I am in the process of weeding out thousands of 1,2,3 starred photos, which is very difficult to do for me, the “I may need one of them one day” syndrome.
My plan is to ween myself by putting all of these lesser pics into a few libraries, label them as archive and put them on cheap storage. The goal is if I do not refer to them in 6 months, then I will delete the archive library. So, I have my first archive library and want to make sure I can delete the version that is in my working library. I think in effect, the export makes an exact copy of my working library so I am safe to delete…yes? no?
Thanks for the help,
Robert,
If you want to double-check an exported Project, just open it as its own Library. You will see exactly what is — or isn’t — in there.
-Joseph @ApertureExpert
@PhotoJoseph
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Could I please ask for some clarity on this post. I am doing something very similar in that I am running out of disk space, so I am moving previous years images onto external hard disks to archive. The way I am doing it is:
Right click on my 200x folder and export to new library.
New Library is then located on an external disk.
Once exported I open up the new library and confirm the same number of images are present.
My question is; has the export exported everything (masters and versions etc) out into the new library, i.e. is the new library a mirror copy of the folder I have exported?
Apologies if this is a stupid question, but I am reluctant to delete the original folder until I am 100% sure that the exported library is all present and correct.
Many thanks in advance.
Jon
Jon,
The answer to that depends on what you selected when you exported.
When you select the 200x project and choose File > Export > Project as New Library… you have two options in the proceeding dialog:
1) “Consolidate masters into exported library”: This will include the Master files in the library if they are currently referenced (meaning they live outside of the library).
If the master files are managed (meaning they live in the library), the masters will be included regardless—at least I’m quite sure that’s how it works. I don’t work managed, so if that’s the case for you, be sure to check afterwards.
When you open the resulting exported library to check it, you know if the files are managed or referenced by simply looking for the referenced badge in either the thumbnails or the viewer—the box with an arrow on it.
2) “Include previews in exported library”: If you have JPEG previews enabled, this option will include them in the export. If you don’t want them included, disable this. It will make the resulting library smaller.
–
If you’re looking to move the old projects out as a totally self-contained library (which you will independently back up, right!!), then consolidating masters, ensuring that the images are in there, and deleting the original project is a perfectly good way to go.
cheers
-Joseph @ApertureExpert
@PhotoJoseph
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Yes, but if you are using “cheap storage” you might want to create vaults on separate drives for the libraries, just to be on the safe side.
That’s what I would do.
Milt
Good idea, thanks for the help!