Sync with Lightroom Classic

[Ralf Jüngling]

I had a lot of confusion about the changing thought the new Lightroom cc. Now I see in my Lightroom classic the status of synchronisation. this give me the hope there will be a workflow between  both ... to using classic for professional adjustment and using cc for sync ...
but does anybody know how it will use? is it in both ways? when I import photos in cc, will it automatically sync with classic and I can adjust in classic with ?

and what is with the old catalog from classic after migration? - can I delete originals after sync with cc ? 

Is there a way to work with both apps on the same photos originals in the cloud?

try to look in tutorial but don't find clearly information to unterstand.

[99jon]

See this thread. It outlines a number of options for using both apps with an understanding of the eco system.

Can I use both Lightroom CC and Classic?

[Nagolart]

This is how I use both programs:

My Catalog that has everything in it, external hard drives, Lightroom Classic CC. I do NOT migrate that to Lightroom CC, as I will eventually go over 1TB and I'm not willing to pay them more for more TB's of cloud storage.

Therefore, if I am going to travel or edit on my iPad I put the photos in Lightroom CC (Cloud) when I know I no longer need them on the go or I want to do more heavy duty editing to them I then go to Lightroom Classic CC unpause Lightroom mobile sync and all the photos come in their own folders named after the date they were taken. I then take those photos and drag them to the folders I actually want them in on my external hard drive (Not the cloud) then I delete them from the cloud.

Right now it basically allows me to edit in the car, camping, not having to wait to get back to my computer to cull images but it is still far off for me to do my most serious edits.

In fact Lightroom is falling behind when it comes to doing my serious edits, although I like it as a basic editor and a catalog system but if it's a photo I care about more often than not I'm having to right click, export to, Luminar, Aurora HDR 2018, etc. As those systems don't have the catalog system Lightroom has but has much more powerful editing features, including layers, it's like having layers in Camera raw as opposed to Photoshop.

It's just not ready yet IMO, although I still got it as I was offered the 1TB storage for 16 dollars as opposed to the 21 dollars for all 3 programs and 1TB. You can get that offer too if you go into your account.

I do not like that even on the Lightroom CC Desktop you cannot right click and export to other programs other than Photoshop, you have to actually export the photo out of the program and open it up in another program, which means it might as well already be in Lightroom Classic CC.

Other programs are really going a long way nowadays and Adobe doesn't seem to be catching up to them, as soon as those companies release catalog systems it's gonna force them to compete which will be good for all of us.

Another example is I have been preferring Affinity Photo on the Mac and on the iPad as opposed to Photoshop. I like that even on my iPad it's the full version and not some dumbed down version. That's the mistake Adobe makes, when they bring something to mobile they dumb it down while other companies are bringing their programs to mobile and it's the full version and runs plenty smoothly, in some cases better than on the computer.

I will take the cloud workflow more seriously when they do essentially make it have all the same things as the classic version. It CAN be done. It might would require a rewritten code but Affinity Photo shows it can be done.

[Ralf Jüngling]

I did test now a little bit more. i

It's better than I thought.

After the integration, the link to the original catalog with CC Classic continues to exist. I can still edit, tag, etc. all the images in CC Classic. You're synced with Lightroom CC. However, I can not delete them in CC Classic to save space - then they will be deleted in Lightroom CC too.

When I edit images from the migration in Lighroom CC this is not synced with the original catalog in Classic.

However, of all LighroomCC images + albums,  is displayed in Classic as smart collection and synced in both directions.

Next, I'll test, how it behaves with the new imports. sorry for wrong words, my Lightroom is not an english version and my english is bad 😉

[LuckyLucOnBass]

My question is simple.

If I upload and work on photos in Lr Classic, will they be auto-synced and usable in the new Lr? Same thing going the other way around... Lr -> Lr Classic.

[Jim Wilde]

LuckyLucOnBass  wrote

My question is simple.

If I upload and work on photos in Lr Classic, will they be auto-synced and usable in the new Lr? Same thing going the other way around... Lr -> Lr Classic.

