Future proofing LrC

[mstrathmore]

Lightroom Version Number

15.1

Operating System

1. macOS 15 Sequoia

Bit of a new year riff folks.

Over the Christmas period I was going through some of my old photo albums and printed photos and it occurred to me how "bullet proof" they are - looking at photos from my parents in the 1960s and '70s it's amazing that you can toss these things in a shoebox and they'll still be there decades later - sure, a little yellowed, but still there. I have negatives and slide film strips that I could print tomorrow and those prints would be good for a lifetime.

For some time I have been worrying about the incredible risk associated with having every edit you do locked into Lightroom's proprietary catalog. As we can see from frequent posts on these forums, the most random of things can happen and your catalog can disappear, leaving you with essentially "undeveloped film" lacking any of your edits. And, when that happens, you are literally at the mercy of the goodwill of a few very knowledgeable folks here, or the Lightroom FAQ we all know and love. The problem is, often, despise that, you learn what you shouldn't have done only after the die is cast, and sometimes it's almost impossible to reverse out of it.

I'm not thinking of jumping ship to another piece of software: they all have their pros and cons, but I am conscious of the fact that Lightroom needs constant tending to ensure everything is backed up and running in good order: even then, there's always that random thing that can happen.

At first, I thought I could insulate myself by writing to sidecar files, but based on comments from several folks whom I respect here on these forums, that doesn't seem to buy you much. Ironically, in my case, the first time I tried it, it corrupted my catalog! Additionally, writing changes to sidecars means every single change triggers an update to those sidecars and a consequent upload to my BackBlaze cloud storage backup and my NAS backup.

What if Adobe goes out of business in 10 years (we've all see companies do exactly that when it was thought impossible)? What if LightRoom classic is deprecated over time, which must surely be the plan in favour of the newer versions of the software? What if the subscription model becomes unaffordable over time? What if a competitor software appears that is a complete no-brianer to switch to? What if Apple starts taking photography seriously again (I'm fully plugged into that ecosystem for everything else)? All of these questions have answers that range from "So What" to "It'll never happen" to "It'll all be ok, they've surely thought of that" - and I get it. But, still, I worry.

Has anyone got a foolproof method of ensuring their photos *including all edits* are safeguarded, in the absence of LightRoom Classic?

I'd love to hear folks' take on this.

Cheers and many happy photo opps in 2026!

Mark.

 

[mstrathmore]

Making personal books shares a spectrum from the most basic to something like the Book of Kells.

Folder a plain a4 sheet in half. Now you have a 4 page book. Folder a second page in half. Fit one inside the other and put a simple staple in the middle. You now have a basic 8 page book. On the front write page 1, and put page numbers on the remaining pages (1-8).

Use this plain 8 page booklet as a template. Decide what images to place on each page. Use a rough sketch or just write comments as to what photograph to use. On the centre page spread you have the option to use an image that covers the whole page, ie crosses the crease.

Now take out the staple and examine the two separate sheets. Using double sided photo paper, work out how to replicate the sheets. You are now dealing with images outside your logical page number sequence. Print the two double sided paper. Fold in the centre and assemble into the correct page no sequence. Instead of a staple, get a needle and thread and do a simple stitch ( ie at inch intervals). This is your first prototype… so you do not have to be precise.

But, you now have your first home made book.

You expand on this by making a series of these… until you have enough pages for your images. These can be individual 8 page folded sets but in practice they can be more, depending on page thickness, materials used, etc.

There is a simple technique to stitch / bind these sets together (not sure of the correct term), with a front and back page. Place to one side for a moment.

You next learn how to make a book cover… very simple but needs crafting skills for best results. Use cardboard and basic paper pattern to make your first cover. You then glue the stack of sets to the front and back of the cover.

You have made your first book.

This is a collection of very simple techniques… and really basic tools and materials. You can start just with plain photocopy paper, no printed images .. to make your own personal notebook.

From there you can gradually advance… but start with a few very small test mini projects.

There are fabulous YouTube series on book binding… which is where I picked up the basic skills.

For a photo book, I would want to use archival materials. That includes the paper, ink, card used for the cover and material for the book cover.

It is my ultimate objective to produce a leather bound book… but an interim milestone would be a book with a linen / cotton hardback cover and if happy with that… go for a leather bound volume.

The key objective is to have my 5 star vip images on archival materials, protected by a hard book cover and easily accessible by simply turning the pages.

I was hoping to get the bulk of this done before Christmas, but other real world stuff got in the way. But… for an amateur photographer, like me, it is a perfect personal winter project.

This is awesome!

 

[mstrathmore]

Now THERE’s a reference that many (most?) won’t immediately get I actually saw (a little bit of ) the Book of Kells in my one and only trip to Ireland (three lovely weeks in 2016). A very memorable trip, full of so much history (the majority of which, alas, felt tragic… I came away, thinking, “I knew the history of Ireland was full of difficulty, but I didn’t really understand the half of it”).

I definitely learnt something there!

 

[johnbeardy]

Hi John, that's actually also a good suggestion - I hadn't considered DNG but based on what you've said it sounds like a better idea. One question - how would you update the DNG file's embedded preview as you describe? I've not done that before.

Cheers,

Mark.

Metadata > Update DNG Previews and Metadata.

In mentioning DNG, Mark, I'm drawing attention to an argument which you'll find in Peter Krogh's classic The DAM Book. It predates Lightroom when Peter and I advocated DNG and could manage our raw pictures with DAMs like Extensis and iView MediaPro which didn't understand the ACR adjustments but which read and displayed the DNGs' updated previews. That's still true, and you could migrate to something like PhotoMechanic and output a file visually-identical to its appearance in Lightroom.

