Use smart previews instead of originals for image editing doesn't work.

[elianoimperato]

I selected the "Use smart previews instead of originals for image editing" optioin but I've noticed that it is slower than when I work without the originals connected.

[JohanElzenga]

Do you zoom in to 100% while editing, for example for sharpening? If you do that, then Lightroom Classic will load the original after all , so that will indeed be slower than using the original right from the start. If there are no originals, then Lightroom Classic obviously can't do that so it will zoom in less, but there will be no delay due to reloading.

[elianoimperato]

So "Use smart previews instead of originals for image editing" is not working as should be, there is no sense.

[JohanElzenga]

So "Use smart previews instead of originals for image editing" is not working as should be, there is no sense.

By @elianoimperato

I think it does make sense, but there are obviously limitations to using just smart previews rather than full sized originals. If you zoom to 100% to check sharpening, then you really want to zoom to 100%. Or would you prefer to not zoom beyond 2560 pixels wide, so you can't judge what you are doing? If that is what you prefer, then remember to just not zoom to 100%.

[elianoimperato]

No. No because smart previews option is a feature to work on the photos when they're offline. So the option "Use smart previews instead of originals for image editing" is thought to use the smart previews when the photos are online and the meaning of this option is to say to LrC "look at these photos like they're offline". Otherwise there's no sense. Adobe should think better about it.

[JohanElzenga]

Nope, that is not how this feature is intended. Why would you want to "look at these photos like they're offline" anyway? What would be the point doing that? This feature is intended to speed up editing, especially on slow computers with slow hard drives, as the small smart preview loads faster than a large original. Adobe says as much in Preferences - Performance, where you can enable it.

[elianoimperato]

So the zoom should work like when they're offline.

[JohanElzenga]

Like I said, this feature was not introduced as some kind of  'offline originals simulation' (and I see no point in having that). It was introduced to help people speed up their editing. At that time SSD drives did not exist yet, so loading originals could be slow. There were quite a few people who would deliberately bring their originals offline, so they could speed up editing by using smart previews. If their originals were on the internal hard disk, they would temporary rename the image folder (outside of Lightroom) so the images got 'missing', but of course that was a nuisance. Adobe decided to make life easier for these people by introducing this feature, and they decided to load the original for zooming in order to get the best compromise between faster editing and higher quality when needed. You may not like this, but that is the story behind it and that is why this feature works as designed. If you don't like it, then use the original approach and really bring the originals offline!