How to keep all originals on NAS?

[maciejk97185608]

Hi,

I store all my photos on NAS and share that storage for my PC and Mac. While new cloud sync is a great feature (I'm already using cloud backup service), I'd like to keep all my files the same way AND sync via cloud.

I've found option to set photos folder and option to store all files, but I can't set my NAS as destination for whatever reason (no error, just don't save my choice). I can set any local SSD location. I know that Lightroom can access that location because all my photos were successfully imported from previous version.

[Victoria Bampton LR Queen]

Correct, the Lightroom CC originals can't (at least currently) be stored on a NAS. A normal external drive would work though, and it's smart enough to transfer files over if the drive's been disconnected too.

[maciejk97185608]

Thanks for answer!

Well, it sounds even worse than before (no shared catalog, but photos can be shared on NAS) Do you know if there are any plans to add that feature? I have very limited space on my PC, and I don't like the idea of downloading photos twice, because I use 2 machines. I also refuse to keep all my data in cloud without my local copy. And making separate copy of photos each time I add something to Lightroom doesn't sound like option.

[Victoria Bampton LR Queen]

I don't know whether there are plans on that one - and I couldn't say even if I did.

But, like you, I work on 2 machines. I have the "store a copy of all photos locally" checked on my desktop, just storing them on an external drive. On my laptop, it just downloads the files from the cloud as I need them, so not much space taken on there. It rarely needs to download the originals to my laptop, as the smart preview proxy files are plenty for most browsing and editing.

[maciejk97185608]

Ok, I think I'll give it a try. Only problem I see, is that my external drive is a NAS, so I can't use it. Maybe time for yet another device...

About editing and smart preview: I use raw only. I guess there is no smart way to edit raw without downloading it? 40MB+ for each photo seems like possibly slow workflow.

[Victoria Bampton LR Queen]

Works fine, I shoot almost entirely raw too. Lightroom stores smaller lossy dng format copies of the photos for local editing, so it doesn't need to download the full 40MB file each time.

[maciejk97185608]

Thanks for very fast and accurate answers!

I'm still not convinced, but I'll definitely git it a try. And wait for more features, I think it's quite good for first iteration.

[Mike Dowsett]

I had the same problem. You might find the below link useful:

Re: Not enough disk space to complete the migration

[peter_wich]

Regarding the option "store a copy of all photos locally". Does this mean that Lightroom CC will also download pictures that were previously imported on other machines or from mobile devices to your external drive that is connected to your desktop? Meaning that ALL pictures that are in my new lightroom CC will be also on the external harddrive then?

(I like this idea to have a local "archive" of all my pictures that are in the cloud. too bad though that the "old/traditional" folder structure is lost and the originals in buried in random folders)

[Victoria Bampton LR Queen]

peter232323  wrote

Regarding the option "store a copy of all photos locally". Does this mean that Lightroom CC will also download pictures that were previously imported on other machines or from mobile devices to your external drive that is connected to your desktop? Meaning that ALL pictures that are in my new lightroom CC will be also on the external harddrive then?

Yes, anything that's in the cloud would be replicated on your external hard drive. It's a good option to enable.

[Bigbzy]

I find this limitation to not allow use of NAS for original file storage EXTREMELY limiting.  Any explanation why this is not an option?  I bought my first NAS specifically to have a place to store photos that would be reliable, not require a tether, and be available from more than one computer.

Why would an external hard drive be considered a valid location to store originals and a NAS not?

As it stands, I will have to continue to maintain my "local" NAS photo depot manually.

I would be surprised if a number of users don't have the same issue and hope Adobe is aware.

[Victoria Bampton LR Queen]

They haven't publicly explain the reason for the limitation, but I can't imagine they put an arbitrary limit on for fun. That said, I know they're aware of lots of people wanting to use a NAS for photo storage, so hopefully it will be addressed before too long. I'd suggest you add your vote here: Lightroom CC: Feature Request - Photo Original Location Change - Make Network Drives Available | Pho...  as the votes help with prioritization.

[Bigbzy]

Thanks!  I voted.

Are you going to do an updated version of your book?

[Victoria Bampton LR Queen]

Bigbzy  wrote

Are you going to do an updated version of your book?

Yep, sat here working on in right now. The LR Classic version will be out in January, and I'm hoping the CC one will be out in February.