Lightroom Downloader

[JEB]

Lightroom Version

Lightrooom (Cloud) and Classic

Operating System

1. Windows 10

I have been using LR CLOUD for several years. Previously I used an earlier version of LR Classic and am still missing the Map module. My intention is to run both CLOUD and Classic, though only Classic for identifying files through the Map module. I will NOT edit within Classic.
I am using the Adobe Lightroom Downloader to download my images for the Classic Library to a PC internal Hard Drive. IT IS EXTREMELY SLOW.
I have checked my internet speed and it is fluctuating from 420 to 620 Mbps. In 24 hours, it has only downloaded 120 GB. Is this what should be expected?
Any suggestions or observations would be welcome.
John

 

[clee01l]

What is it about the Map feature in Lightroom that you do not like?

 

[johnbeardy]

I am using the Adobe Lightroom Downloader to download my images for the Classic Library to a PC internal Hard Drive. IT IS EXTREMELY SLOW.
I have checked my internet speed and it is fluctuating from 420 to 620 Mbps. In 24 hours, it has only downloaded 120 GB. Is this what should be expected?
Any suggestions or observations would be welcome.

That's because Downloader is downloading everything you have uploaded to Adobe's Lightroom cloud. It'll be dependent on the speed of Adobe's servers, your own internet connection, and on the amount of space on your hard drive.

You have no control over anything Downloader does. It is not a tool for a workflow - more like a lifeboat for when you need to abandon ship and want to take all your property with you.

 

[clee01l]

It is not a tool for a workflow - more like a lifeboat for when you need to abandon ship and want to take all your property with you.

Remember, the Titanic only stayed afloat for less than 3 hours.

 

[JEB]

John, thank you for your reply. I feared that was the answer I was going to get. My connection is quite good but could be better and plenty of space on my hard drive so it looks like Adobe servers are the issue. It still seems to me astonishing that in this day and age they take such a stance.
At this rate its going to take another couple of days!
John

 

[johnbeardy]

You'd actually have more control and visibility of the downloading process if you enabled sync in a Classic catalogue. Like the Downloader utility, it would download everything in the Cloud but you could pause sync, restart LR, move downloaded stuff onto different hard drives, see them in Maps or whatever. Just don't unsync anything in this catalogue, or change metadata or adjustments, because those changes will then be synced back up to Lightroom Cloud.

 

[JEB]

Hi John
I’m not sure I understand what you are saying.
I understood that you have to have a local Library before you can create a catalogue. That is what I am trying to do by downloading my images from Adobe cloud. Only then can I create the library.
It would be my intention NEVER to edit any image within Classic identified through the Map module. Simply take a note of the required file names and search and modify and export from LRCC. I suppose if no editing was required I could export direct from Classic.
My other concern is how I manage future additions to my Cloud library within Classic.
Does or can Classic and CC continue to sync?
If they don’t I thought I could perhaps arrange for CC to save a copy of new images when going to the cloud also to the Classic Library.
What do you think?
Hope that makes sense.
John

 

[clee01l]

Hi John
I’m not sure I understand what you are saying.
I understood that you have to have a local Library before you can create a catalogue. That is what I am trying to do by downloading my images from Adobe cloud. Only then can I create the library.
It would be my intention NEVER to edit any image within Classic identified through the Map module. Simply take a note of the required file names and search and modify and export from LRCC. I suppose if no editing was required I could export direct from Classic.
My other concern is how I manage future additions to my Cloud library within Classic.
Does or can Classic and CC continue to sync?
If they don’t I thought I could perhaps arrange for CC to save a copy of new images when going to the cloud also to the Classic Library.
What do you think?
Hope that makes sense.
John

Lightroom and Lightroom Classic are two separate apps with separate local requirements. Both can interact with the Adobe cloud. With Lightroom the Adobe Cloud is a requirement, With Lightroom Classic, it is optional. The Lightroom Library on the computer is a requirement to store information about the images that Lightroom has stored in the Adobe Cloud. You can use Lightroom with a computer or a mobile device. Each will create an build it own independent local “library” as needed.

Lightroom Classic require the images to reside locally and a local catalog file is created to manage these and information about them.

