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epaulus01
Participant
October 19, 2017
Answered

Lightroom CC and Smart Previews

  • October 19, 2017
  • 6 replies
  • 8658 views

Been looking through this forum and much like some other individuals, I am trying to get my head wrapped around the changes to Lightroom CC.  I was looking through the following link and had a question.

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/lightroom-cc-vs-classic-features

In the flowchart, it seems to indicate that if you don't want your photos backed up to the cloud but want to view and edit your photos on a laptop, tablet, etc., then you need the photography plan.  That was the plan I was leaning towards anyways.  The flowchart for workflow goes on to say that you would import your originals to Lightroom Classic and sync Smart Previews to the cloud to be able to access them in Lightroom CC.

If I am reading this correctly, is this a workaround for those that have more than 1TB of photos?  In other words, the Smart Previews are significantly smaller in size (I have around 1.5TB of photos but the smart preview file (YourCatalogName Smart Previews.LRData) is only 3.5GB) so if you are able to only sync the smart previews and still be able to edit via Lightroom CC, the 20GB in the Photography Plan would be sufficient.  Is this understanding completely off target?  Seems like it would work, but I am unable to test this as I still am working with Lightroom 5.

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer selondon

    Pretty much spot on in my opinion. It’s just like the previous sync from LrD to LrM. You would still have to create collections and sync them though I believe.

    6 replies

    F
    fantim008
    Participating Frequently
    May 12, 2020

    I have been using Lightroom CC since it was first introduced, and Lightroom Classic before that.
    I used to upload all my images from Lightroom Classic, then on another laptop I would open Lightroom CC and Edit in Photoshop.  
    Now this feature no longer works because it only allows me to edit Smart Previews.

    I have spoken to Adobe support, and to the escalation ticket.  They inform me that Classic only uploads smart previews, however I have thousands of photos which were uploaded in Classic and were edited.  This seems to be something new that has happened.

    C
    colinsdds
    Participant
    April 4, 2018

    Thanks for posting this topic!  I will be honest, I found the new LrCC to be suspiciously stingy with expensive cloud space, seeming to force users to upload RAW files - hundreds and hundreds of which let's face it are trash.  Also, Classic is about, oh, 500% better, so what gives on not being able to sync at least my better photographs?!

    Turns out you can, with this latest version (4/4/2018) you have to click on your name and then click "Start" by the "Sync with LRCC" option.

    NOW I actually have the ability to sync collections, which has been causing me migraines and aneurysms for two days (not really).

    The work flow makes better sense now: I can tweak on the road via laptop, choose my favorites to then go home and develop fully with Classic.  And not pay $6500/month for 38 TB of cloud space for all my photographic rejects!!

    Yay.

    Leo1024
    Leo1024
    Known Participant
    March 18, 2018

    Hello, I have a question about using cloud for backup files if I am away and do not have a computer with the LR classic. So travel with my camera and iphone with 200GB free space. I import photos to iphone, loed them to LR CC and after that remove from Photos-app. At the evening in hotel all photos are synchronized in cloud. At home I will later get this from cloud to my PC. But.. I have only 200GB free in iPhone. How can I replace originals RAW ba smart previews after sync with cloud was done without to sync cloud any second device?

    As a workaround: I did remove Lightroom app from iPhone and installed them new. All raws are still present and not removed but only as asmart preview. But this is ... anykind dirty .

    J
    Community Expert
    Jao vdLCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 18, 2018

    Leo, after the files have synced up to the cloud, the phone should start automatically removing them from your phone's local storage and replace by  previews. By default it only keeps 20GB I believe. After that, if you need an image on the phone it will dynamically download from the cloud. You can also go into the app's preferences (in the Lr icon in the main screen->Local storage) and clear the cache.

    Leo1024
    Leo1024
    Known Participant
    March 18, 2018

    Many thanks for a prompt response. It does not happened by me. I assume the app should opened, it is clear. But should it be in forerground to do this? Or this may/must happen automatically in the night if I do not close app? I will retest with more than 20 GB.

    sstretchh
    sstretchh
    Participating Frequently
    December 18, 2017

    Thank you Jao vdL​ and @Selondon and @Victoria . You have all been very helpful, thanks again !

    sstretchh
    sstretchh
    Participating Frequently
    December 11, 2017

    I am pretty new to lightroom. since I only work on photos pre lightroom CC on my local workstation I turned off smart previews. I am starting think I should use them.

    How do I save the smart previews to lightroom CC ? I am reading all over the place to save on light room CC so I can do the edits remotely, etc... and read the link for the flow chart but stock on how to actually do this.

    selondon
    Community Expert
    selondonCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    December 12, 2017

    It sounds me you are using Lightroom Classic.

    If that’s correct this may help....

    How to sync Lightroom Classic CC desktop and the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC mobile app

    sstretchh
    sstretchh
    Participating Frequently
    December 17, 2017

    That is correct.

    I am using primary Light room classic. I started messing around with creating collections now and Syncing them to Lightroom CC

    If I read up above correctly people are saying you can just sync the smartpreviews with lightroom CC vs syncing the full size photo and it doesn't go agaisn't your cloud storage limit.

    I am trying to figure out how you do that ?

    In the above link there is a comment that says posted at -OCTOBER 20, 2017 AT 6:47 PM- " Smart previews synced from Lightroom Classic don’t count toward that allowance though."

    So how do I sync the Smart previews to the cloud ?

    selondon
    Community Expert
    selondonCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    October 20, 2017

    Pretty much spot on in my opinion. It’s just like the previous sync from LrD to LrM. You would still have to create collections and sync them though I believe.

    J
    Community Expert
    Jao vdLCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 20, 2017

    Yes that's correct. Lightroom Classic only syncs files from collections that are marked to sync. Then it only syncs the smart preview and not the actual raw file. If you indeed have terabytes of images your REALLy do not want to migrate your catalog to Lightroom CC. It will cause you to first duplicate all images on your local hard drives and then duplicate again if you sync still in Lightroom Classic. Also note that Lightroom CC misses about 4/5 of the features in Lightroom Classic. There is no Printing for example, no advanced Develop features, only a flat keyword hierarchy and many more things that are essential for a full photography program. If all you do is iPhone images, never used Lightroom before, and have only a few images, never print, etc. Lightroom CC is easier to get started at. The reproduction of your catalog everywhere is neat. I am sure LR CC will get updated with features over time but it might take a while.

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