Original files and catalog on same external hard drive?
I am about to install Lightroom 3. I have read alot about creating catalogs. In order to get ready for the installation I am organizing all my photos in folders by year and putting them on ONE external hard drive. This requires a lot of effort to copy them from many different locations: a second external hard drive and from the desktop of my computer hard drive. I am on a Mac running Snow Leopard. Is it a good idea or doesn't it matter or is is wrong to have all my photos and the one catalog I will create on the same hard drive. What I'm asking is: should the catalog AND the original files be on the same hard drive or doesn't it matter. Thanks.
I am about to install Lightroom 3. I have read alot about creating catalogs. In order to get ready for the installation I am organizing all my photos in folders by year and putting them on ONE external hard drive.
Completely unnecessary, but if it makes you happy, go ahead.
If your photos come from a digital camera (and not a scanner), then Lightroom will give you the ability to find photos by years the instant your photos are imported into Lightroom. You don't have to do the work to put the photos into year folders or other year structures.
What I'm asking is: should the catalog AND the original files be on the same hard drive or doesn't it matter.
Doesn't matter. Catalog can be on any connected hard drive, photos can be on the same drive or different drives (plural), connected or disconnected.
Advice: don't organize via folders. I think this is a sub-optimal use of your time. Folders should be used as storage locations, and are not organizational tools any more (they were organizational tools before you had Lightroom). Set up your folders however your want to meet your storage needs (so if you really want all your photos on one drive — a good idea in many but not all cases — then do that to meet your storage needs) but don't use folders any more to achieve organization/searchability/"easy to find". Use keywords and metadata inside of Lightroom to achieve organization/searchability/"easy to find".
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[email protected]I imported different trips to different catalogs on different external hard drives. Later renamed external HDs. I want to combine catalogs and have my source (NEF) files all together on one drive. I’m not really sure how to get those source files back and get rid of the extra long path to where the source files are now located. If I re-link files to their current catalog (many different paths to files in same catalog) can I merge (import catalogs) into one master catalog? Will the new (Master catalog) have the correct link to the source file? If not, how or can this be done?
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