Just got a new computer? One of the questions we're most frequently asked is ‘How do I move Lightroom to a new computer?’ It's one of those scary moments when you know all your precious photos and edits rely on getting the move right, and … Click to continue
My hard drive died! How do I restore Lightroom from my backups?
Need to restore your Lightroom catalog and photos from a backup, perhaps because your hard drive has died? Here's how to do it... Restoring a Catalog If your normal backup includes a current copy of your working catalog, you can simply … Click to continue
Where should I put my backups?
Where should you put your backups? Let's talk about the catalog that holds all your photo edits. By default, the catalogs are backed up in a 'backups' subfolder alongside the original catalog. But is that the best place for them? If you don't … Click to continue
Why should I let Lightroom run its own backups?
Have you ever wondered why would you want to let Lightroom back up its catalog, especially if you already have a perfectly good backup system? All of your edits are stored in the catalog, so keeping it safe is essential. There are four main things … Click to continue
Top Lightroom Questions
Have you been tripped up by one of our top support questions? Here’s the solutions and some tips to avoid them becoming a disaster! We thought we’d review some of the most common issues people report or ask for assistance on. We won’t just tell … Click to continue
Disaster strikes – a corrupted catalog!
"The Lightroom catalog is corrupt and cannot be repaired." Words that strike fear into Lightroom users worldwide. Catalog corruption is very rare, but if you're the unsuspecting victim, that's no consolation. But don't worry, it's very easy to … Click to continue
Lightroom Performance – Previews & Caches
Lightroom uses numerous kinds of previews and caches for different purposes. Having a basic idea of their usage can help you pick the right ones for your needs. The main ones you need to know about are rendered previews and smart previews. To fully … Click to continue
Why is Lightroom asking to upgrade my catalog and what does it do?
When you first launch Lightroom after a major update, such as the recent update to 10.0, it asks your permission to upgrade your catalog - but why? Is it safe? What does it actually do? Sometimes database changes need to be made in the catalog to … Click to continue
Merging Catalogs – Stage 4 – Cleanup
In the last few posts, we've been merging multiple catalogs into a single new Master catalog. Once the photos are all in a single catalog, you can finish cleaning up. Fix Missing Photos If any photos are still marked as missing, now's the time to … Click to continue
Merging Catalogs – Stage 3 – Using Import from Another Catalog to Merge
In the last post, we finished gathering information about the catalogs and created a plan of action. With all of the information to hand, you're ready to start merging catalogs. Open Lightroom and go to File menu > New Catalog. This will … Click to continue
Merging Catalogs – Stage 2 – Prepare Catalogs for a Clean Merge
In the last post, we figured out which of your multiple catalogs you want to merge into your new Master Catalog. We want a smooth merge of catalogs. so there's a little more to do to prepare. Then we'll be ready to go ahead with the merge. Stage 2 - … Click to continue
Merging Catalogs – Stage 1 – Identifying Catalogs
In the last post in the series, we gained an overview of the process of merging multiple catalogs into a single Master catalog. The first task is to identify which catalogs contain metadata you want to keep. The easiest way to do this is to make a … Click to continue
Merging Catalogs – The Overview
In another post, we discussed the arguments for and against multiple catalogs. So, if you decide to merge some catalogs, how do you go about it? In this first of five posts, we'll take an overview of how to merge catalogs and some of the reasons you … Click to continue
Should you have one catalog or multiple catalogs?
Since version 1.1, Lightroom has been able to create and switch between multiple catalogs. But the question is, just because you can, should you? Should you have one catalog or multiple catalogs? There is no 'right' number of catalogs. As with the … Click to continue
What is a Lightroom catalog?
There are basically two different types of local image management software - databases (catalogs) and file browsers. So what's the difference? What actually is a Lightroom catalog? Let's compare to a physical library of books to illustrate. File … Click to continue