P: preset backup restore

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Since so many people have difficulties installing, finding, deleting or simply managing their presets, lete alone moving them from one machine to another, why not add a backup/restore for presets to LR? I could fairly easily be added to the catalog backups. If a separate function, the resulting zip file could be passworded with something based on the user ID to prevent piracy.

Henk

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

You can set Lightroom to save presets to the catalog.  They're stored in an easily accessible folder within the catalog folder.  I've been doing this for years.  Makes it easy to back them up... move them to other catalogs etc.

[3badDogs]

Henk von Pickartz: You might want to check out this article so for guidance. There are still some settings that don't get stored with the catalog:

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/store-presets-with-catalog/

[TheDigitalDog]

Some people have difficulties not fulling understanding how their software products work. 

As for these presets; in ACR you can export all of them into a single .zip file by context clicking on the User Presets header in the GUI and picking "Export Presets Group...".  You can them import that .zip file on a different machine using the "Import Profiles and Presets..." command and picking that same .zip file which unzips and places the presets where they need to go. 

[TheDigitalDog]

I prefer to store presets with Catalog for a number of reasons, one important being a backup with catalog and images (I have a dedicated HD for just LR, catalog, previews, images).
I only work with one catalog so all presets are there (I wish my DCP camera profiles would as well). Export as Catalog then Import with Catalog (and one selected image which can be deleted) does a pretty good job of transferring a lot of useful data including keywords, collections etc.

[TheDigitalDog]

I prefer to store presets with Catalog for a number of reasons, one important being a backup with catalog and images (I have a dedicated HD for just LR, catalog, previews, images).
I only work with one catalog so all presets are there (I wish my DCP camera profiles would as well). Export as Catalog then Import with Catalog (and one selected image which can be deleted) does a pretty good job of transferring a lot of useful data including keywords, collections etc.

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Yes, I get that ACR can do this, so why not LR? People are using multiple catalogs and lose them, people have no idea where they are to reinstall them on a new machine because the old one crashed. There are plenty of reasons why they can't find or get to their presets.

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

The question was to have a clear backup of the presets. Not to add them to a catalog what many people are not even aware of what that means. I am not asking for myself, I hardly use presets, they don't fit in my line of photography.

When people get to me with the question of where their presets are, they are often not found where they should have been. Yet LR uses them and they are nowhere to be seen. I agree that those installation procedures are probably convoluted on purpose, but that's not a reason not to be able to back them up.

[TheDigitalDog]

People lose stuff; that's their burden. There are several ways to both backup and move presets. Some outlined above.
Agreed, some people have no idea....

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Unfortunately many of the clueless are using LR. A simple backup option would make even their life easier. At least they won't have an excuse for not having them if there is a valid backup option. Not some convoluted "store with catalog" term...

[TheDigitalDog]

The question was to have a clear backup of the presets.

If a user knows how to backup all their data, their presets are backed up! 
If a user knows how to store presets with Catalog, it's a lot easer to find them but it's still quite doable on any OS without doing so. One needs to know how their software operates. Forums like these are resources for those who don't know how to work their software (specifically Adobes). 

Yet LR uses them and they are nowhere to be seen.

That simply isn't correct or true. 
https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/kb/preference-file-and-other-file-locations---lightroom-6....

And it's really, really easy to find them IF you know some ways to do so, case in point from inside LR:



What is clear to me and some other's here may be totally unclear to others. But on Adobe user was born understanding anything about Adobe software. We can and do learn....

"Learning is not attained by chance. It must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence. "-Abigail Adams

[TheDigitalDog]

Unfortunately many of the clueless are using LR.

Yes. 
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein

[TheDigitalDog]

I prefer to store presets with Catalog for a number of reasons, one important being a backup with catalog and images (I have a dedicated HD for just LR, catalog, previews, images).
I only work with one catalog so all presets are there (I wish my DCP camera profiles would as well). Export as Catalog then Import with Catalog (and one selected image which can be deleted) does a pretty good job of transferring a lot of useful data including keywords, collections etc.

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

"If a user knows how to backup all their data, their presets are backed up!"

That still remains a big issue. Backups are not intuitive, by default are done on the same drive as the originals, simply not acceptable. On top of that, "store with catalog" is NOT by default. Most people using LR are not savvy about computers, they are people with cameras.

Is it too much to ask for a clear "Backup ALL my stuff to a safe place"? Without sending them to become IT specialists in the process? A process that would fail to begin with...?

I am not looking for this for myself, my system is up-to-date and secure with backups and all my stuff. This is for the "normal" people who handle a camera but know nothing about OS or drives or backups. Asking them "Do you have a backup?" when they come to me with a problem is mostly met with glazed-over eyes or silence.

[TheDigitalDog]

That still remains a big issue.

No it isn't an issue, it is a fact. IF and when you backup any data, it's backed up. 

You or others may not know how to back up data, that's the core problem here. 
A big, very big problem is losing data and not having a backup. 

Some people simply can't operate a computer or back up their data; I get that. 
Some people simply can't operate a car and shouldn't crash. 

Backing up computers is computing 101, if you think it takes an IT manager, I have to suspect you're not backing up your computer. 

