Lightroom keeps reloading images even if 1:1 previews have been generated

Question

Hi,I would think that once I create 1:1 previews, there is no reason for Lightroom to load this image again (which it would normally do if previews have not been generated). If I make an adjustment to the image later, Lightroom is said to update the image preview based on the up-to-date state of the image (including applied adjustments). I would suppose that Lightroom creates this updated preview once (as the adjustment has been done and I zoom in the picture to 1:1 level) and then the preview remains created so there won't be any reason to reload that image when I zoom to it.Nevertheless, if I zoom to the 1:1 level and scroll through the images, Lightroom doesn't show the 1:1 versions of the images immediately but it takes some time while "Loading" label is displayed at the bottom of the image being loaded.The question is - why would Lightroom "load" the 1:1 versions of the image again and again if the 1:1 previous have been generated? (it looks like it always generates an updated image preview including all adjustments over and over) At this stage I can't see any difference between viewing images at 1:1 level for which previews have been generated and images for which previews have not been generated.It almost looks like the time it takes to "Load" the image is, in fact, time Lightroom needs to get the preview file from the file system (i.e. it's not time spent on creating the preview again but rather opening the already existing preview).In such case I don't understand why it should take so long though... Neither any of my CPU cores, neither my HDD or RAM seem to be 100% utilized (usually they're at about 15% of their capabilites) while I wait for an image to be "loaded".What do you think? I would like to cut the time needed for the image to load but in fact I don't know what in this case may be the bottleneck and whether I can configure something to improve the load times. Thanks.

Jao vdL · Accepted Answer

@DdeGannes gave the correct answer already in 2019. 1:1 previews are only used in Library, so when you step through images in Develop (where you see the loading text), those cannot be used and it loads the raw files. So this is not a bug or problem, it simply does not apply. If you have 1:1 previews you will see that in Library you can zoom to 1:1 without any delay.

richardplondon · Answer

In Catalog Settings, there is an expiry option for 1:1 previews

after which period (since last edit IIRC) the disk space gets reclaimed. Could that be it?

IIRC the trigger for having (or later re-making) a 1:1 preview is: zooming right into that image in Library. For those images not inspected at 1:1 in Library, such a preview may never happen in the first place, let alone later updates to this.

Zooming to 1:1 in Develop, is unconnected. And making a new edit will not necessarily trigger (re)calculation of 1:1 Library preview - until you go back to look at that - just updates to the normal Library preview and the thumbnail, AFAIK.

Personally, it is entirely Develop where I use 1:1 zoom, and that is generated live as you go. Develop does use an intermediate (so called ACR) cache, so doesn't always need to go right back to the Raw data. Hence for performance of switching between images in Develop at 1:1 zoom, the location of that cache (on fast storage is better) as well as sufficient sizing, may be worth a look especially if some images are very high-res.

I do find standard Medium previews to be ample for Library. Analogy: at the counter of a book library, staff are only really looking at the barcode / spine label / whatever of each book, and its overall condition. The book's detailed contents simply are not read in this context.

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