Change This Lightroom Setting RIGHT NOW!

In this tutorial, I explain why a default setting in Lightroom could lead to disaster and why you should immediately change it.
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[@AnthonyMorganti]

In this tutorial, I explain why a default setting in Lightroom could lead to disaster and why you should immediately change it. Check out my ALL NEW, iso adaptive, Lightroom Presets -- a HUGE pack of over 500 presets: www.anthonymorganti.com/ ** I am an affiliate for all of the companies listed EXCEPT Affinity Photo. Please read my Code of Ethics Statement: onlinephotographytraining.com/code-of-ethics/ Tap into Adobe's Creative Cloud: bit.ly/2zwQ0nW Anthony Morganti’s MUST HAVE applications: At least one Non-Destructive RAW Editor Lightroom - bit.ly/2zwQ0nW Capture One - captureone.38d4qb.net/y1Djy (Save 10% with Promo Code: MORGANTI10) Luminar - bit.ly/2JUJxKw (Save with the Promo Code AM16) On1 Photo RAW - bit.ly/2zJmA9I (Save 20% with Promo Code: AM17) Exposure X6 - bit.ly/2U8UxrK (Save 10% with Promo Code: AnthonyMorganti) PhotoLab 4: tidd.ly/2HhiN9X At least one FULL Editing App: Photoshop - bit.ly/2zwQ0nW Affinity Photo - affinity.serif.com/en-us/photo/ My MUST-HAVE Plugins: Topaz Gigapixel AI - bit.ly/3cDqa5J Topaz Sharpen AI - bit.ly/3cDqa5J Topaz Denoise AI - bit.ly/3cDqa5J *Save 15% on all Topaz Labs apps - use the Promo Code: AMDISC15 or instead of Topaz Denoise AI: On1 NoNoise AI - bit.ly/2zJmA9I (Save 20% with Promo Code: AM17) Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 - tidd.ly/3dc4gYm My MUST-HAVE Mac Utility: CleanMyMac X - Info: bit.ly/3jtVpU3 To save 10% on your purchase of CleanMyMac X: 1. Visit the CleanMyMac X store: bit.ly/3bEMuMx 2. Scroll down to the very bottom of the page and click on "Enter it now" under "Already have a coupon code?" 3. Paste the promo code TONY10 and hit "Verify" 4. The prices will be reduced, and you’ll be able to select the license and proceed with the payment ** Note that all of the promo codes listed above may not work on sale products. *** I am an affiliate for all of the companies listed EXCEPT Affinity Photo. Please read my Code of Ethics Statement: onlinephotographytraining.com/code-of-ethics/ Please follow me on Instagram: instagram.com/anthonymorganti/ View my recommended gear list: www.amazon.com/shop/anthonymorganti As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I use this software to record my screen and make parts of my screen enlarge and zoom out so you can see it: Screenflow: telestream.pxf.io/DMrW2 Unsure of how to price your photography? Check the 2019 Guide to Pricing Your Photography: amzn.to/2S1CiU7 I am an affiliate for all of the companies listed EXCEPT Affinity Photo. Please read my Code of Ethics Statement here: onlinephotographytraining.com/code-of-ethics/ Thank you!

[@wimakoster]

After ALL these years... still able to teach me trick! Thanks Anthony, changed the settings to an external drive.

[@AnthonyMorganti]

Great to hear! Thank you for watching!

[@xxxxz4862]

I have mine backed up to my Google Drive. This is fantastic advice!

[@shariweidenbaum5834]

Thanks again Anthony!

[@jamesss1953]

Good that you have highlighted this! Been a few years ago, but this is how I started out by setting catalogue onto an external HD, which in turn is backed up automatically to a 2nd HD

[@AnthonyMorganti]

Thanks for sharing!

[@randyschwager2515]

Great advice! Thanks!

[@rj934]

Good info! Mine backs up every day to my main external photo drive which in turn backs up to Backblaze. Also, about once a month I copy the backup file to my second external drive. I hadn’t thought about using a DropBox file that would automatically backup to the cloud.

[@DavidVelezPhotography]

Thanks, Anthony! Done!

