Are LR Classic and CC truly compatible?

[robertw52942764]

I have used Lightroom for several years, just recently upgrading to the "Photographer Plan" with access to both Classic and CC.  Managing images (import/organize/delete) using a folder-based system has worked well and I prefer to stick to this system with a large volume of images.  It would be nice to be able to primarily operate in Classic yet enjoy the benefits of the "ecosystem" to view/edit/manage images as well as having the cloud back-up automatically sync.  The current learning materials do very little to address this.   Is it even possible?  If so, are there suggested workflows or image management strategy best practices?  Many questions...little solutions found.

[john beardsworth · Accepted solution]

Adobe do not recommend using both, and that should be understood as not suggesting you do so. It's not quite the same as saying "do not", and if you know what you are doing, you can using Lightroom Cloudy as an additional client application on your other Mac/PC, just like Lightroom iOS or Android on your phone.

You don't need it on the same system as your Classic catalogue, and there's little point doing so. Just keep it on the laptop, and avoid syncing keywords - Adobe failed to allow keywords to sync to Classic.

So treat Lightroom Cloudy as if it is simply Lightroom Mobile on your other computer.

[Jao vdL]

John is exactly right. Lightroom Cloudy is best understood as being a direct port of the mobile application to the desktop and if you treat it as such it works fine. If you import into it (or shoot using the camera on a mobile device), Classic will automatically download and add new files to its catalog. If you add images to sync in Classic, Classic will upload a smart preview for the image and you can edit this on mobile or the desktop Cloudy Lightroom and the edits will sync back and forth between Classic and Cloudy. Only caveats are that Cloudy has no concept of virtual copies so it will upload multiple copies if you sync virtual copies and as john notes, keywords do not sync. Furthermore, Classic can only upload smart previews. It will not upload full raw files. For most editing this is fine but it is a limitation you should know about. See here: Lightroom Classic: Should be able to Sync full raw files to the cloud, not just smart previews | Pho...

So it works but there are limitations.

[melissapiccone]

I was happily going along using both without any problems until recently. I use everything the same as JimHess... organized in Classic and LR saves everything to the cloud as a backup and automatically syncs my photos from my phone to classic.

All was well until... I chose this command in LR - DON'T DO THIS!!!

[JP Hess]

I haven't done that, and don't intend to. The way I see it, that kind of puts Lightroom in charge, and I'd rather leave Lightroom Classic in the driver's seat.

[JP Hess]

I totally agree with what has been said. However, I have the two versions installed on my desktop computer. But the only real value I have for Cloudy is to use it as a vehicle for when I take photos on my iPhone. I can use it to transfer the images "wirelessly" and seamlessly to Classic using Cloudy. I do very little else with it. Probably a foolish use for such a program. But it's a handy use in my situation.

[99jon]

Not foolish at all Jim. It’s a good way to get your originals straight from the phone into the cloud and down into Classic.

Adobe has stated that all future development of the eco system will be restricted to Lightroom; so don't expect any changes to Lightroom Classic.

[Randy Hufford]

Read this article. Great insight and a great solution for using cloud and traveling with a ipad.

https://nicolesyblog.com/2019/01/22/lr-cc-travel/

[robertw52942764]

Thank you all for your insight! I see the trend in the discussions favoring Classic as the "system of record" for image management and I fully understand why.  I saw the note that Adobe is putting their effort into CC and away from Classic, that was also stated by one of the tech support agents I talked to.  Unfortunate!

[john beardsworth]

robertw52942764  wrote

Thank you all for your insight! I see the trend in the discussions favoring Classic as the "system of record" for image management and I fully understand why.  I saw the note that Adobe is putting their effort into CC and away from Classic, that was also stated by one of the tech support agents I talked to.  Unfortunate!

But that "away" comment has to be balanced by pointing to significant effort going into Classic since Cloudy was first released. Some of that is the kind of under-the-hood work (performance, GPU) that is more for the longer term. However, I wouldn't have argued if you had said "marketing effort"!