No longer possible to import photos if library is in Dropbox, and you upgrade Dropbox

[lasse@vkarlsen.no]

Dropbox is about to release an upgrade that fixes some long-standing issues with how Dropbox integrates with macOS. For instance, for quite a number of applications, files in the Dropbox folder, that in Dropbox is configured to be "Cloud only until needed", is reported as having 0-byte file sizes, and won't download.

The major change to Dropbox integrates the Dropbox folder more closely with how macOS requires such cloud storage to be integrated, and moves the whole Dropbox folder into "~/Library/Cloud Storage/Dropbox".

This change, however, makes photo libraries stored in Dropbox work only partially in Lightroom Classic. I was able to add the new Dropbox folder as a photo library for my catalog, but if I try to import new photos into it, it won't work.

The reason for this is that the import dialog doesn't consider Library and any sub-folders as available to Lightroom Classic. To be fair, it probably shouldn't, but this change by Dropbox now makes it a complete hassle to use Dropbox for synchronizing the photo library to the cloud and other devices.

I would urge Adobe and Dropbox to talk to figure out what to do about this. I expect Lightroom Classic not the only application that is having this issue. I have reported this same issue to Dropbox themselves, but I doubt any major change will come from that because this is, as far as I can tell, very much in line with how Apple themselves wants cloud storage to be presented in macOS.

The Dropbox folder now "lives" under "Locations" in the finder, and the actual "physical" folder is under  /Library/Cloud Storage, so expect more of these cloud storage synchronization tools to start having similar problems.

As such I believe it would be in the interest of Adobe to add support for this location in Lightroom Classic.

[johnrellis · Accepted solution]

"the import dialog doesn't consider Library and any sub-folders as available to Lightroom Classic...but if I try to import new photos into it, it won't work."

I'm able to import photos from /Users/<user>/Library. It's not obvious, but you can navigate to any folder on your computer via a standard Finder-based open dialog.  In the Import window, click the Select A Source drop-down menu and then Other Source:

Then in the open dialog, click on Dropbox in the Favorites section of the Finder's sidebar and navigate to the desired subfolder.

[johnrellis]

Oh, I think I may have been confused by your use of the term "library", which isn't a standard Lightroom Classic term.  If you're referring to importing photos to a folder in /Users/<user>/Library, you can click the hidden button menu at the top-right of the Import window and then select Other Destination:

This too works when you select a subfolder of /Users/<user>/Library:

[lasse@vkarlsen.no]

Ah, the old "hide the button in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying 'Beware of the Leopard'" ploy, famous that one 🙂

Thanks, that did it, but is there any chance this button could be hidden better? I mean, I managed to find it when guided to it after all.

[lasse@vkarlsen.no]

And yes, I realize I was a bit ambiguous in my original message. I meant "my photo library", as in "the folder which contains all my actual photo files", which also is now stored in Dropbox, which is physically located under ~/Library/CloudStorage.

Apologies all around for that.

[johnrellis]

Indeed, there are aspects of the Import window that are cryptic.

Back in LR 6 days, Adobe had noticed in user testing that the Import workflow was difficult for new users to understand, especially the less-sophisticated users they were hoping to reach as they expanded LR's market.   So they redesigned the entire Import window (not unreasonable).

Unfortunately, in the process the product managers removed several pieces of functionality that many many existing users relied on. After 6.2 was released, the outcry was huge, with over a 1000 votes on the feedback forum from users in a just a couple weeks (an order of magnitude more than typical feedback issues).  Adobe senior management publicly apologized (the only time that's happened?)  and they reverted back to the old Import window in 6.3. 

I've always surmised that this was a major impetus behind the cloud-focused "Lightroom" -- Adobe found it too hard to satisfy both the sophisticated users wedded to Lightroom Classic and the less-sophisticated users they wanted to acquire with a single product.