[@veselinvasilev9362]

Thank you!

[@gwine9087]

Thank you!!

[@teamvigod]

On a Mac if you have TimeMachine backing up to external drive you wouldn't need to do this correct?

[@martinm4712]

Good question.... can anyone please help with this one?

[@dianeschuller]

great question -- I'd appreciate if Anthony would address this.

[@timbanks260]

I would say you don't need to do this if you backup with TimeMachine or something similar. I do a weekly backup so all my catalogs are also on a USB hard drive. It is still a great tip though.

[@RH-cv1rg]

Very helpful, changed it immediately. Thanks.

[@williamlee1094]

Great idea. Going to change it now. Thanks

[@MichaelJazayeriMD]

Great video as always! Can you please elaborates to how one can set up auto backups in Dropbox? I am able to do it as an export, but not automatically as you have explained. Thank you

[@niftytwo]

Wow. I like your new opening introduction Anthony. You’ll always be Mr. Photographer to many of us. I’ve just updated my L/R a half hour ago and it’s playing hard to get. Not working, Apple care will sort it out. Great information re, the library. I thank you Anthony for your knowledge and attitude.

[@grahamegannon9708]

This video came just in time as I am in the process of cleaning out and reorganising my Lightroom. My back up was on the hard drive, now it is in OnDrive cloud. Thanks Anthony.

[@dsrtfitphotography4310]

Wow great tip, never realized there's a setting like this. I'm changing my setting for LR because of your advice. Thanks.

[@bolt339]

Couldn't agree more, all my lightroom backup is on external hard drive & has been from the beginning, good advice!

[@AnthonyMorganti]

Thank you for watching Keith!

[@rentoulzz]

Thanks always wondered about that. I back up to another drive anyway . Still good to know thanks

[@dougdavidson9227]

I back up as described in your video, but no one has ever taught how to restore from BU. Can you follow up with a tutorial with that as your topic. I would appreciate your advice on this issue

[@AnthonyMorganti]

I try to do that in a future video -- perhaps when I upgrade my MacBook in a few months, I'll "Restore" Lightroom on it from a backup. Thank you for watching!

[@karinaport]

Good, Doug!!.. I’ve never really understood how the catalog concept works.. it would be really interesting to recover some work I’ve recently lost... I’m sure the data is within the catalogs but, how can it be recovered??.. can I see the photos again from it??- Carlos

[@dougdavidson9227]

@@karinaport Don't have any, don't know how to do it ... Anthony will do when he updates MacBook in a few months

[@MacBookBro1]

Thanks Rocky!

[@PeterMcClelland]

I get your point but suggest - if the drive of your Lr catalog is being backed up to another drive, as would be prudent, then it’s fine that Lr catalog backup is on the same drive as the Lr catalog. I perform Lr catalog backups as catalog maintenance and to be able to restore Lr if the catalog becomes corrupt - and perform backups of that drive to restore the drive should that drive fail.

[@brianmerrill7399]

Great tip Anthony, thanks.

[@AnthonyMorganti]

You bet! thank you for watching!

[@robertcook2109]

I have long since backed up my catalogue file to the cloud. I also write changes to xmp as well. My image files are kept on a NAS drive which is a paired RAID.

Good advice! Thanks

[@AnthonyMorganti]

Thank you for watching!

[@BrettOssman]

Great tip for sure, but I back up every time I exit, why not? Also, I do backup to my local hard drive, but I set it up, not in Lightroom, to automatically send that to my external drive and my Backblaze online backup service.

[@gregs2466]

Thanks and I never thought about doing that. I have two external hard drives so NOW it is no longer in C drive!

[@Tajhad]

Is the catalogue a big file ? Asking in case cloud storage isn’t big enough ( I’m assuming the catalogue doesn’t hold the original raw photos).

[@DalsPhotography]

No it doesn't , the catalog will always try to find the photos from the location you imported in first place.

[@darrellhornick7764]

Excellent video. Side question - will all the Adobe products run on the new Apple M1 computers? I'm having to get a new laptop and replace my 2013 Macbook Pro.

