Directory structure and organisation in LR and on Data HD and external HD

[henk]

Hi,
I work in projects and every project has a name and date (Iceland 2009-10). When I start a new project I create a directory with this name and date. Copy all images in this directory and import this directory in LR (import photos from disk ) . By doing this consistently I have in LR a mirror of my Data HD. Now my Data HD gets full 80% and I want to move old projects on to an external HD with a fix drive letter starting with J and when I get more external HD, K etc. and keep this HD in a vault. For this I use 2 Icy Box mobile Racks because when slide in a HD I get a much faster copy speed than with USB or Fire wire 800. I also want to keep the images in LR so I have an overview of all the projects, and search facilities on all images. I also want to know what the name is of the HD on which these images are specially if I end-up with more than one external HD. If this works I see in the left panel in library mode my data disk and, after some time, all external HD with offline projects. The only thing is HOW tot do? Without moving the projects to ext. HD and import then again in LR and after that delete the old project on the Data HD
I suppose I am not the only one with nearly a TB on images and now needs to move them and want to see them in LR.
Has any body experience with this and what are the possible solutions?
Hope you can help
Henk

Hardware:
Windows 7 PC with Intel i7 940
12 GB RAM
OS HD 350 Gb, 10.000
Data HD 1 TB 7.200  80% full.
2 Icy Box Trayless MobileRack for back-up and synchronisation

[john beardsworth]

By doing this consistently I have in LR a mirror of my Data HD.

I wonder if this sentence gives a clue about what you're not understanding. LR is a catalogue or listing and records the location of files registered or "imported in the catalogue. Files don't physically go in LR as in your "I also want to keep the images in LR".

Attach your other drive, put some files on it, and then import them into LR. LR will then show each drive separately. You can then drag project folders between drives in LR.

John

[Tom Montgomery]

What you want to do is very well explained in Michael and Seth Resnick's tutorial, "Where The #%*! Are my Pictures".  Highly recommended for someone in your situation, IMO.

[dchew]

I think of LR as the old card catalog in a library, but much more powerful.  When you are in LR you are in the card catalog, but with the ability to reach out and read every book referenced in the catalog and edit all the words on the page from the card catalog.  

And by moving a specific card in the catalog from one file to another, the book magically moves to the new referenced location.  But if you go out to the shelves, pick up a book and move it, the card catalog (LR) has no idea it was moved and can no longer find the file.  Hence why you always want to move images from within LR.

Dave

[henk]

Hello John,
Yes I understand that the directories and files are not physically in LR but on the HD. It is my humble English, it’s not my first languages!
And I just gave it a try and yes it does exactly what I want. It’s so simple, perhaps to, that I over looked this option. You have to create a directory with one image on the emty back-up HD and import it in to LR because in one way or another you can’t move directories on to the HD directly. There must always be a directory on the back-up HD where you move your directories from the data HD in to. This, for me, is no problem.

Thanks for the advice.
Henk

[john beardsworth]

Your English is too good, Henk, as I thought you meant exactly what you said! Plenty of people think their pictures are really in Lightroom, so I've gradually come to think that Adobe should have used the word "register" or "catalogue" instead of "import".

John