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Reconnecting Lost Edits

LuminarAI attempts to accurately track both the edits applied to an image and its location on your hard drive or network. However, it is possible for an image to go missing.  This typically happens for one of a few reasons.

  • LuminarAI was closed when you moved an image to another folder
  • LuminarAI was closed when you renamed an image or folder
  • You moved an image at the Finder/Explorer level to a different location that isn’t in your LuminarAI library.
  • You unplugged or removed a hard drive or memory card that was in use.

If this happens, the application may not know where the source file is stored. In this case, the photos will be added to a special album called Lost Edits.  

This album only appears when images are lost.  You will not see it unless there are missing pictures.  Luminar still has a thumbnail image and a set of instructions that can be reconnected.

How to reconnect images in the Lost Edits folder

If the Lost Edits album appears, you should repair the connection promptly.

  1. Locate the Lost Edits album in the Shortcuts menu within the Library panel.
  2. Click on the Lost Edits shortcut to see the missing images.

 

  1. Right-click on the desired image and choose Locate Image.
  2. A new navigation window opens.
  3. Navigate to the new location where the file is stored.

 

  1. Click the Choose Folder button to relink the file(s).

The images will reconnect and be added to your library:

  • If the chosen folder is already in your Library – all edits transfer to the selected image(s).  The images are automatically removed from the Lost Edits collection.  If multiple images are in the same folder, their Lost Edits will also be resolved.
  • If the selected folder is not in your Library – the new folder is added to your Luminar library and all edits are transferred to the image(s). The images are automatically removed from the Lost Edits collection.  If multiple images are in the same folder, their Lost Edits will also be resolved.

Matching Criteria

In order for the selected photos to reconnect, Luminar checks 3 parameters for the selected images.

  • Source file name,
  • Image dimensions in pixels
  • Original creation date

If all three properties match, the image will reconnect automatically.  However, it is still possible to reconnect if the file name was changed as long as the image dimensions and creation date still match.  If these properties do not match, you will receive an alert that  Image (image_name) not found in selected folder and the folder cannot be added.
 
Once a photo is matched, the following occurs:

  • If all photos from the album Lost Edits are located, the album disappears from the Lost Edits Shortcuts list. 
  • All attributes are transferred and are available for the selected photos. 
  • If there were multiple images from the same folder in Lost Edits > all these images will be located and added to the Library. 
  • For Raw+JPEG files, these will also be reconnected.
 

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