Are Virtual Copies Saved to My Computer Somewhere as Hidden Files?

[cassiav21190495]

Hello,

My external hard drive failed and I lost the JPEGs associated with my Lightroom catalog permanently.  I still have the virtual copies on the Lightroom Catalog and want to know if those virtual copies are stored on my computer somewhere as hidden files?

The only other option I can think of is opening the images in full screen mode and taking a screen shot to save them. I had just hoped there might be a slightly higher resolution option.

Thanks

Cassia

[dj_paige · Accepted solution]

Virtual copies do not exist outside of Lightroom.

[Rob_Cullen]

If your original image files are gone, your only hope of regaining a semblance of the photos is to 'extract' the Lightroom Previews. 'Quality' (image pixel size) will depend on the Previews created in Lightroom.

Extract with this Lightroom Plugin- Jeffrey Friedl's Blog » Jeffrey’s “Extract Cached Image Previews” Lightroom Plugin

Learn the lesson- BACKUP your photos on separate drives.

[Just Shoot Me]

Virtual =

COMPUTING

not physically existing as such but made by software to appear to do so.

synonyms:

simulated, artificial, imitation, make-believe;

So No they aren't stored anywhere on your computer.