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154

P: Lightroom Ecosystem: Selective Sync

LEGEND ,
Oct 19, 2017 Oct 19, 2017

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I'm not a professional and have only used Lightroom for less than a year. I do love the redesign and I want to use it but I don't like the auto-sync. How hard would it be to implement an option that prevents auto sync and instead enables manual sync? 

My idea is to add a manual sync option in the settings and when you want a photo to be uploaded to the cloud you should be able to click on the cloud button and hit "Sync" or "Upload". Taking away people's ability to choose doesn't just scare away the pros but also the beginners. 
Also, some advanced features from the original Lightroom need to be added. One of them is the export function. The new export function is terrible. I only see "Small, Full Size, and Custom". The original Lightroom has a lot more export functions.

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correct answers 1 Pinned Reply

Adobe Employee , Oct 10, 2023 Oct 10, 2023

Selective Sync (by keeping select items local) was released in the Local Storage Feature today on Lightroom Desktop. 

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New Here ,
Jun 29, 2020 Jun 29, 2020

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Thanks Victoria, this is a good suggestion when working with a single, or small number of images. However I am still hopeful the developers can recognise the need to download/sync a defined selection of many images to work on and use in the desktop application and modules.

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New Here ,
Aug 02, 2020 Aug 02, 2020

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Not being able to selectively sync or choose a sync priority is :hundred_points: a reason to move away from LR.  

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LEGEND ,
Oct 01, 2020 Oct 01, 2020

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I would like to be able to choose certain albums and folders to "Not Sync".  Letting them just be stored locally and not on the cloud.  Similar to drop box "smart sync" function. This would allow me to use LR for my entire workflow. 

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LEGEND ,
Oct 02, 2020 Oct 02, 2020

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Anyone know a way to have certain things not sync to the cloud?

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LEGEND ,
Oct 04, 2020 Oct 04, 2020

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Currently it is a very bad idea to implement a selective sync, because you are in big trouble when you lost your local app or the mobile device, like it happen recently after a buggy LR mobile update. 

Adobe need to implement a foolproof method in LR Cloud/Mobile to have all originals AND edits stored locally inclusive a backup. On mobile devices this is an issue because a separation of app and data is not existing and a selective restore is not existing as well, which Adobe cannot easily change. On a PC or Mac it is possible for Adobe to implement it, but there are a lot of users with mobile devices only. When traveling you do not have this desktop backup anyway. 

And what happen when you loose your mobile device or destroy it, without synced pictures?

 

For professionals it would be a better idea to implement a real two way sync including ALL meta data in LR Classic. When you add pictures in LR Classic on a desktop you can select the pictures for sync and when you add pictures on your mobile these pictures are automatically synced until you are back on your desktop and change the sync flag, after your backup has finished.

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LEGEND ,
Oct 07, 2020 Oct 07, 2020

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I only infrequently edit images taken on a mobile device using LightRoom desktop, and rarely if ever sync images from desktop to edit using the inferior controls and colour accuracy of my mobile. It makes no sense to have to sync every image to Adobe when all I want is one or two images at a time. Most people use other cloud storage and backup services to backup photos because Adobe's storage limit is tiny compared to the bundled huge storage limits of Microsoft and Google, and we don't want our professional image libraries cluttered with pictures of our pet duck. It makes no sense to duplicate the functionality of these better apps, particularly given how little control there is, and how dumb the features of lightroom's file organisation is comparatively. Even if it just synced library data and metadata and left the file management to us, that would be an improvement.

Selective sync on mobile is being requested for valid reasons, because it fits our use case.

Users should have choice, not be treated like idiots.

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Community Beginner ,
Oct 08, 2020 Oct 08, 2020

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There needs to be a way to archive or otherwise offline albums/photos to free up cloud space easily. Right now there is no good answer other than exporting everything, installing Lightroom “classic,” and managing it all there which makes Lightroom CC just a glorified Dropbox.

 

Especially  when you consider that I’m paying $30+ dollars a month for the apps that I use for personal projects, but don’t make money from, and the only upgrade options I found was to pay an extra $30 a month for 2TB of cloud storage (which is pretty steep - even Apple only charges $10 a month for that)

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Community Beginner ,
Nov 09, 2020 Nov 09, 2020

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Using an imac, Some pictures are useful when they are uploaded to the cloud so that I can access them on all devices. But, some picture I just soley want to use on my desktop. Is it possible to select which ones can be uploaded?

