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SkyDestrier
Participating Frequently
September 27, 2021
Answered

Sync not working. Should I migrate from LrClassic to Lr Ecosystem? What's the best way here?

  • September 27, 2021
  • 4 replies
  • 771 views

Help!  I'm a bit overwhelmed here and trying to figure out the best way to do this!

 

I have been a user of Lightroom Classic for years and have a couple thousand photos in RAW format on hard drives in my desktop.  

 

I recently got a new laptop however and I want to be able to access and edit all my photos on both my desktop and laptop--which, I understand, means I need to be using Lightroom Ecosystem. 

 

I tried to sync from Lightroom Classic and it just spins and spins without actually uploading anything (plus it is only syncing 75 images and I have many hundreds!).

 

I opened Lightroom  on both my laptop and my phone and 115 photos (from my phone only) synced to the program (out of 1100 photos on there, which I am attempting to sync right now).

 

Is there a better way to do this than I am doing?  Because it is clearly not working as it is right now.  

 

I am not attached to Lightroom Classic per se, it is just what I have used for years.  What I really want is to be able to edit my photos on whichever device I happen to be using (which, lately, is my laptop more than anything).  Would it make more sense to migrate everything somehow from Lightroom Classic to Lightroom CC so I can have it all in the cloud? (I also purchased the 1TB of storage through Adobe and have a new 1TB external hard drive as well)

 

If I do migrate, how do I make sure all my RAW files upload/sync correctly?

 

If anyone could help walk me through this I would really appreciate it!

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Rob_Cullen

"how do I sync everything I've already got (30062 photos currently)?"

1) Select all photos in the Classic library

2) Create a Standard Collection with the selected photos

3) Turn 'on' syncing in the Cloud icon on the top module menu

4) Click the feint box to the left of the Standard Collection that marks it to Sync.

5) Wait, and wait, for sync of the proxy (Smart Previews) to finish syncing.

 

Note: If you want your photos to sync to separate 'Albums' in Lr  (as well as the one large 'All Photos' library). you should make multiple Standard Collections (perhaps by descriptive Topics), and sync all these Collections.

eg. Collections I have marked to sync- appear in Lr as Albums-

 

 

 

4 replies

Timothy.Spear
Timothy.Spear
Inspiring
October 1, 2021

I differ from most of the advice on here. I made the jump from Classic to the cloud and have not looked back.

I love being able to work images on my phone, laptop, deskto, or occasionally via the web on my wife's laptop.

 

There are many features of Classic that are not present in the cloud versions, and you must learn new ways of doing many of the same things. Only you can determine if the missing features would stop you from converting. For a number of years, the missing features did stop me. Eventually, I pushed Adobe to give me a few months free of 1TB to fulley test the cloud version. I converted my Classic, then made a real effort to "work" in the cloud knowing everything I did was thrown away since I maintaned everything still in Classic. In fact I learned how to wipe the cloid and reconvert everything many times, as I figured out steps I needed to clean up that were much easier/faster in Classic or depending on information available to Classic that was not converted (e.g. folder names, I first had to convert them all to collections).

 

The editing side, I only spent a small portion on, since doing a feature comparison, the editting tools I used were present in both (but some were/are easier to use in Classic). Most of my focus was on the workflow, how do I process images, how do I manage meta-data... I probably invested a couple hundred hours over months reading, reseaching and figuring out what works and what does not. What you will find is that almost know one, including Adobe focuses on the workflow in the cloud ecosystem. I did not find a single example of how to manage your photos, and manage the meta-data. You are largely on your own.

 

With that said, I did define a workflow, and it works for me. Is it perfect? Nope. But it has allowed me to almost keep up with my camera shooting versus getting really far behind. Which always resulted in marathon weekends, trying to catch back up.

 

Tim

    Theresa J
    Community Expert
    Theresa JCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 1, 2021

    Tim,

    Thanks for sharing your experience. There are benefits to using Lightroom and skipping Lightroom Classic altogether. Primarily it is easier to manage your images in the cloud. The important takeaway here is that it took you a lot of time to figure out how to make the system work for you. You were really smart to keep your Classic catalog intact while you experimented with figuring out Lightoom. That is great advice for anyone considering taking the leap.

