Find Your Missing Files

The first job is to check your catalog for missing folders or files. If you've tidied up your hard drives using Windows Explorer or Finder, you may have missing photos or missing folders scattered throughout your catalog, and it's worth fixing these broken links before the tangle gets worse. 

First, look through the Folders panel to see if there are any folders displaying a question mark. 



Then go to Library menu > Find All Missing Photos and allow Lightroom to search your entire catalog for missing files. Lightroom groups these photos in a Missing Photographs collection in the Catalog panel, and displays an exclamation mark in the corner of the photos (or a question mark in Lightroom 4 or earlier).



If you discover that any folders or photos are missing, there are step-by-step instructions to fix the broken links in this week's blog post. (Don’t be tempted to synchronize the folder or re-import the photos until you’ve explored every other possibility, as you'd lose the work you've done in Lightroom.)
 

Check Your Backups & Clean Up the Old Ones

Next in line, check your backups.  Drives fail and we all make mistakes, so backups are essential. Do you have current backups of your catalogs, photos and other Lightroom files?

If you're not sure what to back up, or where to find the files, there's a checklist in the Articles section of my website.

Lightroom doesn't automatically clean out old catalog backups, and they can gradually overtake your hard drive, so you may also want to go back and delete older backups using Windows Explorer/Finder. I'd recommend keeping the most recent backups, as well as some slightly older ones (e.g. 1 month, 6 months, 1 year), just in case you later discover you’ve accidentally overwritten some settings or removed some photos from your catalog.

Time for a Clear Out

Digital clutter has a habit of building up over time, and the new year is a great opportunity for a clear out.

Are you still hanging on to fuzzy photos? Perhaps it's time to make space for this year's photos. 

How about Develop presets that you know you'll never use? In the Presets panel, right-click on them and choose Delete.


Do you have External Editor presets for old versions of OnOne software or similar?  Go to Preferences > External Editing, select the preset in the pop-up, then click on the pop-up again to select Delete Preset.


What about Collections or Smart Collections that you no longer need? In the Collections panel, right-click on them and choose Delete.

Archive Files

If you're running low on hard drive space, it might be time to move some of your older images to an external hard drive. Not sure how?  Don't worry, the step-by-step instructions are here.

Update Copyright Preset

If your copyright preset contains the date of publication, for example, © 2015 Victoria Bampton, you'll need to update it for the new year.

In the Metadata panel in the Library module, select Edit Presets from the pop-up and then select your Metadata preset at the top of the dialog. Update the preset, then select Update Preset from the pop-up at the top of the dialog.

A 2016 Calendar

• 2016 Calendars - Thomas Ljundberg or Ed Weaver, depending which font and layout you prefer
• Print Templates - US paper size from Ed Weaver
• Print Templates - ISO paper size (e.g. A4) from Thomas Ljungberg
• Instructions courtesy of Matt Kloskowski, if you've never tried it before.