Upgrade from Lightroom 5 to Lightroom Classic... was actually a major downgrade

[Candace Kennedy]

Hello all,

I'm new to the forum, and sincerely apologize if I am posting about something that may have no place here. But I've recently had to "upgrade" from Lightroom 5 (a beloved program... its speed, efficiency, and overall performance was fantastic; I only begrudgingly changed to LR Classic when the LR5 export regularly began dropping files and would require constant restarts of my computer) and it has completely wrecked my workflow. 

LR Classic is unbearably slow. Images seem to "preload" strangely, and when I try and preview certain images in the print option to check continuity of color across a variety of images shot on different cameras, they won't load properly over there either. The only time they seem to settle into me viewing an image high res is when I full screen the image. The removal of changing settings (ie, exposure) by specific increments on the sliders (it used to jump by .10 when I was set on a specific #) now to a random number means having to type the #'s in, also making things considerably slower. The application of previews that were my failsafes before, now make images look like garbage. It makes no sense. Editing used to be intuitive, and now it is purely a struggle. So many little things that may not bother most people, but makes it feel as though I was once a surgeon with a proper toolbox, who has since been handed random blunt objects and asked to do the same job just as fast. It's impossible. 

I cannot go back to 5 with the export being as tempermental as it is, but LR Classic has sucked the will to edit clean out of me. And with thousands more images to process - and this is my SLOW season - I question what the future of editing with Adobe looks like. How is it that upgrading a program means a considerable downgrade in work speed/performance? It's a huge blow - to be spending a longer amount of time, only to be creating a much less pleasing edit. 

If anyone has any Classic tips to fix some of these issues, please pass them along. Or, recommendations for programs entirely outside of Adobe's scope. I can't continue to conduct business this way. 

[dj_paige]

Let's start with specifics. Please state the exact version NUMBER of your Lightroom and your operating system. Go to Help->System Info and report the version NUMBER of Lightroom and the version NUMBER of your operating system shown there. (Do not copy and paste the entire Help->System info, we just need two pieces of information, not the whole thing). 

I suspect you are not using Lightroom Classic at all. I suspect you are using the confusingly named software Lightroom, which is not Lightroom Classic, and which is cloud-based.

Otherwise, I have to say I'm pretty mystified by your comments.

LR Classic is unbearably slow.

What specific actions in Lightroom Classic are slow? Have you turned off the synchrozing with the cloud? Have you turned off the face detection?

Images seem to "preload" strangely

Define "strangely"

The removal of changing settings (ie, exposure) by specific increments on the sliders (it used to jump by .10 when I was set on a specific #) now to a random number

I am not experiencing this at all in my Lightroom Classic. I get a 0.1 increment in exposure when I press + or –.

Editing used to be intuitive, and now it is purely a struggle.

Editing in Version 5 and Lightroom Classic is the same; except that there are of course new sliders and other new features.

[Candace Kennedy]

Can't tell you how much I appreciate the response! Here goes: 

I suspect you are not using Lightroom Classic at all. I suspect you are using the confusingly named software Lightroom, which is not Lightroom Classic, and which is cloud-based.

- I'm using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic (Lightroom Classic version: 9.2 [ 202001311240-2d026470 ]), and Operating system: Mac OS 10.

LR Classic is unbearably slow.

- Loading from image to image. Cloning (although I read on a forum that if you clone PRIOR to applying a preset, this is quicker. I've been doing my best to do this, but there's still circumstances where something has been spotted at the end of processing an image and the removal of it has quite the delay). Takes a long time for the brush to actually attach and for me to continue defringing, etc. 

Images seem to "preload" strangely

- It's as though it's showing me a compressed, not full quality version of the image. When it finally "settles" after a number of seconds there still seems to be noise that is NOT visible in Lightroom 5. I toggle between the two since updating to check my work/see if I'm crazy or if its really happening and I can verify the old program does not have this issue. 

The removal of changing settings (ie, exposure) by specific increments on the sliders (it used to jump by .10 when I was set on a specific #) now to a random number

Your answer: I am not experiencing this at all in my Lightroom Classic. I get a 0.1 increment in exposure when I press + or –.

- I edit with a tablet, and when I used to hold down and press and slide backwards/forward to adjust the exposure, it would stay in this increment. It does not do that any more, it just randomly settles. 

Editing used to be intuitive, and now it is purely a struggle.

Editing in Version 5 and Lightroom Classic is the same; except that there are of course new sliders and other new features.

- I wish I could agree! But LR Classic constantly seems like its delayed and causing my computer to work incredibly hard, and I've never had this problem. The fans turn on bust for simple adjustments (brushing, cloning, loading) when again, LR5 did not cause these sort of actions. Again, when I head back over to LR5 just to see if I'm losing my mind or if the files I'm working on are truly that difficult, they are always far easier to process in the old version. The new program is easily doubling how long its taking me to edit, and at the end of my time on the computer, I'm still not at all happy with my work like before. But we're operating on two Canon 5DMarkIII's, with an upgrade to the IV soon - or, will wait for the new release, and I understand LR5 won't operate with those camera profiles at all. 

