New Lightroom user.

[beerbasket]

I just downloaded Lightroom 6 to my MacPro commuter. I have all ready exported all my Raw photos to an external drive from Iphotos. Question after I import these photos to Lightroom and make edits do I then have to export back to the external drive? And if I do will it overide the photos I orinially imported?

email is <Personal info removed by admin>

Thanks

[dj_paige]

Lightroom never overwrites your original RAW photos.

After you import the photos into Lightroom and then edit the photos, you don't have to export back to the external drive. Most people only export when they need the photos for some non-Lightroom use such as e-mail, print, or upload. If you don't need the photo outside of Lightroom, don't export!

When you do export, you can export to any folder you want.

[Laura Shoe · Accepted solution]

To piggy back on dj_paige, Lightroom automatically saves all your edits in its catalog, so you don't have to save or export for this.. Here is an article that I wrote that explains this in more detail.

[beerbasket]

Laura, thanks for your reply. Your article would not open, got a 404 error, not found.

Clarification. I will have to export if I want to email or print, correct? But I could import back into iPhoto to send emails, etc. You have answered my question. Thanks for the quick response.

John

[dj_paige]

Honestly, I think it is unwise and extra work to use both Lightroom and iPhoto. The whole point of Lightroom is that you don't need other photo management type applications.

You can e-mail from within Lightroom, or you can export and then use your e-mail application.

[beerbasket]

I was only going to use iPhoto for for photos I need to email. I plan to use Lightroom for managing

[Laura Shoe]

Sorry, John - I have corrected my link above on saving your work - thanks for the heads up.

I agree with dj_paige: for most users it's best to leave iPhoto behind and do everything from Lightroom.

To email directly from within LR, right-click in a photo (Ctl-click with a one button Mac mouse) and choose Email Photo...  You'll have to do some setup the first time, but after that it's really quick. Here's an article with more details on how to email from Lightroom. I wrote it when Lightroom 4 was out, but it's still applicable.

Otherwise export and then email the exported file.

[dj_paige]

Yes, I agree with Laura.

Either e-mail from Lightroom, or export the photo(s) to a temporary location where you will have no trouble finding them, and then attach them in your e-mail application.

[beerbasket]

Laura, clinked on link but do not see “Correct” button to click.