Moving Lightroom images from hardrive to external drives

How do I successfully move all of my existing Lightroom images from my hardrive to my external drives? I am so nervous to do this but have no more storage on my hardrive. thanks!

It also helps to reorganize things under a few top-level folders if they aren’t already, before moving them, so there are less reconnections to make after the move.
There have been some problems in the past for some people who use NAS or network drives for photos where a move loses files, so if that is what your external location is, then I’d suggest that you COPY the files and then rename the source folder(s) and then reconnect the photos in their new location and make sure everything is ok before deleting the photos off the original location on the internal drive.

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Moving a catalog from hardrive to external drive

I am trying to move a catalog from my hardrive to an external drive. I have followed the steps i found online, but my pictures aren't there. They are still on hardrive and the catalog folder on the external is empty. Please help. I am sure there is something silly I am missing.

As Steve has already pointed out, the "catalog" and your photos are two different things. The "catalog" is the LR data base where LR references your photos.
So for LR to work properly you always need two things: (a) your photos and (b) the catalog.
The catalog is the file ending with < .lrcat>. See here where you can find the catalog in various OS: http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/843/cpsid_84313.html
These are the default locations; you can put your catalog in a different location, and you can have it also on an external hard drive, provided that it is one with a fast connection. The USB connection is too slow, it is therefore not recommended to put the catalog on an USB drive.
The catalog and the photos do NOT have to be in the same location. So you can move your photos to an external hard drive and leave your catalog on an internal drive.
If you move your photos via your OS (Mac Finder / Win Explorer) you will have to re-connect LR with the new location of the photos.
WW

Transfer image files from Mac to external drive?

Can someone please help.? I'm a newbie and want to transfer image frile to an external drive...

Well, if you are not doing a complete back up of your system, you can simply drag images to an external drive - that will create a copy there and leave the original in place.

Disk image won't encode if images are on my external drive

I moved my iPhoto library to an external drive to free up space on my iMac.
I am trying to make a DVD from iDVD using images/video clips from the migrated iPhoto library.
I cannot make a disk image - the encoding info is greyed out.
Do I have to move the clips I want to use back to my iMac HD in order to burn the DVD? The disk image gets as far as the slideshow/movie process, then sends me an error message.
Thanks in advance.

Thanks, John. No problems with iPhoto. iDVD was fine with finding and accepting the photos/video clips. But when I tried to make the disk image, it only got through the first two steps. When I checked the Info window, the "assets/encoding" area was grey. It showed the video clips and knew their source was the external drive.
The only solution seems to be to bring the video clips back onto the Mac HD and do the iDVD from there. I do lose the names I've given the clips, but can rename them once they are back on the HD. I had hoped there was some way to encode right from the external drive.
Further ideas would be appreciated! Thanks again.

Install Lightroom 6 from CD without CD-Drive

Can I install Lightroom 6 from CD without CD-Drive via an other PC?

You could copy the disk contents to a thumb drive or external hard drive and run the installation from there.
Alternatively install the free version of Creative Cloud; then click the Try button for Lightroom CC 2015. Serialize with the number from your disk packaging to convert to LR6.

Moving the iTunes library to an external drive

I followed the Apple article and successfully moved my iTunes library to an external drive. BUT, is the Album Artwork supposed to stay in the original location (internal drive)? Mine did, and I had to redownload album artwork again. HOWEVER, I don't have all my artwork since the transfer and since the redownloading of it.
Is it safe to drag the album artwork folder to the external? I don't want to mess anything up.
Thanks.

I followed the Apple article and successfully moved my iTunes library to an external drive.
which article (post a link) did you follow and what exactly did you move to the external ?

I have a new computer. I wish to uninstall Lightroom5 and photoshopCC on old computer and re-install on new computer. How do I do this. Also, Lightroom catalog is currently on external drive. Will Lightroom recognize it on new computer

I have a new computer. I wish to uninstall Lightroom5 and photoshopCC on old computer and re-install on new computer. How do I do this. Also, Lightroom catalog is currently on external drive. Will Lightroom recognize it on new computer

Hello Francinera,
please have a first look here: Activation & deactivation help >>> http://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/policy-pricing/activation-deactivation-products.html.
Please come back if necessary.
Good luck!
Hans-Günter

How do I save albums, events in tact from iPhoto to external drive to comply with iCloud limits? Thx

How do I save albums, events in tact from iPhoto to external drive to comply with iClouds limits? (iMac Lion, need to remove 280gb of photos>

Not sure if I understand correctly?
Do you want to move 280 GB of photos from iPhoto on your Mac to an external hard drive?
If that is the case, iCloud has nothing to do with it. You can move your iPhoto library to an external drive to free up space on your internal drive.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=iPhoto/8.0/en/6331.html
If that is not what you're trying to do, please rephrase your question. Thanks.

HT5299 Thunderbolt-Can you use an adaptor From a thunderbolt External drive to a firewire 800/400 Mac

Thunderbolt-Can you use an adaptor From a thunderbolt External drive to a firewire 800/400 Mac

No. The Thunderbolt to Firewire adapters only work to connect a Firewire drive to a Thunderbolt port. They do not work in reverse, to connect a Thunderbolt-only drive to a Firewire port. If the only port your drive has is a Thunderbolt port and all you have on the Mac is Firewire, you can't use that drive with that computer.
Regards.

