Sync Lightroom synchronise questions

[NikonPhil]

Lightroom Version Number

14.0.1

Operating System

1. macOS 15 Sequoia

HI All, apologies if these questions have been posted previously:
1) If I have photos sync'd from a catalog with Lightroom mobile, and I create a new catalog, are the photo's sync'd back to the new catalog?
2) If I sync a collection of photo's from LrC, can I then delete selective ones in LrMobile? Will this resync them or will it delete them back in the LrC collection as well?
Thanks
Phil

 

[Jim Wilde]

1) No, not unless you change the new catalog to be the synced catalog. Only one LrC catalog can be designated as the current synced catalog. Yes, you can switch the sync designation to the new catalog, but all the exiting cloud content will be downloaded into that new catalog. That may be a good thing (if that's what you wanted to achieve) or it may cause you some grief if you haven't thought through the implications.
2) Yes you can delete selected synced images from LrMobile. That deletion will remove the image from the cloud library (though it's placed into a "Deleted" album for up to 60 days to allow you time to change your mind), and it would also be removed from any other synced Lightroom clients. However, it would NOT be deleted from LrClassic (if it had been synced there), but it would be "unsynced". That means that it will be removed from the All Synced Photographs special collection, and it will be removed from any sync-enabled collection that it happens to be in. It would not be removed from any unsynced collection that it's in, however.

 

[NikonPhil]

HI Jim,
Thanks for the prompt response which has cleared things up a bit.
I was wondering though - where does one change the catalog sync as referenced in your answer to question1?
I think this is part of try problem. Having created a new catalog, there are 1500 images trying to sync down from the cloud which is not what I wanted....


Phil

 

[Jim Wilde]

You change the sync catalog simply by turning on sync in the new catalog (under the cloud icon top right of the screen), and accepting the resulting warning message:



If the new catalog is trying to sync, then it would seem that you've already turned sync on and accepted the resulting warning message. If that's not what you wanted then perhaps you should revert to the original catalog and initiate syncing again for that catalog. That should work, then you can open the new catalog and syncing shoul be off.

 

[NikonPhil]

Ha, I think there is the problem. I have misunderstood how the sync works. My misunderstanding was that if I sync some images from catalog A, then switch to catalog B and sync some images from there I would have images from A & B available to edit in Lr Mobile while travelling. On return I could have them sync back to their respective catalogs as they are opened in LrC.

Phil.

 

[Jim Wilde]

Why do you need 2 separate catalogs to sync the same set of images? If it's for travel purposes, you could (should) consider usning the Lightroom Desktop app on the travel device instead of using Catalog B in LrClassic. That way you have access to all the images synced from Catalog A, and you can edit them as desired (which will sync back to Catalog A when you next open it), you can also import new images into the Lightroom app and they also will sync back into Catalog A on next launch. The only downside of that approach is that importing directly into Lightroom results in the originals being uploaded to the cloud, which will eat into your small 20GB cloud storage. Most users using that workflow deal with the situation by waiting for the images to download into LrC, then within LrC they unsync the images (by removing them from the "All Synced Photographs" special collection, which deletes them from the cloud), then they resync them from LrC which sends the no-cost Smart Previews to the cloud instead.

 

[NikonPhil]

I'm not syncing the same set of images. Catalog A and Catalog B have different images in them and that's how I want it to stay.

I'm trying to sync some images from catalog A, and some different images from catalog B etc, then edit them in Lr Mobile while I am travelling. On return I hoped they would sync back (catalog A images to catalog A when it is open, and Catalog B images to catalog B when it is open).

But if I've understood you correctly, if I open catalog B in LrC and sync is on, then it will also copy the catalog A & B images from Lr Mobile back to Catalog B.

Phil

 

[Jim Wilde]

But if I've understood you correctly, if I open catalog B in LrC and sync is on, then it will also copy the catalog A & B images from Lr Mobile back to Catalog B.

Yes, that is correct. And if after doing that you switch sync back to Catalog A all the Catalog B images that you added to the cloud will download into Catalog A.

 

[Califdan]

You are heading into chaos with this approach. Part of the problem is that the entire process of changing which catalog is the sync catalog was not thouroughly implemented, is inconsitent, and very poorly documented. I've been working on documenting this since August and even after over 20 regression test runs, with 80 to 100 test cases in each run using differnt scenarios am still finding new errors and problems.

One thing that will casue you grief when you switch from Catalog A to Catalog B in your methodology is that EVERYTHING in Lr/Cloud will come down to Catalog B. How it comes down to Catalog B is not consistent and depends on where the image entered (Lr or LrC) and if Catalog B already has the image in the catalog and whether the image is already in the physical folder on disk designated as the "sync folder" in preferences. If the image was originally imported into LrC in Catalog A and then synced to Lr/Cloud, Catalog B will recieve an SP (Smart Preview) from Lr/Cloud as a missing image which may get a "-2" appebnded to the end of the file name if the image is already on disk in the sync folder. If the image in Lr/Cloud was first imported into one of the Lr/Cloud apps, then Catalog B will get a full size opriginal copy of the image which may manifest itself as a VC (virtual copy) or as an entirely new image.

Then when you switch the sync catalog back to Catalog A later, all this happens again.

I'm sorry that I am unable to replicate in a forum post what is so far over 30 pages of documentation (which will become a blog when I'm done) of all the various situations that can occur when you swap which catalog is the sync catalog. Some of those problems include unsyncable images, images marked as syncing thot don't sync, duplicate images, and loads of mismatches between what is in Lr/Cloud and what LrC thinks is in Lr/Cloud. As you don't have the same images in both catalogs you may avoid many of these problems but I predict you will hit some.

All I can say is that I would very much encourage you to re-evaluate your workflow by thinking about what it is you are trying to accomplish (what are your needs) then figuring out a different way to accomplish those goals that does not involved changing the sync catalog. I dare say, that with your current workflow you will be a very frequent guest here in this forum.

 

[prbimages]

You are heading into chaos with this approach.

A good reason to use one single catalog, and avoid the problems altogether.