Storage and File Handling When Syncing LR Classic after Migrating to the Lightroom Cloud

[AdamLaws]

I'm historically a LR Classic user. Library is about 500GB of RAW files. Recently decided that LR has got enough features that I decided to upgrade subscription to 1TB and sync everything through LR. I followed Adobe's steps to migrate from Classic to LR, including specifying a "Storage location for originals" in the Local Storage tab and checking the box "Store a copy of all originals at the specified location". The location I selected is a hard drive that has a ton of space on it, and is different than the hard drive where all my originals are living from my old Lightroom Classic library (until now this was my main library).

I waited 2 days for LR to finish the migration and to finish syncing all the files. Once that was done I created a new catalog in LR Classic so that I could sync my now cloud based library down to LR Classic and have the ability to continue using LR Classic as part of my workflow (primarily because LR doesnt have multi-monitor support but Classic does). Here is the problem I've run into: the new LR Classic catalog has created a "Mobile Downloads.lrdat" folder on my C: drive that quickly filled it up. I assume I can change this location in preferences somewhere to be on a different drive, but my question is: Are LR Classic and LR smart enough to share the same location on my hard drive for both the "storage location of originals" setting in LR and the local storage requirements in LR Classic which I assume is the "Specify location for Lightroom's Synced images" setting in LR Classic, without creating duplicates of all the files? I'd just try to see what happens but envision a colossal mess if both programs dont cooperate and are using the same location to store 27000 photos in different ways.

I hope the solution isnt that I need a local storage location for LR Classic with 500GB of photos AND a local storage location for LR with 500GB of photos, all of which are chewing up bandwidth for syncing and eating up precious storage. Any help would be appreciated, as when I tried to get some help from Adobe customer service the support person was hopeless.

[Jim Wilde · Accepted solution]

You need to understand that there is no way that both Lightroom Classic and Lightroom can use/share the same set of local images, that would be a recipe for utter confusion and potential disaster. 

So given that, ask yourself what's the value in having two sets of the same images on your local computer, each being managed by a different app. I can't think of any good reason to do that, so instead I leave the "Store a local copy of the originals" unchecked in Lightroom (though I do store smart previews locally). That way the orginals in the cloud are backed up by Adobe on their servers, and the synced copies in LrC are backed up by me, so no matter what disaster may affect me (locally or in the cloud) I can always recreate either the cloud or Classic catalog from the other.

Look in the LrC Preferences>Lightroom Sync tab where you'll find the option to choose your own location for the downloaded images from the cloud into Classic, and even choose one of the standard date-based folder schemes. Though it would have been better if you'd made that change before syncing the new Classic catalog.

[AdamLaws]

Thanks for the info and suggestions @Jim Wilde. I will turn off the store local copy in LR. I hadnt checked the date based folder scheme in LR Classic Sync because I've already sorted my albums by date, but I see now that LR Classic ignored all that when it copied them into the folder, so I may create a new catalog again and re-sync. Want to get it right before I settle into the new workflow.

Now all I need is for Adobe to add functionality for changing the location of cache files and smart previews in LR. My C: drive is only a 500GB SSD so doesnt have a ton a free space on it, whereas I have a lot of hard drive space on other drives. Not sure why the setting wouldve been restricted to the C: drive when every other setting for large amounts of storage in LR and LR Classic lets you specify the location.