Note that you are wanting to access images stored in the Adobe Cloud. Lightroom is an app that does that. Lightroom Classic can optionally sync its catalog of images or some of them with the Adobe Cloud. For images that do not exist locally in a catalog path, syncing will import a full size local copy of the original file stored in the Adobe Cloud along with and edits and other metadata associated with those images.

You want to access images that are in the Adobe Cloud for mapping purposes. If you have a Lightroom Classic Catalog file referencing these images, you can use this. If you do not have a Lightroom Classic catalog file, the you can create a new empty catalog. As John is saying you can then turn on the sync feature in Lightroom Classic and LrC will proceed to download copies of every image in the Adobe Cloud that it does not have. And create an entry in the Lightroom Classic catalog file. If that image already existed in the catalog file and was referenced locally by the catalog, LrC will not download a new file copy. But will update the edits and metadata kept in the catalog.

Once an image file exists in both The Adobe Cloud AND a Lightroom Classic catalog, you are free to edit it in either location and the edits sync automatically. With some exceptions (notably Keywords ,color labels and a few others) are not handled the same way in the Adobe Cloud and Lightroom Classic. I do not know if GPS location is an exception but some here that does can clarify.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[johnbeardy]

To be fair, I think it's too late now.

I am not going to use the word "library", which is confusing as well as irrelevant. In Classic LR, you'd simply create a new catalogue, enable sync, and let it download files into folders that it would create on your hard drive. Whenever you add new photos in Cloudy LR, those photos would be synced down the next time you open Classic LR.

As for "NEVER edit", in your circumstances the absolute key is not to do anything in Classic LR that would unsync a photo. Most of all, you would not delete a photo in Classic because that deletion would sync. Instead of noting file names, you could add the photos to a new collection and set it to sync.

Your existing intention to create a new unsynced catalogue would be more manual and awkward to maintain. But so long as you never sync that catalogue, it would also avoid the risk that you might delete a photo and accidentally sync that deletion.

 

[JEB]

Hi Folks,

Sorry for not replying before now and thank you for your continued interest. I do appreciate getting the benefit of your knowledge.

Based on my understanding of what you have said can I ask you to confirm that I have grasped the facts properly.

Theoretically, I could stop using the Adobe Downloder from downloading my Cloud images and permit Classic to carry out that function directly by setting up sync appropriately and it would download the remaining images. Presumably CC would have to be left on for this to happen. I actually don’t think it is worth taking this approach now as the Downloader has reached 74%. I might as well let it finish the task.

I Am a little concerned that GPS data may be one of the syncing exceptions mentioned as this is the only reason I have for doing this. Do you know where I can find out about this?

Thanks again.

John

 

[Jim Wilde]

I Am a little concerned that GPS data may be one of the syncing exceptions mentioned as this is the only reason I have for doing this. Do you know where I can find out about this?

No worries regarding the GPS data, that definitely will sync back to the cloud from Classic after you've used the Map module to geo-tag the images. However, the associated location data (sub-location, city, state, country) does NOT sync, but the Lightroom desktop app will auto-populate the city, state and country fields once the GPS coordinates have been synced up from Classic.

The important thing of course is that the Classic catalog has to be synced to the cloud catalog, and the simplest way to achieve that would be to start a new empty catalog in Classic, setup the download location (and optional date-based folder structure) BEFORE enabling that catalog to start syncing. Using the Adobe Downloader really doesn't work for what you are trying to achieve.

 

[johnbeardy]

Theoretically, I could stop using the Adobe Downloder from downloading my Cloud images and permit Classic to carry out that function directly by setting up sync appropriately and it would download the remaining images.

Not the "remaining" - a synced Classic catalogue would download all images in the LR cloud. As well as stopping the Downloader, you'd delete / archive the stuff it downloaded as it will only confuse you sometime in the future.

Presumably CC would have to be left on for this to happen.

No. I assume by "CC" you mean the Cloudy Lightroom desktop app. Only Classic Lightroom would need to be open.

I actually don’t think it is worth taking this approach now as the Downloader has reached 74%. I might as well let it finish the task.

But is the task misguided?

I Am a little concerned that GPS data may be one of the syncing exceptions mentioned as this is the only reason I have for doing this. Do you know where I can find out about this?

