Importance of keeping LR projects around?

[bike21]

Howdy!

So I am relatively new to LR2 and have read about how the LR2 catalog files and backup files can grow quite large if not kept in check. My question is, would it be wise to remove the projects after I am done with them (exported) from the LR2 catalog?

How big can the files get? I have a MB Pro with 250GB HD so I am not sure how much of an issue this will be. I am in the process of creating a new backup/file management scheme to get unused files off of my HD so it is basically a workspace and not a storage area. This is to keep lots of room available for virtual memory that the Mac uses or so I have read. I might be interested in a larger HD down the road if that helps, but really have no clue how big the LR2 catalog can get.

Any tips? Thanks!

[arodney]

So I am relatively new to LR2 and have read about how the LR2 catalog files and backup files can grow quite large if not kept in check. My question is, would it be wise to remove the projects after I am done with them (exported) from the LR2 catalog?

I sure wouldn’t. You never know when you want to go back to that data. And space is cheap. What does grow is the irdata file which contains the thumbnails. My catalog is about 20,000 images, the database (irCat file) is only 520mb. But I keep all the high quality thumbnails so my irdata file is 25 gigs. Seems like a lot but keep in mind what you gain and lose by paring that down. When you zoom into a Raw at 1:1. LR has to build a full rez preview. Useful to see if images are in focus and such. You can set the preferences to delete this after a fixed amount of time (I don’t because A, I have a 1.5tb drive with plenty of space and B, I want to zoom in immediately and not wait for LR to build the preview). So its really up to you. The big space hog is the previews. Depending on the camera, in my case, a 5DMII, a 1:1 preview can take up a lot of space. I’d be somewhat OK deleting previews but I’d be hard pressed to same space by paring down the actual database file.

[BradfordBenn]

If you keep your LR catalogs to under 4GB (depending on your megapixels can be easy or hard) one can backup to a DVD and then delete the catalog. Also LR2 will allow for having catalogs on multiple volumes so you could store stuff offline on a USB or Firewire drive.