Lightroom - Export (Does it delete your file)

Hi All,

I've been using Lightroom trial as suggested by some of you on here to do a batch of photos from a BBQ at the weekend.

Well, I must say that it's great for doing general editing etc (such as some colour correction). I'm sure it's great for advanced work too but I haven't got that far yet.

I've cropped, altered and corrected a number of photos from the collection and individually exported the ones I wanted to.

On export, I told it to change the size so the longest side was 750px. However, whenever I go back in to Lightroom the images remain altered (even though the original ones on my HDD remain as the originals).

So, how can I revert back the original image in lightroom to make different changes etc?

Thanks,
Amnesia

That's easy -- you can either use the Reset button in the Develop module (on one or a batch of photos) or go to the History panel on the left side of the Develop module (you may need to scroll down to see it) and pick and choose a place to return to for an individual photo.

An alternative approach to play with is working with Virtual Copies. This allows you to have different "versions" of a photo "active" at the same time without needing additional files/copies on your hard drive. If you select one (or more) and right-click and choose Virtual Copies you get a copy appearing alongside the original. Select either version and you can, for example, Reset it to the original state and start all over again, whereas the other copy stays until you select it and do something else. It's a cool feature of Lightroom that gives you something to play with.

Thanks! I'll check it out tonight

I have finished reading Kelby's book and am embarrassed to admit that I'm really struggling with the basic question of "what happens to my original raw file?" concept. Since I have just starting learning post-processing, it is a given that 6 months down the road I will know more and will want to revisit favorite photos to improve on what I do to them today. So, based on that assumption, here are my questions:

Question 1: When I import an image into a Lightroom catalogue, is it importing a copy of my original raw or actually importing the original?

Question 2 (really a scenario): Let's say I work on a photo and am happy with my results today and want to do more that one thing with it, i.e. (a) send a jpeg in an email for a friend to view, (b) put a higher resolution jpeg or a tiff into a slide show to be viewed on my computer or an HDTV (c) save a copy that has the metadata embedded to send off for printing, (d) save the original raw with no metadata in case I want to start all over again in a few months when I know more about what I am doing. Is the answer for this to create virtual copies right from the get-go? Is the answer to (d) to keep the metadata in an xmp file and just hit reset when I re-open in Lightroom down the road?

I don't know why this basic concept is so confusing to me but it just is. I'm so paranoid about losing my original image at this point.

Diane

DianeK wrote in post #12207319
I have finished reading Kelby's book and am embarrassed to admit that I'm really struggling with the basic question of "what happens to my original raw file?" concept. Since I have just starting learning post-processing, it is a given that 6 months down the road I will know more and will want to revisit favorite photos to improve on what I do to them today. So, based on that assumption, here are my questions:

Question 1: When I import an image into a Lightroom catalogue, is it importing a copy of my original raw or actually importing the original?

If you look at the options for importing, you will see you have choices. Please read the Lightroom Help in chapter 4 on Importing photos -- it will go through the various choices! You can simply Import a folder of photos while keeping them in their present place in your hard drive, and that is often a good thing to do if you are happy with their place and how they are named and such. Or, you can copy them into a new destination with a new name and such (this is the default if you are importing from a camera card). Or, you can move them from one place to another and rename them or not, it's all up to you.

In the end, you only need one copy of your Raw file, though -- the one that Lightroom has located and imported and such. So, for example, if you Imported by copying a shoot from a camera card, then when you are done you can reformat the card. If you wanted to use Lightroom to Import an old folder with photos that you wanted to relocate and rename for a better "organization", then when you saw things looked right, you could go to your system browser and delete that old folder because Lightroom now has the images in the new spot.

Of course, though I said you only need the one copy that is in the LR library, that's only half right because you also want a backup system in place where all your images (as well as the Lightroom catalog folder) are being consistently backed up to a separate hard drive.

Importing goes beyond just the physical moving or copying or renaming, of course, it "catalogs" the images and folders and begins creating metadata for each file containing all your organization and editing data for them. That's really important to absorb!

Virtual copies is very useful for working on different versions, sure. Where you don't need to waste your energies on, though, is if you are just exporting things for different print resolutions, because the Raw file doesn't "care" about the print resolution. You may want to export to specific folders if you are doing a batch for, say, 4x6 photos and another for, say, 20x30 prints -- how you set such things up is all up to you. But at the level of your Raw processing, well, it don't care, unless you decide to re-import say a tiff that was exported for a certain use. Then that goes beyond the Raw.

The whole thing to "get" here with a Raw workflow is that you can't lose your original image because, by nature, Raw processors do not change the Raw data. Unless you delete the Raw file, it will always have the original data that you can work with. That's one of the cool, "magical" things about Raw processing!

tonylong wrote in post #12207727
Virtual copies is very useful for working on different versions, sure. Where you don't need to waste your energies on, though, is if you are just exporting things for different print resolutions, because the Raw file doesn't "care" about the print resolution. You may want to export to specific folders if you are doing a batch for, say, 4x6 photos and another for, say, 20x30 prints -- how you set such things up is all up to you. But at the level of your Raw processing, well, it don't care, unless you decide to re-import say a tiff that was exported for a certain use. Then that goes beyond the Raw.

