How to?  Working images on main computer drive and backup to externals?

Hi there---
Right now I work in Bridge CS3 and Photoshop and have a workflow and image management system that works for me. But I want to see if I can integrate Lightroom, which I just installed.
I skimmed Martin Evening's book and I am still not sure I can do the following:
Can I keep 3-6 months worth of images on my working computer drive, backing up regularly as I always do, and then erase them on my working computer drive while keeping them on my two backup drives? Or does the Lightroom database not allow you to work that way. My read of Evening is that he works entirely off the external disks. But I don't want to do that. My external disks are just for backups only and I want to keep it that way.
When I would need something from 3-6 months ago, then I'd want to be able to fire up the backup drives and retrieve.
Any suggestions on whether I can do this and how I would do this would be great!
Thanks, Paul

Thanks! Is there a "how to" posted somewhere about this?? I need workflow suggestions and I'm coming up blank.
Currently, I put a new yyyy-mm-dd-nameofshoot folder for every shoot which contains a folder with the original RAW files. I delete the bad ones in bridge. And develop the ones I want to level 10 jpgs in photoshop. I put those in a JPG folder. Sometimes I put other things in the same folder that I want to keep in there... like client invoices, retouched photos, uprezzed images, web galleries. I try to keep everything together under 1 folder and manage everything through my Mac OS interface... not through software.
My backup routine consists of backing up weekly to two external drives using Prosoft's Data Backup 3. I do a simple copy, not a sync or clone, which only copies new or modified files. If the files get deleted off my computer disk, they get kept on the backup. In this way, I clean my computer disk periodically and retain my backup.
I'm so happy with my backup system and kind of want to retain it, but also use LR. I'm worried that the database will screw up my system of working. But I'm attracted to the easy metadata entry and image search capabilities.
Any ideas would be appreciated!
paul

Similar Messages

  • I lost my images from my hard drive and now I can not access them in Lightroom. What can I do?

    I lost my images from my hard drive and now I can not access them in Lightroom. What can I do?

    Your images are truly no longer present on the hard drive(s)? Have you had your operating system do a search for them?
    If such a search fails to find them, here's what I would do, in order
    Look in the trash can/recycle bin
    Restore from backups
    If you don't have backups ... well, why not? ... find a program on the internet called an "undelete utility" (free versons are available) and then download and install it and run it. If you are going to do this, then do not perform any other tasks on your computer except find the program, download it (if possible to a different drive than the photos were stored on), install it (if possible to a different drive than the photos were stored on), and run it. In the future, you will need to commit to making regular backups of your photos and of your Lightroom catalog file, no excuses.
    If that doesn't work, but the thumbnails still appear in Lightroom, you can probably recover the thumbnails from Lightroom via a plug-in, but these would be low-resolution versions of your photos, if you really need instructions on this step, write back

  • I want to put an iso image on my hard drive and access it from desktop

    i have a cd with an iso image
    i want to mount the image on my hard drive and access from my desktop.
    Can any one advise how to do this?

    Thanks again for the advice.
    i have lost several hours trying to get the free download of the latest Daemon to function.
    i eventually sucumbed to buying the full Mac version.
    i made a mistake in my email address and cant find a way of using the order number to effect a download.
    i have emailed Daemon with my details and optimistically await their response.
    Thank you again.

  • How do I install on a slave drive and not C drive

    How do I install on a slave drive and not C drive

    Install what? You can choose an alternate install location during setup or in the Creative Cloud app, but some components will always be installed on your system root drive, regardless.
    Mylenium

  • How do I reformat my External Hard Drive (Seagate Backup Plus).

    Hello everyone. How do I reformat my External Hard Drive (Seagate Backup Plus Portable Device). I accidentally clicked to use it with Time Machine and my hard drive is of little use now. When I open my hard drive, it just shows 'backup', the same thing when I open it with Windows. Thinking of reformatting it back to be used to Mac and Windows. And not use it again with Time Machine. New to Apple, appreciate the help

    Hello,
    "Thinking of reformatting it back to be used to Mac and Windows. And not use it again with Time Machine"
    If you want to format the External drive as universally compatible, your best bet is to format it as exFAT. Note that reformatting the drive erases all contents of the drive.
    1) Open Disk Utility located in /Applications/Utilities/ (or simply type it in spotlight and the application will show up)
    2) Select the external Hard drive
    3) Click the 'erase' tab.
    4) Under format: select exFAT
    5) Click "Erase" in the lower right hand corner to reformat the drive.

  • How do I go about wiping my drive and starting over?

    how do I go about wiping my drive and starting over?

