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Hcaroselli
Known Participant
September 3, 2023
Question

Strange symbols in Lightroom Library display

  • September 3, 2023
  • 2 replies
  • 898 views

I thought I knew what I was doing in LRC and clearly I was wrong. It has been a while since I did much work in Lightroom. I am using LRC 12.5 but this issue has been around for some time. When in the Library module looking at photos in the group view, every image in my library shows the symbol in the screen grab. When I click on it, I get the dialog shown in the other screen grab. I feel like an idiot because I don't understand what the message means and I don't understand the proposed solutions. I get that LRC thinks these images were edited in some non-LRC software and that may be possible for some, but not for every photo in my library.

 

Can someone explain please or point me to documentation on this?

Thanks.

This topic has been closed for replies.

2 replies

J
Community Expert
Jao vdLCommunity Expert
Community Expert
September 9, 2023

You can generally ignore the little icon. It tends to think unprovoked that something changed to the metadata in the files even if nothing changed at all. It is unclear what triggers it but this is very common. If you rely on xmp metadata in the files for opening in other software and then bringing edits such as keywords, gps locations, etc back, then you might want to look more carefully, but if you don't actually use xmp metadata in the files and simply rely on the Lightroom catalog then you really do not need to think about it.

KR Seals
Community Expert
KR SealsCommunity Expert
Community Expert
September 3, 2023

What "other software" might you have used that displayed or processed the photos.

Generally, that message exists because an image's accompanying XMP file date is later than the latest LrC processing date. Some software, like Photo Mechanic creates XMP files that contains information like ratings, captions, etc, but not image processing information except for cropping.

 

Ken Seals - Nikon Z 9, Z 8, 14mm-800mm. Computer Win 11 Pro, I7-14700K, 64GB, RTX3070TI. Travel machine: 2021 MacBook Pro M1 MAX 64GB. All Adobe apps.
H
HcaroselliAuthor
Known Participant
September 8, 2023

Hi Ken - I use a lot of different photo editing products on my computer, such as Affinity Photo, On One, Topaz products etc. The thing is, I haven't used any of those products on all of my photos so I don't know why every photo in Lightroom has that symbol. I am confused.     Thanks for your response.

JohanElzenga
Community Expert
JohanElzengaCommunity Expert
Community Expert
September 8, 2023

This is a known issue, but it is unclear why it happens. Many people, including me, simply turn this icon off in the View Options, so they can blissfully ignore it.

 

-- Johan W. Elzenga
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