[@jackieboshoff2013]

So I tried changing my backup catalog settings as shown in your tutorial. But when I exit or quit Lightroom that Back Up Catalog Dialogue Catalog Box doesn't pop up. It just exists and closes down Lightroom. And I have the latest version of Lightroom Classic installed on my Windows PC. So my question is how to I then change the back up setting so that Lightroom doesn't back up to my computer but to an external device like and external hard drive?

[@janielawson6553]

I put the backups on iCloud. Is that ok? iCloud

[@ajschot]

Strange that you can only change the path when it asks for the backup and not somewhere in the prefrences

[@pattymattes7124]

Can I also just copy the catalog file on an external drive? I believe I did that just recently. BTW, nice shot of the cat.

[@AnthonyMorganti]

Copy the entire Catalog folder to an external drive and you'll backup everything including edits, previews, metadata, etc. Thank you for watching!

[@pattymattes7124]

@@AnthonyMorganti Reason I ask is that I usually back up my images on an external drive. So, I should do the catalog at the same time. Thank you!!!

[@henrystoffel3854]

Great tip - Do you really need 11 catalogue backups in your Dropbox? I typically delete mine after the 4th backup!

[@AnthonyMorganti]

Definitely do not need 11. I usually keep the newest three but haven't kept up with it lately hence the 11 you see.

[@vuavietnam]

English subtitle, please. Thanks

[@andreweast743]

Sound advice for sure. But how do you secure the raw image files? The catalog won’t help you if the source files are lost.

[@DalsPhotography]

Raws images at least for me deserve an extra hard drive to keep them in order and not loose them over the years :)

[@icogicog8287]

Anyway to back it up in two separate places?

[@davidsneddon2242]

Heh Anthony, brilliant and to the point as always. Comment; I have my catalogue on an external drive and the backups are on the same drive so if I understand you correctly I should have them on a different drive? Also I have all my backups from a long time ago but reading some of the other comments below I should only have the last three or so? I then assume it is safe to delete the other back ups? I back up every time I exit LR. Can you please come back to me on this Anthony? I am also looking at changing out my old NUC i5 and I have assumed that since my LR/Catalogue and back ups are on my external drive, if I upgrade my machine or operating system I can simply plug my external LR drive in and it will work as before? A lot to comment on but I find your delivery and execution so easy to follow, thank you Anthony.

[@DalsPhotography]

Hi David, sorry for intruding, I read your question, and was wondering, do you back up all in one hard drive? Cause at least for my case I have 2 mirror catalog copies of all my raws and jpgs over the years. This proved very helpful recently when my 4tb hard drive stopped working! Regarding LR I keep the catalogs in one of those drives. Best wishes .

[@davidsneddon2242]

@@DalsPhotography Heh Daniela, yes I do have all my LR backups and catalogue on my external HD hence my question I feel you have answered this for me, thank you so much for coming back to me. You are NOT intruding :) Good advice is always welcome.

[@DalsPhotography]

@@davidsneddon2242 Hi again David, let me be more specific please. The fact is that one thing is your personal way of cataloguing your photos over the years, and another one is LR back ups, which at least for me they are not the same. So what I do is have 2 copies of my photo files (raw mostly) and then when edited and saved as jpg they go to another folder in the disks called "Processed photos over the years" long one lol, but clear for me. On the other hand, the LR back ups, work as long as you don't move photos from one side to another one. So, If I edited a photo, which wasn't good at all, and I keep the edited jpg in my processed files folder, but get rid of my raw, LR won't find it anymore. So, it all depends on what you do with your raws if you edit raw, or jpgs if you edit jpgs. For me having only one LR catalogue is enought, I tend to keep my raw files, and many times with programs becoming more powerful I even re-edit that photo :) Sorry for the long one, and hoped it helped!

[@timbanks260]

As a general rule, keep the original of anything and its backup on different media/devices and so on - so Lightroom catalog original on harddisk in the computer, and the backup on a cloud drive or USB drive. I do backup my harddrive to a removable USB drive once a week automatically.

[@davidsneddon2242]

@@DalsPhotography Thank you again Daniela and sorry for the tardy reply, been a bit busy. This is very helpful so thank you for sharing.

