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What Am I Missing??

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Joined
Feb 18, 2014
Messages
40
Location
Sarasota, Florida
Lightroom Experience
Intermediate
Lightroom Version
Lightroom Version Number
Lightroom Classic version 8.3
Operating System
  1. Windows 10
Am I seriously missing something I'd really love by not using the cloud-based version of Lr?

Background: I've been using Lr for about five years. I use Lightroom Classic 8.x via the Photography subscription plan on a windows 10 desktop. I also use Photoshop. I sell my work, mostly coastal landscape and wildlife, through my website and have about 500GB of carefully organized sets of Lr folders to help me manage my work. I backup my entire computer and external drives daily to Backblaze. I do not travel much, so rarely, if ever, need to edit photos on the go.

Question: Are there important benefits I'm missing by not using the cloud-based version? If I decided to use the cloud-based version, can I choose to sync specific folders of my photos? What I'm afraid of is that I'll turn on the sync process and find myself having to pay for cloud storage for photos I don't need stored in the cloud. I do realize that the cloud-based version has limited functionality at the moment, and I do not want to give up any of my beloved Lr Classic functionality. Can I have the best of both worlds???

Thanks for your thoughts on this!
 
Short answer: No.

In my mind classic still (and will for some time) exceeds CC (or whatever I'm supposed to call the cloud version now) in power, especially in publishing and 3rd party plugins. It also allows me to maintain my own archive in whatever way I trust and back it up and test it (if I want) for integrity.

I am missing (except I really don't) the ability to edit on tablets and phones and another windows box and keep them all easily in sync. Actually I could so some of this in a limited way with Classic, editing smart previews. But I don't.

Your use sounds a lot like mine, and until Adobe breaks their paradigm of including new develop features in Classic as well as Cloudy version, I just do not see a use case FOR ME that is interesting. And since Adobe chose to make Classic and Cloudy mildly incompatible I just avoid Cloudy.

My GUESS is one day Adobe will stop improving Classic. I doubt anytime real soon. But when that happens I will take a harder look, but by then they may have flushed out the Cloudy ecosystem further and I won't feel like I am going from powerful to braindead if I go there.
 
Am I seriously missing something I'd really love by not using the cloud-based version of Lr?

Background: I've been using Lr for about five years. I use Lightroom Classic 8.x via the Photography subscription plan on a windows 10 desktop. I also use Photoshop. I sell my work, mostly coastal landscape and wildlife, through my website and have about 500GB of carefully organized sets of Lr folders to help me manage my work. I backup my entire computer and external drives daily to Backblaze. I do not travel much, so rarely, if ever, need to edit photos on the go.

Question: Are there important benefits I'm missing by not using the cloud-based version? If I decided to use the cloud-based version, can I choose to sync specific folders of my photos? What I'm afraid of is that I'll turn on the sync process and find myself having to pay for cloud storage for photos I don't need stored in the cloud. I do realize that the cloud-based version has limited functionality at the moment, and I do not want to give up any of my beloved Lr Classic functionality. Can I have the best of both worlds???

Thanks for your thoughts on this
Short answer: No.

In my mind classic still (and will for some time) exceeds CC (or whatever I'm supposed to call the cloud version now) in power, especially in publishing and 3rd party plugins. It also allows me to maintain my own archive in whatever way I trust and back it up and test it (if I want) for integrity.

I am missing (except I really don't) the ability to edit on tablets and phones and another windows box and keep them all easily in sync. Actually I could so some of this in a limited way with Classic, editing smart previews. But I don't.

Your use sounds a lot like mine, and until Adobe breaks their paradigm of including new develop features in Classic as well as Cloudy version, I just do not see a use case FOR ME that is interesting. And since Adobe chose to make Classic and Cloudy mildly incompatible I just avoid Cloudy.

