Keywords for mobile use

[thomasf99553506]

I want to be able to search a large collection of photos in Lightroom CC Mobile on my iPhone. I have spent years assigning keywords to my photos in Lightroom Classic CC. If I sync Lightroom CC to my desktop Lightroom Classic CC, will all my keywords pass through and be usable for me to search with on my iPhone?

[john beardsworth · Accepted solution]

The underlying problem is that Adobe decided not to sync keywords between LrClassic and the LRCC-branded apps.

However, keywords can be synchronized once from Classic - although this is more an accident than a workflow. Any later changes to keywords won't sync.

To send the keywords from Classic:

1. ensure the photos are not already synced
2. ensure they do not have smart previews  - Library > Previews > Delete Smart Previews
3. Metadata > Save Metadata to File
4. Sync the photos

[thomasf99553506]

Thank you very much. I must say that is a surprise and a huge disappointment.

[john beardsworth]

I agree - I expected better of Adobe.

Do add your voice to Lightroom: Keywords don't sync between CC and Classic, but don't expect them to change.

[thomasf99553506]

Thank you for that suggestion. I have done so. I never knew this was any kind of an issue before I tried to do it. Mystifying that Adobe doesn't see this as a basic requirement.

[ScanVT]

That option does not appear to work any longer with the latest version.  Here's what worked for me, it's not ideal but it's also a "one-time" solution, and now all of my metadata is available on my photos in Lightroom. This solution does not "sync", rather it "imports" the files. It works for me because I'm not going to edit or change the files,  I simply want to be able to pick up my phone, open LR, search for a photo, and find what I need.  It may not be the best solution for everyone, but I'd love feedback and any thoughts you have regarding this process.  Here are the basic steps I took:

• Open LR Classic and LR on your desktop.
• Remove all synched folders and files from both programs. Remove all synched  folders from LR Classic, go to LR Classic sync settings and click "Go to LR Web to proceed".  Delete all LR photos from your mobile device.
• Wait until all files have been deleted and everything has caught up.  This could take a while.
• Create a Collection in LR Classic with the photos that you want available in LR.
• Export the Collection as JPEGs into a separate file on your computer.  This will make any large TIF files much smaller, so they'll take up less space in the cloud.
• When the export is complete, close LR Classic and open LR.  
• Navigate to the file location with your JPEG files.
• Drag and drop the files in LR.
• Wait for all syncing to finish - this could take DAYS if you have a large collection.
• I haven't done this yet, but when everything is synced and complete, I believe you can delete the JPEG files from your computer, and you can delete the Collection that you created if you wish. 
• My plan is to repeat the process occasionally with any new items to keep LR somewhat up-to-date.  I'm not going to bother with syncing any longer, because LR does not sync what's important to me.

[ScanVT]

I think I found a solution!!  The latest version of Lightroom Classic doesn't sync keywords even once anymore, and I tried everything I could think of to work around this huge problem.  After all, what is the use of having 50,000 images at your fingertips if you can't find what you're looking for?  Try this:  Open Lightroom Classic.  Open LR on your desktop as well.  Physically drag and drop images from Classic to LR.  Voila!  All your keywords will be there.  No, they don't sync, but that's ok with me.  Good luck!!

[Jim Wilde]

I think I found a solution!!  The latest version of Lightroom Classic doesn't sync keywords even once anymore, and I tried everything I could think of to work around this huge problem.  After all, what is the use of having 50,000 images at your fingertips if you can't find what you're looking for?  Try this:  Open Lightroom Classic.  Open LR on your desktop as well.  Physically drag and drop images from Classic to LR.  Voila!  All your keywords will be there.  No, they don't sync, but that's ok with me.  Good luck!!

By @ScanVT

The problem with that approach is that when using "drag and drop" into LrDesktop you are actually doing an Import, which means that you are putting originals into the cloud rather than the Smart Previews which LrC adds to the cloud when syncing directly. Consequently, each image that you add by "drag and drop" (or by standard Import) is then using up cloud storage space, and if you do that with all 50K images you're likely to need over 1TB of cloud space.

Also, you would still need to save metadata to XMP in LrC before importing into LrD in order to get the LrC-added keywords into the cloud.

And one more complication: if the image that you drag and drop into LrD from LrC is not already synced as a Smart Preview, when the "import" into LrD is complete a copy of that newly-added original is then downloaded back into LrC where it will appear as a new image in whatever download folder you have specified. So that would be in addition to the original image in LrC.

[ScanVT]

Yes, I'm seeing the effects of that as they are being imported.  I don't mind paying for more cloud space if that's what it takes to have the keywords, but I'm concerned about the newly-added original being downloaded and bloating my LrC with "duplicate" images.  Is there a way of managing that situation, so that they don't appear in my LrC files?  Thank you for your reply, it's really helpful!

[Jim Wilde]

The problem that I'm seeing now is an inconsistent result when using this drag and drop process.....in some of my tests the downloaded original replaced the existing original in LrC, which would be exactly what you want. But some other tests resulted in the downloaded original being added to the catalog, i.e. resulting in two copies of the same file in LrC, so NOT what you want.

In the second situation, I guess you could remove (and delete from disk) the original (unsynced) image, leaving the new downloaded original in its place. That can be messy, especially if the deleted copy had been added to multiple collections, and you'd have to be super careful when deleting files to make sure there was no mistake.

[Jim Wilde]

I'd also add that if the files that you drag and drop into LrD from LrC have already been synced to the cloud (so are Smart Previews only), the drag and drop process won't get the LrC-added keywords into the cloud. Yes, the drag and drop process will update the Smart Preview to full original, but LrD does not appear to read the XMP metadata in that scenario, thus the keywords are not added. 

To get the keywords into LrD the file in LrC must not be already synced.