Does Lr keep track of exported photos

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cal

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I edited and exported several photos. Then discovered they were compressed on export so I moved the exported photos to the trash prior to going back to export a second time. I assumed that anything exported could be managed/deleted outside of Lr. Not so? In a hurry doing this and evidently answered a dialog (with text I can't recall) with the wrong answer because my catalog was then wiped out. Pretty soon I'll be learning the hard way about how to restore a catalog. Did deleting exported photos initiate my disaster or was that not likely the culprit?
 
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Welcome to Lightroom Forums, sorry it was trouble that brought you here...

Lightroom has no knowledge of exported photos. So you're right, moving exported photos to the trash should be harmless enough. (You can also just export over them a second time; you would be prompted for whether you really want to overwrite.)

So most likely, whatever you did was not actually outside Lightroom. It's hard to know what happened without more information; perhaps with some more clarity on waht exactly "wiped out" means we could help decipher that, but I'm not sure whether that would be helpful.

To restore a backup catalog, all you need to do is move/copy it out of the Backups folder and then double-click to open it. Be aware that Lightroom may then make it the default catalog; you can control this in Preferences (General tab).
 
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Welcome to the forum.
There are two types of export One using the Export function and One using the local HD publish service
First, the Export Function:
On the Export Location section, there is a checkbox labeled {Add to this catalog}. If checked the derivative (export image) is added to the catalog and tracked like any other photo. If unchecked, LR forgets about the exported file and you can do anything you like with the exported file outside of LR. If checked, LR records the path for the image in its catalog and expects the file to be there. If the exported file is renamed, moved or deleted outside of LR, then LR will report it as missing.
Second, the Publish Service:
On the Export Location section, there is no checkbox labeled {Add to this catalog}. So LR does not track the result derivative file. It does track the Source file. And if you make any changes to the source image in LR, LR will mark that file in the Publish Service as needing to republish. Republish will update the file in the destination location. It does dot track the presence of a file in the destination location. So you can rename, move or delete the result derivative file outside of LR without disrupting the order in the catalog.
 
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clee01l said:
Welcome to the forum.
There are two types of export One using the Export function and One using the local HD publish service
First, the Export Function:
On the Export Location section, there is a checkbox labeled {Add to this catalog}. If checked the derivative (export image) is added to the catalog and tracked like any other photo. If unchecked, LR forgets about the exported file and you can do anything you like with the exported file outside of LR. If checked, LR records the path for the image in its catalog and expects the file to be there. If the exported file is renamed, moved or deleted outside of LR, then LR will report it as missing.
Second, the Publish Service:
On the Export Location section, there is no checkbox labeled {Add to this catalog}. So LR does not track the result derivative file. It does track the Source file. And if you make any changes to the source image in LR, LR will mark that file in the Publish Service as needing to republish. Republish will update the file in the destination location. It does dot track the presence of a file in the destination location. So you can rename, move or delete the result derivative file outside of LR without disrupting the order in the catalog.
Click to expand...

I am fast discovering that particular usefulness of the Publish Service.
 
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Thank you!

Thank you to all for responding. I'm not sure what the sequence of events was when I got into trouble a couple of days ago. Suffice to say working in haste is generally not a good idea, especially for a novice. The add to catalog check box was unchecked and evidentally moving the files to trash was not the cause of the problem. When I went throught my directory using finder and clicked on the lrcat, Lr opened up with my entire catalog intact. Lucky me! Great to find this great source for help, I'm sure I'll be back.
Thanks again,
Carol

Mark Sirota said:
Welcome to Lightroom Forums, sorry it was trouble that brought you here...

Lightroom has no knowledge of exported photos. So you're right, moving exported photos to the trash should be harmless enough. (You can also just export over them a second time; you would be prompted for whether you really want to overwrite.)

So most likely, whatever you did was not actually outside Lightroom. It's hard to know what happened without more information; perhaps with some more clarity on waht exactly "wiped out" means we could help decipher that, but I'm not sure whether that would be helpful.

To restore a backup catalog, all you need to do is move/copy it out of the Backups folder and then double-click to open it. Be aware that Lightroom may then make it the default catalog; you can control this in Preferences (General tab).
Click to expand...
 
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kolesoff said:
Mark, you will be excited then about the plugins by Jeffrey Friedl: Folder Publisher and Collection Publisher! Just look at the author's site:) http://www.regex.info
Click to expand...

I already have the external plug-in for publishing to One Drive. In any case, Jeffrey Friedl does not appear to have a publish plug-in for One Drive.
 
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