My GUESS is one day Adobe will stop improving Classic. I doubt anytime real soon. But when that happens I will take a harder look, but by then they may have flushed out the Cloudy ecosystem further and I won't feel like I am going from powerful to braindead if I go there.
Completely agree.
However, I do use the Cloud to transfer my phone photos to Classic. I also sync smart previews of all my photos from Classic to the Cloud which does not take up any storage allowance and which allows me to view them remotely on my phone or other device and also allows me to share them (particularly useful for sharing on WhatsApp from my phone) and also edit which will then sync to Classic when the desk top is turned on.
 
MarkNicholas, thank you. Your uses actually sound like what I'd like to be able to do. Would you be able to point me to step-by-steps for setting up to do those things? My fear (as I said) is that in my ignorance about setting up Lr cloud functionality, I'll inadvertently turn on some sync setting that will sync things I don't want to sync or change my desktop to the CC version. I'm very comfortable with Lr on the desktop, but have no experience at all with what you are describing.
 
Completely agree.
However, I do use the Cloud to transfer my phone photos to Classic. I also sync smart previews of all my photos from Classic to the Cloud which does not take up any storage allowance and which allows me to view them remotely on my phone or other device and also allows me to share them (particularly useful for sharing on WhatsApp from my phone) and also edit which will then sync to Classic when the desk top is turned on.
I try to keep things simple. To transfer photos from my iPhone/iPad or my wife's devices, I simply connect the device to my system, open up the phone as a "drive," open up the DCIM folder and go from there.

I agree completely with Ferguson's comments in post #2 in this thread.

Phil
 
I try to keep things simple.
So do I, Phil.

I take a picture with my iPhone, leave the Lightroom app open for a minute while the photo uploads. And that's it....next time I start Classic that photo will immediately download from the cloud into the correct date-based folder and appears in the collection which contains all my "to be processed" new images.

It can't really get any simpler than that, but then I don't have to worry about my wife's phone.
 
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I agree with above - I recently moved from Classic to LRcc cloud, because I was going to be travelling with just iPhone & iPad for 6 weeks, and because I wanted to try the new mobile version. However I miss the speed of LR Classic desktop (the cloud version just waits for ages sometimes before you can do stuff). I didnt realise that I could be "mobile" like Mark & Jim above and still use "Classic" - I guess now that I have 1.3Tb of cloud storage with Adobe that there is no way back? ... and then there is the Printing issue - I have to use Classic for that
 
If you do decide to mix Classic and Cloudy versions, take a lot of time to read Victoria's various articles and lots of postings and blogs about it. Adobe, in my opinion, did the worst of all worlds - they did not integrate them completely, but they did integrate them.

Those who have figured out the integrations and limitations and live within it find it works fine. Others who stumble over the things you think should work but do not have not been so lucky.
 
If you do decide to mix Classic and Cloudy versions, take a lot of time to read Victoria's various articles and lots of postings and blogs about it. Adobe, in my opinion, did the worst of all worlds - they did not integrate them completely, but they did integrate them.

Those who have figured out the integrations and limitations and live within it find it works fine. Others who stumble over the things you think should work but do not have not been so lucky.
I'm with Ferguson here. Lightroom desktop is complex enough and I spend too much of time time trying to sort out software integration issues. That all said, Jim Wilde's post enough gives me pause because he is one of the gurus on this forum. I'm starting a new thread with some further questions.

Phil
 
MarkNicholas, thank you. Your uses actually sound like what I'd like to be able to do. Would you be able to point me to step-by-steps for setting up to do those things? My fear (as I said) is that in my ignorance about setting up Lr cloud functionality, I'll inadvertently turn on some sync setting that will sync things I don't want to sync or change my desktop to the CC version. I'm very comfortable with Lr on the desktop, but have no experience at all with what you are describing.

Here is a link to an earlier post of mine. Please note that my explanation is rather long winded but its actually very simple. As Phil and Jim have said try to keep it as simple as possible. My way of doing it is convenient for me but others may find simpler ways. I suggest you have a play and see what works for you.

