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phototocanvaspdx
phototocanvaspdx
Known Participant
November 20, 2020
Answered

How can I get my photos into Lightroom classics folder structure?

  • November 20, 2020
  • 3 replies
  • 2157 views

So I like how Lightroom Classic will download synced images into folders organized by date. I'm switching my folder stucture and am wondering if there is a way to have it put all of my old folders into this structure.

 

I should note that I am on the process of adding all of my photos to Lightroom cc. I had previously synced all of my photos in Lightroom classic so I don't see a way to use this to my advantage. My overall thought is to have my photos in the cloud, stored in a folder locally specified by Lightroom cc, and my additional backup would be through Classic, where all new photos will be synced, downloaded, and sorted into this folder structure.

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Theresa J

I'm not sure I would recommend this workflow, but here is how you do it.

  1. Import all of your masters into Lightroom (cloud)
  2. Create a new Lightroom Classic catalog
  3. BEFORE you turn on the syncing function go to the Preferences > Lightroom Sync tab. 
  4. Choose a location for the downloaded photos from Lightroom. By default this will be the pictures folder. You don't want that. Choose another location, preferably an external drive.
  5. Turn on the option to organize by date, and choose a date structure from the pop up menu that works for you
  6. AFTER all of your masters have synced to the cloud through Lightroom, turn on the syncing function in Lightroom Classic. This will download all of the masters into a dated folder structure wherever you designated for them to go.

 

If you really want to follow this workflow you should always import future photos to Lightroom, not Lightroom Classic.

 

I really, REALLY advise against this though. The cloud will fill up eventually and you will be charged for extra storage. It's much smarter to import into Lightroom Classic and sync only photos to Lightroom that you really want in the cloud.

 

You can import photos into Lightroom Classic into dated folders if you import with the Copy method and choose the location and date structure during the import. 

3 replies

DdeGannes
Community Expert
DdeGannesCommunity Expert
Community Expert
November 20, 2020

Ok, I am going to inject a thought about the interaction / sync with LrC (Classic) and Lr (cloud-based) on the same computer.

When using LrC you can create collections of image files and sync with the Adobe Cloud and smart-previews will be uploaded and be available for viewing and working with Lr and Lr Mobile.

There is another option to sync smart-previews from LrC to the Adobe Cloud and that is to select images from Folders in LrC and drag to "All synced photographs".

This means you can have smart-previews in Adobe Cloud for all the files that are imported to LrC.

Original image files remain in storage on your computer.

If you now use Lr on your computer and add image files to the application then original files will be uploaded to Adobe Cloud, so there are Original Files and Smart-previews in the cloud. My normal expectation is that copies of the original files will downloaded to the computer. So you would now have two originals on your computer and one in the cloud.

Is your expectation that it would be recognized that there are smart-previews in the cloud that match the originals now uploaded from Lr and know that your computer has originals and not download another original?

I have not tested this concept.

 

PS- Ok I am seeing Theresa post above and she indicates she has tested this and agrees that this is possible and I think there have been others that have indicated this. I just have not seen it documented as an acceptable workflow. It's just one that would undertake since I have approxametly 40,000 images in my Catalog but I only have about 7,000 images from

Collections being syncing.

 

 

Regards, Denis: iMac 27” mid-2015, macOS 11.7.10 Big Sur; 2TB SSD, 24 GB Ram, GPU 2 GB; LrC 12.5,; Lr 6.5, PS 24.7,; ACR 15.5,; (also Laptop Win 11, ver 24H2, LrC 15.0.1, PS 27.0; ) Camera Oly OM-D E-M1.
phototocanvaspdx
phototocanvaspdxAuthor
Known Participant
November 21, 2020

This is correct and that's how it works. I am fine with several copies being "on my computer" because I'm actually putting those copies on several external drives and they will be acting as backups. But at the same time they will be allowing me full res access in both apps:)

JP Hess
JP Hess
Inspiring
November 20, 2020

Theresa has given you some valuable information, and has warned you about the pitfalls of what you are setting yourself up for. What you are planning to do really isn't a good idea in my opinion, either. However, the choice is yours and if you think you know better then go for it.

phototocanvaspdx
phototocanvaspdxAuthor
Known Participant
November 20, 2020

For some reason my workflow is not working in the way she has mentioned. It's not that I know better, it's that i am witnessing what is happening.

Theresa J
Community Expert
Theresa JCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
November 20, 2020

I'm not sure I would recommend this workflow, but here is how you do it.

  1. Import all of your masters into Lightroom (cloud)
  2. Create a new Lightroom Classic catalog
  3. BEFORE you turn on the syncing function go to the Preferences > Lightroom Sync tab. 
  4. Choose a location for the downloaded photos from Lightroom. By default this will be the pictures folder. You don't want that. Choose another location, preferably an external drive.
  5. Turn on the option to organize by date, and choose a date structure from the pop up menu that works for you
  6. AFTER all of your masters have synced to the cloud through Lightroom, turn on the syncing function in Lightroom Classic. This will download all of the masters into a dated folder structure wherever you designated for them to go.

 

If you really want to follow this workflow you should always import future photos to Lightroom, not Lightroom Classic.

 

I really, REALLY advise against this though. The cloud will fill up eventually and you will be charged for extra storage. It's much smarter to import into Lightroom Classic and sync only photos to Lightroom that you really want in the cloud.

 

You can import photos into Lightroom Classic into dated folders if you import with the Copy method and choose the location and date structure during the import. 

    phototocanvaspdx
    phototocanvaspdxAuthor
    Known Participant
    November 20, 2020

    Thanks for the input.

     

    I no longer want to import though Classic as I want my files in the cloud. I have 5tb of storage. I think I have a solution, but it will mean I manually move the photos in Classic to new folders. I will,then have the photos in the cloud, stored locally via cc's preferences, and another copy stored on a backup drive via classics preferences.

    phototocanvaspdx
    phototocanvaspdxAuthor
    Known Participant
    November 20, 2020

    "If I import an image into CC it's stored in the cloud and locally in a specified spot. If it's in an album and I open classic, the smart preview will sync and I can access it through that collection in Classic."

    This is the part you are misunderstanding. If you import the image into Lightroom it is in the cloud. When you view it it Classic, the full master file is also copied down to a hard drive, not a smart preview. If you turn on the "store local copy" option in Lightroom, that stores in a copy in a different location. In this scenerio you actually have three copies of the photo.

    If you had also imported the same photo into Classic, before importing it into Lightroom, you have a fourth copy. It is confusing, and why using both apps together is always discouraged.


    Ive written pages down below and cant delete them. I went and reread all of your comments. It sounds like we are on the same page. I have plenty of cloud storage so im not concerned about that. 

    The whole confusing issue is whether classic will redownload, which it wont if the photo has already been synced. I actually really like your idea of starting a new catalog and turning on sync, and letting them all download to my new backup location but I don't know how to specifly which catalog utilizes the sync feature. 

     

    I was not wrong in saying that Classic will not download a new copy when sync is on, if the photo has previously been synced. 

     

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