7 Replies Latest reply: Jan 1, 2013 1:00 PM by JimHess RSS

    Removing Photos

    Heirloom Bob Community Member

      I have a situation with LR4, where I have copies of the same photo in multiple folders. If I want to remove the shot from a particular folder, is the correct response delete from disk or remove? If I delete from disk wouldn't that remove not only that particular copy but all other copies that reside elsewhere in LR?

       

      Bob

        • 1. Re: Removing Photos
          RikkFlohr CommunityMVP

          Folders = Real Files on Disk. Thus, if a photo appears in more than one folder it really exists multiple places on your hard drive. Deleting one should not affect the others.

           

          Remove will take it out of the Lightroom Catalog but leave it on the hard drive.

          Delete will put the file into your Trash/Recycle bin.

           

          In your case, and assuming you mean folders and not collections, I would think Delete is what you want.  Test it on a single file you know before doing it enmass.  Verify that other instances remain intact before proceeding further. 

          • 2. Re: Removing Photos
            dj_paige Community Member

            If you want to delete the photo from your computer's hard disk AND from Lightroom, select Delete from Disk.

             

            If you want to delete the photo from Lightroom, but leave it on your computer's hard disk, select Remove.

            If I delete from disk wouldn't that remove not only that particular copy but all other copies that reside elsewhere in LR?

            This is somewhat unclear. You should only have a single copy of each photo in LR. In that case, either Remove or Delete From Disk will delete that photo from Lightroom.

             

            Yes, it is possible to import duplicates of the same photo, is that what you did? Is that what you mean by "all other copies that reside elsewhere in LR"?

            • 3. Re: Removing Photos
              Heirloom Bob Community Member

              Yes...I edited the original and then used a preset to export to for example, favourites and then maybe a copy exported also to a folder Calender.

              • 4. Re: Removing Photos
                dj_paige Community Member

                So, if you delete the original from Lightroom (NOT A GOOD IDEA!!!), or delete the original from the disk (EVEN WORSE IDEA!!!), it does not affect your exports.

                 

                Don't delete your originals.

                • 5. Re: Removing Photos
                  Geoff the kiwi CommunityMVP

                  Therin lies your confusion. Collections are a great use for subjects such as favourites to reside without cluttering your Folders and HD. For the Calendar you can also use a collection to collect the files you wish to use then export copies without needing to retain anywhere the exported copies (after you have used them) as the originals are still in the Folder where they were imported to and in the Collection. Extra copies are rarely needed with Lightroom.

                  Heirloom Bob wrote:

                   

                  Yes...I edited the original and then used a preset to export to for example, favourites and then maybe a copy exported also to a folder Calender.

                  • 6. Re: Removing Photos
                    Heirloom Bob Community Member

                    All good advice here and many thanks.I have a question though about collections. If I use as in this case, a collection for Favourites, LR will pull all of the Favorites together for me to view the collection, with no regard to the what folders they are located in. They will be spread amongst several folders. Now I want to do some work with my favourites, in InDesign. Since there is no folder that contains all of my favourites and only a collection, do I have to view the collection within LR and then export all of the favourites to a single folder so that I can easily pull them into InDesign?

                    • 7. Re: Removing Photos
                      JimHess Community Member

                      Yes, that's the idea. But don't add that export to your catalog. You don't need those in the catalog because they are for a specific purpose within InDesign. And after you have used them for whatever purpose they were created you can delete those exported copies because they aren't needed anymore. If you need copies of those Favorites again in the future, you can export a new copy. That way, if you decide to make changes to your original images you  do not have to worry about all the multiple copies.