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/comm...-on-desktop-and-syncing-smart-previews.34226/
 
Adobe, in my opinion, did the worst of all worlds - they did not integrate them completely, but they did integrate them.
Yeah, I think they dug themselves into a hole. They started out trying to shoehorn cloud sync into Classic, eventually realized that wasn't going to work very well and moved development to a separate app, but had to leave the existing sync stuff in Classic because removing it would break so many people's workflows.
 
Thanks for your thoughts, everyone! MarkNicholas and Jim Wilde, it sounds like having some smart previews from my desktop Lr 8.x Classic available for viewing from my phone via the cloud as well as being able to quickly upload phone photos to my Lr Classic on the desktop are two uses I would enjoy and something you've found to be not too complex or "dangerous" to do. But I'm unclear on several things. My questions, I know, make it obvious that I am pretty ignorant about anything Lr CC, syncing, and managing smart previews only as opposed to actual photos. As I said in my original post, I have only ever used Classic on desktop where I've stored my photos on hard drives.

I've asked my questions below, but totally understand if I'm getting into areas that can't be quickly or easily answered here and y'all just ignore them or tell me I should forget trying to do this right now. :D

Mark, I did read your step-by-step you linked here. It seems easy to follow for syncing phone photos and uploading them as smart previews once I'm set up properly. But I am totally unclear on the proper set-up that must have occurred before those steps could be done. I don't know what to install where. I also don't know how to set up syncing of smart previews from the desktop. Do I install LrCC on my phone and NOT on my desktop? If I install LrCC on my phone and turn on sync on my desktop Lr Classic, I don't understand how I insure that only smart previews of my desktop photos are sync'd to the cloud and not my actual photos. Can I limit which of my desktop photos are sync'd as smart previews to the cloud (just sync a sub-set of my photos)?

Thanks, again!
 
A couple of things you need to understand about use of the cloud ecosystem, which should partly answer your questions:

First, and most important is naming of the apps. "CC" no longer exists in the names of most of the Adobe apps, so the longer some of us continue to use old names the more difficult it will be communicating with the user population in general. So, going forward I'll use the current names, which are as follows:

a) Lightroom Classic (easier to just use Classic) is the current name of the traditional desktop-based app that has been in existence for over 10 years, i.e. the app you currently use.

b) Lightroom is now the general name for the family of apps which comprise the cloud ecosystem, formerly known as Lightroom CC. There are several variants, platform dependent, so.....
i) Lightroom Desktop (LrD for short, runs on MacOS or Windows systems)
ii) Lightroom Mobile (LrM for short, runs on mobile devices such as phones and tablets, may be sub-categorised as LrM for iOS or Android if relevant)
iii) Lightroom Web (LrWeb, runs in most browsers)
iv) Lightroom Apple TV

So, back to the important stuff:

1. Any image added/imported into the Lightroom apps, i.e. the cloud-based apps, is automatically synced to the cloud in full original format, and thus will automatically be available in preview form in any of the other Lightroom apps. Note, however, that the user can control whether that original file is also downloaded to those other apps/devices, though some functions (such as editing) will require the original to be downloaded. Also, because these are original format files, they all count against the user's cloud storage allowance

If Classic has also been sync-enabled, those images added to the cloud from any of the Lightroom apps will also automatically download in the same original format into the Classic catalog. The user can control where those originals are stored, via the Preferences>Lightroom Sync tab.

2. In Classic, nothing gets synced to the cloud unless/until the user decides to do that. It can be done either by adding images to a collection and then enabling that collection to be synced (so all images in that collection are synced), or by adding images to the special All Synced Photographs collection in the Catalog panel (which should match the total of All Photos in any of the Lightroom cloud apps). NOTE: images synced from Classic ONLY upload in Smart Preview format, not original, and they do NOT currently count against the user's cloud storage allowance. Thus it is possible to upload every image in the Classic catalog to the cloud, thus having them available on all mobile devices or in any browser window, at no cost to the user.

3. Deletions.....this bit needs to be understood carefully. If a file is deleted from ANY of the Lightroom cloud apps, it is deleted from the cloud and thus also deleted from any of the other Lightroom cloud apps. However, it is NOT deleted from Classic, though it will (logically) be "unsynced", meaning that it will be removed from the All Synced Photographs special collection AND from any synced collection(s) that it may have been in.