On some OSs, it takes place AUTOMATICALLY, in the bkgnd, without any knowledge. Some don't have a Mac OS. 
It isn't Adobe's job nor should it be, to provide backup solutions for users. Yet in a very limited way, they do (Backup Catalog). It's IMHO lame and limited because the facts are, users should back up any and everything they can't afford to lose. My images being backed up are far more valuable than my presets. But everything, and I mean everything on my Mac and its associated drives IS backed up to multiple drives and the cloud. Which is why I don't lose my data. 

This is for the "normal" people who handle a camera but know nothing about OS or drives or backups.

I have no idea what "normal" people are or mean. I know there are people who don't have a clue about computing or driving or using sharp objects and as such, they shouldn't OR they should learn how. 

There is really no excuse for ignorance. It isn't Adobe's job to address ignorant customers. 

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

I absolutely love your stance towards people using Lightroom. Adobe makes a product for photographers, not for IT specialists. Backups are not properly implemented. A once a week "catalog backup" on the same drive as the original is no backup at all. ACR has the possibility to export presets as a zip, so why not Lightroom?
Adobe provides a DAM system with an incomplete backup system. At least with an incomplete instruction on how to create a valid backup. On the same drive? Come on! And yet, many people take this as being safe and secure, until they have a real problem. A simple right-click to export all presets as .zip is too much to ask for? If you were to give me ONE dollar every time I have to tell people that they have no backup, despite of what Lightroom tells them, I'd be driving a Mercedes.
Adding a simple solution to a very real problem is what this forum is about. I see that suggesting a simple solution is met with ridicule by people that "know better". I am not asking here for myself (I think I already stated that). I am asking for people that don't know any better until they are in trouble.
This ends my discussion of this idea, do with it whatever you want.

[TheDigitalDog]

Adobe makes a product for photographers, not for IT specialists.

Yup, and I'm a photographer and not an IT specialist but I do understand the fundamentals of safe computing, been doing it since 1988.

Yup, adobe doesn't make products to back up data; lots of other companies do. Or as I outlined, my OS. 

This ends my discussion of this idea, do with it whatever you want.

I simply want you to speak for yourself rather than 'normal' people, those who you suggest can't backup their computers. I simply want you to view the facts about how and where to find presets as provided. 

I'm not going to ask why Adobe LR/ACR can't do my accounting; there are other tools for that. Adobe has and will continue to concentrate on providing specific solutions for (as you suggest among others), photographers. Photographers and all users are responsible for backing up their data. 

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

I already know how to find my stuff, and a lot more. My "idea" was for people that do not know this. I am not interested in explaining workaround around a feature that should have been obvious since the introduction of presets.
I have been in IT since roughly 1978, backups/restores have been my daily grub ever since. I don't care about ACR not being able to do accounting, ACR does do the backup I request. Lightroom does not.

Asking today's computer users to be responsible is way too much to ask. Malware would not be rampant if people were responsible.

[TheDigitalDog]

This ends my discussion of this idea, do with it whatever you want.

Ok but...

I already know how to find my stuff, and a lot more.

Great. I'm glad to hear that (not that I needed to after the first comment above). 😉
Your request actually does exist in ACR, with a Zip no less. 
Your request also exists for LR as Bob outlined. 

My "idea" was for people that do not know this. I am not interested in explaining workaround around a feature that should have been obvious since the introduction of presets.

My idea is to just tell people who didn't ask, how the product actually works. 

Asking today's computer users to be responsible is way too much to ask.

People who refuse to take responsibility, and absolutely no one here has done so, (one has suggested some do), deserve what they get by taking no responsibility. Some of us have seen how well that's worked with the Pandemic (not taking responsibility). Now that IS a problem! 

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Are you working at Adobe, by any chance?

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Lightroom is perfect as it is. No further ideas are required.

[TheDigitalDog]

No Henk. But I've been a beta since version 2.5 of Photoshop. And a user of PS since 1.07. An LR user before release.
My bkgnd is totally transparent: https://www.linkedin.com/in/digitaldog/
Does this now end your discussion?

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

This was an idea for those less inclined to become IT pros than you or me. If you cannot accept anyone less "fluent" in IT than yourself, you should be developing the product, not bashing those who have useful ideas.

I had my own DAM system programmed for myself in 1996, it did include backup solutions as well as a lot more. 
When LR came along with the development module I switched that over for LR 1.2.

I am always willing to listen to ideas for improvement and don't bash anyone who is willing to promote an idea. I have never encountered this type of narrow-mindedness as in this post.

THAT ends my discussion.

[TheDigitalDog]

If you cannot accept anyone less "fluent" in IT than yourself, you should be developing the product, not bashing those who have useful ideas

What you asked for largely already exists as explained by multiple people.

My suggestion is for all the users you suggest exist that haven't posted here, who don't know how to backup presets, RTFM. Such functionality exists. 

THAT ends my discussion.

Yes, I've heard that before. 

[Steve Gandy]

I would think that when Lr does its backup of the catalog it would not be much of a programming hurdle to have it include a folder of the presets in the backup .zip file. 

[TheDigitalDog]

What about DCP camera profiles, preferences, previews, cache files? 
No one here knows how much of a programming hurdle anything is within LR or ACR because no one here has the code base. 
More logical, probably how things may progress: upload this to Adobe's cloud. For backup and sync. 
As someone who has developed three software products, all Photoshop plug-ins, I can tell you that nothing is a hurdle if you have enough engineering time and thus money. Engineering is very expensive! 😞