    1. Startup from your 10.5 install DVD and go to Utilities > Disk Utility.
    2. Highlight the HDD in the list of drives and select the Partition tab.
    3. Under Volume Scheme select 1 Partition and click on the Options... button.
    4. Select GUID Partition Table in the drop down window and click OK.
    5. Set the Format to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and click the Apply button.
    6. Once thats done Install OS X from the Install DVD and update..
    To update the fresh OS X, use the > Mac OS X 10.5.8 Combo Update

  • Best setup for external drives and backup

    I'm using Aperture to organize several thousand photos. I've gotten good advice her before about how to get started on this. I'm not a professional and I'm not an experienced user of Aperture, so don't assume a lot of knowledge when you answer. I'm wondering what the best way to set up the file storage would be. I use a MacBook Pro, so obviously that's out for storage, and financially, purchasing a more powerful desktop is out for the time being. I was thinking of purchasing a mirror drive system, like this: http://www.newertech.com/products/gmax.php
    But then, there still remains the problem of backing up the photos in case of a fire or theft, etc. I have many of them on DVD, but not with all the metadata that I've added. Can I back the external drives up to a cloud-based storage system through the wireless on the MacBook?
    Or, is the answer none of the above? What recommendations do you folks have for managing this?

    more:
    Paula-
    Mirror drives are very much less than ideal for images backup. Mirroring occurs in real-time, so errors, breaks, etc. simply get copied. With images work (unlike fanancial work, for instance) we do not need real-time backup we just need regular accurate backup. Just have 2-3 external drives and rotate them regularly, always having one drive off-site (could be in your car or whatever). Back up manually rather than automatically so that you can be reasonably certain that the backup is not backing up something that just broke.
    I suggest the below workflow. Note that most important is that original images from the camera card are copied to two locations before reformatting the card and before importing into Aperture or any other images management application.
    Original images never change, so I prefer to manually copy them to two locations asap after capture: one location is the computer drive and the other is an external backup HD that itself gets backed up off site regularly. That assures me that "the pic is in the can." Until two digital files exist on different media I do not consider the pic in the can.
    Then reformat the card in-camera, not before.
    The Masters then get imported into Aperture from the Mac internal drive by reference (i.e. "Storing Files: in their current location" on the Mac internal drive). After editing is complete (may take weeks or months), from within Aperture I relocate the referenced Masters to an external hard drive for long-term storage.
    I do use Time Machine routinely on the MBP, but for the daily-volatile activities going of the MBP. I prefer not to have TM be my backup-of-originals protocol. Instead TM backs up the Mac internal drive on the TM schedule and I back up original images asap based on my shooting schedule. Also the TM drive is a different drive than the drives used for long-term original image files archiving.
    TM does back up my Library because the Library lives on the Mac internal drive but I do not assume that TM works for Library backup. I back the Library up to Vaults (on the same drives I put archives of Masters on) independent of TM. IMO one should back up image files and back up Vaults manually after verifying that what is being backed up is not broken, because automatic backup will just back up a broken Library or whatever.
    Note that Masters need only be backed up once (but to multiple backup locations) and that backup should happen immediately after copying to the hard drive from the camera card, before involving Aperture or any other images management app.
    Sorry for the redundant verbosity above but some was copied from previous posts. Also, I reinforce what Léonie said about DVDs. DVDs are way too slow, unreliable, etc. Instead rotate multiple hard drives to achieve redundancy.
    HTH
    -Allen

  • How can i change the "main" computer for my iphone?

    I just bought a macbook...but I initially backed my phone up to my dell pc that will now go in the trash...how do I get the new computer to be my main computer and bring everything from my old puter (like itunes and iphone backup) to my new one?

    Read this about how to change the security questions: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5312
    If you can't use these procedures contact Apple. See: http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/contact/

  • My Main computer died and with it my Itunes music and sync software. How do I get my syncing software downloaded and connected to my new computer iphone 4

    My Main computer died taking with it my music books and syncing ability. Since my Iphone was set to that computer how do I change it to another computer and be able to sync through that new one?

    Copy everything from your backup copy of your old computer to your new one.

  • How to expand image to use entire drive

    ZfD 7. I'm taking an image of a PC, installing a larger hard drive,
    and then putting the image on it. How do I tell it to use the entire
    drive? I'm sure there is a way, but I can't find it.
    Thanks,
    Ken

    On Tue, 20 Apr 2010 06:47:02 GMT, Shaun Pond
    <[email protected]> wrote:
    >KeN,
    >
    >simplest way is to edit the zmg with image explorer and update the
    >partition info - make it bigger than your biggest disk
    That is what I needed! Thanks Shaun!
    Regards,
    Ken

  • How To Make Mac Partition Main Boot Drive

    Hi. Whenever I boot my computer, it always boots into XP when you don't press option. What can I do so that the Mac partition is the main boot drive? Thanks.

