Participant

Question

Lightroom Classic, Extremely Slow Importing (Tried several solutions)

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
March 25, 2018
10 replies
13884 views

I have been having this issue for several months now, with different versions and updates of Lightroom Classic.

My setup:

Importing photos into my catalog has resulted in extremely slow imports. I shoot on a Nikon D850 using SDXC memory cards. I am only importing RAW files.

Macbook Pro 15inch, Mid 2015. MacOS High Sierra 10.13.3

I have tested several importing settings, including minimal previews to 1:1 previews, no presets, sending to my external hard drive. Changing any of these settings have unnoticeable effects on import speed.

As a reference, importing about 100 photos takes about 45 minutes to complete. Trying to import more or less RAW files results in proportional waits.

I have tried the following without any avail:

-Optimizing Lightroom Catalog

-Creating a New Lightroom Catalog

-Ensuring my desktop's hard drive and external hard drive have more than 20% available space.

-Keeping up to date with updates

Been searching for answers that actually work for this issue for weeks now and have not found anything that has solved the issue for me. I'm considering other software to import my RAW files because this is becoming ridiculous and taxing on my work flow. I have to import 1000s of photos per week, and up until the past 3-4 months, I have never had imports this slow, I've had the same setup since 2016 and the updates have only seemed to slow down my performance in Lightroom.

Lightroom Classic CC — The desktop-focused app Lightroom

This topic has been closed for replies.

J

JFOOTE1

Participant

So! I've had the same issue recently and found the (a) answer! I have an iMac i5 with 24 gb of memory 2017 and updated to Ventura and thought all of that was why it was slow. Imports were snail speed. I called apple and we kept coming back to my Wi-Fi. I rebooted (unplugged it for 1 minute and plugged it back in) my Wi-Fi and after plugging it back in viola! An upload that was taking hours loaded in 5 minutes AND my computer was faster, apps opened faster and of course the internet was faster. Test speeds went up by 80%, did a before and after. So try this people.

C

CSmith0320

Participating Frequently

Absurd how slow this is. Been using Lightroom for longer than 10 years now and Photoshop for about 20 years. Never have I had such frustrations.

GoldingD

Legend

Please please please, post your own problem in your own discussion. The one above is 2 years old. Hard to get help on a 2 year old thread.

When you do, please include your system info as LrC reports it, and provide additional info such as Desktop vs Laptop vs All in one computer,Camera used,available hard drives.

info below a canned bit if info on sys info gathering

____________________________________

Please post your System Information as Lightroom Classic (LrC) reports it. In LrC click on Help, then System Info, then Copy. Past that information into a reply. Please present all information from first line down to and including Plug-in Info. Info after Plug-in info can be cut as that is just so much dead space to us non-Techs.

C

CSmith0320

Participating Frequently

Thank you for the response. I was a bit out of sorts, posting at the height of my frustration, which usually never is a good idea. I should have taken a deep breath before posting. Thank you for the reply. I'll keep it in mind for future reports.

D

DRocPhotography

Participant

I’ve been having the same issue and discovered that one of my RAW photo files is corrupted. Well, at least, according to Lightroom Classic CC.

After an uninstall/re-install and several failed import attempts, I noticed that the import stop at the same image (file name). So, I tried opening the group of images in Adobe Bridge where everything seemed fine. I then attempted to import the entire image folder into Lightroom CC just as did in Lightroom Classic CC. Lightroom CC returned an error on one of the images and did not import. I removed that particular image from the folder then attempted the import in Classic CC and everything worked as normal. A quick import without the freezing.

I hope that this helps someone.

D

davidm46560345

Participant

I have the same issue when importing to a NAS on Windows 10. The import is extremely slow and grinds the hard disks on the NAS extremely loudly.

This only happens on my new computer which has an intel i7-8700. Strangely the imports to the same NAS and same version of Lightroom work flawlessly from my 10 year old computer that I was using before getting this computer. I have spoken to an Adobe CSR and he told me that Lightroom doesn't support importing to a NAS.

The only way I can get my photos onto my NAS is to copy them manually from the card to the NAS and then import them into Lighroom. It's incredible that Adobe doesn't care about this problem and hasn't fixed it yet after many people have complained about it.

