Lightroom preview stuck in low-resolution for all photos

[Alton700]

While processing some photos the other day, the previews for all of them became pixelated and low-resolution. I'm unable to see the sharpness and focus of any image when I zoom in. I've noticed in the past that images last worked on at least a week ago become like this, but starting to edit them causes them to return to their true look/resolution. However, Lightroom has been stuck on this low-res preview no matter what I do. I can only see the true preview when using the Enhance/denoise feature. I've attached two images to show off this issue.

I've read that changes to image previews are related to performance, so I've tried a variety of fixes to try and resolve this issue: setting Lightroom to High Performance graphics in the Preferences menu, clearing out space on my computer, and running Support Assist to boost performance. None of these have helped. I recently hit 19,000 images in my Lightroom library, so perhaps this high volume of files in the library is the issue? If not, does anyone know why this preview issue has arisen and how I can resolve it?

[CMass]

Hey @Alton700,

This doesn't seem to be a bug, but is related to how Lightroom handles previews. Low-res or pixelated images usually happen because Lightroom shows Smart Previews or smaller previews by default, especially for older photos.

To fix this, try rebuilding your previews (Library > Previews > Build Standard or 1:1 Previews), enabling GPU acceleration in Preferences > Performance, and, if needed, clearing the preview cache and optimizing your catalog.

Since this is expected behavior, I’m moving the thread to Discussions for more community input. Thanks for understanding!

^CM

[Alton700]

GPU acceleration seems to already been enabled. Under Preferences>Performance, it says that my system automatically supports full acceleration. Preferences>Cache says I've used up 30.9GB out of 302.6GB of available cache space (22.7GB for photos), so I'm not sure cache is the problem, although I'll try and see if clearing it helps. 

Where is Library>Previews? I can't find anything that says "Library" under the File, Edit, Photo, or View tabs. 

[Sameer K]

Does this happen with a specific set of images? Are these images edited, or specifically speaking, cropped?  

If these images are indeed cropped, it could be related to the issue being investigated here: https://adobe.ly/4dJ9tpW...

Awaiting your response. Thanks! 

Sameer K

(Type '@' and type my name to mention me when you reply)

[Alton700]

@Sameer K The post you linked exhibits a very similar issue as to what I'm seeing. While the pixelation isn't quite as severe (as seen in my example screenshots), it does happen with all old and newly imported images, regardless if they're edited/cropped or not. Editing an image does not change the pixelated preview. 

I am still able to process my pics (CR3 format from the Canon EOS R5) in spite of this issue. Color modification features, sharpening, masking, cropping, and AI denoising still work as normal. However, I'm unable to see the "true" version of my image with its sharpness/focus unless I either 1.) look at it through the Enhance popup window, or 2.) export it as a JPG. Exports are unaffected by this issue. Not being able to view the sharpness and focus of my pics in Lightroom has made it more difficult to process those that I couldn't be sure if I nailed the focus on while reviewing on the back of my camera. 

[Alton700]

Where can I find "Library > Previews"? I do not see a section in Lightroom labeled "Library" anywhere, I've looked numerous times. Is it something only available in Lightroom Classic? I'm using regular Lightroom.

[Sameer K]

Thanks for the updates. Yes, Library > Previews is for Lightroom Classic only. You can try this in Lightroom:

Go to Edit > Preferences > Performance > Change 'Use graphics processor' to Cusome & disable GPU usage for Display.

 

Let me know if this helps. Thanks!

Sameer K

(Type '@' and type my name to mention me when you reply)