfectly OK, but don't get carried away renaming files or folders for identification purposes. Instead assign specific keywords inside LR to the trip files, such as 'trip name,' locations, and other picture specific information. You can then use LR's Filter bar to find specific pictures using these keywords and create a Collection with all of the trip photos.Excellent eBook on the subject here: Organizing Your Photos with Lightroom 5 - The DAM Book It applies to LR 5, 6, and CC 2015.
tamc2015 wrote:
I had dragged and dropped to backup to an external file a couple of months ago. It did not move them off my internal drive. After moving I tried to verify the size with what was originally the size before dragging and everything seemed to match up. I will however, look at the link that you have provided and copy the files to the new external drive (again, my plan is to have 2).
When you drag & drop from an internal drive to an external drive with Mac OS X it assumes you want to Copy the files: How to Move Files in Mac OS X I didn't know that... Also if you hold down the Command key while dragging and dropping it will Copy over new files to the destination folder and not Move the originals. It's best to use an entirely separate external drive for backup purposes and not a drive that contains original files. That means you will need two external drives.
tamc2015 wrote:
"Once confirmed AOK" Do you mean once I have confirmed that the files have successfully moved?
Yes. Here's an example on my Windows system at the link I provided. Mac Finder should look similar. Notice Size On Disk, File Count, and Folder Count are identical on each drive. That indicates the files were all copied over. E: is my internal drive and J: is my external drive, which in this case is my backup drive. You can delete the files on the internal drive once you have verified the counts, successfully reconnected the image files inside LR to the new Pictures folder, and verified everything is working properly. There's no need to delete them right away!
tamc2015 wrote:
Will it create an issue if I continue to have only one main catalog but files located on separate drives? (Again, planning to keep current year on my internal drive but others only on an external). Or would it be better to create separate catalogs? Do I then just copy LR catalog backups to the external drive?
That is perfectly OK and will show in LR's Library module as two separate drives. That will work fine with one (1) catalog. You should set LR to copy the Catalog Backup to your separate backup drive. Create a folder on that drive and name it Lightroom Catalog Backup so you can keep track of them.
tamc2015 wrote:
Unrelated to my original question, I just noticed a bunch of metadata status "has been changed". Possibly from my recent upgrade to LR 6 (or possibly I was just previously oblivious). Some say "the metadata for this photo has been changed by both Lightroom and another application. Should Lightroom import settings from disk or overwrite disk settings with those from catalog?" I have no idea what this means. I do not know what to choose. Some of them just say "The metadata for this photo has been changed in LR. Save the changes to disk? Cancel or save". Again, I do not know what I am supposed to do.
This generally only happens when the image files have been opened in another application such as Photoshop and then re-saved. Are you opening and/or re-saving image files in any other applications?
tamc2015 wrote:
Will not changing this before moving everything cause me any problems?
It depends on your answer to the above question. If you didn't actually edit or add metadata to the files in another application outside LR then there's no issue.
tamc2015 wrote:
I had intended to start the process tomorrow but now I have a sick child so that is highly unlikely to happen. And with our schedules, I do not know when I might get the chance to try this again. Hopefully soon, but maybe a few weeks. Can I ask then or will my thread close?
Take care of priorities...we'll be here when you're ready.
Thank you again for the reply. 
I will have to spend a bit of time going over the whole response, but to answer your question to mine
tamc2015 wrote:
Unrelated to my original question, I just noticed a bunch of metadata status "has been changed". Possibly from my recent upgrade to LR 6 (or possibly I was just previously oblivious). Some say "the metadata for this photo has been changed by both Lightroom and another application. Should Lightroom import settings from disk or overwrite disk settings with those from catalog?" I have no idea what this means. I do not know what to choose. Some of them just say "The metadata for this photo has been changed in LR. Save the changes to disk? Cancel or save". Again, I do not know what I am supposed to do.
This generally only happens when the image files have been opened in another application such as Photoshop and then re-saved. Are you opening and/or re-saving image files in any other applications?
The only other program that I believe I use to open anything is in Preview. I do not make any changes to the original and do not use Photoshop for editing currently or in the past. I possibly may use it in the future. So as far as I am aware and recall, I am not re-saving in any application. I don't even really understand what metadata is and there should not be edits outside of LR to the best of my recollection. As a test, it seems to be some images that I have made a change to and exported. (And a few others that I don't recall doing anything with.) I have no idea what I am supposed to do, if anything, in LR to "resolve conflict".
I truly, sincerely appreciate all of your help.
