[Bramela]

Can somebody explain to me what is going on when I pull up a photo fromn a collection in Lightroom and it comes up :

"the file named ............. is off line or missing."

This I don't understand, or know what I am doing wrong, or supposed to do with it.

Any advice would be helpful, thanks.

[rkt]

(1) did you change the location of the file? (2) or perhaps, rename the file or the folder it was in? (3) or, it was on removable storage (external HDD / USB stick / memory card) and not on the hard disk?

[Ben_Edict]

If you get this message, LR cannot find the original image file. rkt gave already some explanations. The most common cause for such messages is, that you moved or renamed the folder containing the images you want to open.

It is a much better way to rename or reorganize folders and files from within Lightroom. Than the application can keep track of the changes and won't stumble.

Ben

[patk]

i just started using lr3 and this happens to me if i drag a dng file from the desktop into lr. lr opens up and opens the file, but i think it doesn't really import it to the lr catalog. so even if i work on the photo, export a jpg, etc., the original raw file is not retained within lr folders. since i've only handled a few files this way, i haven't bothered yet to figure out what to do to put such files in the catalog permanently.

[Bramela]

Patk , i think you have got it exactly. It is dng rawfiles that this seems to recur with.
I am going to do some experimenting withb different options as suggested and see how it goes.

Thanks for the responses all, I will let you know of any further progress I make with this.

[Wheatfield]

The strength of Lightroom is it's ability to manage image files. No matter what else they hang on it regarding image editing, it is, primarily, an image management tool.
Don't ever forget this about Lightroom.
Once you start using it, you are best to put all your eggs into it's basket and import every image into your computer using it.
This means you don't "drag a file" into it.
This means File/Import from....
Otherwise, you aren't using it for what it was designed to be used for.

[Bramela]

Thanks for that advice, Wheatfield. I can understand the benefit in the advice you give, I think I was quickly coming to the same conclusion.

[George Lama]

I see this error a lot due to our workflow - we move folders and catalogs between network storage and two different computers so we have to relink often. Takes seconds to do, so it's no big deal.

Although Lightroom has great image management features, including direct upload plugins to Menalto's Gallery2, Facebook, Flicker, and even iStockPhoto, the fact is that thanks to LR2 I can post process images in a fraction of the time it used to take me in Photoshop. Non-destructive image editing is one of the many areas where LR shines.

Also, I don't keep all my images in one catalog but instead create a catalog for each gig/session I shoot. By doing this, I can keep independent catalogs which get archived with the PEFs for that job. It also allows my wife and I to pass catalogs around depending on who works on which job without having to worry about who's catalog is more recent.

[Wheatfield]

Bruce, one thing to remember with Lightroom is to move files around within Lightroom rather than via Windows Explorer (or whatever it's Mac equivalent is).
That way it's catalog stays straight.
I did some research on "non destructive" editing. My interpretation of what Lightroom is doing is telling you what the image would look like if you decided to go ahead with the edit.
The only way the editing is non destructive is if you do nothing with it other than look at it in Lightroom.
As soon as you export your image, it is destructive editing, exactly the same way that Photoshop is.
Adobe chose the term "non destructive" very carefully to rope people in.

[Marc Sabatella]

That's not really accurate. Photoshop has non-destructive editing just as surely as Lightroom does: via ACR. ACR works pretty much exactly the same say in both programs. The fact that you do indeed have to export a new copy of the image to make the image visible to the outside world in no way diminishes the value of non-destructive editing. It's still an absolutely amazing thing, whether done via LR or Photoshop. But it is true that if you wish to revisit your edits *after* doing the export, you have do do so from the original, not from the converted image. Then you can simply generate a new conversion.

But really, the main value of non-destructive editing isn't in the relatively few times when you need to revisit an image after generating a conversion - it's the way the image remains completely "open" for editing at all times up until that point. Kind of like the difference between scultping in clay and then firing it versus sculpting in stone or wood directly. With clay, it remains open until firing, meaning you can do anything you want with it until that point, including adding clay back after having removed it, whereas once you've made a cut in wood or stone, you cannot undo it.

[Wheatfield]

Go back and reread my post rather than going into autoargue.

Here, I'll do it for you:

"Lightroom is ... telling you what the image would look like if you decided to go ahead with the edit"

[Marc Sabatella]

I did read, and I disagree with what I took to be your assessment that LR is any different from Photoshop in this respect, and also with the implication that "going through with the edit" is the same as exporting.

Although on re-reading, it occurs to me that in sayng "...destructive editing, in exactly the same way that Photoshop is", you didn't mean that Photoshop is destructive only, but that it has that exact same use model of completely non-destructive editing that is only visible while within ACR but requires export to make visible elsewhere. If that was your point, then I apoligize; I do agree with that. LR is indeed not in an way an improvement over Photoshop's version ACR in terms of its non-destructiveness. The improvement is only in how convenient the interface is when dealing with large numbers of files.

