Participant

Question

How can I efficiently move images in an album in the cloud on LR cc into a folder on a network storage device (NAS) without duplicating the image nor confusing the catalog as to the final location of the image (NAS)?

Forum|Forum|5 days ago
May 11, 2026
2 replies
26 views

Long time LR classic (windows 11 w/ networked 25T NAS) and med term LR cc user (on an iPad when shooting and on road) who has successfully been able to import, visualize, and edit pictures on both platforms using the synched feature and Adobe Cloud Storage. The work flow is 1)import pictures from my Canon camera directly into a new folder in LR classic and onto the 25T NAS with the same folder name for permanent storage with a copy to a 4T external HD (with additional redundancy by weekly automatic upload into the Amazon Glacier S3 Cloud Storage). 2) create a collection (same name) from the new folder and sync to Adobe Cloud Storage (1T). 3) I edit on any device (windows computer, IPad,iphone, web) and all are synched.

Problem is when I go the other way when I'm on the road shooting and want to edit before i arrive home. Workflow is:

1)import pictures from my Canon camera directly into a new album in LR cc and sync to Adobe Cloud Storage (1T). Edit away

2)when i return home, I log onto my windows computer and synch to the previously created album on LR cc. Edit away if need be.

Now the problem: How do I get the images (w/ edits) onto my NAS (serially onto the other 2 redundant backups). Have read a lot of options none that are easy nor instill confidence that my pictures w/ edits will be where I expect them to be.

Test solutions:

1)Export album from LR cc to the NAS location (after creating a new folder w/ same name) (which moves the files to the final destination, but I believe it leaves the images in the Adobe cloud? What does the catalog think is going on?

2)I then import ADDED the folder (w/ images) from the NAS back into LR Classic as a new folder

3)Delete the collection (on LR classic) and the album on LR cc (removing both from the catalog as well as the cloud)..no idea what’s happening at this point..

4)There’s got to be a better way! (And it’s not an option to abandon my file/folder structure as I have 100’s of thousands of files in folders dating back 2 decades...Also, not willing to move everything onto Adobe’s Cloud. I use this solely as an intermediary allowing me to view recent pics while away from home w/in the LR cc environment before moving them to a permanent and safe home...THANK YOU for any suggestions.

KZ

K

KocisMD1

Participant

THANKS so much for all the knowledge! This will be my weekend project...Wish me well!

Rob_Cullen

Community Expert

I don’t work with a NAS but I assume the NAS appears as a drive in the Lightroom-Classic (LrC) folder panel- If that is so then i would expect this workflow to work:

~Remote: Import camera files to Lightroom (Lr) (Files are in the Adobe Cloud),

~Home: Turn on Sync in Lightroom-Classic- Now ALL Lr files will automatically download to a chosen folder location in the Desktop LrC catalog (on C:drive?)

~Drag the images from the Local drive to the NAS in the LrC folder panel.

Ideally you could, in LrC, name the NAS as the chosen download location in [Preferences > Lightroom Sync tab > Choose Location] then ALL files would automatically download directly to the NAS- nothing further is needed to be done.

Someone that uses a NAS may have a better answer.

Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.3, Photoshop 27.5, ACR 18.3, Lightroom 9.3, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.3 .

K

KocisMD1

Participant

Hi Rob (nice to meet you in Adobe LR world!)

Thank you for your kind assistance…

Yes, you are correct, the NAS is simply another hard drive that LR sees…

~remote: AGREE w/ you

~home: Sync- agree; what follows is a little unclear to me….

my setup has all sync files (ie the ones from cloud that are now synched to my windows LR Classic) are stored in a synch file on my C: drive

It’s pointing to my C: Drive (it’s faster than pointing to my NAS but as you suggest it would be one less step)...In my readings this synch file is set up for efficient use by LR cloud and NOT for file folder organization, ie it's a flat file organized by dates. I’ve gone to this LR Sync file for file recovery before and it works if you know the day or search for the files in WINDOWS Explorer.

I don’t know what the catalog does w/ one file now in 2 locations (Cloud and local) nor what would happen if I moved it out of the SYNCH File, but I’m imagining it’s not a good idea. I could copy the files over to the NAS but that then adds yet another copy and I don’t think the catalog would know the final NAS destination. Remember I use this synch folder as a landing zone for files going between Classic and Cloud and I will delete the Albums (Cloud) /Collections (Classic)and thus off the CLOUD when I don’t want to see them in real time nor transfer between Cloud and Classic. The final resting place for ALL the images are on the NAS.

What I do know painfully well is that if I move any files using WIndows Explorer I’m screwed! All file manipulations MUST be done w/in LR (which doesn’t have a user friendly interface for more complex file operations...moving renaming files/folders are ok…)

The problem I faced in LR classic was the synch files are in a COLLECTION (not a folder) and I am unable to move the collection to the FOLDER section (and thus not able to move it to C: or NAS location)…

Any errors in my understanding or other suggestions?
Thanks so much
Keith

Rob_Cullen

Community Expert

“ it's a flat file organized by dates. “- Correct, that is so for the chosen parent folder , but you can- tick the box to have them download in sub-folders of the chosen parent download folder (be that the NAS) Sub-folders by Capture Date:

And at any time you can simply drag them anywhere, to any folder in the folder panel, and they remain synced wherever they are.

“ what would happen if I moved it out of the SYNCH File,” Removing a photo from [All Synced Photographs] stops it syncing and is removed from the Cloud. The downloaded file stays where it is and is not deleted. (be that on the NAS)

“ I could copy the files over to the NAS” - No, not needed - you can MOVE them in the folder panel eg. C:drive > NAS, etc.

“ if I move any files using WIndows Explorer I’m screwed! ” YES! Never touch your photos indexed in the Catalog with Windows File Explorer- Rule No.1

“ All file manipulations MUST be done w/in LR ”- No, You can do all your “manipulations’ in Lr-Classic- Your edits in LrC are stored in the local Catalog. If you have done any edits to photos in Lr (Cloud version) then these edits will sync with LrC LrC<>Lr, but not everything syncs (eg. Keywords.)

“ The problem I faced in LR classic was the synch files are in a COLLECTION (not a folder) and I am unable to move the collection to the FOLDER section”- A BIG misconception. Collections and Folders are NOT the same thing. Your photos are STORED in FOLDERS. Collections are merely created lists of (selected?) photos, and that could be “From Lightroom ” for example. Collections are not folders. Do all moving of files in the Folder panel.

(Comparing a music database- Your song files are in folders. Your Playlists are created for popular song likes etc.)

1.Import to Lr

2.Let Sync download files to the NAS in Capture Date folders (Automatically)

3.Move photos, if you must, to any location in the Folder panel of Lr-Classic.

Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.3, Photoshop 27.5, ACR 18.3, Lightroom 9.3, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.3 .

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