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mike51423080
Participating Frequently
April 10, 2020
Answered

Image thumbnails in Catalog appear gray after moving Lightroom Classic To New Computer

  • April 10, 2020
  • 1 reply
  • 1198 views

Hello all.  I purchased a new MacBook Pro and i am trying to move LR Classic from my old Mac to my new Mac.  I do not wish to use Migration Assistant so I doenloaded LR Classic from the Adobe site.  I then moved over "Lightroom Catalog.lrcat".  I also moved to the new computer "Lightroom Catalog Previews.lrdata".  This file is 101 GB's.  When I opened LR Classic on the new computer, it told me that I had to update the ctalog, so I did.  I now have new files with "-2" at the end of the file names, such as "Lightroom Catalog-2.lrcat".  My question is, when I open LR Classic on the new computer, I see all of my photos organized as they should be and I can see the collections that I created, but I do not see te images.  All I see are gray, boxes where the photos should be displayed.  Does anyone know how I can get the photos to disply?  I have the files in the correct location but I don't think LR is seeing the "Lightroom Catalog Previews.lrata" file.  Is this because LR created the "-2" version?  How can I get LR to be where I left off on the old computer?  Do I need to connect the extrnal drive that contains all the photos and let it rebuild?  Thank you for any help.

 

 

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Correct answer nikunj.m

Hi there,

 

Do the image in the catalog show as missing (with an exclamation mark on the top right of the image thumbnail)? If the images are saved on an external drive as you have mentioned, please connect the drive and allow Lightroom Classic to process. If it is not able to link the images with the external drive, you may need to relink the folders to the location on the external drive maually. 

You can check: https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/help/locate-missing-photos.html

 

Regards,

Nikunj

1 reply

nikunj.m
nikunj.mCorrect answer
Legend
April 10, 2020

Hi there,

 

Do the image in the catalog show as missing (with an exclamation mark on the top right of the image thumbnail)? If the images are saved on an external drive as you have mentioned, please connect the drive and allow Lightroom Classic to process. If it is not able to link the images with the external drive, you may need to relink the folders to the location on the external drive maually. 

You can check: https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/help/locate-missing-photos.html

 

Regards,

Nikunj

M
mike51423080Author
Participating Frequently
April 10, 2020

Hi Nikunj.

 

Thank you for the reply.  Yes, there is an exclamation mark and the photos show as missing.  If I connect the external drive then all the photos show up but they are slow to populate as I scroll through.  I had the drive connected for a few minutes and when I reopened LR after disconnecting the drive, some of the image thumbnails are showing now.  Do I need to simply leave the external drive connected and eventually all the thumbnails will show up?  If yes, then did I need to transfer over the "Lightroom Catalog Previews.lrdata" file?  I assume LR is creating a new one of these.  Also, is there a way to see a progress bar or someway to know when this action will be completed?  Thank you again for your help.

nikunj.m
nikunj.m
Legend
April 10, 2020

You can leave the drive connected with Lightroom Classic running so that the application can re-index the files and in a way refresh the previews. Also, you would need to keep the drive connected while editing the images. You can see the progress if you initiate the preview generation (1:1 previews or smart previews) manually. You can do that by going to the Library menu in the Library module, then Previews and select the option to build 1:1 previews.

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