Lightroom Classic CC + Mobile duplicating photos

[cjm50120363]

Howdy,

I use Lightroom Classic CC, but only have a desktop so when traveling I use Lightroom Mobile on my iPad + iPhone.

The Ligthroom Mobile -> Lightroom Classic CC seems to ~work (I import into the iPad, make some edits, and when I get home the photos & edits are there in my catalog, so I move the photos from my Lightroom sync folder onto my hard drives where all my photos are all stored).

However, photos that I imported into Lightroom Classic CC, selected to sync to Lightroom cloud so I can edit on my iPad, are now re-syncing back to Lightroom Classic CC as new photos.  I can look in both folders (The orginal folder where I imported the image and my Lightroom Sync folder where lightroom saves synced photos) and they both have DNG files.  I tried to move from the Lightroom Sync folder to my main folders (Where the photos already existed) and lightroom tells me it can't "File already exists at the destination:".

This feels illogical, what is the workflow we should be following to use Lightroom Mobile without it duplicating all our photos?

[DdeGannes]

If you wish the originals to be stored on your desktop and not in Adobe Cloud storage, pause the syncing on your desktop before you move the files to a new location. Ensure all the file are on the desktop before making the move.

On the iPad remove the files from the Adobe Cloud storage before resuming ”sync” on the desktop. You can then create a collection in Classic an sync to the Cloud for Mobile access.

[Theresa J]

I like to describe the sync process from Lightroom Classic as bi-directional. There is a north bound sync and a south bound sync. Understanding this is key to setting up a good workflow between Lightroom on your iPad and phone, and Lightroom Classic on your computer.

First the northbound sync: Photos imported into Lightroom Classic remain on a hard drive, not in the cloud and not in Lightroom. When you sync a photo from Classic to Lightroom, a smart preview file is sent up or north to the cloud. The original high res file stays on the hard drive.

Second the southbound sync: Photos captured with your phone using Lightroom, and photos imported into Lightroom on your iPad in the cloud. When Lightroom Classic sees these high res files in the cloud it pulls them down to a hard drive. Classic works like a vacuum and pulls all original files in the cloud down or south to your drive. By default they are downloaded to your Pictures folder. You can change this in the preferences.

Don't reimport your travel photos with Lightroom Classic because they are already there, from the cloud. Use Lightroom Classic to move them to a different drive location, or folder if you wish. Delete them from Lightroom, or the All Synced collection in Lightroom Classic to remove the high res from the cloud. Sync smart previews back up to the cloud from Lightroom Classic if you want access to them on your phone and iPad. 

[cjm50120363]

Hi Theresa,

Thank you so much for the assist.

As you describe it, I think my Southbound sync is working.  I import into my iPad, and it syncs through the cloud down to Classic (I sync all photos to a folder called Lightroom Photos > Synced Photos > [Organized by date].  Once they sync into this folder I use Classic to move them into the appropriate folder in my overall Lightroom Photos folder. Edits & tags seems to follow this in my catalog and works correctly.

However, my Northbound sync seems to be round tripping as a new photo.  If I import Photo1.dng into Classic, then add it to a Collection that's synced so I can edit it on my iPad, the next time I open Classic it sees Photo1.dng in the Lightroom Cloud and downloads it as a new photo.  So now I have two copies of Photo1.dng: One in the folder I imported it into, and one in my  Lightroom Photos > Synced Photos > [Organized by date] folders.  I even tried to use Classic to move Photo1.dng out of the Synced Photos folder and into the appropriate folder, and it told me there's already a Photo1.dng in that location so it can't.

[DdeGannes]

Thank you so much for the assist.

As you describe it, I think my Southbound sync is working.  I import into my iPad, and it syncs through the cloud down to Classic (I sync all photos to a folder called Lightroom Photos > Synced Photos > [Organized by date].  Once they sync into this folder I use Classic to move them into the appropriate folder in my overall Lightroom Photos folder. Edits & tags seems to follow this in my catalog and works correctly.

This is working like it is designed to.  However, when you moved the files to a new location while syncing is still active, the files that are located in the Cloud storage will start syncing immediately into the default location in LrC (lightroom classic).

That is why I advised you to pause the syncing in classic and remove the original files in the cloud storage before you turn on the sync in classic.

If you wish the originals to remain in the cloud then do not move them from the download folder. Hope it makes sense now.

However, my Northbound sync seems to be round tripping as a new photo.  If I import Photo1.dng into Classic, then add it to a Collection that's synced so I can edit it on my iPad, the next time I open Classic it sees Photo1.dng in the Lightroom Cloud and downloads it as a new photo.  So now I have two copies of Photo1.dng: One in the folder I imported it into, and one in my  Lightroom Photos > Synced Photos > [Organized by date] folders.  I even tried to use Classic to move Photo1.dng out of the Synced Photosfolder and into the appropriate folder, and it told me there's already a Photo1.dng in that location so it can't.

[cjm50120363]

Hi Denis,

Thanks for the help but to be clear - I have no problems with my Southbound sync.  Photos that are imported with Lightroom Mobile on my iPad, sync to Classic without issue.  When I move the photos from my "Ligthroom Sync" folder to the main folders they do not duplicate, including with leaving syncing on. (I currently have at least 5 collections w/ ~1,000 photos total that have not experienced any issues).  Other than rotating all of my photos 90 degrees for some reason, everything syncs perfectly as expected.

The problem I'm experiencing is in the Northbound.  If I start by importing into Classic, then add to a collection and sync that collection so I can edit on my iPad.  These  photos are then round tripped back to into Classic as a duplicate photo - even though they started there in the first place.

[DdeGannes · Accepted solution]

Sorry but I do not know why you are experiencing that, just a few thoughts lets say the folder that the files were saved to in Classic is X and then you moved them to Y, check and see if have copies in both folders?

Are the original files still in your iPad and in the Cloud storage? 

[Theresa J · Accepted solution]

What your describing doesn't make sense. When you sync smart previews up to the cloud there is no round tripping. It sounds like you are syncing images that already have full res photos in the cloud. Can you post a screen capture of your library panel showing the folders on the left side and the duplicates?

[cjm50120363 · Accepted solution]

Hi Both,

I think I've solved it - and unsurprisingly likely user error.   After going through all of my lightroom mobile photos today, this seems to be isolated to 2 projects, both from 2012 that were shot in JPG not DNG, so I think somewhere between that sync & lightroom importing from my iPhone camera roll they got duplicated.  I've also had Lightroom since the death of Aperture, but have moved between multiple computers, one of which died, so I've had to ressurrect my Catalog backups before - so possible it lost those particular photos in there somewhere.

Either way it's isolated to those photos and the other photos seem to be fine. 

Thanks so much for all the help!

[Theresa J]

Thanks for letting us know. It sounds like you have a good handle on it, and understand how it is supposed to work. It is confusing for most everyone.