A metadata conflict can occur if you re-export a file and choose "over-write" an existing file. Regardless, since you have not edited the image files in another application there is no real conflict. You can ignore it or find the affected image files and get rid of the metadata conflict icon as described below using the LR Filter Bar:
Ask Tim Grey - Metadata Mismatch - September 11, 2012
In the Library module left panel under 'Catalog' click on 'All Photographs.' In the Filter bar select 'Conflict Detected' and then Select All images (Command + S). On any one of the images click on the metadata conflict icon and select 'Overwrite Settings.' All of the selected image files will be updated. As you can see I've got quite a few from editing files using Photoshop. Some of them are video files that have never been edited (bogus conflict), some were edited in PS (no real conflict), and some were never edited outside LR (bogus conflict). Nothing to worry about.
tamc2015 wrote:
I am confused by Tim Gray's statement "If you're using Lightroom as your primary platform for managing and optimizing your images, then chances are it won't be a problem to update the data in the image files and sidecar files. But it's not a bad idea to check the status of some of the images just to be sure you know what you're up against."
It's the last sentence that confuses me as I am not sure what I am supposed to be looking for exactly???
Some users have reported seeing metadata conflict icons on images when they have NOT done anything that should cause it. Since you have NOT edited photos outside of Lightroom there is no "actual" conflict, (bogus). You do NOT want to use 'Import Settings from Disk,' which may cause you to lose keywords, ratings, flags, etc. applied to image files inside LR. LR normally only stores these inside the LR catalog and not in the actual file. Using 'Import Settings from Disk' reads the file's metadata, which will cause all of these applied metadata to be removed. There is an exception to this if you changed your LR Catalog Settings> Metadata tab and checked 'Automatically write changes into XMP.' By default it is unchecked.Yours is probably unchecked so you want to use 'Overwrite Settings,' which will retain all of your LR edits and metadata.
I noticed in my reply #16 I said, "Select All images (Command + S)." That is incorrect and should say "Select All Images (Command + A) or menu Edit> Select All. Command + S writes the LR catalog metadata to the actual file, which will also resolve the metadata conflict, but in your case this it is not necessary.
tamc2015 wrote:
What are the metadata "changed on disk", "has been changed" and I also have one called "unknown". Am I supposed to do anything with those ones?
Again, since you have NOT edited images outside LR the best way to resolve these other metadata conflicts is to use 'Overwrite Settings' for ALL of them, as outlined. The one exception would be if you have a drive imported into LR that contains "backup copies" (duplicates) of "original image files" also in LR. They may show metadata conflict because another program (Finder or backup app) is being used to update the backup. If ANY backup (duplicate) copies have been imported into LR I suggest you Remove (not Delete) them from LR. Just an FYI.
tamc2015 wrote:
Not all files are RAW files and I only see some XMP files. (Not all of the RAW ones seem to have XMP files I don't think). You are correct that that "Automatically write changes into XMP" is unchecked.
If "Automatically write changes into XMP" is unchecked the only way XMP files could have been created is in another application (Photoshop or PS Elements, Camera's Software, etc.), OR using COMMAND + S keys. Since you say the images were NOT edited outside LR then COMMAND + S is the only way they could have been created. No harm done and if you are sure your LR Develop edits look correct inside LR the XMP files can be deleted. They are normally only used when editing raw files in both LR and another application such as Adobe Camera in PS.
tamc2015 wrote:
If I understood what you are saying correctly, I should be overwriting settings? Is that for any metadata that "changed on disk", "has been changed" and "unknown" or strictly for the images that are labelled "conflict detected"? Does any of this change the original/master file?
You want to use 'Overwrite Settings' for ALL of these conflicts. After the XMP files have been deleted you will have fewer metadata conflicts, so delete them first! Raw files are not written to inside LR, only their XMP sidecar files. JPEG, TIFF and PNGs file metadata will be written so that it matches what is currently in the LR Catalog (i.e. what you now see onscreen). However, the file's image data will NOT be modified.
tamc2015 wrote:
You mentioned
Again, since you have NOT edited images outside LR the best way to resolve these other metadata conflicts is to use 'Overwrite Settings' for ALL of them, as outlined. The one exception would be if you have a drive imported into LR that contains "backup copies" (duplicates) of "original image files" also in LR. They may show metadata conflict because another program (Finder or backup app) is being used to update the backup. If ANY backup (duplicate) copies have been imported into LR I suggest you Remove (not Delete) them from LR. Just an FYI.
I will be creating that external drive with a manual backup of the files. Do you mean if an image gets duplicated in LR? Why remove and not delete? Wouldn't both images then appear in one drive and become redundant? Maybe I have misunderstood this part of your comments completely.
To make this clearer:
You should be making backup "copies" of all of your image files and the LR Catalog file, which are stored on a separate external drive:
1) These backup copies should NOT be stored on the same drive as the original image files.
2) These backup copies should NOT be imported into LR.
