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onlydecious
onlydecious
Participating Frequently
August 8, 2020
Answered

Fetching initial previews takes hours

  • August 8, 2020
  • 6 replies
  • 34351 views

Since a while, after Lightroom is done importing the photos I selected, it starts "Fetching Initial Previews". It takes like forever and I can't figure out what Lightroom is actually doing and how to turn it off. Does anyone know what Lightroom is doing and how to work around this? I didn't have this "issue" before, also not when I imported like 1000+ photos at once. I've added a screenshot, you can see the progress bar I'm talking about in the top left corner.

 

Thanks!

 

    Correct answer JohanElzenga

    I've never seen that 'Fetching' message either. It probably cmes up because it does indeed take much more time than usual.

     

    There is a 'Featured' thread here about setting camera defaults: Lightroom Classic: Set defaults for raw file import

    6 replies

    GoldingD
    GoldingD
    Legend
    August 10, 2020

    Ahh, I overlooked that, from DdeGaness

    However I have noticed the battery indicater your laptop is pretty low on power and would have halted the process to save power so it does not shut down

    Yes, your Laptop will be throttling down on resources, You need to plug it in.

     

      DdeGannes
      Community Expert
      DdeGannesCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      August 10, 2020

      I would say at around 3 sec per image, maybe about 1.75 hours. However I have noticed the battery indicater your laptop is pretty low on power and would have halted the process to save power so it does not shut down. Are you doing copy, copy to dng or move. The computer resources will have the biggest impact on the process.

      Regards, Denis: iMac 27” mid-2015, macOS 11.7.10 Big Sur; 2TB SSD, 24 GB Ram, GPU 2 GB; LrC 12.5,; Lr 6.5, PS 24.7,; ACR 15.5,; (also Laptop Win 11, ver 24H2, LrC 15.0.1, PS 27.0; ) Camera Oly OM-D E-M1.
        GoldingD
        GoldingD
        Legend
        August 9, 2020

        Edited

        20833 2083 images being  imported?  Yikes.. Going to take hours. A couple hundred could take an hour

         

        To improve import speed, but st the expense of initial develop speed, alter your import options

         

        Do not create previews

        Do not apply presets

        Copy from memory card to computer hard drive before importing, and select Add at import.

         

         

         

          JohanElzenga
          Community Expert
          JohanElzengaCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          August 9, 2020

          2083, not 20833. That should not take hours.

          -- Johan W. Elzenga
            JohanElzenga
            Community Expert
            JohanElzengaCommunity Expert
            Community Expert
            August 9, 2020

            You have imported the images with the 'Embedded & sidecar' option for previews. That means that Lightroom initially uses the embedded previews made by your camera. Even though that is faster than letting Lightroom render its own previews right away (it will have to do that eventually), it still takes time to read 1000+ images to get these previews. It could possibly take more time if your hard disk is getting full.

            -- Johan W. Elzenga
              onlydecious
              onlydeciousAuthor
              Participating Frequently
              August 10, 2020

              Thanks! I noticed my hard disk is getting full, so I will work on that first 🙂 But I can not remember seeing the process of "Fetching Initial Previews" before, or am I wrong?

               

              Once I enter the develop module, it adds a lot of contrast and contrast to my photos, which (I think) look horrible and don't like as a starting point for processing. Is it because of the color profile (Adobe Color)? When I select Adobe Neutral, it looks much better. On my Nikon D810, I've got 'Set Picture Control' on 'Flat' and would like to use those settings (or as close as possible) as a starting point in Lightroom as well. Is there anything else I can do to achieve that? Or to set the Adobe Neutral color profile as default, without having to change it from Adobe Color all the time? But still, with Adobe Neutral, there is more color and contrast added than it shows in the Library module.

               

              Thanks for helping! Still a lot to learn 🙂

               

              JohanElzenga
              Community Expert
              JohanElzengaCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
              Community Expert
              August 10, 2020

              I've never seen that 'Fetching' message either. It probably cmes up because it does indeed take much more time than usual.

               

              There is a 'Featured' thread here about setting camera defaults: Lightroom Classic: Set defaults for raw file import

              -- Johan W. Elzenga
                Just Shoot Me
                Just Shoot Me
                Legend
                August 9, 2020

                So people don't have to download the image you have attached to your post please Edit your post to remove the Attached screen shot and Include it in the body of the text of your post.

                You do that by Clicking the "More..." link at the bottom of your post, Selecting "Edit Message" and then use the "Insert Photos" icon in the tool bar at the top of the Post/Reply/Edit dialog box like this.


                Thank you.

                  ManiacJoe
                  ManiacJoe
                  Inspiring
                  August 8, 2020

                  Which version of the Mac OS?

                  Which version of Lightroom?

                  Where are the original images located?

                  Where are the catalog and preview folders located? How much space is left on the drive?

                  Does the problem continue if you pick "standard" previews?

                   

                  If you use the Mac process/resource monitors, can you see any obvious bottlenecks?

                   

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