# After Import, Deleting images from your SD card



## davidgp

Quick Question,

Every photo editor I've used to import photos from my SD card has had an option to "delete files from card after import."

But I cannot find such an option in LR.  Does it exist?  If not, do you simply use the operating system to delete the files from the card?  Seems like a pain to have to do that.

Any insights are appreciated.

David


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## clee01l

This is not an option in LR and it is not a good practice for several reasons. Apparently Adobe is wary of deleting the master image files until the user has sufficient time to review and backup copies of images transfered to the local HD.  Also in the import dialog, you can selectively choose which images to copy from the card.  Why would you want to delete some images (the one imported) and on others. And finally, camera manufacturers recommend formatting the camera card in the Camera.  Doing it outside of the camer file system can lead to card corruption and unexpected results.  Camera cards contain more than just images. Camera manufacturers also include indexes to every image on the card.  Any image manipulation outside of the camera operating system can corrupt the index making the remaining images in accessible by the camera or elsewhere if the camera reinitializes the care to write new images.


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## davidgp

Thanks Cletus, your answer confirms my thinking.  It's interesting that Adobe takes that perspective in LR but not in PSE.

I never thought about using the camera to delete images; that's a decent idea and simpler than using the OS.

 And I never thought about the danger of doing the deletion from the OS... hmm, I think that danger is very low, otherwise there'd be an outcry from the users.


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## DaveS

Hi David,

   Further to what Cletus indicated, when you do go to delete them from the camera, don't ask it to delete the files, ask it to format the card again.   It makes sure the card is nice and clean, reducing chances of data corruption when you take more pictures.

Dave.


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## clee01l

davidgp said:


> Thanks Cletus, your answer confirms my thinking.  It's interesting that Adobe takes that perspective in LR but not in PSE.


Note that I said."Apparently Adobe..." I din't think the PSE, PS and LR teams at Adobe synchronize their efforts that completely. A Lot of the PSE code goes back a long way and this might have been a legacy mindset. Or that PSE users are not going to be happy if you take away features, even bad ones.  LR is a newer product and the Adobe team that has worked on LR was able to take a fresh approach. 


> I never thought about using the camera to delete images; that's a decent idea and simpler than using the OS.
> 
> And I never thought about the danger of doing the deletion from the OS... hmm, I think that danger is very low, otherwise there'd be an outcry from the users.


For me it is most prudent to always have at least two copies of my master original.  I am most vulnerable when ther is one and only one copy and it lives on a camera card that can get lost or damaged.  After every shoot, I transfer a copy of the card images to another device (usually my computer HD).  I also have the capability of letting the camera write images on both cards in the camera or to make a backup copy to the second to the second card in the camera for security if I can't transfer the images to a HD.  I don't reformat the camera card until after my regular system backup has run on the image files stored on the HD.  I also use the "Make a second Copy To" feature on import.  I guess I am a "belt and suspenders" kind of guy.  Since I learned about the importance of backing up critical data, I have not lost any images.


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## davidgp

DaveS said:


> Hi David,
> 
> Further to what Cletus indicated, when you do go to delete them from the camera, don't ask it to delete the files, ask it to format the card again.   It makes sure the card is nice and clean, reducing chances of data corruption when you take more pictures.
> 
> Dave.



Interesting... never thought of that.  Makes sense.


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## davidgp

clee01l said:


> Note that I said."Apparently Adobe..." I din't think the PSE, PS and LR teams at Adobe synchronize their efforts that completely. A Lot of the PSE code goes back a long way and this might have been a legacy mindset. Or that PSE users are not going to be happy if you take away features, even bad ones.  LR is a newer product and the Adobe team that has worked on LR was able to take a fresh approach. For me it is most prudent to always have at least two copies of my master original.  I am most vulnerable when ther is one and only one copy and it lives on a camera card that can get lost or damaged.  After every shoot, I transfer a copy of the card images to another device (usually my computer HD).  I also have the capability of letting the camera write images on both cards in the camera or to make a backup copy to the second to the second card in the camera for security if I can't transfer the images to a HD.  I don't reformat the camera card until after my regular system backup has run on the image files stored on the HD.  I also use the "Make a second Copy To" feature on import.  I guess I am a "belt and suspenders" kind of guy.  Since I learned about the importance of backing up critical data, I have not lost any images.



I'm with you on the legacy feature issue.  In my previous life I developed CAD software... once a feature is made available to the user it is virtually impossible to remove it, even if it has been superceded by new functionality.

