iMPORTANT: The following article is only intended for the following purposes:

• Backing up or restoring a copy of an existing Lytro Library (in case of disaster, such as a corrupted hard drive; or a computer or drive being lost, stolen, or damaged). 
• Making a copy of an existing Lytro Library to create two versions of that Lytro Library-- for instance, so that you can edit down one Lytro Library to include only your favorite pictures that will be kept on a laptop, while maintaining a separate Lytro Library with your complete collection of pictures on an external drive; or alternately so that you can have one Lytro Library where all the pictures have Living Filters added and another Lytro Library where they do not, and so on.
• Moving an existing Lytro Library from one computer to another when migrating to a new primary computer.

On the other hand, if you want to create a new Lytro Library-- a new Lytro Library for each calendar year, for instance, or a separate Lytro Library for a new person who will be using the same Lytro camera or computer-- or to select an existing Lytro Library or backup copy to work with, then instead you can just use our library management feature directly within Lytro Desktop.

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The following processes are workarounds; we plan to offer more complete library management tools in the future.  

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1. Make sure Lytro Desktop is fully shut down ("Lytro" -> "Quit Lytro" -or- "Command"+"Q") before manually copying a Lytro Library! Otherwise you risk corrupting your Lytro Library, and we don't have a way of addressing that right now*.  
2. Make a copy of the Lytro Library, which contains your living pictures, located here:

Pictures > Lytro (this special folder is known as a 'package,' and its full name is "Lytro.lytrolib")

TIP: You may want to rename each backup of your Lytro Library, or put each backup into its own specially named folder (e.g., "Lytro_backup_2012_03_01" or similar), to help prevent mixing up your backups.  If ever in doubt, you can check the size, date and time information on each Lytro Library, as shown above in the screenshot.

 

B) MACINTOSH INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALTERNATING LIBRARIES:

• Use our Choosing your Lytro Library location instructions if you prefer to leave your backup Lytro Library in its current location, e.g. on an external drive, whenever you use it.

1. Hold down "Option" when launching Lytro Desktop from the Dock.
2. Select "Other Library" to navigate to your backup Lytro Library.

1. Make sure Lytro Desktop is fully shut down ("Lytro" -> "Quit Lytro" -or- "Command"+"Q") before manually restoring or moving a Lytro Library! Otherwise you risk corrupting your Lytro Library, and we don't have a way of addressing that right now*.  
2. Copy the Lytro Library package from its backup location to the Pictures folder, as shown in the screenshot above.  (If you previously renamed your backup Lytro Library, change its name back just to "Lytro.")  

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1. Make sure Lytro Desktop is fully shut down (File -> Exit) before manually copying a Lytro Library! Otherwise you risk corrupting your Lytro Library, and we don't have a way of addressing that right now*.  
2. Make a copy of the Lytro Library, which contains all of your living pictures, located here:

AppData > Local > Lytro (this is a folder, and its full name is just "Lytro")

 

 

TIP: You may want to rename each backup of your Lytro Library, or put each backup into its own specially named folder (e.g., "Lytro_backup_12_07_24" or similar), to help prevent mixing up your backups.  If ever in doubt, you can check the "date modified" information on each Lytro Library, as shown above in the screenshot.

 

b) WINDOWS INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALTERNATING LIBRARIES:

• Use our Choosing your Lytro Library location instructions if you prefer to leave your backup Lytro Library in its current location, e.g. on an external drive, whenever you use it:

1. Hold down "Ctrl" when launching Lytro Desktop from the Start Menu, etc.
2. Select "Other Library" to navigate to your backup Lytro Library.

 

c) WINDOWS RESTORE INSTRUCTIONS:

• Use these instructions if you wish to use your backup Lytro Library in a new location going forward, e.g. on your laptop instead of on an external drive, whenever you use it:

1. Make sure Lytro Desktop is fully shut down (File -> Exit) before manually restoring or moving a Lytro Library! Otherwise you risk corrupting your Lytro Library, and we don't have a way of addressing that right now*.  
2. Copy the Lytro Library folder from its backup location to the AppData > Local folder, as shown above.  (If you previously renamed your backup Lytro Library, change its name back just to "Lytro.")  

• To move a Lytro Library from one Windows User Account to another (on the same computer or hard drive):
1. Make sure the User Account you'll be using for the transfer has its permissions set to "Admin."
2. Use the "Start" button to navigate to C:\Users, then into the User Account you want to copy from, then to the AppData > Local folder for that User Account.
3. Right-click on the Lytro folder and choose "Copy."
4. Navigate from the "Start" button to C:\Users, then into the User Account you want to copy to, then to the AppData > Local folder for that User Account, then right-click within that folder and choose "Paste." 

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IMPORTANT: *Sometimes you may see a "your picture library is corrupted" error, even though your Lytro Library is actually fine.  (This is especially likely to happen when moving a library between two computers running different versions of Lytro Desktop, or if you have selectively restored content on your computer with Time Machine, or a similar software backup program.)  In any case, if you ever see this error, try updating Lytro Desktop first.