I'm writing this at the end of a very frustrating Lightroom ordeal with the hope that it will save you from experiencing the same dilemma.
For the second time since I started using Lightroom I turned on my computer one day, opened LR 2.2 and my heart sank as the "This photo is missing or offline" error message sprang to life at the top of an image. I started checking other images and found that the entire catalog of images was "missing or offline."
I posted my issue on a Lightroom forum and began reading everything I could about the error message. In theory, it's an easy fix. In reality, it isn't. Even the Lightroom Queen (www.lightroomqueen.com) couldn't figure out what had happened. After exhausting every resource I could find, and spending several days in the process, I finally removed the entire folder of images and re-imported every image.
No big deal, right? Wrong! Doing so means that every edit I'd made to those images was lost. Gone. Ka-put. In the crap-ola. Starting from scratch, folks.
How could I have prevented such a tragedy? The answer is ridiculously simple - BACK IT UP! I always clicked "Skip Backup" each time I started Lightroom. As a result, I had no backup files that could be used to replace the corrupt files, saving hundreds of hours of processing work.
I have now set up Lightroom to ask me if I want to back up my files EVERY TIME I OPEN IT. Fine and dandy, but if you click "Skip" when the message pops up you're not doing yourself any favors. It is safe to say that I no longer click "Skip." It takes only a few minutes each time for the back up to be completed. Call it a good time to freshen up your stale coffee, use the restroom or respond to an email.
During my investigation into this issue I also learned a few interesting tidbits about LR. It doesn't like to be left open on your computer. When you're done for the day, close it. It also doesn't like it when you mess with your image files while it is open, unless you are working directly in LR. For instance, before you back up your image files to an external hard drive be sure to close out of LR. I now take it a step farther and do a complete shut down/restart before doing an external HD back up. Call me crazy. You wouldn't be the first.
If you never learn anything else from me please, please, PLEASE back up your Lightroom files uber-frequently. You'll be glad you did when LR informs you that your files are "offline or missing."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Bret, great advice! It really sucks you had to figure this out the hard way and lost all those hours of work. I've been a little lax about doing the back-ups when prompted, but will definitely be more diligent from now on. Mine asks for a back-up weekly. How can you change the frequency? I looked in preferences and didn't see back-up but maybe I missed it.
I also now understand why my computer sometimes freezes up when I have LR and another editing program open at the same time. I thought it was just my old dinosaur computer acting up! Again, great info you posted here.
Post a Comment