Today’s Question: Is there a way for me to export my photos, folders and subfolders, and metadata from Lightroom Classic to an external hard drive for an archival copy? If so, how would you suggest I setup it up?
Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can use the “Export as Catalog” command to export a full copy of your photo library from Lightroom Classic, including the existing folder structure, standard metadata, and a copy of your catalog.
More Detail: While there are several ways you could go about creating an archival copy of your full photo library, I think one of the best options for Lightroom Classic users is to leverage the “Export as Catalog” command. This will create a copy of your catalog along with a copy of all photos, using the same folder structure including subfolders, and including metadata with the images.
To get started, select the “All Photographs” collection in the Catalog section of the left panel in the Library module. On the Library Filter bar at the top of the grid view (choose View > Show Filter Bar if it isn’t visible) choose the “None” option. Then on the menu choose Edit > Select None (yes, “None”) so that no photos are selected. This helps to ensure that all photos in the entire catalog will be included, even if they are in stacks, for example.
You can then choose File > Export as Catalog from the menu to initiate the export. Navigate to the external hard drive you want to copy everything to, making sure there is adequate available storage on that drive. You can also navigate to a folder on the drive if you prefer. Also, make sure the “Export negative files” checkbox is turned on, which will include the source images as part of the export process. Enter a meaningful name for the catalog and primary folder in the Save As field and click the Export Catalog button.
Depending on how many photos you have in your catalog and how fast your computer and hard drives are, the process could take hours or even days. But once the export is complete, you’ll have a copy of your entire photo library on the external hard drive you exported to. Just note that you’ll want to update that archival copy from time to time so that it contains all photos that had been added to the primary catalog in the meantime.
