In this lesson, you’ll be learning about the Lightroom catalog, what it is, where it’s located, and how to make sure you back it up.
This is a very important lesson to fully understand, even if you’ve been using Lightroom for years. So make sure you watch this one even if you feel like you already know this stuff, just to make sure!
You’ll also learn about the preference settings that you need to adjust to make sure that Lightroom runs smoothly.
Topics covered
- What is a catalog, and how does it work?
- Where is the catalog, and where to put it?
- Where are your images, and where to put them?
- Preferences set up – Preview size, export, history, cache
- Catalog settings including the backup prompt and how to set the backup location
Extend Your Learning
I wrote an article and did 2 videos in regards to a digital editing workflow, starting with how to choose your best photos, and then how to edit them more quickly, saving a ton of time. Also, I highly recommend you learn about backing up your computer, including photos, catalogs and more. Links are below.
- How to Edit Photos Faster and Cut Hours from Your Digital Workflow
- Tips for Creating Your Best Photo Storage and Backup Plan
Products mentioned in this lesson
These are the external drives I recommend for use for external storage of your photos as well as for backing up your catalog outside your main computer storage. As well, a link to Good-Sync backup software which could be valuable for your situation.
The links below are affiliate links. We earn a small commission if you decide to purchase using one of our links. There is no additional cost to you. Affiliate commissions help us to provide free content on the website.
- Samsung 2TB SSD Portable Drive
- SanDisk Professional 24TB G-Raid Drive
- SanDisk Professional 24TB G-Raid Shuttle Drive
- SanDisk Professional 12TB G-Drive PRO
- GoodSync backup software for Mac and PC
- Backblaze backup service (not for archiving)
- SmugMug – for offsite image backup AND gallery website to share with friends
- Amazon Glacier for off-site backup in the cloud (we use this in our workflow)
G-Raid Drive versus G-Drive Pro
It’s important to understand the difference between G-Raid versus G-Drive hard drives.
- G-Raid: Contains two hard drives that are set to mirror each other (RAID 1). If one drive fails, it can be replaced while the data is safe on the secondary drive. Once the failed drive is replaced, the device will copy the data from the surviving drive back to the newly replaced drive. In other words, there are two copies of everything within the same enclosure. If one drive fails, it’s still on the other drive. If you understand what RAID 0 is, the drive can be configured in this manner as well for larger storage capability, but at the expense of the redundancy mentioned previously.
- G-Drive Pro: This device contains a single hard drive. While less expensive, there’s only one point of failure. If the drive fails, you need to have this drive backed up to a larger backup system, or off-site. Then you’d need to replace the single drive and find a way to restore your photos back to the drive. So it’s not redundant and requires more steps to get back up running fast.
SmugMug for off-site backups
For the average user, Darlene suggests and recommends SmugMug as an option for off-site backups. SmugMug is first and foremost a customizable photo gallery that can also allow you a place to sell your photos if you choose.
In regards to SmugMug being used as a backup solution, once you’ve uploaded your files to SmugMug to use for your gallery, your photos, in their largest sizes, are safely out of your house and stored in their cloud servers. You can save both your RAW and your processed (or final) photos on their service.
With a SmugMug account, your gallery is hosted at a URL (web address) that includes your username. So it might be something like https://robsphotos.smugmug.com, but you could also purchase your own domain name and connect it to your gallery so your gallery might be at a URL something like https://www.RobsAwesomePhotos.com.
In our case, we include Darlene’s gallery as part of this website such as https://gallery.digitalphotomentor.com. While it looks like it’s on our site, it’s not. It’s hosted on SmugMug servers but looks like it’s a part of our website. Check out how Darlene displays her gallery by visiting it. What you see there is just one of their templates that she’s chosen to customize to display her work. There are many pre-designed templates to choose from that can be fully edited and customized.
If you use Lightroom as your Digital Asset Manager (DAM), you can even export directly to your SmugMug galleries.
Webmaster note: Our Synology backup drive includes a module that connects itself to Amazon Glacier and auto-backs up Darlene’s photos at a set schedule in the early morning hours. Amazon Glacier is slow (hence the name), but it’s the cheapest (most affordable) cloud storage available at the time. It’s a little bit technical to set up, but if you feel comfortable with that sort of tech, you may want to consider it.
Also, the reason we use GoodSync software is that it can copy the files themselves and does not put them into some sort of proprietary database system which you’d have to export files from. Having worked in the tech industry for many years, I always found it a problem with the database sort of backup systems. GoodSync was the first I could find that works with the files themselves. Once it’s copied to a new location, it remains the same file format on the new drive and can be worked with exactly as if it was the original file.
GoodSync can also be set to ONLY transfer or copy new files or modified files, and not all files every time. Make sure to use “COPY” and not “SYNC” for your backups. There are only two options. Sync is a valuable feature if you have a need for syncing, but for the purposes of backing up, use COPY.
How to Transfer Your Catalog from an External Drive to your Internal Drive
This is a common question I receive. To transfer your catalog from an external drive to your internal hard drive, follow these steps:
Step 1 – locate your Lightroom Classic catalog folder, it’s under Catalog Settings > General tab.