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LEGEND ,
Nov 09, 2020 Nov 09, 2020

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That is sort of a loaded question and the answer is, "It depends." It depends on which version of Lightroom you are using, and it depends on whether or not it is essential that you have the full-sized image in the cloud.

 

If you are using Lightroom Classic, then you choose which images are shared to the cloud. The images you want to share are placed in collections and the collection is shared. That's the good news. However, the full-sized image is not shared. It is a smart preview. It's big enough to adequately see and be shared, about 2500 pixels on the long side. It can be edited on mobile devices and the edits performed on those smart previews will affect the master images in Lightroom Classic.

 

If you are using Lightroom, the cloud version, then ALL images go directly to the cloud. No choice, that is where everything goes. But the full-sized images are there. So the question to you is, what are your intentions? What do you need, and how do you plan to use your online images? Are you fully aware of the differences in the features between the two programs?

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Community Beginner ,
Dec 14, 2020 Dec 14, 2020

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I want to delete all my cloud files and keep only the files on a local storage drive. Is this even possible or does Adobe force you to use their cloud services? I dont need to be able to access the photos from anywhere. I just want to use the product as a photo editing tool and keep all the photos locally stored. 

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Community Expert ,
Dec 15, 2020 Dec 15, 2020

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Lightroom Classic works with local files. That's the original version of Lightroom, before Adobe renamed it to Classic and took the plain name "Lightroom" and gave it to the new cloud only new app. Lightroom Classic is what I (and many photographers) use.


— Adobe Certified Expert & Instructor at Noble Desktop | Web Developer, Designer, InDesign Scriptor

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New Here ,
Dec 20, 2020 Dec 20, 2020

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Would agree with this. I only want recent and/or what I am working on in the cloud. It would be a great feature to be able to make rules on what goes to the cloud. I have a NAS and see no need to have massavie storage in the cloud. Only want what I am currently working on there. 

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LEGEND ,
Jan 29, 2021 Jan 29, 2021

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Please please please can we have selective sync for Lightroom CC on my mobile. I don't want to post process many of the photos on my phone in Lightroom but there are a few. To do that, I don't want to sync all the photos on my camera roll to Lightroom. 

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Adobe Employee ,
Jan 29, 2021 Jan 29, 2021

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This thread is being merged into an existing authoritative thread for better tracking and response. 

Rikk Flohr - Customer Advocacy: Adobe Photography Products

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Community Expert ,
Jan 30, 2021 Jan 30, 2021

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I'm not sure this selective sync topic is exactly what you're asking for *Steve64 . Could you clarify a little more... is it that you don't want to sync them to the cloud, or you simply want to pick and choose which camera roll photos get added to the Lightroom app for editing? The latter is already possible by turning off Auto Add in Preferences and adding selected photos manually.

______________________
The Lightroom Queen - Author of the Lightroom Missing FAQ & Edit Like a Pro books.

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LEGEND ,
Jan 30, 2021 Jan 30, 2021

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Thanks Victoria. Just what I wanted to know. All good now. Most grateful to you. 

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Community Beginner ,
Feb 09, 2021 Feb 09, 2021

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This is quite an old thread, and i think i've seen it somewhere else, but could not find any other.

I believe if Lightroom CC has the ability to store files locally, the "great migration" would finally happen, and Adobe could drop the horrible Lightroom Classic CC.

I would hope this is implemented in a way that you could easily define which photos/albums sync to the cloud and which don't, having the option to then delete that album from the cloud and keep it local.

This would allow the Lightroom CC to be fully appreciated in it's several mobile apps and avoid the storage of huge data in cloud servers. I mean, the workflow would be:

1. Import photos from hard drive to new album or previously created one.

2. Sync to the cloud (or not)

3. Edit (if you synced to the cloud, you could edit in the tablet, web or phone through your awesome apps)

4. Export to wherever

5. Un-sync the album

6. Delete cloud data from the album.

This would result in having your catalog organized in Lightroom CC, photos stored locally and everyone happy.

Designer & Web Developer

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New Here ,
Feb 09, 2021 Feb 09, 2021

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I have LR CC on my MBA and iPad, and only want to sync current or important folders/albums/photos to Adobe cloud & definitely don't want to pay for additional storage (have loads of backup storage on NAS and through Amazon Prime).

I can't see any way on either MBA or the iPad to choose what gets synced to the cloud. Can anyone help, please? Thanks.

