Sync Settings not working

[dphershman]

I'm having an issue with synch settings all of a sudden.  Making changes in one file, I should be able to select another file and click the 'sync settings' to get the other files to have the same settings.  As of today, doing so does not export those settings to the other selected file(s).    The adjustment icons appear on the selected files, but when you look at the images in 'Develop' there have in fact been no synced changes.  I've tried updating my MacOS  (10.13) and my Lightroom (2015.12).  I've even reset my preferences, all to no use.  Thanks ahead of time for help. 

[Abambo]

Synching with Lr means copying to the cloud, so that you can continue working there.

I suppose you want to copy/paste your development parameters. You can have a look here: Develop module options in Photoshop Lightroom .

[Jim Garrison]

"Sync settings" has, for MANY, MANY years, meant the following:

1. Select several images
2. Hilight the source image
3. Click the "Sync..." button
4. Select the settings you want to copy from the hilighted image to the rest of the selected images
5. Click "Synchronize" to copy the develop settings from the source image to the rest of the selected images

"Sync" referring to mobile is a very recent and unfortunate overload of the term.

And yes, "Sync" in its original meaning has STOPPED WORKING.  It stopped working for me a day ago.

I upgraded to the just-released Lightroom CC Classic and it STILL DOES NOT WORK.

On the web I found a reference to clearing the Raw Cache, which I did, but this did not fix the problem.

Adobe, this is a MAJOR issue.  Not being able to sync develop settings across a range of images reduces Lightroom's functionality greatly.  Please address this as a high-priority bug and tell us what we need to do to restore this functionality.

[Jim Garrison]

Further information

1. This seems to affect only WHITE BALANCE.  It seems to sync other settings OK, just WHITE BALANCE is not copied.
2. It also affects COPY/PASTE Settings.  It appears you cannot copy/paste white balance from one photo to another

[kanakakai74]

I have v7.1, and syncing is not working properly either in the develop module.

Scenario:

I select all the images in my filmstrip.

I change the "Shadows" value to 8.

Not all of the images are being affected. Some images change to value 8, and some don't.

I want to say this goes for any value for other parameters as well, not just "Shadows".

I'm not sure why certain images do and certain images don't.

Does anybody else have this problem?

[diegohblack]

I have the same problem, in version 7.2 and 7.3. Not only sync doesn't work, it makes LR freeze. I just tried copying the develop settings instead and it also makes LR freeze.

[diegohblack]

I went back to version 7.0 and sync works now, so it's definitely a problem with the upgrade.

[diegohblack]

I spoke too soon. It worked for a couple of times, but no more. Adobe, please help.

[ZappaJul]

Update Aug 2018: I'm still having this problem and finding it affects ALL colour settings (e.g. monochrome, split tone, colour adjustments) not just white balance - but I agree it also affects paste settings.

[JP Hess]

That is really strange. I upgraded this morning. I have tried synchronizing a collection using Lightroom Mobile, I have tried updating an image by using the Previous button, I have highlighted multiple images and clicked on the Sync button, and all methods have worked as expected. I'm using Lightroom Classic on a Windows 10 computer. It's a very basic computer, nothing special, 8 GB RAM. I haven't found anything that isn't working as expected yet.

[Jim Garrison]

The problem surfaced a few days ago, BEFORE the upgrade.

I upgraded in hopes it would be fixed but upgrading did not fix it.

As I noted above, the problem seems to affect only white balance settings, and affects all methods of copying white balance from one image to another, bothSync Settings and Copy/Paste Settings.

[JP Hess]

I don't know what is happening. I just tested the white balance synchronizing after I read your comment. The white balance synchronized as expected.

[Jim Garrison]

Then might be a catalog corruption that is starting to happen to more than one person. Is there a utility that can check for catalog corruption beyond what LR itself does?

[Jim Garrison]

I've also tried discarding previews but that hasn't helped

[Jim Garrison · Accepted solution]

I figured it out.

If the source image's WB has not been changed from the raw file's imported setting, i.e. the WB panel says "As Shot", then when you synchronize or copy/paste from the source image, what is set in the target is "As Shot", and NOT the actual settings from the source image.  I.e. instead of pasting the source image's Temp/Tint values, it just resets the target image to ITS OWN "As Shot" values, having nothing to do with the source image's settings.

If the source image's settings have been tweaked from the "As Shot" values, then the ACTUAL temp/tint values are copied instead.

As far as I am aware, this is a recent change to the behavior as I've never had a problem copying WB settings.  I suppose it's remotely possible that in 10 years of using LR I've never attempted to copy WB settings from an unmodified image, but the chances of that are extremely remote.

Clearly there needs to be an option to copy ACTUAL values instead of the "As Shot" flag when the image has not bee modified.

[nstherapy]

Jim, Thank you. I just noticed this a few weeks ago and it was driving me mad. All I did was change the WB setting by one and it went to "custom." (Maybe you can just change the WB setting to custom?) Anyways, now my WB setting is synchronized. thanks- you saved me a lot of time.

[diegohblack]

The issue you're referring to has always been an issue since the beginning of LR, that the WB needed to have changed in order for it to sync. The problem some of us are having is that the sync doesn't work at all. In my case it even freezes LR. I tried purging the cache and still.

[Jason31386941fy91]

Thank you very much!! It was the fact that is was as "As Shot" for the white balance as apposed to custom.... 

[MartinC_Photos]

Hi @Jim Garrison In researching an issue with LrC not synching the white balance I came across your "correct answer" from 2017. I'm having a similar issue with synching a virtual copy to the original image. Both have white Balance set to Auto. When I synch (and bearing in mind this is the identical RAW file) the tint slider is out by 4. If I change the tint so that WB is custom then it does synch correctly.  

My question to you (and anyone else!) is, are you still seeing this behaviour that you identified or was it a bug that Adobe think they have ironed out?

[Jim Garrison]

As far as I'm aware, this is "broken as designed" and there hasn't been any resolution.  Given the 8-year timespan I don't think Adobe is interested.

[DanKChicago]

April, 2018, latest update 7.3.1 -no, 7.3.1 did not resolve the sync setting problems: there are changes to "sync settings" in 7.3.1 where copied settings will not 'paste' to a selected group of files.   the "sync setting" does not paste to all selected files - i.e. ctrl + v, the "sync settings" button now has a Auto selection with no explanation in update - I just lost 2-3 hours for Adobe's poor work - this is a curse on usability.

[Abambo]

Synch works fine with me, so I suppose it's an account problem. Try Disconnect/Reconnect.

[mpnielsen]

You have no idea what you are talking about, so please.

[ZappaJul]

I have the same issue, but it only started for me with latest LR CC upgrade 7.4. I find it makes no difference whether or not the colour balance has been changed, but it's intermittent and when it starts, it affects every attempt to Sync any colour settings (whether White Balance, Black & White, or Split Toning) on any file, even though it may be clear from the source file's history that that file itself had a monochrome or other colour mix synched successfully from another file. I find it sometimes works OK for a few files only to stop working again at some point.

I wonder whether it's to do with the process version; sometimes Synch offers the Black and White Mix option and other times it doesn't. Whatever the trigger, come on Adobe, how could you let this upgrade out with such a huge bug that months on still isn't resolved?

The only 'solution' I've found (inverted commas because this is a pain and a workaround, not an answer) is to switch to another monochrome source file that synched succesfully before; this usually works - at least unitl the point where it doesn't and I have to choose a new source file.

[peters83392440]

I'm having the same problem. WB settings will not sync any more.