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Will this hybrid workflow work? -- LrCC and Lr Classic

New Here ,
Aug 27, 2018 Aug 27, 2018

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** I'm not sure this is the right thing to do -- I'm replicating a discussion I created in the LrCC community discussions**

** If not or if unneeded, I assume this can be deleted/hidden**

I'm a long time (amateur) user of Lr Classic, but keeping my eye on Adobe's direction with cloud based LrCC. From what I've read, LrCC is aimed at casual photographers. I think Adobe will continue to grow LrCC towards that demographic rather than professionals or serious amateurs. So I'm doubtful that LrCC will move toward providing the in-depth capabilities of Lr Classic, but I can be hopeful meanwhile.

But lately I'm spending quite some time looking into LrCC. I understand the repeated warnings to not try to go forward syncing between LrCC and Lr Classic. It looks possible, but lots of knowledgeable people warn against it. OK, I'll try to not go there for now.

My drivers for looking at LrCC are:

  • for use while traveling -- to review, cull and perhaps make initial edits. I currently don't/won't travel with a laptop PC. I will often take an iPad.
  • increase the ease of creating albums for my wife to have on her iPhone/iPad -- e.g. grandkids or vacations. LrCC still seems barely OK for exporting for this purpose, but I can learn to make it work.

My drivers for staying connected with Lr Classic are:

  • ease & familiarity with editing photos while sitting at my desktop PC
  • strong path to preparing and exporting photos for printing and for LCD screen frames
  • probably several things I don't yet realize I like in Lr Classic but can't do in LrCC.

That said, I'm thinking of the following workflow approach -

  • Migrate Lr Classic catalog to LrCC, just so "it's all there" and to open possible learning with known photos I already have.
  • Do only minor editing in LrCC. Use my desktop PC for this mostly because its easier than trying to use a touch screen iPad to edit
  • When I'm ready for in-depth editing of a set of photos, export the full size RAW files to my PC, import them into Lr Classic and proceed -- (not trying to use syncing).
  • Use Lr Classic for exporting with in-depth control of export dimensions, jpg quality, dpi control and destination folder or online print service -- (all almost unavailable in LrCC)

Does this sound reasonable? Any pitfalls I'm not seeing yet?

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LEGEND ,
Aug 27, 2018 Aug 27, 2018

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I gave my opinion in the other forum. I don't know that it's a good idea to post in both forums, but good luck.

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New Here ,
Aug 27, 2018 Aug 27, 2018

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Thanks Jim --

I can't see how to delete or retire this duplicate discussion -- so I'll leave this up here and let it starve for attention if appropriate.

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Explorer ,
Aug 27, 2018 Aug 27, 2018

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Can you point me to the other discussion you have mentioned? Because I am curious about this.


I will pose my question here will quick.


Is there anyway that I can place images in lightroom CC and then move them to my lightroom classic library, edits intact?

I have some 400 GB of images. And since I tend to accumulate a few thousand images I year doing a full lightroom CC library is just not sustainable to me. I have a 9TB NAS as home, so I am good on local space, and backups.


I bought into the adobe photography package, because I have a whole apple ecosystem (iphone, ipad, mac, and even a desktop work station). So having access to all my images from whatever device I may have with me is nice. I had planned on being able to go on vacation with just my camera and ipad, load image to the ipad, edit and share on the go, and then move those images into my lightroom classic library. But for the life of me I don't see that it is possible. It is silly since the full images are synced to the mac where my lightroom classic resides. I just can't move and unsync them.


Basically is my assumption correct? That there is no way of doing this? That I have to at all times either take my mac with me and place image on there, or wait till I return home to import them to lightroom?


I find that if this is the case it is a major oversight in terms of work flow. I like that I can sync smart previews from lightroom classic, but if I can't go the other way it pretty much cuts my intended usage of the CC system by more than half, since I would need to take my laptop on shoots, or vacations rather than just my laptop since I don't want to do double editing.

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New Here ,
Aug 27, 2018 Aug 27, 2018

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maylonr87852814 --

The link to the parallel discussion is https://forums.adobe.com/message/10584666#10584666

Your questions mirror a lot of the confusion in my mind. My desired hybrid case is similar to yours -- travel with iPad with LrCC and do heavy editing at home on Lr Classic on my desktop.

Just the few comments so far are pushing me away from attempting this hybrid workflow.

What a mess Adobe has created. Clearly they did not think through or could not figure out how to seamlessly link the two Lr products. Why couldn't they just state their thinking and tell their users a likely path ahead. As it is their approach is silence and leaving their paying customers confused. I am.

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Community Expert ,
Aug 27, 2018 Aug 27, 2018

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Is there anyway that I can place images in lightroom CC and then move them to my lightroom classic library, edits intact?

Yes, as mentioned above simply import in Lightroom CC on your phone, iPad, or laptop with Lightroom CC and the images will automatically download in the Lightroom Classic Catalog you have set up to sync with the cloud. This works beautifully.

I had planned on being able to go on vacation with just my camera and ipad, load image to the ipad, edit and share on the go, and then move those images into my lightroom classic library. But for the life of me I don't see that it is possible. It is silly since the full images are synced to the mac where my lightroom classic resides. I just can't move and unsync them.

