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LR Catalog and images back up question

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Redmark

New Member
Joined
Nov 23, 2012
Messages
22
Location
Perth Australia
Lightroom Experience
Beginner
Lightroom Version
Lightroom Version Number
Lightroom version: 6.14
Operating System
  1. Windows 10
Hi all, if I copy (drag and drop) my main LR Cat and LR Library from one external drive in another ( name the Cat say, the date I do this) would I navigate to the drive and LR will be able to open that Cat with images?
Or should I do it within LR and how to link it? Is there any differences to which way to do this copy? The letter P is my Parent, if I right click here, is this where I "Export this folder as a catalog" and navigate to my new external hard drive and "save as". Let it do this, once this is finish how do I then bring my images over from within LR to the new external drive?
I want to store this as I am going away for about 9 month and if something bad happen ( lose Laptop and master LR drive) at least I have a working LR Catalog and images from the date I do this
 
Lightroom would be able to open the catalog just fine, but the link to the images in the catalog would still point to the original drive. That is easy to fix when needed, however. No need to use 'Export as catalog'.
 
Lightroom would be able to open the catalog just fine, but the link to the images in the catalog would still point to the original drive. That is easy to fix when needed, however. No need to use 'Export as catalog'.

Hi Johan, thanks for that. Are you saying I should drag and drop the cat to new drive and the images?
How do I make a mirror copy of all my master external hard drive to another external drive, within LR or drag and drop ?
 
Hi Johan, thanks for that. Are you saying I should drag and drop the cat to new drive and the images?
How do I make a mirror copy of all my master external hard drive to another external drive, within LR or drag and drop ?
You can use drag and drop, or (better) use a dedicated backup utility. Do not do it from within Lightroom, because Lightroom would not make copies of the images, but would move them (unless you would use 'Export as catalog').
 
You can use drag and drop, or (better) use a dedicated backup utility. Do not do it from within Lightroom, because Lightroom would not make copies of the images, but would move them (unless you would use 'Export as catalog').

Ok Johan, so if I was to do it with LR, first I would "Export as catalog" ( to new location, in this case a different drive). ( this would create a lightroom Catalog.Irat)Second, drag and drop the images over.
Is this correct? Remember I just want a backup or copy everything of my current master LR external drive as of the date I do this and have it store away in case I lose my main one when travelling .
Could you explain the steps please?
 
Because this is a one-time backup you will make to keep at home while you are away, I would use the simplest method there is:
Quit Lightroom, drag and drop the entire catalog folder to the external disk and then drag and drop the images folder(s) to the external disk. That is all. Anything else, like using 'Export as catalog' only makes things more complicated with more chances of making a mistake.
 
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