On always having two copies... I hear you and understand the need; I just haven't worked with that level of rigor thus far.  My current process has a window of vulnerability  (usually less than 24 hours) when there is only one copy of the images.  From the time I take the image until it gets to my harddrive there is only one copy.  Then there continues to be one copy (now on my harddrive) until I do my nightly backup, when my harddrive is copied to an external harddrive.  I suppose I could kickoff an immediate backup as soon as I do the import.  Still not as rigorous as your process but better than what I do now.

Thanks for all the insights.

David


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## Brad Snyder

I agree, that only you can judge the risk. Paying clients and 'once-in-a-lifetime' shots are one thing. [email protected] around with auto-focus on a loaner lens is another.

Most of our major contributors here have a rigorous 'procedure' they follow religiously (and that may be exactly the right word  ) because as we all know, stuff happens.


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## iPhotoStuff

I had the exact same issue. This is the workaround I use to delete after import
How to automatically delete images after import from your card for Lightroom


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## Samoreen

Hi,

Deleting right after import is rather optimistic and is not a very good decision. I always follow the following rule : I never delete my images from the card or reformat it before I have 2 copies of the images on 2 physically separated devices.


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## iPhotoStuff

Hi Samoreen. 

After tens and tens of thousands of photos over 12 years deleted directly after import without a single incident, I think I have a strong enough data sample to support my optimism. My goal here was not to dictate other people's work flows, only to help those that share my work flow accomplish what they want. For me, leaving images on a card causes more of a liability and confusion which opens up more of a possibility for overwriting images that haven't been imported. My images are duplicated at night in triplicate as well as stored off site, and it wouldn't be tough to build a script that does that automatically on import. As far as what happens when the card is inserted, I'm comfortable with my decision. Cheers.


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## tspear

It comes down to risk tolerance. 
Generally after I import the images, I format the card in the camera. 
For me, my general thinking is that it would take something rather cataclysmic for me to have both drives fail. In which case it likely is something like my house has burnt down, in which case I think I will not worry about the most recent pictures, in addition my camera with the card still in it will likely have been destroyed in the fire.


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## snapper

For me, it's part of the setup process before taking new images, and nothing to do with the image ingest and post processing workflow.

1. Check card(s) are in the camera
2. Format cards in camera
3. Go shoot

Formatting the cards in camera takes seconds, and it does make sure that the card is correctly formatted for that particular camera.


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## Linwood Ferguson

snapper said:


> Formatting the cards in camera takes seconds, and it does make sure that the card is correctly formatted for that particular camera.



+1

And perhaps more importantly (as many do not have multiple bodies), it cleans up any directory structure corruption (which could corrupt future photos).  Since removing the card, reading it and removing it from that reader (did you know some "reading" transfer programs write to the card?) are opportunities for such corruption, it is absolutely a good idea to reformat just before each new shoot. I do it as part of reviewing the camera to make sure it is set up properly anyway, just part of the (mental) checklist.

If you get in that habit as well, you have all the time between shoots to realize you deleted an image during post processing you should have kept.  

And finally for those with dual card systems who run in backup mode, you need to format the backup anyway or it just fills and fills and fills...


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## clee01l

Ferguson said:


> And finally for those with dual card systems who run in backup mode, you need to format the backup anyway or it just fills and fills and fills...


I don't run in Backup mode with my dual card system.  I don't see it as an advantage to use the CF card in my camera when I have a built in SDXC card reader.  I use my CF card as overflow to my SDXC card.  Each 64GB SDXC card will hold ~400 RAW images.  My daily shot is rarely more than 100 images.  So instead of reformatting every time, I tend to let the images accumulate on the card. Then,when the card is nearly full, I'll reformat knowing that my LR catalog has a reference to all of the important images and those images are backed up with TimeMachine and CrashPlan.  Additionally, my "Make a Second Copy..." folder is on an older spare 1TB disk where I just let images accumulate until I fill it up or that disk fails.


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## Linwood Ferguson

We all have to judge our risk tolerance.  I have had cards fail in the field, even though it is rare (twice).  So far they all failed writing, and I was able to read all the images (at least I think I got them all).   Even though the subject matter is usually non-critical, my blood pressure stays much lower when I know there's a backup card.  And Murphy has no soft spot for photographers, so keeping a low profile is good.


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## PhilBurton

clee01l said:


> Each 64GB SDXC card will hold ~400 RAW images.


Cletus, That works out to each RAW file being over 160 MB!  Is that for a medium format or large format back?  I had thought you are a Nikon shooter with 36 MB RAW files.

Phil


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## clee01l

PhilBurton said:


> Cletus, That works out to each RAW file being over 160 MB!  Is that for a medium format or large format back?  I had thought you are a Nikon shooter with 36 MB RAW files.
> 
> Phil


Oops!  That should have been a 32GB card  and I usually don't fill them up to overflowing  before reformatting.


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