M

MTCWBY

Participating Frequently

I've got the same problem after an update. Frankly it's pretty much unworkable and it's so slow that Windows thinks the process is hung and wants to kill it. Somebody dropped the ball and I sure hope they fix it before my workload becomes heavy in September. Reinstalled, rebooted, and it's running images off the same internal drives the worked fine last fall.

DdeGannes

Community Expert

Please advise what Operating System you are using Windows or Mac and the actual version you have current?

Please state the Lightroom application you are working with?

Lightroom CC (cloud based application) the latest version is 1.4

Lightroom Classic CC (desktop based application) the latest version 7.4

See the screen capture.

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.

kentdesign

Community Expert

I still advocate trying the"rename preferences" as described by Todd Shaner above, and actually move that file to your desktop so it is no longer in any application support or preferences folder. Then to be sure, uninstall Lightroom through the Creative Cloud App. Then restart your computer - to clear any possible file that might conflict, install LR through the creative cloud. and then try again. You should lose nothing. And if it still does not work, then you have your saved preferences folder on your desktop for reinstalling.

T

TwentyFivePhotography

Participant

The Lightroom CC is what I'm talking about using and what I have used to edit my work. I have been forced to use this version of Lightroom as the Classic version is not importing my photos still. I left it importing one photo over an hour and still it said 'importing'.

I have since imported into my pictures and then copied onto my desktop and have managed to import via this way rather than directly through my camera. Then selecting desktop as the destination in Lightroom. This is what was suggested after I finally got through to Adobe. Athough this is not ideal it is still a short term solution to get me through.

T

TwentyFivePhotography

Participant

I have exactly the same problem. My Macbook Pro is only 3 months old and I have the latest version of LR and have made sure the RAW plug in is up to date. I have a shoot to edit and can only use the Lite version of LR? I've been in touch with Adobe but have had no response so far! Banging my head against a brick wall here and paying monthly to use this service I don't think is acceptable when there's not even a response or help.

dj_paige

Legend

I don't understand your comments.

I have a shoot to edit and can only use the Lite version of LR?

No one is forcing you to use the "Lite" version of LR, whatever that means (and I don't know what "Lite" refers to).

In any event, describe your problem in detail. That's the only way we can help you, if you state your exact problem.

B

Brevoortx

Participant

I am both glad to see that I am not alone with this problem, and also dismayed that whatever it is that caused the situation has not been addressed by Abobe.

I have just imported five (5) raw files from a G7X II Sandisk Extreme 32 card into the latest version of Lightroom on a MacBook Pro mid 2015 with latest OS, and the process took 18 minutes which included conversion to dng and no presets.

Since late last year I have not used LR, nor the laptop, because I was on deployment. When I returned two weeks ago I attempted to import about 350 raw files from the G7X and a Nikon D7200. After an hour I gave up waiting for it all to complete and went out for a drink. When I returned two hours later the import was still chugging along. Just unacceptable.

There have been no changes to my laptop other than the Apple OS upgrade that I did on return along with the latest Lightroom upgrade.

I have tried many of the suggestions in scattered postings online including, copying directly from the card into the MB and then importing, using a catalog housed on the hard drive instead of using one on an SD mini drive, increasing the cache, etc and etc.

What puzzles me greatly is that this problem, from the number of posts that come up in a google search, has been frequently brought up but there has been no official response or official help from Adobe that I have been able to find.

The import process has always been slow but usually not much longer than it takes to make a cup of coffee and eat a sandwich. But now I have time to pour a house foundation and let the concrete set. Just nuts.

I have been ignoring all of the other posts I've been seeing form people searching for an alternative to Lightroom and I fear that I will have to start paying attention. I'd hate to lose my catalogs and records of file adjustments but that is what might have to happen. I cannot imagine what pain this must cause to professional photographers who come back from a major shoot with thousands of images.

Yes, I am aware that not everyone, and perhaps not even a significant minority, are suffering as a result of this, but from my personal opinion it is a critical failure that affects me greatly.

dj_paige

Legend

There have been no changes to my laptop other than the Apple OS upgrade that I did on return along with the latest Lightroom upgrade.

Tell us the version numbers of your operating system and Lightroom. Give use the version numbers, do not use words like "latest".