This has been possible for years now, even before Adobe put out Lightroom CC for desktop and it has worked great. I actually wrote about this workflow years ago: Jao's photo blog: A mobile workflow with Lightroom?  ​and some of the caveats and annoyances mentioned there (import being indirect on iOS being a major one) are still valid. It works better on a notebook with Lightroom CC on it from importing perspective.

In order to move the images into your lightroom Classic hierarchy all you need to do is to drag them in Lightroom to where you want them in your local folder hierarchy (or like I do set them up to sync straight into your year/year-month-day folder hierarchy in the Lightroom Classic preferences in the "Lightroom Sync" panel to avoid having to do even that!) and then simply unsync them by clicking on the little sync badge icons on the images or by removing them from the all synced photographs folder in Classic.

I find that if this is the case it is a major oversight in terms of work flow. I like that I can sync smart previews from lightroom classic, but if I can't go the other way it pretty much cuts my intended usage of the CC system by more than half, since I would need to take my laptop on shoots, or vacations rather than just my laptop since I don't want to do double editing.

As I mentioned above this works just fine. Make sure you use the latest Lightroom Classic and CC and you can take an iPad or notebook on trips with Lightroom CC installed and when you get back all your images will be there fully downloaded and synced. Then if you only want them in Classic, just move them into your local folder hierarchy and unsync them.

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Community Expert ,
Aug 27, 2018 Aug 27, 2018

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I can offer a counter point. I actually actively use the workflow you are desiring and it works great. It can be done successfully and safely as long as you keep some limitations in mind and even has MAJOR advantages above a pure CC or pure Classic workflow. I generally travel with a small laptop with just CC installed or even just an iPad with the connection kit to download images. I simply set my Lightroom Classic catalog at home to connect to my creative cloud account and everything i import in CC on my iPad or laptop shows up with edits and all on my Classic installation when I get back from my trip. Then the extremely cool thing is that as soon as I don't want those images in the cloud anymore to save on cloud storage, I simply unsync them in Classic on my main machine and they get deleted from the cloud but remain fully intact in Classic!

Caveats:

  • If you import files in Classic and set them to sync, you only get smart previews in the cloud and in CC. Workaround if you need it is to import in CC or to first import in Classic, sync them and then later upload to CC using the web interface or by also importing in CC. Lightroom will recognize they are the same images and replace the cloud smart preview with the full raw.
  • Keywords don't sync between CC and Classic so basically forget about keywording in CC.
  • GPS tagging is not well implemented and doesn't sync consistently
  • Make sure everything is fully synced up and down on one machine before switching to the next. You can lose edits if you are not careful with this

Bottom line is that this can certainly be done if you know what you are doing

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LEGEND ,
Aug 27, 2018 Aug 27, 2018

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Thank you for the input, Jao. I think my main problem is that I have been playing with the two different programs on the same computer and really haven't branched out to fully explore how the two can work together. And I'm at a disadvantage here. Consequently, I probably shouldn't be the one to advise in the use of the two programs. I'm afraid I'm in somewhat of a lull in my photography at this point. And I think what I'm going to do is start importing directly into Lightroom CC and explore the possibilities.

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Explorer ,
Aug 27, 2018 Aug 27, 2018

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Thanks for the reply.

Seems like when you describe us exactly what I want, except maybe image organization. Once you unsync on your classic pc, can you move the images from the CC sync folder into your organized lightroom library such that it auto sorts like usual (year folder —> yyyy-mm-dd folder for example?)

I usually have enough resolution set for the smart previews not be an issue, unless I do some major cropping. While on the iPad the images would be full rez and that is the point where it is important, since it is immediate edits to share with clients, friends, family on the spot. But for any real serious work it would have to be done on the Mac since full PS might also be included in the work flow.

I suppose earlier I tried to unsync the images and they were deleted from my PC (I unsynced it on the iPad side which resulted in a complete delete from all devices and the cloud) which put me off the whole thing.

I have 40 images synced on the iPad which are still on my SD card I wanted to try and figure out a way to do what you describe, so I am primed to try it out when I get home.

The really really really crappy thing is that it took you to tell me about it. Adobe should do a better job at explaining this, or even better code this into classic.

For example, a migrate from CC to classic, a warning should pop up and tell the user that the originals will be removed from the cloud, with a check box with the option to keep the images synced with a smart preview. It would be seamless, and the user will have to do less work. But if this works, I can live with that!!

Thanks once again!! I have been wanting this for the past 3 months

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Community Expert ,
Aug 28, 2018 Aug 28, 2018

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Seems like when you describe us exactly what I want, except maybe image organization. Once you unsync on your classic pc, can you move the images from the CC sync folder into your organized lightroom library such that it auto sorts like usual (year folder —> yyyy-mm-dd folder for example?)