NOTE: If you delete/remove a synced file from the Classic catalog, it will be deleted from the cloud as well, thus it will also be removed from the Lightroom cloud apps.

So, with the above in mind, to get Smart Previews into the cloud, you sync from Classic. To get phone images into the cloud and thus into Classic you need to install the Lightroom Mobile app on the phone, then set it up to automatically add new phone captures into the app, and thus into the cloud and then down into Classic (having sync-enabled the Classic catalog). The mobile app has various settings which can be used, though the easiest method is simply to use the LrMobile app's own camera function as any such captures are automatically added to the app and thus synced to the cloud.

And no, it is not necessary to install the LrDesktop app on your Classic system, though it can be useful sometimes.
 
Completely agree.
However, I do use the Cloud to transfer my phone photos to Classic. I also sync smart previews of all my photos from Classic to the Cloud which does not take up any storage allowance and which allows me to view them remotely on my phone or other device and also allows me to share them (particularly useful for sharing on WhatsApp from my phone) and also edit which will then sync to Classic when the desk top is turned on.
Mark,

For point of clarification, when you share images from your phone, do you export the image from the mobile LR app? And does this just attach the photo to the app that will share the photo (e.g. Whatsapp or Gmail), or does it create a local copy that can be shared again later?

--Ken
 
If you are a big keyword user in Classic make sure that any images that you share to "Cloudy" are fully keyworded before you sync them to the cloud. Any keyword changes made in Classic after the initial sync will not be updated in the cloud.
 
If you are a big keyword user in Classic make sure that any images that you share to "Cloudy" are fully keyworded before you sync them to the cloud. Any keyword changes made in Classic after the initial sync will not be updated in the cloud.
A couple of important points to add to this:

1. Metadata needs to be written to XMP before a file is synced from Classic.
2. An existing smart preview cannot exist in the Classic catalog before syncing a file.....Classic will upload any such existing SP (which won't contain existing metadata), but if an SP does not exist it will be generated for the syncing process and will then include any metadata that has been written to XMP.
 
Mark,

For point of clarification, when you share images from your phone, do you export the image from the mobile LR app? And does this just attach the photo to the app that will share the photo (e.g. Whatsapp or Gmail), or does it create a local copy that can be shared again later?

--Ken
Ken,
Yes I do this directly from the Lightroom App on my phone. I simply click the share Icon (square box with an arrow pointing upwards) and then get a list of options. Choose the share option (same icon) and this then prompts you to choose a file size. You then get the usual options for sharing - email, twitter, instagram etc. and of course WhatsApp. Click on WhatsApp and choose who to send to (including multiple recipients) and away you go. Just a few clicks. No local copies are created for later sharing but you can either repeat the process or save the photo to camera roll.
 
If you are a big keyword user in Classic make sure that any images that you share to "Cloudy" are fully keyworded before you sync them to the cloud. Any keyword changes made in Classic after the initial sync will not be updated in the cloud.

Yes this is a very important point.
 
Ken,
Yes I do this directly from the Lightroom App on my phone. I simply click the share Icon (square box with an arrow pointing upwards) and then get a list of options. Choose the share option (same icon) and this then prompts you to choose a file size. You then get the usual options for sharing - email, twitter, instagram etc. and of course WhatsApp. Click on WhatsApp and choose who to send to (including multiple recipients) and away you go. Just a few clicks. No local copies are created for later sharing but you can either repeat the process or save the photo to camera roll.
Thanks, Mark. I am starting to do hardware and software upgrades, and that will finally include LR. I want to use Classic, but it would be great if I had access to smart previews from my catalog so I can easily share if editing is not needed. Your posts, and Jim's have been especially helpful in sorting out the possibilities for those of us not wanting the full CC Monty.