I've chatted with other professionals in my area and they too have reported these issues. One has gone so far as to cancel their Adobe subscription and move onto Capture One. This is not something I want to do, but again, am so concerned about the excess amount of time it is taking me to process images and the difficulty associated with it.

[dj_paige]

Depending on a number of factors, brushing and cloning can be very slow. If you have a monitor this is smaller than 4K, turn off the GPU acceleration. Preferences->Performance->Use Graphics Processor should be set to OFF. If you have a 4K or larger monitor, you might want to try that as well, but this will cause other things to slow down.

Also, make sure synchronizing with Lightroom, address lookup and face detection are Paused

Images loading slowly ... Are you referring to Library Module or Develop Module? If the Library Module, do you have 1:1 previews created? This is set in the Import dialog box.

Fans turning on — yes, Adobe changed algorithms to use more of the CPU, so many actions should be faster; but using more the CPU causes more heat, which causes fans to run.

I can't comment on problems using a tablet.

[Candace Kennedy]

Have turned the GPU acceleration off (what does this actually do when left on? and what should it mean when turned off?)

Cannot find where to disable address lookup and face detection. 

I also don't understand what is meant by 1:1 previews. Both are slow - the library, and the develop. 

[dj_paige]

GPU acceleration, as the name implies, accelerates some actions, but other actions such as brushing and spot healing (unfortunately) are slowed down by this.

Address lookup and face detection are under the Lr logo (or customized logo) at the top left of the Lightroom Classic window. Click on it, a menu drops down.

[erikh93664650]

Have turned the GPU acceleration off (what does this actually do when left on? and what should it mean when turned off?)

When "on" it pushes internal load from your CPU to the built in processor in your video card, if you have one; the performance and results will vary depending on complex things like the task involved; the speed of your CPU; and the power (relative to your CPU) of the graphics card. If you have a $100 processor and a $1000 card, use the card.  If you have a $1000 processor and a $100 card, use the processor.  If you're in between, the summary of advice is "try and see."

Both are slow - the library....

Library first.  When you move around in Library you are looking at small jpeg images of the underlying raw photos.  Those are your "standard previews" which come in different sizes.  If you "render standard previews" at the size which is displayed when moving around in your Library (which may vary by monitor size; see my other post) then those small images will be pre-stored in lightroom.  Then your  Library images should load super fast.

I also don't understand what is meant by 1:1 previews.

A 1:1 preview is just a "full size, full resolution" preview; that's what 1:1 means (1 pixel in the preview for every pixel in the image, unlike the smaller previews in Library or any other smaller stuff you may work with elewhere.)  When you work in Develop you may NOT be viewing a non-full-resolution image, most of the time; I almost never do. If so, you may sometimes want to "zoom in" and see the image at 1:1 resolution--which may well be bigger than your monitor can displays.

And when you DO want to see things at 1:1, you will either have to wait for Lightroom to build a 1:1 preview from the raw file.... or you can "pre-render" those previews to save load time.  This would also apply if you're switching between full-resolution, a.k.a "1:1", images. Loading a pre-built image is much faster than generating it from scratch.

However, 1:1 previews take a lot of space, so there's a setting to automatically trash them after a certain # of days.

[erikh93664650]

No: the 1:1 previews only make things faster when you are looking at a 1:1 display of the photo. 

If you're in Develop and want to open an image at full resolution, 1:1 will speed it up.  If you somehow had Library set up to display full-resolution 1:1 images while previewing (does anyone do that?) then it's possible 1:1 will speed it up but I'm not sure, as I thought those only worked in Develop.  But a 1:0 preview will not make Library generally faster as it's useless for a non-1:1 display.

If you want the Library previews to load lightning-fast, you need to build previews at the size used by the Library display.  Just choose the appropriate preview size in Catalog settings, and then select Build Standard Previews. There are only a few options.  For me, on my 1920x1080 monitor, the ideal size was a 1024-pixel preview.

[DdeGannes]

@ erikh Previews are used while you browse in the Library Module, so yes if you need to view / browse images at 1:1 then building them at import will speed up the process. Viewing at 1:1 is particularly important when assessing noise reduction and sharpening.

Lightroom also shares a Camera Raw cache with Adobe Camera Raw plugin for Photoshop this builds cache files that assist with the rendering of Raw files when being edited in the Develop Module, while you are editing in the Develop Module you will experience a short wait while the rendering takes place and the change is in display

[GoldingD]

1 An article, slightly dated on GPU acceleration

https://photographylife.com/gpu-acceleration-in-lightroom

If you have a display with a resolution less than 4K, sometimes having this on causes failures

If you do not have a 4K or beyond, this might not accomplish measurable improvements

[GoldingD]

2. Pause Face Detection, Pause Address Lookup

Both of these can slow Lightroom Classic down, as they can be very busy, even if not accomplishing much.

First screenshot in the following link shows where to find these two, oh, and a general sync to pause.

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic/make-face-detection-go-away/td-p/9964159?page=1

[GoldingD]

3. Previews

see

https://digital-photography-school.com/6-types-lightroom-previews/