I did read, and I disagree with what I took to be your assessment that LR is any different from Photoshop in this respect, and also with the implication that "going through with the edit" is the same as exporting.

Although on re-reading, it occurs to me that in sayng "...destructive editing, in exactly the same way that Photoshop is", you didn't mean that Photoshop is destructive only, but that it has that exact same use model of completely non-destructive editing that is only visible while within ACR but requires export to make visible elsewhere. If that was your point, then I apoligize; I do agree with that. LR is indeed not in an way an improvement over Photoshop's version ACR in terms of its non-destructiveness. The improvement is only in how convenient the interface is when dealing with large numbers of files.

How could it be an improvement when the develop module is the same exact program whether PS or LR?

[deejjjaaaa]

But really, the main value of non-destructive editing isn't in the relatively few times when you need to revisit an image after generating a conversion - it's the way the image remains completely "open" for editing at all times up until that point. Kind of like the difference between scultping in clay and then firing it versus sculpting in stone or wood directly. With clay, it remains open until firing, meaning you can do anything you want with it until that point, including adding clay back after having removed it, whereas once you've made a cut in wood or stone, you cannot undo it.

if you can live with a huge overhead then Photoshop can do "non destructive" editing past ACR in Photoshop itself...

"...Nondestructive editing allows you to make changes to an image without overwriting the original image data, which remains available in case you want to revert to it. Because nondestructive editing doesn’t remove data from an image, the image quality doesn’t degrade when you make edits. You can perform nondestructive editing in Photoshop in several ways:

Working with adjustment layers Adjustment layers apply color and tonal adjustments to an image without permanently changing pixel values.
Transforming with Smart Objects Smart Objects enable nondestructive scaling, rotating, and warping.
Filtering with Smart Filters Filters applied to Smart Objects become Smart Filters and allow for nondestructive filter effects.
Adjusting variations, shadows, and highlights with Smart Objects Shadow/Highlight and Variations commands can be applied to a Smart Object as Smart Filters.
Retouching on a separate layer Clone Stamp, Healing Brush, and Spot Healing Brush tools let you retouch non-destructively on a separate layer. Be sure to select Sample All Layers from the options bar (select Ignore Adjustment Layers to ensure that adjustment layers won’t affect the separate layer twice). You can discard unsatisfactory retouching, if necessary.
Editing in Camera Raw Adjustments to batches of raw, JPEG, or TIFF images preserve the original image data. Camera Raw stores adjustment settings on a per-image basis separately from the original image files.
Opening Camera Raw files as Smart Objects Before you can edit Camera Raw files in Photoshop, you must configure settings for them with Camera Raw. Once you edit a Camera Raw file in Photoshop, you can’t reconfigure Camera Raw settings without losing the changes. Opening Camera Raw files in Photoshop as Smart Objects enables you to reconfigure Camera Raw settings at any time, even after you edit the file.
Cropping non-destructively After you create a cropping rectangle with the Crop tool, select Hide from the options bar to preserve the cropped area in a layer. Restore the cropped area anytime by choosing Image > Reveal All or by dragging the Crop tool beyond the edge of the image. The Hide option is unavailable for images that contain only a background layer.
Masking Layer and vector masks are nondestructive because you can re‑edit the masks without losing the pixels they hide. Filter masks let you mask out the effects of Smart Filters on Smart Object layers...."

[Marc Sabatella]

How could it be an improvement when the develop module is the same exact program whether PS or LR?

Not an improvement in image quality - an improvement in user interface.

And yes, Photoshop can accomplish non-destructive editing outside of ACR via layers, although this is a different "type" of non-destructive editing than the type done by ACR. The term "non-destructive" is an unfortunate choice here, because while it is indeed non-destructive, that's not the most interesting/useful aspect of that LR/ACR does - it's the fact that the edits are "parametric". Meaning they are stored simply as instructions to be re-applied on the fly to the original image data. It's this property that makes possible some of the really amazing things you can do. Like - and this is just one example - take a bunch of images that have already been processed, then make an adjustment to just one parameter and have it apply to all images without affecting the other parameters. So you could do all your processing with respect to everything but, say, sharpening, then apply a global sharpening adjustment - and still be entirely within the parametric / non-destructive environment (meaning you could then go in an individually customize that global sharpening adjustment for selected images. Again, that's but one isolated example of the things that parametric editing makes possible. And it's the interface to doing stuff like this that separates LR from ACR as it exists in Photoshop - although I have to confess to only a passing familiarity with the specifics of the interfaces in either program, so those who actually know both programs would have to answer any questions on how *specifically* the interfaces differ in this respect.