    Hi,
    while in OSX open System Preference from the Apple Top Menu, then open Startup Volume and set your OSX volume as the default startup volume.
    Do the needed restart and voila
    regards
    Stefan

  • How to move image from one hard drive to another - T41

    Hi All
    I have a T41 which has a 30GB hard drive, over the time I have installed quite a few programs which I don't have the cd's for to reinstall. Now that I am almost out of space I need to swap my present Hard Drive with another one. I already bought a 60GB HD for the laptop but I don't want to just swap it, what I want to do is make an image of the existing HD and past it in the new HD and then swap the HD so that I have everything from my previous HD.
    Can I do this with Ghost 2003 or maybe with anyother ghost app. Also what if I just make a backup of the registry and system state through windows backup tools then install windows XP in the new HD and then restore the restore the system state and registry from the backup. In this wall I will loose the hidden partition.
    Please advice whether I can image of the current HD and then move it to the new HD.
    Thanks in advance 

    Thanks for the responses for far, I really appriciate it.
    Ok, I have two question for two response I received:
    To infocatchjp:
    1. I didn't find any connector for "ThinkPad 2nd HDD Adapter for Ultrabay Slim".
    2. Rescue and recovey is a windows tool or built in IBM tool.
    3. Would it tranfer the program as well and also the hidden partition for the laptop.
    To stbigham:
    I went to the website for the given software and checked out its feature. My only question is would the software transfer the existing and hidden partition when it is moved to the new HD.
    thank you both for your support. Hope to hear from you soon.
    Haydes 

  • How do I encrypt my external hard drive and subsequently a specific file within it, using my Mac? I tried creating a disk image but permission was denied.

    Encrypting an external hard drive and specific folders within. Permission denied using disk image.

    VKP90 wrote:
    When I tried to encrypt a single file within the hard drive itself, I got the following: Disk Utility Progress: Unable to create "Name of my file" (Permission Denied).
    When I tried encrypting the entire hard disk itself, I got: A GUID Partition Table (GPT) partitioning scheme is required.
    I have also currently used Time Machine on the external hard drive, along with saving other data. Hence, I am not sure if partitioning is going to delete any of this (a video I watched mentioned that using the + button when creating partitions retains current data). Backing up the external hard drive is out of the option since it is the back up to my Mac.
    You can't encrypt a single file. I'm not sure what you did to try. You can make an encrypted disk image which begins with a folder, if desired. Or, you can just create a blank, encrypted disk image, then move your desired files into that.
    While you could partition off the free space without erasing the disk, you cannot encrypt it because you need a GUID Partition table which requires you to repartition the entire drive, not just the free space.

  • I tried to download images from a jump drive and now the jump drive seems blank. How can I recover the images? Is there a software program out there to do this reliably?

    I took photographs with my Lumix camera (JPG) and put the sd chip into a jump drive and put them into my usb port to load. The images never loaded and now the sd chip has no images when I put it back into the camera. What can I do to restore the images? Is there Mac compatible software out ther to restore them? I am running a Macbook Pro OS X v 10.7.5. Thanks for your help.

    I'm not sure I can help you with this situation. Odds are you probably can't recover the images if they aren't hidden in the card, but this just seems to be a fluke. I've had flash drives that be plugged in only to find out that was their iminant death.

  • How to transfer itunes library to external drive and keep playlists and ratings

    I don't have much space on my laptop. I have attached an external drive. I want to access my Itunes library from
    the external drive.  All attempts to move the library now result in me losing my "playlists"  and even more importantly
    my ratings and genre information.
    How can I move the library with all my associated data intact such as the playlists, ratings, genres?
    I want this external drive to be the main location where I access my Itunes library.
    Once that is done I will work on backing it up, as that will be the only place that the data exists.
    Also, will my Apple TV be also be able to access my Itunes library with playlists. thus far I have not been able to do this.

    Start by consolidating your library. When you consolidate, any songs in the iTunes Library that are not in the iTunes Music Folder are copied to the Music Folder and the Library is updated to point to those new files. Files already in the iTunes Music Folder have no changes made to them: Consolidating your library - Windows
    Then copy the iTunes Folder to your external drive. Copying the whole folder brings with it the iTunes Music folder and also the iTunes Library (iTunes Library.itl in Windows) database file which holds all the information about your songs (Playlists, Ratings, Play Counts, Last Played, Date Added, etc). You'll get more information including the Folder/File structure in this article: What are the iTunes library files?
    Disconnect your external drive and connect it to your new computer, copy the iTunes folder to the new pc. When you copy the iTunes folder make sure you put it into the default location on the new computer. On a PC this is \Documents and Settings\Username\My Documents\My Music\ (or C:\Username\Music\ in Vista). You should also use the same version of iTunes on both computers.
    Once you have copied everything over hold down the Shift key in Windows when opening iTunes. In the resulting dialogue you will get the option to create a new library or navigate to an existing one. Navigate to where you placed the copy of the library file and open it up: How to open an alternate iTunes Library file
    If you have any iTunes purchases in your library don't forget that you'll need to authorise your new computer to play them. Also if you are disposing of the old one remember to deauthorise it so you don't use up one of your allowances: About iTunes Music Store Authorisation and Deauthorisation

Maybe you are looking for