Which is the best way to use LR Classic and LR Web together?

[geoffbutton]

Lightroom Version Number

9.4

Operating System

1. Windows 10

Hello,
I use LR Classic as my main go to program,and just to make sure I am using the right terminology, I use the desk top, folder based monthly , photographers subscription. My aim is to try and integrate some of my hobby into the cloud so I can have access to some of my images and work on them away from home. I have had trouble finding any tutorials on how to set up from scratch, the collections in LR Classic on how to sync them properly with my desk top, my tablet and my smart phone. (windows and android systems).
Can anybody assist with this please?
Also as a small point(?), on my desktop I have 22042 images however on my devices and web I have 22433. I thought I had sync'd them all, but the numbers don't tally. I don't understand how I can have more images in the cloud than on my desk top?

Hope this all makes sense, many thanks in advance.
geoffbutton

 

[Jim Wilde]

You need to clarify what you mean when you use the term "desktop"....there are two apps in your subscription which are run on a "desktop": Lightroom Classic (local folders-based) and Lightroom (cloud-based storage). Which one is giving you the totals mis-match? Lightroom should always match what is showing in Web, but Classic might not for many reasons.
If the problem is in Lightroom, check the sync status (tap on the cloud icon top right), make sure it's not been paused.

 

[geoffbutton]

You need to clarify what you mean when you use the term "desktop"....there are two apps in your subscription which are run on a "desktop": Lightroom Classic (local folders-based) and Lightroom (cloud-based storage). Which one is giving you the totals mis-match? Lightroom should always match what is showing in Web, but Classic might not for many reasons.
If the problem is in Lightroom, check the sync status (tap on the cloud icon top right), make sure it's not been paused.

Hello Jim, I'm using Lightroom Classic and its this one giving me the mis match. I have had sync problems but have reset the sync data in preferences and the icon tells me that all are synced. I suspect that I don't understand the relationship between the two systems, hence the first part of my post.
Many thanks, geoffbutton

 

[johnbeardy]

Can you post a couple of screenshots showing the mismatch?

 

[Jim Wilde]

Yes, the screenshots would help, but a couple of things to understand, which may be contributing to the mismatch:

1. Classic allows selective syncing, meaning that images that you import directly into Classic do not automatically sync to the cloud, i.e. the user can decide which images are synced from Classic.
2. All Lightroom apps, however, always sync any new images to the cloud, and thus to all other synced apps (including Classic). So Classic will always receive any images added to the cloud, but only sends its own imports to the cloud when the user decides to do that.
3. One other wrinkle is video.....videos added to the cloud via any of the "cloudy" apps (i.e. excluding Classic) will sync to the cloud, and thus down into Classic. However. on arrival in Classic they are flagged as "unsynced" and thus do not count in the All Synced Photographs total.

 

[Gnits]

1. Classic allows selective syncing, meaning that images that you import directly into Classic do not automatically sync to the cloud, i.e. the user can decide which images are synced from Classic.
2. All Lightroom apps, however, always sync any new images to the cloud, and thus to all other synced apps (including Classic). So Classic will always receive any images added to the cloud, but only sends its own imports to the cloud when the user decides to do that.
3. One other wrinkle is video.....videos added to the cloud via any of the "cloudy" apps (i.e. excluding Classic) will sync to the cloud, and thus down into Classic. However. on arrival in Classic they are flagged as "unsynced" and thus do not count in the All Synced Photographs total.

Good summary...

 

[clee01l]

I am one of the users of both Lightroom Classic and Lightroom (cloudy)

A couple of points to add to Jim's summary.
When you sync collections from LrC to the cloud, only proxy Smart DNGs get sent to the cloud not the full sized copy of the original. This is a good thing as it does not count against your subscription storage limits. These Proxy files are suitable for editing and viewing on mobile devices like your phone or your tablet.

Any files that you import from the mobile device will be sync'ed back to LrC full size and this will count against the subscription cloud storage limits (20GB/1TB) With enough cloud storage or well managed cloud storage, this permits your mobile device to be a front end to LrC. I routinely import to Lr on my iPad from my camera and if I am at location for an extended time, I can import in the field and have my images waiting from me in LrC when I get home.

Lightroom (cloudy) can be installed on a home machine. I would not advise installing both LrC and Lr on the same machine. There are no disadvantages to installing both, but there is also no benefit.

If you are like me a person that tends to have LrC cluttered with photos that are too good to throw away but not good enough to share, you might want to limit your sync'd collections to the Best of the Best or photos that you want to work with on mobile and well as photos that you want to share on mobile. Out of about 21,000 of my cataloged images, only 7500 are shared to the cloud.