3) It's OK to locate some of your original image files on an internal drive and some of them on an external drive. But ALL of those original files should have backup copies stored on a 3rd drive ( i.e. 2nd external drive). These backup copies are not considered duplicates. They are only to be used if the original files are lost due to a hard drive failure or accidental file deletion. Hopefully that will never happen.
To do this you need to install, setup, and use a file backup or synchronization software utility such as FreeFileSync. You can also use an online backup such as Dropbox, but I recommend keeping a local backup copy on an external drive (i.e. two backup copies). The first time you run the backup/synchronization utility it will take a long time since ALL of the files must be written to the separate backup drive. Re-synchronize your backup after every major editing session and after adding new camera files. The new files will be added, any modified files will be updated, and removed files will be deleted from the backup drive. Because only the affected files need to be updated (i.e. synchronized) it will take much less time.
Thank you again. I will start with some of these changes and follow up when I actually get to doing the "bigger" stuff. Now I have a clearer picture and better understanding before jumping in and doing the wrong thing. Much appreciated.
Remember what I said:
"Raw files are not written to inside LR, only their XMP sidecar files. JPEG, TIFF and PNGs file metadata will be written so that it matches what is currently in the LR Catalog (i.e. what you now see onscreen). However, the file's image data will NOT be modified."
1) If you didn't delete the XMP files they will be written to on disk. This is of no consequence since they will be update with the current settings...and can be deleted anyhow.
2) If you have any JPEG, TIFF or PNG files only the file metadata will be updated and written to on disk with the current catalog information. Again of no real consequence here other than to get rid of the metadata conflict.
If you don't currently have a backup copy of ALL original image files stored on a separate 2nd external hard drive I suggest doing that as the first step. Here's how the backup of all my media files on the backup drive looks inside FreeFileSync. The "folder pairs" shown below are "synchronized" between the internal drive C: (Lightroom) and external drive E: ( Pictures and all other media files) to the 2nd external hard drive M: (i.e.backup drive).
tamc2015 wrote:
I went into LR and tried on some jpegs and NEF with metadata status that was "up to date". And changed the white balance. I checked the metadata status again and now it says "has been changed". So any changes I make will result in a status of "has been changed" and will require a "save" to be "up to date"? I think I am also confused because "save changes to disk" makes it seem it will modify the original image as "delete from disk" means trashing from the computer.
Epilouge:
This is happening because you have 'Include Develop settings in metadata inside JPEG, TIFF, PNG, and PSD files' checked, but 'Automatically write changes into XMP unchecked. Without that checked any time you make a changes to an image the LR catalog is updated with those changes, but NOT the actual image file or XMP file. ERGO- Metadata Conflict! You have the option of using COMMAND + S keys (Save Metadata to file) after completing edits to an image file(s), which will write the changes to the files and update the metadata status. But first please read on.......
Geoff the kiwiw suggests checking 'Automatically write changes into XMP,' which will also "automatically" write changes into JPEG, TIFF, PNG, and PSD files. This will resolve the issue and does provide some degree of added protection. The Develop settings are written to the file, which means you can recover your Develop edits IF the LR catalog becomes corrupted AND you have no recent LR Catalog file copy on your backup drive. But you aren't going to let that happen correct!
Why not use these settings anyhow...partial, extra backup is better than none, correct? IMHO the answer is NO! The one exception is if you regularly edit image files in both LR and another application such as Adobe Camera Raw inside Photoshop or share files for editing in LR with another person.
REASON
1) Numerous LR users have reported having performance issues with 'Automatically write changes into XMP' checked.
2) Every time you make a changes to a non-raw image file (JPEG, TIFF, etc.) LR opens the file, modifies the metadata, and over-writes the modified file back to the hard drive. Yes, LR does not modify the image data, but the file is still prone to becoming corrupted due to other system related anomalies! As a 45-Year veteran of the Computing Technology Industry–I don't use it! Surprisingly, I also haven't had any performance issues with LR 1, 2, 3, 4 ,5, and now CC 2015.
Feel free to try LR with both of the below options checked and see if you experience any performance issues. It will create XMP files for all of your raw images, but they are very small files typically less than 10KB. It will also update all of your other non-raw files. This may in fact cause a temporary performance issue since it runs in the background and uses some of your system resources. Once completed LR should run smoother.
The decision and choice is entirely yours.
tamc2015 wrote:
I think I partially understand what you are saying. At the end of the day, as long as I have my original file, if there is a corruption, I can always re-edit. And to be perfectly frank, I am still trying to better edit so do go back and make changes and try to adjust something that I have previously done. (I have a long way to go before "completing" my edits). I do not feel that I would need the XMP file because of this. Unless this somehow saves my image if there is an image corruption for some reason. However, since these are so small I am assuming that the original really is needed?