[@artmaltman]

Excellent video, this is so important. I have been keeping my Lightroom catalogues in my Dropbox folder. Is that a bad idea? Thank you.

[@AnthonyMorganti]

I keep mine in my dropbox folder too. I feel this is a great way to make sure you have a backup copy of it in case of disaster.

[@robertcook2109]

Note that every time you create a new backup the old one is still there and therefore taking up space on both your hard drive and your Cloud account.

[@kapilbhallafoto]

Sounds good

[@AnthonyMorganti]

Thanks for watching!

[@qazxlv]

Paldies!

[@AnthonyMorganti]

Thank you Lauris!!!

[@gosman949]

I have done this for years. I back it up to a separate MVMe card that will hopefully never crash since it is not optical.

[@jonathanptaylor]

Jay, strictly speaking hard drives are not optical they are magnetic, but I get your point. However, do not assume an SSD/MVMe card/drive will never fail. All electronics have the potential to catastrophically fail, and so I would not rely on them as your only backup destination.

[@gosman949]

@@jonathanptaylor I am not. I have another back up. Always use 3 backups.

[@DennisMathias]

Love these little tips. But I got to thinking that if the SHTF, and I loose my drive and photos that would be bad. But I get those backed up continuously. I have BackBlaze (sorry for the ad and no I'm not affiliated with them) and they back up files as they change. So I got to thinking, sure I could relocate my catalog out of my main photo drive but would I remember where I kept the catalog? And in a moment of ineptitude I took the catalog drive off line after it failed I would be in deep dodo. So in the interest of portability, I think I might leave that catalog intermingled with the photos. What do you think of this?

[@AnthonyMorganti]

As long os BackBlaze is backing it up and as long as you do a Lightroom backup once a week, you're good. I recommend the Lightroom backup because Lightroom checks the integrity of the catalog when backing up and if there's a problem, it offers you the option to fix it. It also optimizes the catalog which helps it not get any errors and keeps it running smoothly.

[@gosman949]

I simply write down where my back-up catalog is and tape it on my desktop computer! Remember, by going to catalog settings and doing what Anthony did , you can see where the backup is located!

[@DennisMathias]

@@AnthonyMorganti Yeah I always let LR handle that..but having a package is comforting.

[@86BBUB]

OR - use Carbon Copy Cloner (or similar) to do an hourly backup of your entire C/ drive

[@AnthonyMorganti]

Definitely great advice but I still recommend doing the catalog backup at least once a week because it optimizes the catalog and checks for errors.

[@DennisMathias]

@@AnthonyMorganti I think he's saying what I said..that you can keep the files together in a package and then backup the whole package with LRCAT and photos together. Not 'don't backup the catalog'. It gets hard to explain.

[@AnthonyMorganti]

@@DennisMathias Probably easy to explain but hard for my old brain to understand! I think we're all on the same page though so that's good. Thank you both for your thoughts and for offering great alternatives!

[@86BBUB]

@@DennisMathias Yes; that's what I was suggesting. Do both types of backups. Time Machine too if on a mac. Requires a couple of drives but well worth it. Allows you to safely keep all your photo software in the same place on the C/.

[@DennisMathias]

Oh, yea. Forgot about that--I do that drive and have an iDrive subscription and a drive to support that too. I'm very paranoid.

[@jpkievit763]

Cat-alogue... I see what you are doing :)

[@AnthonyMorganti]

One sharp-eyed viewer caught it! Nice!!

[@jeffrydemeyer5433]

Anyone try Windows 11 and lightroom? Here it's next to impossible to get things done because of how slow it is. Windows 10 same computer no problem at all.

[@leniehulse1621]

Yes!!! 😡😡

[@donsmith2833]

No matter what I do, I cannot get this video to load

[@godsinbox]

great idea, I'll continue to ignore it. Instead I'll write metadata to file as sidecar. that way If I, or apple icloud decide to nuke my catalogue again, then the edits are there for the new catalogue.

[@RichardLaurence]

Excellent advice! Thanks

[@AnthonyMorganti]

Glad it was helpful! Thank you for watching!