Virtual copies demonstrated on part 3 of this vid tutorial (around 3:05)
http://jhpvideotutoria​ls.com …la-in-lightroom-3-part-3/

from this thread:
https://photography-on-the.net …hp?p=10877061&p​ostcount=1

Thanks all
Diane

Actually, neither of the above. Importing means nothing more than writing the location of the file in the database (the catalog file), making a small preview image version to be used in the Library module and another small preview to be used in the Develop module. At the same time LR will perform another service for you, if you request it to, which is to move or copy the file to another location. You make this request by selecting 'Move' or 'Copy' from the top of the Import page and in the right side panel indicating the new location, but if 'Add' is highlighted the RAW file isn't touched. It is important to realize that even though this service is selected on the Import page, it is really something entirely separate from importing. Adobe designers might be software experts but they are sometimes "linguistically challenged". The word 'import' is misleading. I would have called it 'register'. 'Export' is also a poor choice. They should have stayed with the familiar 'Save as'.

You don't have to worry. If you select 'Add' the files will stay right where you put them. However, to be safe you should always make backup copies in another place, not on the same disc. I have all my old photos in two copies on two external drives, one of which gets connected to the computer only when backups are being done. Photos from the current year are in three places - on my internal HD and on the externals.

When you edit absolutely nothing is done to the RAW file other than reading it. The edits are only a list of slider positions in the catalog (that can at any time be saved as a VC or deleted in order to start over) and when you hit the Export button that list is used together with the data read from the RAW to write an entirely new file.

tzalman wrote in post #12212143
When you edit absolutely nothing is done to the RAW file other than reading it. The edits are only a list of slider positions in the catalog (that can at any time be saved as a VC or deleted in order to start over) and when you hit the Export button that list is used together with the data read from the RAW to write an entirely new file.

So let's say I crop a raw, then export as a jpeg to the web. Now if I go back to my raw (which you have reassured me will still be there!), will it open cropped or not? If it opens cropped, do I hit reset to start over again? (The reason I'm asking a theoretical question instead of just trying it is because I finished reading Kelby's book but have not yet loaded Lightroom...I'm waiting for the iMac's to get a refresh before buying a new computer and my husband is out of town with his Macbook Pro which will be the second computer we will load this on.)

Thanks,
Diane

Hmm, something went haywire with my quoting??
Diane

Fixed

You started the quote with "[\quote]"

DianeK wrote in post #12213086
So let's say I crop a raw, then export as a jpeg to the web. Now if I go back to my raw (which you have reassured me will still be there!), will it open cropped or not? If it opens cropped, do I hit reset to start over again?

You could, but you also could just re-do the crop. Way easier. (Since you don't loose all other editing that you did)

Thanks for fixing the quote Rene.
But you have hit on the crux of my confusion about "losing" my original raw. If after editing and closing that editing session, I reopen that image, I am interpreting what you are saying is that it will open with my last edits applied to it. But what if I want to open it in its original condition - no previous edits applied - how do I accomplish this? If I was working with a Microsoft Word document, I would just hit "save as" at the end of the editing session, give it the same name but with vers2 added to the name and my hard drive would now have 2 copies of that document, the original and the edited version. I do understand the concept that my original raw file is not truly changed, just has a list of edits embedded in the file. But I'm just struggling with how to re-open that image without having the listed edits applied. Apologies if I am going round in circles here!
Diane

Thanks, Rimmer, and to all others here. I have re-read the import chapter and with all your helpful comments here this is all starting to make more sense to me. I am anxious to get started hands-on - if only Apple would hurry up with an iMac refresh (my current computer is just too lame to handle Lightroom and Photoshop). Even when I load this on my husband's MacbookPro when he gets home, my access to it will be rather limited as that is his business computer and he's got some big projects going on right now. So I'm trying to keep my enthusiasm in check so I don't rush out and get a current iMac when we know a new one should be just around the corner.
Diane

Rimmer wrote in post #12214349
So I was eating lunch and it occurred to me that I needed to come back and expand on what I meant when I said "forever." Many programs keep your undo history only until you close the program. Not so with Lightroom, where the entire history of every edit you ever made is stored and remains available even after you close and then reopen the program.

Enough to ruin your appetite.

Diane, I finally understand why you are grappling with these things, without actually having Lightroom loaded and open in front of you!

Are you sure that your current computer can't handle things at all?

Seriously, my advice is that you download and install the 30 day free trial and just use it to walk through the Kelby book and the stuff we've been talking about. It shouldn't bog down your computer, although it may itself be slow if you don't have enough RAM. But still, unless you try to load thousands of images in there it should behave itself. Just bring in a few images so you can get some hands-on experience. Then when you have the newer computer you will be ready to go to town. Or, you may find that the free trial runs just fine and you could just go for it!

Or, are you saying that your present computer is so ancient that, well, what?