Lightroom 5 Catalogs and Previews Backup

I am backing up catalogs to an external HD.
Why do some LR 5 catalog backups contain the "...Previews.lrdata" folder and some do not?

When you backup the catalog on exit, only the lrcat database file is backed up, not the previews.lrdata folder. If, however, you subsequently open that backup catalog for some reason, Lightroom will immediately create the associated previews folder and would gradually start building previews. Thus the logical assumption from your question is that the backup catalogs which have an associated previews folder have all been opened in Lightroom at some point. You can safely delete those previews folders if you wish.

Similar Messages

  • Lightroom 2 Catalogs and Folders

    Hello,
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    Thanks

    Hi All:
    based on the good work of Dorin above (post #19), he did a timeline of various releases of Lightroom from Adobe and it shows that from "version x RC" to "final release version" was around 1 month.
    as it is already exactly one month now, it must not be too much longer till they will release the LR2.3 Final Version.
    As for what Robert said in post #23, well, there's never any "guarantee" on a problem-free piece of software, or, for that matter, anything one purchases or anything in life, actually!! Yet, one can make educated extrapolations, right? From the range of comments thus far on LR2.3RC, it appears that it is the best version yet of LR2.x. This leads to the conclusion that it is probably a "good bet" that this version will likely lead to the least amount of issues, right? Maybe not "zero issues", but most likely, the least amount of issues from the various LR2.x versions available.
    So by waiting, say, merely 1-3 more weeks approximately, i can go directly from LR1.4 (which i've been using for many months) to LR2.3 Final Release Version. It seems like it is a prudent and conservative move or plan.
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  • Lightroom Catalogue .lrcat and previews on RAM DISK?

    Hello,
    I copied the lightroom catalaogue and the preview files to a ram disk. Lightroom refuses to open the catalogue. Error message states, that Lightroom couldn't write on that disk. Nevertheless, LR was able to store the raw cache files on that disk (working with a catalogue stored on a real HDD).
    Can anybody help?
    Thanks
    F

    Thanks for your response and interest
    1.       Files are on the local disk (Windows desktop)
    2.       Yes I am the administrator
    3.       I believe the Windows Recycle Bin would include files deleted from the desktop
    4.       Possibly note sure
    5.       Yes enabled

  • Where Does Lightroom Store  Catalogs, Previews, and Backups?

    1.   By default, where does LR store:
    a. Catalogs (.lrcat)
    b. Previews (.lrdata)
    c. Backups of Catalogs and Previews
    2.  Can these locations be changed?
    2a. If so, how does one specify where LR will store each of the above?
    3. Is there a specific relationship of location the Catalog, the Preview, and the Backups, or any partial combination of those three,  must remain in?
    3a. If so, what is/are that/those relationships?

    a) By default in the Lightroom folder within My Pictures / Pictures
    b) Always in the same folder as the catalogue
    c) Wherever you tell it - which should be somewhere different. No backup of Previews.
    Re 2, just move the catalogue in Explorer / Finder, double click it. If you didn't move the Previews, LR starts a new one in the same folder as the catalogue, following (b) above.
    Re 3, answered above. Backups can / should be elsewhere and it's your choice where.
    Notice that in Catalog Settings there's a Show button that reveals where your catalogue is.

  • 2 SATA drives - Where should I place my ACRcache, catalog, and images?

    Two drives
    Application is on the boot drive.
    Where/how should I split up the ACRcache, catalog, and images?
    Should I have the catalog on a different drive then the cache?
    Should the catalog and cache be on the same drive?
    thanks

    Louie Sherwin wrote:
    dorin_nicolaescu wrote:
    I would put my catalog and images on one drive and have my system, applications and ACR cache on the other.
    Why?
    Hi Dorin,
    Well basically there are four areas where disk I/O can impact performance. The catalog, previews, images and ACR cache. So with only two drives how do you minimize disk contention during typical LR editing?
    Of the four the ACR cache activity is going to be both frequent and be writing large blocks data. Splitting it off first is makes the most sense. Putting it the system disk also makes sense since while running Lightroom that is going to be mostly idle since hopefully you are presumably just running LR.
    The catalog is clearly going to have the highest update frequency but data sizes of each will be very small. So keeping it separate from the cache is a good idea.
    The previews by default get stored with the catalog and since they are generated in the  back ground with lower priority it is best to leave them where they are.
    The image files clearly are best on the second disk. So practically it makes more sense to keep the catalog and images together if for no other reason than backup is simpler. Just clone you image disk every couple of days and you have a complete usable catalog.
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    Louie,
    So, based on your experience, how would you go about it with a portable (I have a Macbook Pro).  I have the application, catalog and previews on the boot drive, images on an eSATA 2TB RAID 0, ALRCache on another eSATA just straight 1TB - (all 7200 RPM / 32MB cache) via Expresscard 34 (which operates at 1.5)..
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  • Moved catalog and now LR won't open it by default. Help?

    I'm running LR2 (I know, first step, UPGRADE!), but in the meantime, I had to move my catalog because my drive got full. Under the Backup dialog box I chose the new location. But when I just click on the LR icon to open the program it opens with the default C: drive catalog location that it first installed with. Then I open the specific catalog from in the program and relaunch it. I have LR set to bring the dialog box everytime I start LR since I don't use it everyday. So I back it up when the dialog comes up and when it's done it goes right back to the default catalog with none of my library in there.  Why do I have to keep opening the catalog manually?? It's driving me insane at this point. Can someone provide some tips please?? Thanks.

