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Participant
April 19, 2023
Question

TWO concerns. 1) Finding/organizing files in CC. 2) Editing original RAW

  • April 19, 2023
  • 2 replies
  • 1229 views

Im sorry if this is a redundant issue however I have done quite a bit of searching and cant seem to find any help.  I just started using lightroom and these two issues are incredibly frustrating to figure out on my own!

 

First off, I can view all my imaged in the CC app (android), but not on desktop/pc.  The only way I can view all my saved images is by entering the lightroom program via the CC app.  When I click files/library/etc its empty.  Is it possible to get all my photos to show up under files and/or library?  Seems like the most intuitive.

 

Second, I shoot in RAW/JPEG.  When I use lightroom to edit a RAW photo it seemingly makes the edit on the actual raw file and resaved the origional raw file with the edits.  When I go back to view my suppoed "origionals" in CC, I cannot find the origional RAW just the newly edited one.  Where is my origional RAW  file and how do I ensure that there is always a untouched RAW file saved on the Cloud?

 

These issues seem to be very basic but again ive watched several you tube vids and searched the web and cannot seem to find answers....

 

Thanks for you time!

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2 replies

Participating Frequently
April 19, 2023

Regarding 2) you can press / to toggle "Show Original" (or whatever the shortcut is, on your system). You can right click on the album and "save locally" to download the unedited raws.

You'll be able to see their location on your machine at Adobe Lightroom Menu, Preferences, Local Storage. By default, your images/albums are not synced to your own machine.

JohanElzenga
Community Expert
Community Expert
April 19, 2023

1: What subscription do you have? The 'Premium' subscription from within Lightroom mobile? That is for mobile only. You need the Lightroom subscription in order to see images in Lightroom on your computer. 
2: Lightroom is a non-destructive editor. That means that edits are not written to the original file, but kept separately. What you are looking at is a preview with the edits applied, so you can see what you have done. Your raw files remain untouched.

 

-- Johan W. Elzenga
Participant
April 19, 2023

I have the cloud based lightroom subscription, which is where I have done most editing.  But I can also edit on mobile correct? I am still in the 7 day trial phase of my subscription, does this make a difference?

Yes, I know you are correct in that Lighroom is not suposed to disturb origional RAW.  However, when I edit on an imported RAW photo, the edit replaces the RAW in lightroom and on the cloud and I cannot seem to locate the origional RAW file anywhere in lightroom or on creative cloud.  Ive been resorting to uploading it directly from my SD card.  

 

Thanks for your help Johan!

Participant
April 19, 2023
quote

Johan,

I understand that lightroom does not replace the original raw file.  Its quite confusing because when I go back into my cloud storage the origional RAW file is missing and the edited version is in its place....I was under the impression that the cloud would store a permanent copy of my RAW files that I would be able to access in need.  This apparently is not the case....

 

Thanks again


By @matt29431332568q

 

You say that you do understand, but you still don't. The raw file is not missing and there is no edited version in its place. What you see is a preview. A preview is a jpeg copy that is generated so you can see what the edits look like. The raw file is permanently stored online and is never replaced by anything else.

 


I can tell you seem to be getting frustrated, I am reluctant to continue this conversation.  But I am new to this and am frustrated as well.  I am generally decently tech savvy but this whole LR/CC sorting/organizing/uploading etc is driving me up the wall...I get what your saying, I really do.  Im confused because I cannot for the life of me locate the origional RAW files, unless I go direclty to the source (my camera card).  When I go into CC and search for the origional RAW image, pre edited, the only image I find is the edited version, the non edited RAW version is not present in my cache of photos on CC.  Im going to keep playing around with it. Help is appreciated, otherwise please dont trouble yourself.