The question may be simple, but the answer is a little more complicated:

1. Syncing images from Classic to the cloud is essentially a manual process, i.e. images do not automatically sync until you manually enable them for syncing. You can do this by either adding the images to an existing synced collection, or by enabling an existing collection to be synced (in which case all images in that collection will then sync), or by simply adding images to the "All Synced Photographs" special collection. The nearest we can get to an automatic process would be by importing new images into an existing synced collection.

2. Once the images have been sync-enabled in Classic, smart previews (not the original full resolution file) will be uploaded to the cloud, and from there they will automatically download into any other synced app (LRCC on desktop, mobile, or web). Note that because they are smart previews only, sharing from any of the LRCC apps cannot be done in full resolution.

3. Importing into any of the LRCC apps does automatically upload those images as full originals, not smart previews, to the cloud, from where the full original will be available to access/share from any other LRCC app. The full original will also be downloaded and added to your LR Classic library in the location that you specify in the Classic Preferences.

4. Once you have the images in the cloud ecosystem, there are some limitations regarding ongoing syncing. Edits made on any of the apps (including Classic) will sync to all other apps. However, some metadata, notably keywords and location data, does NOT sync between Classic and the LRCC apps (keywords added via LRCC desktop or mobile WILL sync to other LRCC apps, but not Classic).

[pabloa49788342]

the behavior described in  4

4. Once you have the images in the cloud ecosystem, there are some limitations regarding ongoing syncing. Edits made on any of the apps (including Classic) will sync to all other apps. However, some metadata, notably keywords and location data, does NOT sync between Classic and the LRCC apps (keywords added via LRCC desktop or mobile WILL sync to other LRCC apps, but not Classic).

its gonna be supported in the future?, because this is what I would expect from a "sync environment", including presets too!.

[Jim Wilde]

pabloa49788342  wrote

the behavior described in  4

4. Once you have the images in the cloud ecosystem, there are some limitations regarding ongoing syncing. Edits made on any of the apps (including Classic) will sync to all other apps. However, some metadata, notably keywords and location data, does NOT sync between Classic and the LRCC apps (keywords added via LRCC desktop or mobile WILL sync to other LRCC apps, but not Classic).

its gonna be supported in the future?, because this is what I would expect from a "sync environment", including presets too!.

Highly unlikely. Adobe have said that they do not at this time plan to invest any further in a Classic to LRCC sync workflow. They regard all the LRCC apps as being "full members" of the cloud ecosystem (so keywords and other metadata should all eventually sync between those full members), but LR Classic is not....it's more like a junior member. So I personally no longer expect the sort of full syncing between cloud and Classic that I used to hope for.

[JD750]

Q:  If I upload and work on photos in Lr Classic, will they be auto-synced and usable in the new Lr?

Yes.

Q: Same thing going the other way around... Lr -> Lr Classic

Yes provided the images are synced from LR Classic to LR CC, if you flat/rate/edit in CC those changes will sync back to Classic.

Note: Keywords do not sync.

However if you import the images to LR CC there does not appear to be any way to sync them back to Classic.

[hifimacianer]

It is possible to sync images to LR classic, that have been imported in LR CC or LR mobile.

You can even select a default Import folder to save the files on your hard drive.

But you have to keep in mind, that the Images you Import to LR CC or mobile, will always be stored in full resolution into the cloud. Even if they are synced to classic afterwards. This can lead to a weird mix of smart-previews and original Images in your cloud library. So the best solution is, to delete the originals in CC once they are synced to classic, and let the smart-previews sync back to your cloud library.

[Jim Wilde]

hifimacianer  wrote

So the best solution is, to delete the originals in CC once they are synced to classic, and let the smart-previews sync back to your cloud library.

I take the opposite approach...having the originals in the cloud is, for me, preferable to just having Smart Previews up there, especially in terms of sharing them with family or friends, as it allows a full resolution file to be downloaded if required.

But of course, if the objective is to lower costs, an SP-only workflow would not currently incur any charge for cloud space.....so the "best option" is likely going to vary depending on individual needs.