It is important to realize that in Classic, all images, including the synced ones, are local. The raw files are simply stored in a folder on your hard disk. The default location is somewhat hidden but you can show it by right (or option) clicking on a file synced down from the cloud and selecting "Go to Folder in Library". However, Adobe very helpfully in recent versions of Lightroom Classic has added an option to set the location where it syncs Lightroom CC images down to and an option to break it into dated folders. This can even be the same folders as you use to put your directly imported mages into so the synced down images will neatly file into the same folder structure. You find this in Preferences->Lightroom Sync

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It will only do this with new images after you set the preference so already existing ones you should manually file as unfortunately (I have wanted an auto filing feature of existing images for a long time) Lightroom can not automatically refile images already in its catalog.

I suppose earlier I tried to unsync the images and they were deleted from my PC (I unsynced it on the iPad side which resulted in a complete delete from all devices and the cloud) which put me off the whole thing.

Had they already been synced down to your Classic installation, they would not have gotten deleted from Classic. This is another cool thing about connecting your Classic catalog to sync. Any image you delete from CC will NOT get deleted from Classic! File deletion does not sync, it just results in an unsyncing action in Classic.

The really really really crappy thing is that it took you to tell me about it. Adobe should do a better job at explaining this, or even better code this into classic.

I don't understand why Adobe is so cagey about the CC syncing capabilities in Classic. It's worked well for quite a while and actually gives you much more control than just using Lightroom CC.

For example, a migrate from CC to classic, a warning should pop up and tell the user that the originals will be removed from the cloud, with a check box with the option to keep the images synced with a smart preview. It would be seamless, and the user will have to do less work. But if this works, I can live with that!!

I would love such a checkbox. Right now the trick is to unsync them in Classic, deleting the images from the cloud and then syncing them again but just from Classic, which will upload the smart previews but not the full raw.

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Explorer ,
Sep 03, 2018 Sep 03, 2018

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Thank you for your well explained replies. I apologies fro not getting back sooner, since I actually just tried your suggestion now.

First off I think that adobe is cagy about it because more tech oriented people or professional photographers would figure it out or look online for an answer. So they don't have to worry about those people just leaving. For those who do not fit in that category are very likely people who aren't doing full raw image captures, and it would take those people quite some time to fill in their 20 GB limit. Once they do they will be so used to the whole CC thing and its "convenience" that they would extend their limit, or at least that is what adobe is hoping for.

Additionally those who are fully invested in the CC way of course will remain in it if they don't realise how easy it actually is to setup classic on your computer and to setup the work flow you described after the fact. In fact, thinking about it now... I know that if I set up both classic and CC on my PC, as long as I keep same directory and saving system in both it might be possible to use both. I hear that CC (desktop, not iPad has additional features or sliders that make certain things easier??).

Last but not least. I tried what you suggested. I am glad that I only had 40 images or so synced through CC for my little test. Changing the settings in classic to match the normal year/year-mm-dd layout I normally use did not work. Or rather it did not move the synced images to those directories. I actually had to delete the mobile download .irdata folder altering having set up the save preferences and removing the images from sync which actually deleted them all (no biggy since I still had them elsewhere. But with he save preferences setup, I reimported them on on CC, and they synced. Additionally clicking on the sync icon on the images didn't do anything. I had to remove them from the synced catalogue, and they still remained synced until I removed them from the all synced photograph catalogue as well. So this means I need to be aware of where the images are synced to unsync them, which is a little unfortunate.

Next I will try to see if it is possible to unsync them from the CC side and see if they remain in my classic side.

Either way, it is nice to know that I can at least form a work flow to allow for this. I don't intend to sync hundreds of photos from my iPad at a time. But it is nice to be able to import to it directly, as I would use my iPad on the go, especially for travel without having to bring my laptop. It also provides a nice way to have a backed when traveling via the cloud.

Cheers, and again many thanks. Great read on the linked article you shared/wrote by the way.

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New Here ,
Sep 24, 2018 Sep 24, 2018

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Well, I've tried the workflow. It works OK - not great, but it does work.

However I'm giving up on using LIghtroom CC while traveling. The main problem is the uploading of RAW files while traveling is not practical at typical wifi speeds I have available in hotels, etc. Someday perhaps with faster speeds this can work. But not now.

The background problems of Lightroom CC linked to Lightroom CC Classic remain but I was able to navigate these. I will be much more enthusiastic about using LIghroom CC when its functionality approached CC Classic. This may not ever happen as noted, since the audiences are so different.

Too bad I cannot easily access, review and edit my RAW files while traveling. Maybe someday I'll buy a fast laptop to travel with. Right now my desktop is much faster than the laptop I can travel with.

Thanks all for your help and guidance.

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Explorer ,
Nov 05, 2018 Nov 05, 2018

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I have a similar desire, but I started my own thread, because to me, the main sticking point is storage. 1TB will cover maybe a couple years' worth of shooting. So there has to be a strategy for moving older photos offline while keeping them in the library.

Also, I am approaching this question from the assumption that Classic will not be supported/updated forever. So it's not a question of a hybrid solution as much as how to gradually move off the Classic, with its unlimited local storage, to CC with storage limited to 1TB. I am not yet prepared to entertain the idea of indefinitely upgrading my CC storage to keep up with my shooting, but I suspect that that will end up being the (costly) answer. Maybe I should invest in Adobe stock to cover the costs? They sure got a winner here.

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