There have been no changes to your laptop, but it is possible that the card reader or USB cable is no longer functioning properly. You need to try other hardware to do the import to rule this out (or to identify it as the problem).

Robert Mack

Participating Frequently

I have the same problem.

LR CC 2018 Build 7.3 most recent update.

Is unusably slow.

I cant even get to the Import Photos screen.

I copied the files from my CF Card to a folder within the LR library. I then selected the parent folder and opted to Synchronise and Import the files.... Nothing is happening... The Import Photos and Videos progress bar shows top left... and no progress.

If I look in task manager, LR is using 1.5GB of RAM, the amount is changing slightly every second or two.

The Library is on an SSD with 187GB free so should be real fast. I have an i7 Processor with 32gb Ram with only 9GB being used.

Adobe.. your suggestions please!

Many Thanks

Rob

Robert Mack

Participating Frequently

UPDATE:

I was watching a Video on Amazon prime while trying to import.... as one does!

I Closed Microsoft Edge, then the Lightroom Import Files Dialogue box started working and the files imported OK.

VB Rgds

Rob

ntompson

Known Participant

Same here. Ludicrously slow to import raw files. It is neither an issue with rate of copying from the SD card of copying to the NAS - both can massively exceed the rate at which LR classic completes the import. I seem to be averaging about 2 MB/s. Come on.

I cannot tell you how fed up I am with poor LR performance. Adobe seem to treat performance like it's a joke. All this carry on about how much it has been improved in recent versions, and yet the lived experience is anything but. Just not good enough.

dj_paige

Legend

Same here. Ludicrously slow to import raw files. It is neither an issue with rate of copying from the SD card of copying to the NAS - both can massively exceed the rate at which LR classic completes the import.

This is true when your hardware and network are working properly. What have you done to confirm that hardware and network are actually working properly?

ntompson

Known Participant

*While* the slow import was occurring I tried to copy images from the SD card and to the NAS by hand. Both actions happened at normal speeds (~80 MBps for SD card and saturated Gbps link for NAS).

It is a pity that responses on this thread are full of people doubting that it could possibly be true that LR is slow, rather than Adobe engineers coming in to do something about it. I guess that is why LR has become such a disappointment. It used to be so great...

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curetonw

Participating Frequently

I have the same issue on my iMac. If I try to import more than 100 raw fuji files it will freeze or error on the file location once imported. I have never had this issue before the last rounds of updates. Granted it too some time due to file size but I never had to deal with a 60 to 70 import at a time process I do now to get stuff done. My wife just did a 350 raw fuji file import on her Mac air with no issue!!!!! Adobe please provide some assistance on this issue.

I am importing from sdcard San Disk Extreme pro 95 mb/s ddxc I

Major issue that results from downloading

1- process will freeze before copying all files

or

2- process will freeze on converting to DNG

or

3 copy and dng convert will complete but get triangle with ! in it stating can't find file or file is corrupt.

Fix for above is to do a force shutdown of IMAC and start over with importing

so now I am forced to import at 60 -70 pics at a time.

I have used Picktorial and Exposure3 to load RAF files and no issue. So I do not know why I am having this issue now with Adobe LR CC

kentdesign

Community Expert

HI, I have the latest up date and am using a Mac also. I did not see that slow an import yet.

I am wondering if you wife's version of LR is the same as yours when she imported without problems?

Also, I had an inexplicable issue with Adobe Acrobat DC and could not find any answers anywhere. So I uninstalled Acrobat, and then went into the Library and deleted any of the cache and preferences associated with Acrobat, and made sure then were no parts of it on my computer. Then I restarted the machine for good measure and reinstalled using the Creative Cloud app (I have the CC full subscription) and the application worked perfectly.

It takes a little time to do this, however with Lightroom there are fewer pieces to find in the Library folder of your system so it should not take as long.

It would be worth a try if no one else comes up with another idea.

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curetonw

Participating Frequently

her version is the same as mine. the only difference is she is working on an older model Mac air with a slower processor. it still took more than an hour for her import but she had no issues. I have deleted LR and re-installed and issue is still there. I could uninstall adobe acrobat and see but as I have seen in the forum, a number of folks are having this issue and I don't see where a fix has been mentioned.

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