Adobe Lightroom Classic is a powerful program, but it’s not a storage or backup solution. It’s up to you to decide where to store your Lightroom Catalog, all of your images, and to create a separate backup plan.
Here are the three main questions to consider:
- Where will you store your Adobe Lightroom Classic Catalog?
- Where will you store your digital photos?
- What is your backup plan?
If all of these options sound intimidating then the cloud-based version of Lightroom might be a better choice for you. The cloud-based Adobe Lightroom program has identical image editing capabilities, a shorter learning curve, and this type of Lightroom takes care of the file storage and backup plans for you!
If you are convinced that Lightroom Classic is for you then let’s look at your storage options.
Option 1: Internal Storage for Everything
This is the simplest option and works well for beginners, as long as your computer’s internal hard drive has enough space. In this setup, both your photos and your Lightroom Catalog are saved in separate folders on your computer’s main drive.
Pros: Simple and easy to manage.
Cons: You need a lot of free space. A good rule of thumb is to keep at least 20% of your hard drive empty to avoid performance issues. Since internal hard drive space is often limited, this option usually is not suitable for photographers with enormous image libraries.
Option 2: External Photo Storage, Internal Catalog Storage
This is a great solution for photographers who have a large number of images who only use Lightroom Classic on a single computer. In this scenario, your photographs are stored on a high-capacity external hard drive, while your Lightroom Catalog remains on your computer’s internal drive. This setup can be a great choice if your internal drive is a fast Solid State Drive (SSD), which may improve Lightroom’s performance.
Pros: Provides ample storage for a large number of images and can be faster than an all-external setup.
Cons: Not ideal if you need to access your catalog on multiple computers. Also adds more complexity to your backup plans.
Option 3: External Storage for Everything
This is the best option for photographers who need to use the same Lightroom Catalog and photos on multiple computers (for example, a desktop and a laptop). In this setup, both your images and your Lightroom Catalog are stored on a fast external hard drive.
Pros: Offers flexibility to work with Catalog and images using more than one computer.
Cons: Requires more setup and you must set Classic’s Preferences up so that they match on both computers.
Important Warning: Adobe Lightroom is not designed to be used with a Network Attached Storage (NAS) disk. While you can store your images on a NAS, you cannot store or launch your Lightroom Catalog from a NAS drive!
The Importance of Backups
Hard drives will eventually fail, and Adobe Lightroom Classic does not back up your files for you. Classic is an image management tool but it is not a backup system. Don’t let a hard drive failure destroy your photos. Once you have a storage plan, you should immediately create a separate, professional-grade backup plan to protect your work.
