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cpgilles
Inspiring
April 19, 2021
Answered

Syncing from Lightroom Classic to cloud & resolution problems with cropped photos.

  • April 19, 2021
  • 3 replies
  • 4271 views

I do all my editing in Lightroom Classic and then sync some photos to the cloud to share with others.  Recently I synced some highly cropped photos and the resolution when viewing on the cloud web browser is terrible.  It looks great in LR classic.  I assume it has something to do with the fact that only smart previews are synced and highly cropped photos don't have enough data to view properly.  The resolution is also bad viewing in Lightroom since only the smart previews are downloaded.  All my other photos look great.  It is only the highly cropped photos that look bad.  This makes sharing my photos this way totally useless.  Even the cropped photos look great in Google Photos.  Is there a way to upload better resolution photos to the cloud using LR Classic?  I have searched but can not find a setting.  I would like to be able to use this feature to share photos with others. - Thanks

 

Correct answer johnrellis

[This post contains formatting and embedded images that don't appear in email. View the post in your Web browser.]

 

Your assumption is correct: This is the result of LR Classic sync using smart previews that are 2560 pixels wide.  

 

Let's work through an example: Start with a photo 8176 pixels wide, and crop it to 1192 wide.  Sync that to LR Cloudy.  The sync creates a smart preview for the original raw that's 2560 pixels wide, including crop instructions that produce the same relative-sized crop.   So a crop that is 1192 / 8176 = 0.1458 of the original width will be 0.1458 of the the smart preview's width, or 0.1458 * 2560 = 373 pixels, or about 1/3 the number of pixels of the original cropped photo.

 

The workaround is to export the the cropped photo from LR Classic as a JPEG back into the LR catalog. Then sync the JPEG with LR Cloudy.

 

Here's how to export a photo back into the catalog:

 

 

3 replies

JP Hess
JP Hess
Inspiring
April 20, 2021

Although Adobe "recommends" that LrC and Lightroom not be used on the same computer, that doesn't mean it can't be done in order that it shouldn't be done. In my opinion it just means that the user needs to be aware of what they are doing. I use both, and have no problem doing so. I haven't migrated a catalog and don't intend to do so. If you are careful and are aware of what you are doing, it IS possible to use both versions on the same computer.

    ChristianNC
    ChristianNC
    Participant
    April 20, 2021

    I'll open with a first caveat that Adobe does not recommend using Lr and LrC together. I'll open with a second caveat that this workaround works. Clearly workarounds are not reliable workflow, but bridging the LrC <-> Cloud is something many are trying to achieve. Would love some insight on why this works.

     

    1. Create cloud synced Collection in LrC, wait for cloud sync icon in upper right to finish from blue spinner to green check mark
    2. Jump over to Lr and confirm the Classic collection appears in your Lr Album list
    3. Back to Classic, right-click on image and "Show in Finder"
    4. Drag original image from Finder into Lightroom (*not* classic) Albums list where your classic collection is listed. This will update the Album original to full size, and not create a duplicate (woohoo!). It will consume cloud storage, but you get full rez.

     

    Can you attempt this techique to see if it works? I just ran these exact steps with an tightly cropped image in LrC and it worked great all the way through to https://lightroom.adobe.com preview

     

    I dearly wish they simply had a "Sync Full Resolution" option for each LrC collections you wish to send up, and they simply consume quota. Seems a fair trade and the whole idea for a cloud usage.

      C
      cpgillesAuthor
      Inspiring
      April 20, 2021

      I would second the idea of giving us the option to sync a higher resolution image either by collection or individual image.Thanks for all these suggestions but I think I will just use a different cloud storage solution that I can share.  I wish I did not have to.  Syncing in LR classic is the best solution but I now know I cannot sync highly cropped images.

        johnrellis
        johnrellis
        Legend
        April 20, 2021

        Please add your constructive opinion to this popular feature request:
        https://feedback.photoshop.com/conversations/lightroom-classic/lightroom-classic-should-be-able-to-sync-full-raw-files-to-the-cloud-not-just-smart-previews/5f5f45df4b561a3d426443a6

        and be sure to click Like and Follow at the bottom of the first post. Product developers rarely participate in this forum and won't see your feedback.

         

        Adobe explicitly stated several years ago they wouldn't be further enhancing sync between LR Classic and LR Cloudy.  But if enough people express constructive opinions and vote for that feature request, it's possible that they might change their minds.  Pigs do fly sometimes.

          johnrellis
          johnrellisCorrect answer
          Legend
          April 20, 2021

          [This post contains formatting and embedded images that don't appear in email. View the post in your Web browser.]

           

          Your assumption is correct: This is the result of LR Classic sync using smart previews that are 2560 pixels wide.  

           

          Let's work through an example: Start with a photo 8176 pixels wide, and crop it to 1192 wide.  Sync that to LR Cloudy.  The sync creates a smart preview for the original raw that's 2560 pixels wide, including crop instructions that produce the same relative-sized crop.   So a crop that is 1192 / 8176 = 0.1458 of the original width will be 0.1458 of the the smart preview's width, or 0.1458 * 2560 = 373 pixels, or about 1/3 the number of pixels of the original cropped photo.

           

          The workaround is to export the the cropped photo from LR Classic as a JPEG back into the LR catalog. Then sync the JPEG with LR Cloudy.

           

          Here's how to export a photo back into the catalog:

           

           

            C
            cpgillesAuthor
            Inspiring
            April 20, 2021

            Thank you for this detailed response.  I assumed that was the issue but I wanted to confirm.  Your data example proved it. 

             

            One of the things I love about the ability to sync collections to the Adobe cloud is to share my pictures with selected people.  The beauty is that if I make and changes to the image the changes are automatically synced and people can see the updated photo.  I would think Professional photographers would love this feature to share photos after a shoot.  However this limitation is a major problem because they would see bad looking photos if they have a high crop factor.  After seeing what I synced I refused to share the collection and instead used Google Photo that shows a quality image.  Your workaround will work but it is extra work and if you make any changes you have to go through the procedure again.   If I had a wish list I would like to see Adobe automatically sync a higher quality image if the crop factor would make for a low resolution image.  After all they call this a "Smart Preview".  But I am guessing it is not as easy as it sounds.  I guess I will just have to settle to for a different photo sharing application.

             

            THanks again for your response.

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