Whether one uses DNG for the originals in the catalogue (archiving the raws) is a more subjective choice, or one could catalogue the raws and generate/update DNGs as part of a backup strategy for the coming Chicxulub moment.

 

[MarkNicholas]

In terms of photo edits I am not too concerned. They can easily be recreated and in future AI will make that process much easier. I dont edit my photos that much anyway and relatively few photos get the detailed treatment.
My biggest concern would be the metadata: location, keywords and dates.
I don't think that printing photos is the way to go for archiving purposes. Sure print out your good photos for displaying around the house or giving to friends and family but not for archiving. For a start there are too many and who is going to print 100,000 + photos. Better to have the original photo file in whatever format it was taken and have backup TIFF or DNG files of the final edits. I can't think of a bullet proof way of archiving the metadata.

 

[mstrathmore]

Metadata > Update DNG Previews and Metadata.

In mentioning DNG, Mark, I'm drawing attention to an argument which you'll find in Peter Krogh's classic The DAM Book. It predates Lightroom when Peter and I advocated DNG and could manage our raw pictures with DAMs like Extensis and iView MediaPro which didn't understand the ACR adjustments but which read and displayed the DNGs' updated previews. That's still true, and you could migrate to something like PhotoMechanic and output a file visually-identical to its appearance in Lightroom.

Whether one uses DNG for the originals in the catalogue (archiving the raws) is a more subjective choice, or one could catalogue the raws and generate/update DNGs as part of a backup strategy for the coming Chicxulub moment.

Thanks John - I'm going to do the Metadata > Update DNG Previews and Metadata as you suggested. The more I think about it, the more elegant DNG is looking.

 

[mstrathmore]

In terms of photo edits I am not too concerned. They can easily be recreated and in future AI will make that process much easier. I dont edit my photos that much anyway and relatively few photos get the detailed treatment.
My biggest concern would be the metadata: location, keywords and dates.
I don't think that printing photos is the way to go for archiving purposes. Sure print out your good photos for displaying around the house or giving to friends and family but not for archiving. For a start there are too many and who is going to print 100,000 + photos. Better to have the original photo file in whatever format it was taken and have backup TIFF or DNG files of the final edits. I can't think of a bullet proof way of archiving the metadata.

Hi Mark, whilst I've been amazed at what AI can do (blown away, really), and I agree with you that it is only going to become easier to edit over time, I would be mortified if I lost all my edits to date. Also, the bulk of my work is wildlife and in my experience it's going to be a while before AI editing can achieve the result that I want.

Either way - as much as I want all the new options coming our way, I also want to prevent any unnecessary re-work if I can.

Cheers,

Mark.

 

[Gnits]

Arising from this discussion and “on mature reflection” ….. this is what I have decided to do.

• Finish flagging my VIP images (currently 62 out of 170k flagged.. perhaps 100 or max 150 in total).
• Create a smart collection called MoB_VIP_Images.
• Buy or reuse an External SSD… labelled as MOB_VIP_Images or similar.
• Reformat as Exfat.
• Export MoB_VIP collection as Catalog to the MoB_VIP ssd, including images.
• Also export the following versions of each image (folder structure to be figured out).

• DNG
• 16Bit AdobeRGB tiff
• Large full rez jpg (sRGB)
• Small jpg (sRGB, say 4k, 80%)
• Metadata as XMP.

I can do this today (or say within the next week or so) with my 62 VIP images selected so far.

I will include a ReadMe.txt file with background info… incl instructions on how to gain access to my main catalog and full library (170k) of images.

In due course.

• Finish selecting my VIP images.
• Design book layout .. finalise sequence, crop size, final edits (prob using Affinity Publisher).
• May trial a test book with blurb or local ezine service .. ie prototype.
• Eventually print pages to be collected into two sided printed signatures ( a small number of folded pages which is a segment of a hand bound book).
• Create book with a cardboard folder, then linen hardcover then maybe leather bound hard cover.
• Store electronic version of the Affinity document on the VIP_Images SSD.
• Update the ReadMe.txt file with any final notes.
• Store the book in a presentation case, which will have the VIP_Images SSD (and a hard copy of the ReadMe.txt file).

An important part of the ReadMe.txt is specific instructions on how to use these digital assets and (only if interested) how to gain access to my full catalog with 170k images.

I will probably refine this approach a) as I progress the project b) when I review after completion.

Comments.

• This creates an electronic and physical time capsule, of all the VIP images of interest.
• All the develop settings are contained with the original files via the VIP catalog.
• Full size DNGs are included to maximise future archival prospects of images and related metadata.
• Full size tiffs are available for high quality printing.
• Full size jpgs available for use in presentations etc.
• Small jpgs available for email / web use.
• Xmp data available for all images.

The bottom line, despite the duplication of file formats, this will be very modest in size. Only the VIP images are included. It will be self-contained as the various file formats (dng,tiff, jpg,) are standard and not dependent on having a current version (or licence ) for Lr Classic. Should someone have a Lightroom Licence / knowledge then the possibility exists to use Lightroom Classic… The metadata will be available within the image files, in xmp text form , within dng files and within a dedicated catalog for these images.

Further.

• It can be easily duplicated and labelled.
• It can easily be shared or saved in secure storage.

I personally like the idea that if anyone is interested enough to read the ReadMe.txt file.. they will have (hopefully, and only if interested) sufficient information to find me or my main catalog and full library of images.