The issue concerns loss of the LR Catalog file due to corruption or hard drive failure. Your LR edits, keywording, rating, collections, etc. will be lost if you don't have a LR Catalog file backup or the backup isn't current with your recent edits. By writing Develop settings and other metadata to the file and XMP sidecars you can create a new LR catalog and use 'Read metadata from file' to restore your edits, keywords, and ratings. LR items like collections will not automatically be restored, but if you have used good keywording they can be recreated. The XMP files only contain LR editing information, keywords, ratings, etc. You need to make backup copies of all your image files to a separate hard drive so they can be recovered in the event of accidental deletion or hard drive failure.
tamc2015 wrote:
I understand that because I have 'Include Develop settings in metadata inside JPEG, TIFF, PNG, and PSD files' checked', that the metadata conflict will occur with my JPEG files (I do not currently have any TIFF, PNG or PSD files). I do not understand however, why the conflict occurs to a NEF file (Nikon's RAW which I presume you know though). I also do not understand why a XMP file gets created when I try to resolve the conflict when 'Automatically write changes into XMP' is left unchecked with a NEF image.
At some point you accidentally (or on purpose?) created XMP files for selected NEF image files. This was most likely done using COMMAND + S keys shortcut for 'Save Metadata to File.' This will create XMP files for those selected NEF files even with 'Include Develop settings in metadata inside JPEG, TIFF, PNG, and PSD files' unchecked. That is always ON by default for raw files like NEFs. Once you've 1) removed the metadata conflict for all NEF files AND 2) then removed the XMP files, 3) LR will no longer show a metadata conflict. You need to do it in that order> 1 then 2.
tamc2015 wrote:
I do try to regularly back up my catalogs. I have had to get rid of some old ones because of space.
You want to create a new catalog backup after every major editing session. If you've edited 100 or 1,000 image files since the last LR Catalog file backup and the current catalog becomes unusable...then you'll need to edit those 100 or 1,000 image files all over again. Only you can determine the threshold of pain for lost edits.
tamc2015 wrote:
I often run the "find missing files" which I have presumed would detect any corruption but possibly I am incorrect about that??
Find missing files is used to relocate files that have been moved from outside LR (! icon on thumbnails). To insure against Catalog corruption make sure 'Test integrity before backing up' and 'Optimize catalog after backing up' are checked. That's about all you can do other than keep a number of the older catalog backups for extra safety.
The issue concerns loss of the LR Catalog file due to corruption or hard drive failure. Your LR edits, keywording, rating, collections, etc. will be lost if you don't have a LR Catalog file backup or the backup isn't current with your recent edits. By writing Develop settings and other metadata to the file and XMP sidecars you can create a new LR catalog and use 'Read metadata from file' to restore your edits, keywords, and ratings. LR items like collections will not automatically be restored, but if you have used good keywording they can be recreated. The XMP files only contain LR editing information, keywords, ratings, etc. You need to make backup copies of all your image files to a separate hard drive so they can be recovered in the event of accidental deletion or hard drive failure.
So I would have the original and whatever the last of my edits would be but not the in-between process. At least that's what I am understanding here.
tamc2015 wrote:
I understand that because I have 'Include Develop settings in metadata inside JPEG, TIFF, PNG, and PSD files' checked', that the metadata conflict will occur with my JPEG files (I do not currently have any TIFF, PNG or PSD files). I do not understand however, why the conflict occurs to a NEF file (Nikon's RAW which I presume you know though). I also do not understand why a XMP file gets created when I try to resolve the conflict when 'Automatically write changes into XMP' is left unchecked with a NEF image.
At some point you accidentally (or on purpose?) created XMP files for selected NEF image files. This was most likely done using COMMAND + S keys shortcut for 'Save Metadata to File.' This will create XMP files for those selected NEF files even with 'Include Develop settings in metadata inside JPEG, TIFF, PNG, and PSD files' unchecked. That is always ON by default for raw files like NEFs. Once you've 1) removed the metadata conflict for all NEF files AND 2) then removed the XMP files, 3) LR will no longer show a metadata conflict. You need to do it in that order> 1 then 2.
Possibly I accidentally created them? Or is it that regardless of what is checked, NEF files ALWAYS create a sidecar? I did a test with command + S and a sidecar was created.
always ON by default for raw files like NEFs
I also tried by clicking the little box beside metadata status. 
After clicking the box (not using shortcut command + S), I still have a sidecar file.
Or did you mean that no matter what I do, NEF files will ALWAYS create a sidecar file if I resolve the metadata conflict (from your comment 'always ON by default for raw files like NEFs')? Then I would always have to manually delete the XMP files.
Is there a purpose to resolving the metadata conflict then or can I just leave it as "Has been changed"? (and file transfer from internal drive to external drive will be not create some issue because the conflict is not resolved).
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