Adobe Lightroom: Images on external media

In "Adobe Lightroom" you can store your original images on an external data medium. This saves space without having to delete photos. We show you how you can outsource the images and still view them at any time via Lightroom.

Store new images on external data media

In the import settings of "Adobe Lightroom" an extra storage point for the imported original images can be set. The smart previews give you access even without the original files.

1. Open the "Import" window with the button below the left menu.
2. To be able to view the images without the hard drive, you must first activate the "Smart previews" under "File management" in the top right corner. Simply tick the "Create Smart Previews" checkbox.
3. Smart previews are now automatically saved in the catalog when imported. The location of the catalog can also be changed and, for example, moved to an external hard drive. Adobe Lightroom will then no longer display any data without the data carrier.
4. To move the large original files, connect your external data medium now. Under "Destination" you can now select this and define a folder for the files. By default, Lightroom then creates folders for the year, month, and day of the shot.
5. With a click on "Import" you start the import as usual. Copying the files may take a little longer depending on the speed of the external data medium. Creating smart previews can also take a little more time than usual. You should definitely use a USB 3 or eSATA hard drive with good speed.
6. When the import is complete, you can disconnect the disk from the computer. Adobe Lightroom will continue to show you your images even though it no longer has access to the original files. Of course, Lightroom still needs the large copies on the external data carrier for the development and export of the images.

Store existing images on external data media

Existing image folders can also be transferred to an external data medium in just a few steps:

1. Use the "Finder" or "Explorer" to find the location of your images on your hard drive.
2. Then copy the folder to the desired new location. If you use the same import settings (e.g. folder for year, month, day), you can simply copy the entire folder into the higher-level directory on the external data medium.
3. Right-click on the folder you just copied in the "Folder" overview and select "Update folder location". In this menu you now select the new storage location. If the hard disk has changed, the folder will be in the overview of the other hard disk after a short loading time.
4. Finally, you can delete the old folder on the hard drive, since the data is already saved in another location.

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Adobe Lightroom version 5.3 was used in the instructions. In our Lightroom tutorial we show you all the basics for the Adobe software.