Move original files from LR (cloud) to LRC (PC), and then sync with LR

[alex hmbr]

Hello,

I have a Lightroom CC 10GB plan, so have Lightroom Classic on my PC and Lightroom Cloudy on my PC, phone and tablet. 

Typically, I upload into LR Cloudy from my phone (mobile phone photos) or from my tablet (DSLR images). 

I use albums to organise in LR Cloudy, not folders. 

I typically edit in LR Cloudy on my tablet. 

LR Cloudy syncs with LR Classic on my PC, and bungs all the images in one folder called ‘Lightroom Synced Images’. Which is a bit annoying they aren’t sorted like albums on Cloudy, but anyway. 

Main issue - my 10GB on LR Cloudy is filling up.  

What I think I need to do, is:

1. Move edited images off of LR Cloudy and into a sensible folder structure on my PC with that then being where the original files are to be located.
2. Have those images in LR Classic.
3. Sync those images with LR Cloudy (thus not eating into the 10GB limit). 

I’ve searched around on the help on here but can’t seem to figure it all out. 

Can anyone please help?

Cheers, 

Alex 

[KostFan2]

• Turn off syncing:
• Lightroom downloader:
  Use lightroom downloader to download all content for your account to your computer
  Go to this web site: https://lightroom.adobe.com/lightroom-downloader
  See this article: https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-cc/kb/download-lightroom-photos.html
  It specifies that your original files from lightroom.adobe.com will be downloaded and any original files that were on your computer and synced with Lightroom (Cloud) will download as DNG smart previews.
  I believe the will be in date created order but am not sure
• Folders:
  Move the files into folders onto out Computer. You can create a folder structure that mirrored your Album structure on the cloud. 
• Collections:
  Create a collection structure that mirrors your folder structure.  Select Sync with Lightroom mobile for each collection.
• Populate the collections by making each collection a “Target” collection, selecting the contents of the folder (“Control + A”) and using the “B” key.
• Turn on Sync: Grab a nice dinner or let the sync run overnight.

[JohanElzenga]

There is no reason to use the Downloader app, because the images are already synced with Lightroom Classic if I understand the OP correctly. To remove images from the cloud and keep them in Lightroom Classic, all you have to do is remove them from the ''All Synced Photographs' collection in Lightroom Classic.

If you want to keep them in the cloud as smart previews, then add them to a synced collection again. Because removing the images from 'All Synced Photographs' will also remove them from other synced collections (and thus from albums in Lightroom), temporarily disable sync of these collections if you want to keep these albums. After the images have been removed from the cloud, enable sync again (this will automatically add them to 'All Synced Photographs' as well).

[alex hmbr]

Thanks @JohanElzenga  I've had a go at moving from 'All synced photographs' and I can move the orginal cloud images into Windows folderland on my PC no problem. But when I then sync these to a collection I was hoping it would transition the images from being orginals in the cloud to smart previews for LR Classic, but they remain as cloud originals. Any ideas? I can delete the cloud images but then I have to distribute images back amonst varios collections and albums etc. Cheers

[JohanElzenga]

You can't 'transition' from original to smart preview. You will have to let Lightroom Classic remove the originals from the cloud, and then sync them again (as smart previews). I already explained what to do if you want to do this but keep them in their Lightroom cloud albums. What you do in that case is remove the albums and then recreate them when you sync up the smart previews. The only thing you will have to do manually again is rearrange those albums into folders (if you used album folders in Lightroom). 

[Jim Wilde]

Main issue - my 10GB on LR Cloudy is filling up.  

What I think I need to do, is:

1. Move edited images off of LR Cloudy and into a sensible folder structure on my PC with that then being where the original files are to be located.
2. Have those images in LR Classic.
3. Sync those images with LR Cloudy (thus not eating into the 10GB limit). 

By @alex hmbr

The typical workflow for those users that only have the 20GB cloud storage allowance that's provided with the basic Photography Plan subscription would be to:

1. In LrC, wait until the newly added images (i.e. added to the Cloud from one of your Lightroom apps) arrive in LrC.

2. Once in LrC, put them into a new collection which is NOT enabled to sync.

3. Select all the images in that collection, then click on the All Synced Photographs special collection (in the Catalog panel) to open it. Then right-click on any one of the still-selected photos and choose "Remove from All Synced Photographs".

4. Those images will be removed from All Synced Photographs, and will thus automatically be removed from the cloud (but are retained in LrC), thus freeing up the cloud storage space.

5. Optionally, enable the collection created in 2 to sync, which will upload Smart Previews of all the contained images to the cloud, creating a matching album in the process. Crucially, those Smart Previews do NOT count against the 20GB cloud allowance. 

A couple of other things to note:

a) You can move the images from the existing one folder to any other folder/sub-folder using the Folders panel in LrC's Library module.

b) Furthermore, you don't have to have the downloads all bunged into one folder. Use the option on the LrC Preferences>Lightroom Sync tab to specify your own target folder, and you also have another option to have them stored into date-based sub-folders rather that havinmg them all in one folder.

[alex hmbr]

Many thanks for the replies!

@JohanElzenga @Jim Wilde  I've given it a go like you have both described but perhaps a more cautious manual way! I used the 'Lightroom Synced Images' folder rather than the 'All synced photographs' folder (didn't actually spot this til afterwards). What is the difference between these folders? 'Lightroom Synced Images’ folder is physically on your hard disk and shows under the left hand ‘Folders’ pane, and the ‘All synced photographs’ folder is under the ‘Catalog’ pane? In mine there is a different quantity of images?

What I did was:

1. On LR Classic, make a new folder in local disk tree where required on the hard drive.
2. Navigate to the Lightroom Synced Images folder.
3. Find and manually select the photos to be moved from Cloudy to Classic and drag them up to the folder in the Folders pane.
4. Delete the album and actual photos on LR Cloudy.
5. Drag the LR Classic folder made in the folder section down to Collections pane under ‘From Lightroom’ and the folder appears there.
6. On that folder, click the double pointed arrow thing to sync with LR Cloudy.
   Photos now appear in LR Cloudy as an album as smart preview.

I imagine it will get very complicated if you want to add more photos to the album at a later date. Seems like something you do once only when all the photos that could or will be in the target album are there.

Cheers

[Jim Wilde]

I used the 'Lightroom Synced Images' folder rather than the 'All synced photographs' folder (didn't actually spot this til afterwards). What is the difference between these folders? 'Lightroom Synced Images’ folder is physically on your hard disk and shows under the left hand ‘Folders’ pane, and the ‘All synced photographs’ folder is under the ‘Catalog’ pane? In mine there is a different quantity of images?

By @alex hmbr

The difference is that one is a disk-based folder, the other is not a folder but is a special collection. And a collection, as you probably know, is an index of images which may be physically stored in multiple disk folders. The differing numbers of images could be due to several reasons, but the "Lightroom Synced Images" folder contains any images initially downloaded from the cloud (even if they are no longer synced, e.g. videos) whereas the "All Synced Photographs" collection will contain every image which is currently synced with the cloud (so any images you have synced FROM Classic to the cloud will be indexed in that special collection as well as any images synced from the Cloud TO Classic).