    Timothy.Spear
    Timothy.Spear
    Inspiring
    October 1, 2021

    Theresa,

     

    Just to clarify, not everyone has to take as much time as I did. I tend to put in enough early effort, that I very rarely make changes to the workflow I come up with until there is a fundamental product change. The workflow I did in Classic was based on http://www.beardsworth.co.uk/lightroom/workflow-smart-collections/ From my initial design almost a decade ago to final one I stopped using a couple months ago, I made two small changes (yes, I had the log in my process notes for the changes). 

    Because this is a hobby for me, I take the time to explore all sorts of edge cases, and plan everything out ahead of time and rarely have to make changes to my processes.

     

    Tim

      J
      Community Expert
      Jao vdLCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      September 30, 2021

      Before migrating to Lightroom Cloudy you really want to be absolutely sure that is what you want. The cloud version of Lightroom misses most features that many Lightroom Classic users are used to. For example, you cannot print, you can't have virtual copies, you can't have hierarchical keywords, you can't easily share on social media (ironically), you can't selectively sync, you can't do a compare view, you can't use a secondary display, you can't use publish services, etc. 

       

      What Lightroom Cloudy has going for it is that it stores everything in the cloud, and, if it works correctly, will look the same on every device. This is a great feature and for some that is all you need, but if you need any of the features you might be used to in Classic, it will be very frustrating. Just cautioning!

        Rob_Cullen
        Community Expert
        Rob_CullenCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        September 29, 2021

        I follow the advice given by @Theresa J 

        My home PC-computer runs Lr-Classic. (Photography Plan 20GB)

        I create many standard Collections in LrC that I mark to Sync.

        All these Collections with the photos appear in all mobile devices as Albums (and 'all' photos).

        I can edit all the synced files on any device (with some limitations)- (Desktop Lr-Classic v10.4, Laptop Lr-Desktop v4.4, iPhone Lr-mobile v6.3, In a Web Browser Lr-Web.)

        All editing done anywhere, syncs to all devices. iPhone > LrC,  Laptop Lr > LrC, etc and vv.

        All images that sync 'up' to mobile devices do NOT use any of my Cloud storage. (It uses proxy DNG preview files that are smaller than originals)

        Any images that I might shoot with the iPhone (or 'Add' to my Albums with a mobile device) automatically sync down, full size, to my Lr-Classic library. And these image files DO occupy Cloud storage (very little!)

         

        Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.1.1, Photoshop 27.3.1, ACR 18.1.1, Lightroom 9.0, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.2 .
          Theresa J
          Community Expert
          Theresa JCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          September 29, 2021

          You don't need to migrate your Classic catalog to the Lightroom ecosystem to have access to your images everywhere. In fact you will loose some features if you do, and eventually you may also fill up the 1TB storage.

          Instead you can sync your Classic catalog to Lightroom, then sync collections of images. The synced images will be available to you on all your devices and do not fill up the cloud because they are synced as smart previews.

          Here's more information. https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/help/lightroom-mobile-desktop-features.html

          S
          SkyDestrierAuthor
          Participating Frequently
          October 24, 2021

          But how do I sync everything I've already got (30062 photos currently)?  I followed the instructions and, as stated in my original post, it didn't work.  The only things showing up in the cloud are 115 photos from my phone (out of over 1100).  Lightroom Classic says my sync is complete but nothing is actually in there (furthermore when it was syncing it said it was only syncing 75 images!).

           

          How do I fix this issue to sync ALL my existing (30062) photos so I can access them from my other devices?

          Rob_Cullen
          Community Expert
          Rob_CullenCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
          Community Expert
          October 24, 2021

          "how do I sync everything I've already got (30062 photos currently)?"

          1) Select all photos in the Classic library

          2) Create a Standard Collection with the selected photos

          3) Turn 'on' syncing in the Cloud icon on the top module menu

          4) Click the feint box to the left of the Standard Collection that marks it to Sync.

          5) Wait, and wait, for sync of the proxy (Smart Previews) to finish syncing.

           

          Note: If you want your photos to sync to separate 'Albums' in Lr  (as well as the one large 'All Photos' library). you should make multiple Standard Collections (perhaps by descriptive Topics), and sync all these Collections.

          eg. Collections I have marked to sync- appear in Lr as Albums-

           

           

           

          Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.1.1, Photoshop 27.3.1, ACR 18.1.1, Lightroom 9.0, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.2 .
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