Protecting Your Work in Lightroom

November 5, 2010 @ 4:29PM

Protecting Your Work in Lightroom

Lightroom's database can fail -- know how to avoid problems if it does

By Rob Sheppard

Topics
Techniques > Software

I love Lightroom. I think it is the best software program for photographers -- it is easier to learn (and remember) than Photoshop, it is faster and more intuitive than Photoshop, and it connects me more to my photographs than a software program. A lot of photographers have moved to Lightroom for those reasons, and even though I think they will be well served by it, this move also concerns me a bit. Lightroom is designed to become your main way of working with photos, and if it fails, you will be very sad (to put it mildly).

Lightroom is a database. Databases can be damaged or corrupted so that they do not open. And databases can be confused if you start making a lot of changes to the data (e.g., move your photos around on your hard drive) without telling the database about it. I have had my hard drive crash and had to reinstall Lightroom and its working database was gone, too. In spite of all of this, I have never lost any image work done in Lightroom. Here's how:

1. Remember to regularly backup your Lightroom catalog (the database). You can set up Lightroom to remind you to backup the database when you close the program (Lightroom 3) or when you open it (earlier versions). Go to Catalog Settings (under the Lightroom menu in Mac and under Edit for a PC) and the first tab, General Settings. All you have to do, then, is close the program (which is a good idea to do every week or so anyway) and save the database.

Be sure you are saving your Lightroom catalog to a totally separate drive apart from your main hard drive. You can save this to an external drive, to a USB flash drive, or any other drive (including an iDisc for Mac). The point is to do it. Then if you ever run into a problem, you open Lightroom and tell it to use a catalog that you have backed up (this is in the File menu).

2. Tell Lightroom to also keep all changes and adjustments made to your photos as part of an XMP file (changes and adjustments are automatically part of the Lightroom database). You do this by going to Catalog Settings again and choosing the Metadata tab. The XMP is a small text file that is associated with the photo file -- it only carries information in it. That information can be read by Lightroom and Camera Raw about how to adjust your photo file. So even if you lose the catalog, the adjustment information is still stored next to your image, separate from the database, and always available.

I have some Lightroom workflow DVDs on my website, www.robsheppardphoto.com. I still have some room in the Costa Rica nature photography rainforest trip in early December. Check it out at Holbrook Travel.

Tagged with:
Adobe Lightroom

Comments

Chris Johnstone

1 year ago

Hi Rob,

I think you're absolutely right. I know of lots of photographers moving away from the cumbersome and clunky Photoshop is preference for Lightroom. It's streamlining is great.

Regarding the second tip about protecting data (automatically writing XMP), I have seen a lot of discussion about whether this is an efficient choice. This is mainly due to the added amount of work your processor has to do - every single adjustment including undo/redo actions are being written. Surely this much disk activity is overkill?

Is this actually a realistic strain or have you found it to be of little concern?

Chris

Rob Sheppard

1 year ago

Hi, Chris --

Thanks for the comment. I have not really found writing to XMP files to be a problem. Perhaps if you had an older computer with limited RAM, it might be an issue. But these are tiny files. If you were going to transfer files from one computer to another, having XMP files with the original files (you then transfer an entire folder to ensure you include the XMP files) can be extremely helpful. It is not an easy thing to do otherwise because you end up with merging two databases (which is what your catalog is).

If you are really careful about always backing up your catalog, then you probably will never need XMP files. However, if you sometimes open a file in Camera Raw, it is nice to have your work show up there (Camera Raw reads XMP files).

Rob

Tony

1 year ago

Rob....I am reading your lightroom book and it is really helpful! It is so clear and precise.

I have been converting my files to DNG files. Is that a good idea? Does that avoid the need to create these XMP files. I have been regularly backing up lightroom catalog

Thanks

Tony

Rob Sheppard

1 year ago

Thanks, Tony! Glad the book helped.

There is not an easy answer to your question about DNG files. Some folks love them. I wish that Canon and Nikon would have quit their RAW battles and just settled on a single RAW file, such as Adobe's DNG (if Canon and Nikon did that, all other manufacturers would follow). But they didn't. Some people feel that DNG files are protection because they mean you don't need the .xmp files. But on the other hand, if you are backing up your catalog regularly, that is not a big issue. Others feel that DNG gives protection if a manufacturer ever quit supporting their RAW files. I cannot imagine that happening for Nikon or Canon, but perhaps others, I don't know.

Given how you can find "old converters" for all sorts of things on the internet, I would be surprised if you never could convert RAW files. I stick with the RAW files as they come from the manufacturer, personally, and I am fine with that. Going to DNG files means at least doubling your files unless you then delete all of your original files.

Rob