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Community Expert ,
Feb 10, 2021 Feb 10, 2021

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There is no selective sync in Lightroom Mobile or Lightroom Desktop (Cloud Based)... everything syncs to the cloud.

 

If you need photos to be referenced outside of the Cloud then it's best to use Lightroom Classic and sync Collections from there, which do not count against Cloud space (although they are lower res Smart Previews).

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New Here ,
Feb 10, 2021 Feb 10, 2021

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OK - thanks for confirming that - I'll just ignore it then and manage offline access via NAS web and/or Amazon photos.

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Community Beginner ,
Feb 10, 2021 Feb 10, 2021

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I did not know this post existed.

I guess it's the same as this one:

https://feedback.photoshop.com/conversations/lightroom-desktop-cloudbased/lightroom-cc-ability-to-sp...

Although this has more upvotes.

I think this feature would allow for "the great migration" to happen, form Classic to CC. We already pay monthly for the software... If we don't need the Cloud, why should we have to buy it? Also, i'm sure Adobe doesn't really want to keep two softwares for the same thing... and one of them with old code. If they find a way to solve this, it's better for them as well.

With this, we could use Lightroom in all it's glory. The photos that you select to sync you can edit in your phone or tablet. The others stay in your local drive. I'd use it all the time, for a new session... send them all to the cloud, edit wherever and when i'm done, un-sync (and delete data from cloud -- important step).

Catalog would remain organized with all our photos and the cloud fature would be for editing on the go.

It would also be good if this was the default behaviour, or one could change in the settings to this being the default.

But this thread is already over 2 years old.... C'mon Adobe

Designer & Web Developer

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Participant ,
Feb 10, 2021 Feb 10, 2021

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This would be a huge benefit as people grow their libraries. Done in conjunction with the ability to save or archive photos to an external drive only (on both desktop and iPad versions!) would mean that we could make decisions such as  keep active projects synced to the cloud, and archive older projects to external storage exclusively. Or to choose to have some projects synced and others not. For those that aren't, a Smart Preview is still generated, but the original resides on the storage option of our choice.

This does lead to the question of syncing and prioritization. Lightroom should sync to the fastest source available:

Source Cloud Archive
Image is only stored in the cloud (eg. taken from a phone) Always saves to cloud unless added to an album set to archive. Save to archive if in an album set to archive, when archive drive becomes available.
Image set to cloud only Smart Preview and Original are saved to cloud catalog and storage. Nothing is saved to archive.
Image set to Archive Only Smart Preview is saved to the cloud catalog. Original is saved to archive. Edits made when drive is disconnected are saved to catalog and copied to archive drive when available. 
Image set to save to Cloud and Archive. Smart Preview and Original are synced to cloud. Changes made when offline are synced to cloud when internet access is available. Smart Preview and Original are synced to Archive. Changes made when offline are synced to cloud when drive is available.

I am certain there are other permutations and details I am neglecting, such as if an image is in two albums with conflicting settings (which I would argue should give a warning and allow the user to decide).

Nevertheless, this would be a basic outline of the options. This also gives people flexibility in the event they are either without their drive, or without internet (without either is just stored locally). 

IMPORTANT: This should work on the iPad as well! the iPad has gotten to the point where the hardware and OS can support such functionality and is growing in terms of popularity for content creation. I'd love to just take an iPad Pro with an SSD drive out in the field. 

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Community Beginner ,
Feb 10, 2021 Feb 10, 2021

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@michael_brodt

If smart previews were possible without taking up much cloud storage, this solution seems perfect.

Otherwise, we could just have Lightroom fetch either from archive (local storage) or cloud, so no smart previews on the cloud needed. Of course that i do not know the technical difficulty of this, but i would hope there is an option to allow the catalog to exist without touching the cloud at all. 

Designer & Web Developer

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New Here ,
Mar 28, 2021 Mar 28, 2021

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Please consider to be able to add photos in offline mode, without making a copy of them. I imported an album into the cloud, but I had to free up space. If I want to store the pictures and edits locally, I have to download the whole data, meanwhile it is already present on my computer, since I imported it from there. The LR Classic solution (add photos, store edits in a library file, sync with cloud ONLY IF NEEDED) is much more usable and straightforward

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Community Expert ,
Mar 29, 2021 Mar 29, 2021

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This thread is being merged into an authoritative thread for better tracking and response. 

______________________
The Lightroom Queen - Author of the Lightroom Missing FAQ & Edit Like a Pro books.

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