Question on PhotoGeek LR Config backup plug-in

[hassiman]

Hi,

I have installed the latest Config Backup Plugin for LR2 and I was wondering...

Can or should I have both the Configuration files backup and the LightRoom Automatic backup set configured to save to the same folder on my External HD?

I noticed that in the Config Backup Plugin setup it shows both a Backup Directory AND a Compressed Directory.

Does the LightRoom Automatic backup save to both a compressed and an uncompressed directory or is compression a feature of the plugin? If so, does the Config backup plug-in automatically compress the files or must it be set to do so? How can you choose to only save a compressed LR backup?

Thanks.

 

[DawMatt]

Hi,

[quote author=hassiman link=topic=74'5.msg5'492#msg5'492 date=1248977134]
Can or should I have both the Configuration files backup and the LightRoom Automatic backup set configured to save to the same folder on my External HD?
[/quote]
OK. Sounds like I need to clear up the documentation for this somewhat.

The Config Backup plugin has two separate, but related, functions for backing up your Lightroom configuration. [list type=decimal]
[li]Zip up a copy of your current configuration files (configuration file, presets, web gallery templates, etc) to a known location[/li]
[li]Zip the catalog backups, created by Lightroom's in-built backup catalog feature, to a known location.
[/li]
[/list]The plugin can operate in two separate modes. You can use the "Customisable Configuration Backups" menu items to tweak all the parameters about how these functions operate. The idea is you should only need to use that menu item once, and in future you can use the "1-Click Configuration Backup" menu item instead to streamline the process.

I think you are asking whether the Configuration File "Backup Directory" (second text box from the top of the dialog) and Maintain Lightroom's Automatic Catalog Backups "Compressed Directory" (second text box from the bottom of the dialog) can save to the same folder on an external HD? If so the answer is yes, and in fact that is a good way to setup the backups.

[quote author=hassiman link=topic=74'5.msg5'492#msg5'492 date=1248977134] Does the LightRoom Automatic backup save to both a compressed and an uncompressed directory or is compression a feature of the plugin? If so, does the Config backup plug-in automatically compress the files or must it be set to do so? How can you choose to only save a compressed LR backup?[/quote] Lightroom has an inbuilt feature to create catalog backups at regular intervals. The "Backup Directory" (third text field from the bottom) should identify where Lightroom is creating those backup files. The plugin feature will then compress those files and place the resultant zips in the "Compressed Directory" you specify.

Unfortunately Adobe hasn't documented a way to automatically call plugin code so you need to call the menu item to compress the files for you. I've tried to make this as simple a process as possible, and if you follow the instructions on setting up accelerator keys you can trigger the backup compression in a few key strokes (on Windows: Alt + F, S, 1).

The plugin default is to copy your catalog backups into the zip files i.e. leave the existing backup file on disk. This is a safety feature because people need to be comfortable it operates correctly before taking the next step and "Move"ing the backup into the zip. Once you change the drop down box at the bottom of the dialog from "Copy" to "Move" is when you will start to reclaim your disk space.

Hope this clears things up.

BTW I have just seen your comment on the blog. Hadn't replied to it yet because I'm based in Australia (GMT+1') and I was sound asleep when you sent it through.

Thanks,
Matt

 

[hassiman]

Thanks Matt,

I was womdering if you would consider an external RAID 1 drive enough protection to be the destination drive for the LightRoom BU? I have not yet used the LR BU function as I have the whole Leopard drive backed up with Time machine. So I could essentially path LR's fist backup to my external RAID drive and then point all the Config Backup Plugin backups to the same spot.

How does one kick off the 1-touch BU with out using accelerator keys?

 

[DawMatt]

Hi,

What is "enough protection" is really a question that only you can answer. It really comes down to how important the photos are to you and how much effort/expense you are willing to go to in protecting them. If you are interested in the topic its worth checking out The DAM Book, which has two chapters dedicated to hardware selection and backup/verification regimes. Might not sound that exciting but its a worthwhile read.

Sounds like your catalog is already being backed up as part of your main Leopard drive's Time Machine setup. In that case backing up to an external raid 1 (mirrored) drive drive makes sense, otherwise you would have Time Machine backing up your backups (or your backups...). You can then store your Configu Backups there as well. If it were me I'd also come up with some scheme for semi-regular backups to optical media in case of more subtle failures that might take a while to detect. Don't need to backup every file but maybe once a month you could take a backup and put it aside for safe keeping.