[hifimacianer]

But of course, if the objective is to lower costs, an SP-only workflow would not currently incur any charge for cloud space.....so the "best option" is likely going to vary depending on individual needs.

For me it's not about the costs, I actually have the 1TB classic, cc + PS plan, it's more about flexibility. CC  is actually very strict, how you are able to store/organize your files on your HD. In fact it just let you choose one directory, and stores all the files in one container.

That is not the best solution if you are working a lot with SSDs or with NAS.

On top of that, LR CC is actually limited in it's options to adjust your Images (compared to classic). It may work for basic adjustments, but not for advanced editing.

With the method I mentioned (use smart-previews in CC), you can have the best of both worlds.

You can store your originals where ever your want, but you also have the benefits of the cloud approach. Sort/cull/flag your images from every device, make basic Edits, share online and so on. And you have always the option to go into classic and do advanced editing when needed.

On top of that, you can have all of your images with you, because the smart previews take a lot less space than RAWs. Even for many hobby photographers the 1TB cloud storage is not enough.

[Jim Wilde]

The problem is that the flexibility to store your images where you want, e.g. on multiple SSDs and NAS, is what has scared a lot of people away from Lightroom in the past, that and the "catalog". So one of the reasons for the way that LRCC has been designed is to take away that fear, so LRCC takes responsibility for file and catalog management, and lets the user get on with what they want....take pictures, and edit and share them wherever they are using whatever device they have handy, with no worries about "managing" them.

And that clearly is working for some people, but others (more typically experienced existing Lightroom users) are rather more wary about that, as indeed you are. And to be honest, so am I to a degree. So we are probably doing what Adobe don't recommend, and are putting together a Classic/LRCC workflow as best we can, to suit our own needs.

The only real difference is our approach to storing our images in the cloud, you prefer Smart Previews, I prefer the originals. Don't forget that the LRCC apps are flexible in terms of what type of file you choose to store on the various devices....the fact that my originals are in the cloud doesn't matter that much, as I can (and usually do) have smart previews stored (and used) locally on my various phones and tablets. But I like having originals available for sharing or editing whenever I want.

While neither approach is wrong, equally neither of us can claim it's the "best solution"....to some degree users will have to figure this out for themselves, although discussions such as this should obviously help them get a better understanding of the various pros and cons..

[JD750]

Will you please post the procedure for syncing to LR Classic after the images have been imported to LR CC?

[hifimacianer]

@JD750

You'll find the option in the LR classic preferences.

Open the tab "Lightroom synchronization" (the second last), there you can choose the path to save the images of the LR CC ecosystem, and also how the folder structure should look like (eg JJJJ/MM/DD).

[JD750]

Yes I had done that but it does not seem to be working.

I was expecting the images to appear in LR Classic but they are not there,  nor are there any images in the specified folder.

But I did not check the line "use subfolders formatted ....".  Maybe that is the problem.

[Triplecorpse]

Lr classic does not synchronize with Lr CC. Thought, Lightrooms CC from ios and desktop synchronize perfectly.
Lr classic has just downloaded initial photos from CC but when I edited them in CC they didn't update in classic and vice versa.

Is it expected behavior?

[andrman]

Triplecorpse - have you tried to sync albums within Lightroom classic? When I set an album within Lr classic to sync to mobile, it shows up in Lightroom CC.

[Triplecorpse]

I went to Preferences in Lr Classic, selected the tab seems 'synchronization' looked at console and there was an error that I had folders with the same name on Cloud. I deleted one of them and everything became good.

Think Lr should notify about errors in more obvious way

[Lonnie Webster]

I have the same question

[cmgap]

Classic and CC are not engineered to integrate on the same computer. It's not likely that will change.

The biggest advantage to the cloud based version of Lightroom is that if you've had issues with your backup strategy in the past (selecting a cloud backup provider for example), the CC version solves that for you by storing your originals in the cloud.

Other than that it's a choice of which horse you want to ride. Classic and the companion mobile app continue to get feature updates that are making it seamless to have an efficient mobile workflow. You have to decide what you want to trade-off based on what you want Lr to do for you.