    Double-click the moved catalog and Lr will open with it.
    But in fact, you did not move the catalog at all. you made a backup of your catalog, and that is what you should do.
    But making a backup catalog does not mean that Lr now opens with the backup catalog.
    Having a backup means that there are now 2 catalogs: the "working" catalog and the backup catalog. If you had only one (1) catalog, you wouldn't have a backup.
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    But I wonder why you would say your drive got full. Usually the catalog doesn't fill a drive, but your photos are.
    Moving the catalog doesn't move your photos.
    What you don't know, maybe, is that the catalog and the photos don't have to be on the same drive. So you can leave your catalog on the C-drive and have your photos somewhere else.
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    See here on how to do the re-linking:
    http://tv.adobe.com/watch/creative-suite-podcast-photographers/lightroom-dude-where-are-my -photos/
    http://www.computer-darkroom.com/lr2_find_folder/find-folder.htm

  • I am unable to open Lightroom 5 catalogs due to "unexpected error"

    I cannot currently open Lightroom. Each time I try it tells me that the catalog could not open due to an "unexpected error". I get this error for every catalog and every backup. I can't even seem to create a new catalog successfully. Any help would be great.

    Did a site search for "unexpected error" not turn anything up?
    What about the linked posts to the right of this page under "More alike This"?

  • Current catalog is a backup catalog, is this a problem??

    Not sure how this happened but the catalog that I am currently downloading pictures to is a backup catalog.
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    everything is there, but my catalog location is users/butler/pictures/lightroom/backup/2011-05-21 1935.
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    Thanks, debbutler

    Yes, you have a potential problem when your working catalog is also the backup catalog. The problem is that now you don't have a backup.
    You have to make sure that the locations for the working catalog and the backup catalog are NOT identical.
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    In your backup catalog select the location where your working catalog should be and make the backup. After this you have 2 identical catalogs in 2 different locations. In your OS (with LR still closed) navigate to the just created working catalog and double-click it. LR opens then with this catalog.
    Don't forget that next time LR closes and the backup dialog comes up you have to change the backup location to where the backup should be.
    Alternate procedure: In the Library Module (Grid Mode) >Catalog Panel select <All Photographs> or whatever the name of your main catalog is.
    Select >File >Export as Catalog and select the location where your main catalog should be.
    To prevent the problem from happening it is worthwile to ckeck occasionally in >Catalog Settings >General Tab that the working catalog is where it should be; and also to ckeck the location of the backup in the backup catalog.
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  • Catalog and Keyword Non-Image files

    In addition to my images, I have a growing collection of background and reference information relating to the subject or location of the images.
    I would like Lightroom to be able to Catalog and apply keywords to non-image files.
    I use a metadata search to find my images; I want to be able to use the same tool (Lightroom) and the same metadata (keywords) to find other related information.
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    The next step; selectable list of file-types; export keywords to .xmp

    Joe,
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    So I used your posting to see what the answer was.  To that end I am presently working on a 1922 title, Thirty-One Years of Organized Work in Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Louisiana by Church of the Brethren from 1891 to 1922, that will consist of slightly over 500 pages.  To test your question I placed the title of the work as a keyword.  I then used Bridge's find ability.  It did not work.
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    So.  The longest string I have tested to date is 120 characters, the title of the work minus the commas.  I suspect that Curt is correct in his assumption that it is limited by the operation system.  I tested this theory by incorporating a double string (without the commas) of my book's title.  This was 241 characters including the space between the duplicated title.  The search was successful.  A triple set of the title returned no hits.
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  • How to import an Lightroom 4 catalog with upgraded PC

    I upgraded my PC to Windows 8.1.  I have a Lightroom 4 catalog and I have the Lightroom Photos directory for it. For one thing the Lightroom Photos are no longer on the same drive, so the reference to that drive won't be correct in the catalog.
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    How can I import this information into Lightroom 5?
    Thank you for your help.
    --Katherine

    How do I move Lightroom to a new computer? | The Lightroom Queen

  • When backing up lightroom 4 catalog, get message "lightroom encountered an error when reading from its preview cache and needs to quit" this occurs during optimization stage of backup

    i upgraded from lightroom 4 to lightroom 5 and installed it on a separate hard drive. Initially had no problems util my computer crashed due to the failure of the drive on which Lightroom 5 was installed. Since having my computer rectified, i am unable to use lightroom 5 getting the message "lightroom encountered an error when reading from its preview cache and needs to quit"
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    https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/kb/preference-file-locations-lightroom-41.html
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  • I have my catalog "Back Up Each Time Lightroom Exits" checked, and always have. That means the catalog should have been backed-up and saved everyday, if not more than once on some dates. So with a a major problem now and needing to use the Catalog backup

    I have my catalog "Back Up Each Time Lightroom Exits" checked, and always have. That means the catalog should have been backed-up and saved everyday, if not more than once on some dates. So with a a major problem now and needing to use the Catalog backup from last Friday, I go to my Lightroom Backups folder - and the most recent one showing not only isn't yesterday, it's OCTOBER 28 !?? Where the hell are the daily backups between October 28 and November 14?

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  • How to fix Lightroom 5.6 crashing when backing up catalog database (external AND local backup) - Mac 10.9.5

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  • Help -- Lightroom 4.2 Destroyed My Catalog and It's Backup!

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