How to migrate a Lightroom 4 catalog to Lightroom 7 having a Lightroom 1TB plan

[Raffaella I.]

Lightroom 7 cannot migrate my Lightroom 4 catalog. Lightroom 6.5 is the oldest version that I could install on my Mac but it also cannot migrate the catalog. I would like to make a try using Lightroom Classic. I have a Lightroom 1TB plan that does not include Lightroom Classic. What happens to my plan if I install the free version of Lightroom Classic which includes 20GB and Lightroom again? Or does anybody have other ideas how to migrate the Lightroom 4 catalog to Lightroom 7? I was not successful with my searches for solutions on the Internet. However, I'm not a computer expert.

[Rob_Cullen · Accepted solution]

The Help file does not give information about your situation. Legacy Lr4 > Lr-Desktop v7.

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-cc/using/migrate-to-lightroom-cc.html

I  suggest you first open your Lr4 catalog with Lr4 and write metadata to ALL your files. This might, at least, preserve the last edited state as XMP sidecar files- This TBMK would allow importing to a Lr-Desktop catalog with those edits. (you will lose Collections, VIrtual copies, History of edits, and a few other items.)

I believe the work-around in summary is this-

1) Install Lightroom-CLASSIC as a free Trial. NOTE: Trial is only available for 7-days! and you can only use it once!

2) Upgrade your Lr4 Catalog to a v13.3.1 catalog when you open it in Lr-Classic.

3) In Lr-Classic 'Migrate' the upgraded v13 catalog to Lr-Desktop/Mobile v7.3.

Be prepared in advance to Upgrade the Catalog and Migrate the catalog ASAP after installing Lr-Classic-  Don't trust that you will get all 7-days of the Trial.

[Raffaella I.]

Many thanks for the instructions Rob! Unfortunately, Lr4 throws an exception "EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV)" when I start it on my Mac, thus I need to skip writing metadata. I'll try the other steps when I'm sure to complete the task within the 7 days and hoping that it will not interfere with my current plan 😉 Otherwise I will profit from the offer from Victoria 😉

[Rob_Cullen]

Keep us posted of your results. 'Success' needs to be shared.

[Raffaella I.]

Dear Rob, I have successfully executed steps 1 (install free version of Lr-Classic) and 2 (upgrade the catalog to version 13). I cannot see how to migrate the catalog as per step 3. I would now simply reinstall Lr-Desktop and open the migrated catalog from there. Please let me know if I miss anything.

[Rob_Cullen]

"I would now simply reinstall Lr-Desktop and open the migrated catalog from there."

Sounds correct.  That is Lightroom-Desktop v7.3 (Cloud version)   (NOT the old Lr4)

A link that contains instructions-

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/migrate-from-classic-to-lightroom-cloud/

• Quit Lightroom Classic .... and open Lightroom.
• In Lightroom, select File menu > Migrate Lightroom Catalog.
• In the information dialog that appears, click Continue.
  

And the Adobe Help file on the topic-

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-cc/using/migrate-to-lightroom-cc.html

[Raffaella I.]

Dear Rob, my problem is solved and synchronization with the cloud is ongoing. Many thanks for the support!

Note for the future: When you subscribe to the free version of LrC and you already have a paid plan like Lr 1TB, you will find a second plan (e.g. LrC 20GB) in your Adobe account on the Internet. Remember to cancel the subscription within the trial period (7 days) to not be charged for the second plan. The original plan is seemly not impacted at all.

[Victoria Bampton LR Queen]

If you can't run the trial, zip up the LR4 catalog and send it to me, and I don't mind upgrading it for you. 

[Raffaella I.]

Many thanks for the kind offer Victoria! In the meanwhile I was able to migrate the catalog using the trial version of LrC.

[Rob_Cullen]

Thanks for the feedback. It makes me more confident in my forum suggestions.

And thanks to Victoria for the offer.

[Victoria Bampton LR Queen]

Excellent news, thanks for the update