As Jim says, the GPS values would sync up to the LR Cloud. So you could use this synced catalogue to assign GPS data to photos, and then do nothing else in Classic - and never use Classic delete photos.

I just wish people would stop recommending Downloader and encouraging people to use it. It's a lifeboat, a fire escape, an emergency chute - not something to use every day.

 

[JEB]

Thanks
I will reply in a few hours. Shopping with my better half!
John

 

[JEB]

Hi,
Thanks again for your patience.

I must say that I am beginning to question myself as to whether this is all worth the effort but having gone this far perhaps, I should see it through.

Before deciding finally, I think it would be wise to have confirmed that what I want to do with the Map module is possible.

My current Cloud library is made up of my former LR6 library that was uploaded to the Cloud when I made the change plus all the images I have added since (mostly iPhone). I believe there are two categories of images in my current Cloud library. One, with GPS data (iPhone) and secondly those without. There could possibly be a third group. They would be images that when I was using LR6 did not have GPS data that I dragged to “general” locations on the Map. I guess it is likely that that data has gone from these images – so be it.

So, moving on, just to confirm my understanding of Jim and John’s most recent posts.

I should abandon and delete the Adobe Downloader download (shame, now at 86% !!).

I should follow Jim’s advice regarding setting up and syncing a new catalog in Classic.

A question regarding the syncing/downloading to Classic. Will it download (to Classic) a copy of the original or just a preview (can never remember what it is called)? Speed of download is what I am wondering about. My hope is that if it is a copy of the original that this route will be faster than via the Downloader.

I look forward to your comments.

Cheers,

John

 

[clee01l]

A question regarding the syncing/downloading to Classic. Will it download (to Classic) a copy of the original or just a preview (can never remember what it is called)? Speed of download is what I am wondering about. My hope is that if it is a copy of the original that this route will be faster than via the Downloader.

If you look back through my replies here, I tried to clearly point out that Lightroom Classic always downloads full size image files FROM the cloud. This is the primary reason I use Lightroom mobile to import my images to Lightroom Classic when I travel (or am too lazy to go upstairs to use my iMac.
The speed of the download is going to be controlled by the speed of your internet. I have gigabit fiber into my house and Gigabit Ethernet wired to my iMac. Using WiFi on my iPadPro, I am limited to less than 150Mbps going to the Adobe Cloud. Still I can upload and import a full 32 GB camera card using Lightroom on my iPadPro to the Adobe Cloud and download from the Adobe Cloud to my iMac with in a few minutes. I've also done this from a spotty hotel room internet in the middle of Arizona, knowing that the images will be in my Classic catalog on my iMac when I get home.
I can say with certainty that this will be lightyear speeds faster than using the downloader and then having to import that downloaded images into a Lightroom Catalog . As John pointed out earlier, with Classic syncing everything from the cloud, you can start. and stop the sync when it pleases you and sync will resume automatically. More importantly, Lightroom Classic is multithreaded and can sync and import several image files simultaneously in the background while you go about doing important tasks in Lightroom Classic or work with other apps, checking email and browsing the web with your web browser.
Earlier I asked another question about mapping. What is it about the Mapping functionality in Lightroom that you do not want to use it?

 

[JEB]

Hi Cletus,
Thank you for your detailed explanation regarding the expected download speed from the cloud to Classic - most encouraging and what I was hoping for.
Regarding why I wish to use the Map Module in Classic. I perhaps didn't make that totally clear. It is because I wish to identify EVERY image taken at a specific or nearby point, no mater when it was taken, NOT just where a specific image was taken, which is all the cloud version does, as I understand it.
As I have indicated above I will have to do some work on manually positioning images that are not geotagged to a "general location" on the Classic Map Module.
Thanks again for your input.
Cheers
John

 

[JEB]

Hi,
Firstly, thank you all very much for your input and guidance. I really do appreciate your help and feel I should give you a final report. I continued with the Adobe Downloader download to one of my internal HHD's and plan to move that to an external drive next just for safekeeping. I then plan to, as you have suggested, create a Classic catalogue and sync it with the cloud. No problem!
Regards
John