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Dheaton
Dheaton
New Participant
January 6, 2018
Answered

How to keep thumbnails

  • January 6, 2018
  • 5 replies
  • 2552 views

I have some photos that I use on an external backup hard drive.  When this drive is not connected I can not see any thumbnails.  When I connect the drive I see all the thumbnails appear.  Is there a way to always have the thumbnails show even when offline?

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Just Shoot Me

    That is because LR only keeps standard previews for a period of time. Then they are replaced with different ones.

    This is something that is not adjustable. So as soon as you start to add or browse newer images the standard previews for older images are replaced by ones for the newer or newly browsed images even if the newly browsed images are older and LR has access to the original file.

    That is why some images have them and other don't.

    So you have 2 options when this happens.

    1) Connect your external drive so LR can read the original file and create a preview for it.

    2) Build Smart Previews for all the images that are in the external drive. But doing that will take a lot of disk space on your internal drive.

    If you have the external connected and you are browsing images in the Library module Grid view or in the film strip and you see 3 white dots in the upper right hand corner of the thumbnail that is a sign that LR is creating a standard preview for that/those images.

    With the external disconnected and LR doesn't have access to the original file then you get a blank gray box where the image would normally be displayed.

    5 replies

    D
    davidKheaton
    Known Participant
    January 9, 2018

    I just noticed that in the catalog settings I have discard 1to 1 previews after 30 days.  I have this set this way because I didnt' need the larger images all the time.  Would that be the cause of my thumbs going away?  I thought that the smaller preview would be there all the time even when on a disconnected external HD

    Jim Wilde
    Jim Wilde
    Adobe Expert
    January 9, 2018

    davidKheaton  wrote

    I just noticed that in the catalog settings I have discard 1to 1 previews after 30 days.  I have this set this way because I didnt' need the larger images all the time.  Would that be the cause of my thumbs going away?  I thought that the smaller preview would be there all the time even when on a disconnected external HD

    Not relevant. If the preview system is working as designed, discarding the 1:1 still leaves the rest of the preview pyramid intact.

    D
    davidKheaton
    Known Participant
    January 7, 2018

    Thank you for your answers and help.

    I should have stated that some of the images on external hard drive have thumb images when it is not connected but not all of them.  I was wondering if there is a feature somewhere that says to delete thumbs after a certain amount of time..  I will try the above answers and see how that goes.  Thanks so much.

    Just Shoot Me
    Just Shoot MeCorrect answer
    Brainiac
    January 7, 2018

    That is because LR only keeps standard previews for a period of time. Then they are replaced with different ones.

    This is something that is not adjustable. So as soon as you start to add or browse newer images the standard previews for older images are replaced by ones for the newer or newly browsed images even if the newly browsed images are older and LR has access to the original file.

    That is why some images have them and other don't.

    So you have 2 options when this happens.

    1) Connect your external drive so LR can read the original file and create a preview for it.

    2) Build Smart Previews for all the images that are in the external drive. But doing that will take a lot of disk space on your internal drive.

    If you have the external connected and you are browsing images in the Library module Grid view or in the film strip and you see 3 white dots in the upper right hand corner of the thumbnail that is a sign that LR is creating a standard preview for that/those images.

    With the external disconnected and LR doesn't have access to the original file then you get a blank gray box where the image would normally be displayed.

    D
    davidKheaton
    Known Participant
    January 9, 2018

    davidKheaton  wrote

    Yes the previews were all built.  When I disconnect the drive I then have a ( ! ) on each file but the preview is still visable. Doing this seems to keep the 1-1 previews even when the HD is offline.  So I have done this to about 20 images now.  With the HD connected I tell it to build 1-1 previews and I get a window that says " No 1-1 previews were built.  All 1-1 previews are up to date."  The same thing happens when building standard previews.  Does that mean that there is something wrong with my catalog previews?

    That sounds as though the problem is fixed. Did you rename the old previews folder as I suggested earlier?


    I was only doing this on 10 images at a time.  Is there some way to do it to all files that have no preview when HD is offline?  I do not want to keep smart previews or even 1-1 just standard previews.

    Jim Wilde
    Jim Wilde
    Adobe Expert
    January 6, 2018

    dheaton  wrote

    I have some photos that I use on an external backup hard drive.  When this drive is not connected I can not see any thumbnails.  When I connect the drive I see all the thumbnails appear.  Is there a way to always have the thumbnails show even when offline?

    Yes, you should be able to see thumbnails and images in the Library module when the original files are offline (Library only shows previews of the originals). So unless you haven't yet built any library previews, you should be seeing the images in the Library module.

    Suggest you start Lightroom with the external drive connected, then select a bunch of images and do Library>Previews>Build Standard-sized previews. When that's finished, close Lightroom, disconnect the external drive, restart Lightroom and you should be able to see the thumbnails and full image in the loupe in the Library module.

    If that's not happening there may be something else going on that we need to try to figure out.

    And if you want to be able to EDIT the images while the drive is offline, you'll need to as as @Just Shoot Me stated and build Smart Previews.

    Just Shoot Me
    Just Shoot Me
    Brainiac
    January 6, 2018

    You can built Smart previews for all those images on the external drive.

    Neox99
    Neox99
    Brainiac
    January 6, 2018

    No!

    That would be like asking to read a book without opening the covers or watching TV with the power off.

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