At the end of the same page there is a section on using the Mac OSX inbuilt feature to assign short cut keys to any menu item. If you don't want to use shortcut/accelerator keys then you will have to use the default menu items (File -> Plugin Extras -> 1-Click Configuration Backup) provided with the plugin.

Thanks,
Matt

 

[hassiman]

Thanks, Matt,

I set the plugin up last night and ran a config backup and a compressed catalog BU. Both of these are compressed as both are .zips. I will probably stick with generating only compressed backups to save space. Both Time machine and the LR config/catalog backups are going to differetn RAID 1 external HD's. I will read the material you suggested... sounds interesting.

Thanks again. :icon_mrgreen:

 

[Souwalker]

I also have a question about one of the other utility where we use to backup rendered files when export to the web. Am I missing some but isn't this feature already in LR2? When I export or render a file to say jpg, I can select a directory where a copy will be copied to or if I export to say Smugmug, if I do not assign a folder, the export utility will choose a temporary folder then delete after export. If I select a folder, isn't a copy of those rendered files kept in the folder I select?

Rgds
Pat

 

[DawMatt]

LR Export Backup plug-in

Hi Patrick,

Correct, LR2 does have that feature built in. The issue is that some developers choose to hide that feature in their plugins. In particular the Gallery2 export plugin, and the initial version of Sean's Twitpic export plugin (haven't checked recently so not sure if this is still the case). If you use any of Jeffrey Friedl's export plugins (e.g. the SmugMug one you mentioned) Export Backup won't be of any use to you because he leaves that feature accessible.

The Gallery2 one, in particular, used to drive me up the wall because I wanted to keep a local copy of every file I uploaded to my site rather than have my wife download our photos from the web. The Export Backup plugin (post process action) was created purely to restore the feature the developers chose to hide. I even made it look as close as possible to the existing feature so it would be more intuitive for its users.

Hope that clears it up for you.

Thanks,
Matt

 

[Souwalker]

[quote author=DawMatt link=topic=74'5.msg5'641#msg5'641 date=1249187867]
Hi Patrick,

Correct, LR2 does have that feature built in. The issue is that some developers choose to hide that feature in their plugins. In particular the Gallery2 export plugin, and the initial version of Sean's Twitpic export plugin (haven't checked recently so not sure if this is still the case). If you use any of Jeffrey Friedl's export plugins (e.g. the SmugMug one you mentioned) Export Backup won't be of any use to you because he leaves that feature accessible.

The Gallery2 one, in particular, used to drive me up the wall because I wanted to keep a local copy of every file I uploaded to my site rather than have my wife download our photos from the web. The Export Backup plugin (post process action) was created purely to restore the feature the developers chose to hide. I even made it look as close as possible to the existing feature so it would be more intuitive for its users.

Hope that clears it up for you.

Thanks,
Matt
[/quote]

Ah...clear now.
Yes, I'm using Jeffrey's Upload to Smugmug.
Thanks Matt
Rgds
Patrick

 

[hassiman]

Matt,

What is the best way to BU the actual image TIFF/RAW/JPRG image files in LR?

I am running Time machine so it's capturing the whole drive... but should I BU the image files to the same external drive config BU writes to?

 

[DawMatt]

LR doesn't really provide much support for backing up the image files themselves. Sure you can backup on import, export as DNG or export as a catalog (including raw files) but none of these are really designed for regular backups of the files you have invested your time editing. Hopefully this is an area that will be improved as part of LR3.

The best way to backup these files will be some OS specific tool. Me, I use SyncBack SE which I've been using to synchronise laptop files (not just images) with my home server since forever. I have vague recollections of Chronosync being mentioned as a Mac equivalent. If your inner geek needs some exercise you could use something like rsync to achieve a similar result on either platform. But if you are already using Time Machine then this is probably performing a similar function in your backup regime.

Backing up the images to somewhere other than your main or Time Machine HDD is certainly the safer option. Backing up to optical media every now and then is even better still. I probably go a little overboard myself. Working images on my laptop, backups on server before deleting the card (and I don't delete the card contents for a while), then backup to two DVDs after renaming/folder restructuring. Keep ongoing copies of updates refreshed on server. Backup neutral/archive photos to two DVDs before deleting from hDDs. Occasional backups of working/finished files to standalone USB HDDs when going on holidays (etc) to leave off site. As a hobbyist my final photos are always online (i.e. on multiple HDDs) so I haven't really got around to making DVD backups of those. Probably should rethink that part of my backup process.

Anyway I hope that gives you some more ideas. But definitely go an read Peter's DAM Book if you are interested in this subject.

Thanks,
Matt