Step 2 – click “SHOW” to go to that location, in the case of the course catalog it looks like this:
Step 3 – copy the entire folder and all the files inside it.
Step 4 – navigate to your Picture folder on your internal hard drive and paste that folder there.
Step 5 – go back to the original location and rename the folder (just add a number or “old” at the end of the name or something like that). This is just to break the link so Lightroom doesn’t open it from there.
Step 6 – Open the catalog in Lightroom. You can do that by opening Lightroom and choosing open different catalog and navigating to the new folder location in your Pictures folder. OR just double-click on the “lrcat” file and it will launch Lightroom and open it.
You should be good to go from there. Just remember when you exit the program to CHOOSE where to save the backups – those need to go on the external drive.
CLICK HERE to watch the Q&A session and answers for this lesson
Please check through the questions listed below the video before submitting one that’s already been answered.
Questions asked and answered during the live FAQ session
- I purchased the Cloud based Lightroom approximately 12 months ago. I am still very new and intimidated by it. Have I purchased the wrong package and if so can i convert it to lightroom classic ?? Bearing in mind that the 1 TB of memory swayed me but I now feel as though I have purchased the wrong Lightroom ?? [0:10] (answer to question from previous lesson)Is there an easy way to transfer Catalog settings from one of one’s catalogs to another? [1:29]
- If I cease my subscription at any time in the future, will I still be able to access my Lightroom Library? It is my main filing system for all my photos. [2:00]
- My LrC is running really slowly. I know I need to move my photos (raw files) off the hard drive of my 2015 iMac computer and place on an external SSD hard drive. I have read that all I need to do is plug in the new SSD hard drive, create a new folder on the new drive directly from LrC using the add folder command from the folders panel (the + icon). Once I see the newly created empty folder in the Folders menu in LrC, I just drag all my folders that are categorized under my one main folder (called Jan’s photos) to the new folder. I read that moving the photos this way ensures that there will be no broken links. Does this sound right to you? I am rather nervous about doing it. [3:18]
- Could you also please tell me that under Preferences/Performance if I should increase my cache size of 5 GB? I noticed was that you recommend a Cache of 20 GB. Perhaps my computer is too old to have a 20 GB cache? I do intend to purchase a new Mac later this year. I am trying to get my LrC ready for the ‘move’ to the new computer. [7:22]
- When explaining Setting the Standard Preview Size on a Mac you have selected Scaled Resolution in the Displays System Preferences panel. My resolution is set to Default for display. The Apple tech specs say the native resolution for my monitor is: 5120 x 2880 at 218 pixels per inch. When I change resolution to Scaled and look at the Scaled Default setting, as per the lesson, the Displays control panel says it looks like 2650 x 1440, which is half the native resolution. In testing the two settings there is no actual change in monitor resolution! Frustratingly, I’ve failed to find any reference that explains the difference between the native resolution and the scaled default resolution. So here’s my question or point of clarification. When setting the Standard Preview Size are you saying I should not set it to Auto (5120px) and drop it down to be closer to the (looks like) 2650 value? For me this would mean selecting a value of 2880 which is just above the maximum looks like value? Any clarification or addition information would be appreciated! [8:20]
- How to increase Lightroom font size so it’s more readable [10:18]
- I may have my catalog on one of my external drives. Is it relatively easy to move the catalog? And how easy is it to rename my catalog? [10:47]
- With new major versions of LrC the catalog gets upgraded, leaving the older version in the same directory. Is it safe to remove the older versions of the catalog (ie v10 catalogs, once upgraded to v11)? [12:45]
- All images currently in picture folder on laptop. I am getting external ssd drive. What is the best way to transfer the images to the new drive and not mess up light room catalogue which will remain on lap top? [14:16]
- If I create a PHOTOS folder inside Lightroom Classic, is it possible to have some images on the main hard drive and others on an external hard drive and still have a single catalogue? [14:25]
- Any advantage of detecting Face in Catalog settings? [16:16]
- With multiple catalogs, are backups automatically kept in separate backups, or does one have to create separate folders on external drive? [17:27]
- Adding a hard drive … what would the steps be? I have been trying to syn and find it doesnt work the greatest? [19:30]
- I run Windows 10 on a PC with 16 GB of RAM, with an NVIDIA video card with 6 GB. I use the graphics processor for image processing, which speeds things up. If I want to upgrade, because plug-ins I use (SharpenAi, DeNoiseAI) are a little slow, will I get more bang from my buck by adding RAM or upgrading the videa card? Also, my catalog is stored on an internal hard drive, but I also have an internal solid state drive, where Windows is stored. Should I move my catalog to the solid state drive to save wear on the hard drive or for greater speed? [20:45]
- Checking your Lightroom Catalog backup files for integrity [24:04]
Live photo editing demonstrations
Attend my weekly photo editing Livestream on YouTube and ask your questions there. I’ll answer them and demonstrate the solution in real-time.
I broadcast live for between 60-90 minutes each week on either Saturday afternoon at 3:00 pm EST, or Wednesday nights at 8:00 pm EST depending on the season. Saturdays during the winter and Wednesdays during the summer months (in the northern hemisphere).
