> 1/ As I understand, when Lightroom imports data it copies it to it own > storage area (which means I'd beter have anough space for it). And I > can backup the originals elsewhere once the import is done.
When you import files into Lightroom v4.1 beta, you can tell it to - reference files in existing location - copy files into whereever you've set the Lightroom Library directory - move files into wherever you've set the Lightroom Library directory There are various options for renaming and organizing the files, tagging them, etc. Lightroom 1.0 release has redone the import section a bit with mostly the same features but new tools that make it easier to set things up. There's a neat feature if you're using the Lightroom managed library and want to use an automated import from storage cards: it will put the files you want to work on directly into its library AND make a backup set, presumably to an external hard drive, at the same time. Since the version of LR I'm working with is a beta and I have a file system organization that I like, I have been importing files by reference. > 2/ Lightroom also stores previews, its database etc... Can I ask > Lightroom to store *everything* on another drive? It'd make things a > lot easier if any OS/apps reinstallation is needed. It could even be > used to share the dtabase betwenn computers ... The Lightroom Library (or managed files directory tree) contains all the caches, information and settings it makes as well as your image files if you've chosen the move or copy options above. You can set where you want the root of that directory tree to be in the Lightroom Preferences, on the boot drive, on a separate partition, on a separate physical drive, etc. I have it set up in my master Photos directory, alongside the year by year directory trees for my image files which are imported by reference. When the backup synchronization utility I use runs (ChronoSync by Econ Technologies), it synchronizes everything in all the directories to my external backup/archive system including the Lightroom Library directory tree. Restoring in the unlikely event of a crash is a simple matter of moving the Photos directory from the backup drives back to the boot drive where my account is based. The videos at http://www.photoshopuser.com/lightroom/index.html provide some details on the v1.0 release, which if you are familiar with the v4.1 beta illustrate clearly how things differ. > For me, I am still trying to decide if Lightroom is the way to go now, > or if it is better to wait for CS3 with Camera RAW/Bridge ... How Lightroom fits in with Photoshop is a topic discussed in a section of the web page above. They are designed to work together. In a nutshell: there are many things that Photoshop CS2/CS3 does which are not possible to do in Lightroom alone. However, the primary thing that Photoshop CS2/3 does NOT do that Lightroom provides is the ability to organize and manage large numbers of photos across many different sessions. That is, by and large, the more important consideration to my needs ... I only need Photoshop's higher level editing a small amount of the time for the majority of my work, where I need more efficient tools for organizing, sorting, selecting, printing, etc all the time. I will have Lightroom as the basis of my work and will use Photoshop when it is needed. Godfrey -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