HT4106 Will the camera kit allow you to view images from a usb flash drive?

Will the camera kit allow you to view images from a usb flash drive?

You can use a USB flash drive & the camera connection kit.
Plug the USB flash drive (works the same with an SD card) into your computer & create a new folder titled DCIM. Then put your movie/photo files into the folder. The files must have a filename with exactly 8 characters long (no spaces) plus the file extension (i.e., my-movie.mov; DSCN0164.jpg).
Now plug the flash drive into the iPad using the camera connection kit. Open the Photos app, the movie/photo files should appear & you can import. (You can not export using the camera connection kit.)
Using The iPad Camera Connection Kit
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4101
 Cheers, Tom

When I try to drag the iphoto library to the external disk a forbidden (circle with slash through it) icon appear. Why do you suppose it is preventing me from adding to external drive? These are pictures I have taken. I believe it cannot find the origina

When I try to drag the iphoto library to the external disk a forbidden (circle with slash through it) icon appear. Why do you suppose it is preventing me from adding to external drive? These are pictures I have taken. I believe it cannot find the original file. Please help.
Thanks.

What happens if you try to Option-drag the library to the EHD? The same icon?
Make sure the EHD is formatted Mac OS X Extended (journaled) with Ownership set to be ignored:
OT

Deleting Lightroom images from drive, not simply removing them

My Lightroom 1.3 (Mac OS 1.4.11) no longer deletes images from my external drive, only removes them from the catalog. How can I once again delete from drive?"

From a folder view.

Savings images from Aperture to external hard drive

I have a basic question about the file structure on Aperture and mac's. I'm an old pc user, so I have not had a chance to investigate the structures yet and hoped I could get some guidance on this.
If I import several images from a camera SD card into Aperture, the images are deleted when the import has finished. How do I later copy the images from Aperture to say an external hard drive?
Appreciate the help.

Bjorn -- welcome to the forum.
Aperture is an image database. The Aperture database is called a Library. The database consists of a list of Images, the files needed to create those Images, and a whole bunch of data associated with each Image.
The files needed are the originally imported file, and the set of instructions Aperture uses to "adjust" the original to create your adjusted Image. On import, the original file becomes a Master. The Master is _never_ altered (this is the "non-destructive" advantage of this kind program). Aperture doesn't care where the Master is stored, as long as it can find it (it should be a locally attached drive). If you let Aperture store the file itself, it puts it inside the Library. If you tell Aperture where you want to store it (other than than in the Library), Aperture makes note of this by storing a pointer to the location you choose.
Masters stored in the Library are called "Managed Masters". Masters stored outside the Library are called "Referenced Masters".
(The file listing the Adjustments is the Version. The Version is always stored in the Aperture Library. Versions are small text files. The cost in storage and read-time is so minimal it can be ignored.)
So:
- Library (presumably in your Pictures Finder-folder)
- - Master
- - Version
or
- Library (presumably in your Pictures Finder-folder)
- - Pointer to Master
- - Version
- Master (wherever you specify)
There is no connection between Aperture and any data files that are not imported into the Library.
If you make copies of your photograph files prior to import (an excellent practice), there is no connection between Aperture and the copy you do not import.
Here is a short guide I posted to the parts of Aperture every new user should know well. Read through it, and ask questions as you move forward.
Note that making backup copies of your originals, copying or moving your originals, and making them Managed or Referenced Masters are all options presented in the Import dialogs.
Message was edited by: Kirby Krieger

After moving a folder to an external drive i can still see the images even with the external drive off

I have moved a folder with a lot of subfolders onto an external drive but when I disconnect the external drive I can still view them in Lightroom. I thought this took them off my Mac Book Drive.

The previews that LR makes for itself are small and their size can be set in Preferences. The default is around 1600 pixels wide and it should be set to the size closest to your monitor resolution.
Another feature that might interest you is the ability to make Smart Previews, either at import or later. The SP is a 2560 pixels wide DNG, whereas the normal preview is a jpg, and as such can act as a surrogate for the Raw file and can be edited in place of it when the external drive is offline. When the drive is reconnected, the edits are associated with the original.

Moving from directly connected external drive to a network share.

I've looked around and can't find a page on how to do this. I have an external drive hooked up to my iMac. I am using it for TM backups, so I have this directory on it (Backups.backupdb). There are also 2 sparsebundle images due to 2 other people in the office using this drive for TM backups.
I am going to be moving this external drive to a mini we have here, which would mean I now need to take the Backups.backupdb directory and convert it into a sparsebundle image, since I'll now be backing up over the network.
Is there a way to do that? I would really like to preserve my backups since it's pretty important for my work.
Thanks.

the_0ne wrote:
I've looked around and can't find a page on how to do this. I have an external drive hooked up to my iMac. I am using it for TM backups, so I have this directory on it (Backups.backupdb). There are also 2 sparsebundle images due to 2 other people in the office using this drive for TM backups.
I am going to be moving this external drive to a mini we have here, which would mean I now need to take the Backups.backupdb directory and convert it into a sparsebundle image, since I'll now be backing up over the network.
Is there a way to do that?
no, there isn't. you'll have to start a new backup sequence using a sparse bundle when you move the TM drive to a remote computer.
I would really like to preserve my backups since it's pretty important for my work.
Thanks.

Moving Lightroom images from hardrive to external drives

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