Archiving Images on External Harddrive

[Canon88]

I imported my photographs from my CF card to a folder on my desktop using Lightroom. To save space, I want to move the images onto my external harddrive, but because there's roughly 1,000 images in this folder, I'd like to archive a .zip folder in my external harddrive.

I'm not very familiar with .zip folders and how they work, so the question I have is:

1) If I create a .zip folder of the images and store it on my external harddrive - deleting the folder on my desktop - will Lightroom be able to open it?

[KenJulio]

LR will not recognize the files within the zip folder as it is a compressed item. You'll have to uncompress the folder back into the original location or possibly repoint the images in the LR catalog to the new location of the image(this I have not done before and not sure if it's possible in LR).

[Rson]

You wil have to upzip the folders first then LR can read the pictures inside

[kenw]

I would skip the zip operation. It isn't worth it. Just move the files to the external drive (making folders that make sense to you, 1000 is way too many for a single folder), and then move them to a SECOND external drive. (hint, hint)

[Valt]

I agree with the skip the zip opinion. JPGs are already compressed by nature so you would not be saving any noticeable disk space.

[KenJulio]

Originally Posted by kenw

I would skip the zip operation. It isn't worth it. Just move the files to the external drive (making folders that make sense to you, 1000 is way too many for a single folder), and then move them to a SECOND external drive. (hint, hint)

And then to DVD's

[mjdmike]

Originally Posted by ken74

And then to DVD's

And then to an offsite location or fireproof safe.

I copy all of my data (weekly) to an internal 1TB drive that I remove and store. I have a 3 bay hot-swappable internal dock for SATA drives that make removing them as easy as plugging in a compact flash card.

[cooltouch]

Originally Posted by ken74

And then to DVD's

Actually not just any DVD really. I have read many reports of standard DVDs becoming unreadable after only a few years of storage. If you really want to preserve your archives for a long time, you're better off investing in the GOLD DVDs, which are rated to be safe for decades. They cost more, but for this sort of thing, they're worth it.

I also use an external 1TB drive for (temporary) image storage before archiving to Gold DVDs.