Lightroom CC: What files are saved in Pictures/Library.lrlibrary? It's using more disk space than I'd expect

That is correct. It should only be the Originals from the .lrlibrary that move out. The reset of the goodies will remain in place in the Pictures folder (Mac).

Well given that and I am struggling for space I tried the following from Terminal to create an alias:

(myssd is my external SDD)

ln -s /Volumes/myssd/LR-CC/Pictures/Lightroom\Library.lrlibrary ~/Pictures/Lightroom\Library.lrlibrary

But it doesn’t work! am I flogging a dead horse as they say?

Hi Dave. I've recently moved the os and apps to a new SSD but kept my User folder and data on the old HDD. This made a huge difference to the speed of LRCC opening up (takes about 5-10 secs now) but still spent ages loading images from the HDD (from the lrlibrary in Pictures).

So I moved the lrlibrary to the SSD and setup a symlink from the old location within the Picture folder. This has been transforming. Using LRCC is almost instantaneous now (on my ageing late 2009 iMac) it will now start up and load images (38k smart previews) ready for use in about 10-15 secs.

I understand that you are wanting to move the lrlibrary file off the boot SSD but I guess the principle of using symlinks should be the same either way. I've used a system plugin to do the symlink so I'm not familiar with how to do it via the terminal but my main point here is that it does work, so far with no hitches. So maybe worth pursuing.

Good luck

Thanks, what system plugin did you use? Many thanks. Dave

Hi Dave. It was from some time ago so had to do a bit of a search but think it's 'SymbolicLinker' It adds a service to the context menu. It's been recently reviewed by lifehacker - macos-app-of-the-week-symboliclinker-1824289156

Thanks you, I will check it out.

Simon, works a treat, great thank you. A note for others if interested, after using Symlink the 'alias' it produces has a further extension 'symlink'. So 'Photos Library.photoslibrary' alias becomes 'Photos Library.photoslibrary symlink'. It does not work unless you remove the 'symlink' from the end of the filename.