Thanks,

--Ken
 
That all sounds fantastic Mark - and I will re-read it and draw a flowchart tomorrow! .... BUT is it possible for me to go back to Classic now that I have stored all my RAW files etc up in the Adobe Cloud?
 
A couple of things you need to understand about use of the cloud ecosystem, which should partly answer your questions:

First, and most important is naming of the apps. "CC" no longer exists in the names of most of the Adobe apps, so the longer some of us continue to use old names the more difficult it will be communicating with the user population in general. So, going forward I'll use the current names, which are as follows:

[stuff deleted]

And no, it is not necessary to install the LrDesktop app on your Classic system, though it can be useful sometimes.
Jim,

Thank you for a cogent description of a hot mess. My (short-term) solution?

Classic only. Cloud sync would be to Dropbox or other "generic storage" in the cloud.

I never thought I would sound like an old curmurgeon, (because I'm not one), but Adobe is pushing me in that direction.

Phil Burton
 
I really thank you all for your detailed and patient explanations! I need to figure out what I want to do now.

Oh, and Phil Burton, maybe not a curmudgeon, but it does say you're a "senior" member... ;)

But, yeah, I agree. I assume the reason Adobe opted to release this confused mess (including the names) long before it was fully cooked was the typical rush to market, meaning the QA folks got the releases at the last minute with no time to test and the bugs reported in the little testing they had time to do were deemed too big to fix before the release date. "Let's just get it out there and see how it goes over and we can fix it later." Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Classic and Ps! I just hate the uncertainty and the apparent lack of concern for actual long-time users (notice I didn't say "old-time").
 
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I really thank you all for your detailed and patient explanations! I need to figure out what I want to do now.

Oh, and Phil Burton, maybe not a curmudgeon, but it does say you're a "senior" member... ;)

But, yeah, I agree. I assume the reason Adobe opted to release this confused mess (including the names) long before it was fully cooked was the typical rush to market, meaning the QA folks got the releases at the last minute with no time to test and the bugs reported in the little testing they had time to do were deemed too big to fix before the release date. "Let's just get it out there and see how it goes over and we can fix it later." Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Classic and Ps! I just hate the uncertainty and the apparent lack of concern for actual long-time users (notice I didn't say "old-time").
So SarasotaSunshine, do you work for a software development company? Because you sure seem to understand the reality of how a project that is late "suddenly" is on time again. It's also the product management/product marketing people who get jammed, because they don't know what's in the release until way too late to do a proper job. (Been there, done that ...)

OK, so I am a "senior" member? Did I ever say that I started out photography with one, then two Nikon F2 bodies? Shooting Kodachrome II. I still have those F2 bodies, just in case I want to shoot film again.

I could also say when I first learned how to program, in university, we used punch cards.

I think that the real damage to Adobe is from new and prospective customers, who are thoroughly confused about the different products all called Lightroom. At least we know that Adobe seems committed to the continued development of the desktop product, and not forcing us all to the the cloud products.
 
PhilBurton, I am retired now, but I was a QA lead for many years, and later a software development manager. I don't write any code. I got into QA in the early 80s, at a water engineering firm that used VAX computers with dumb terminals on people's desks. It wasn't called QA in those days - just "make sure it works right." I loved the work when I worked for firms whose software development products were NOT their main product (either geared toward internal processes or used as a give-away to support customers using the company's other products and services). Once I began working for firms whose main products were the software, I wasn't as enthusiastic for the reasons given above. Not to mention the fact that I actually don't liked the staple diet of software developers -- Pizza. Still ... it provided a good living and I'm grateful, especially because my last company allowed me to move from Portland, OR, to Sarasota, FL and work remotely for my last year before retirement! I can put up with almost anything while sitting at my pool in the sunshine! :cool:

I am not convinced that Adobe will remain committed to development of the desktop product. My concern is that as soon as they figure out how to get all the power and functionality into the cloud version, they'll begin to sunset the desktop version. Why not? They can sell the subscription with a basic amount of storage which will never be enough for even a hobbiest, and then sell the "upgrades" to cloud storage. Two sales for each user each year!
 
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