Splitting my catalog between LR Classic and Lightroom on the Cloud

[charleskinghorn]

Lightroom Version Number

CC

Operating System

1. Windows 10
2. Android

I have posted this in the Adobe Support Community asking for feedback and suggestions, but I would appreciate very much any feedback from the members of this forum.

Adobe ID

 

[mikebore]

Exactly. I am not at all saying that Lightroom Classic is a relic. On rhe contrary. I had my doubts about its future when Lightroom CC was released, but right now I am convinced that Adobe has understood that too many photographers are not looking for a cloud solution. Lightroom Classic is not going away any time soon! It is developed further, and in some cases even ahead of Lightroom desktop. Take range mask, for example. That is still not available in the cloud apps, only in Lightroom Classic. But syncing is another matter. Adobe clearly does not believe that Lightroom Classic should be part of the Lightroom cloud ecosystem. What’s already available from the past won’t be removed, but nothing is added.

Looking in LRQ and in the Adobe Support forums, turning on Sync in Classic when Desktop (Cloudy) is installed, is causing endless confusion and problems. Adobe should send out a much stronger message about not turning on sync in Classic. At the moment, you can turn on sync in Classic without any kind of warning, and you can't turn it off (only pause).

Sorry to hijack your thread Charles.

 

[clee01l]

Cletus, Johan didn't say that Classic was a relic, he said that syncing in Classic is a relic. Given that Adobe continue to maintain their stance of not enhancing syncing in any meaningful way, I'd tend to agree with Johan. Yes, they've made improvements to the syncing UI, but until they allow more items to actually sync (and the list is getting longer), it's going to get ever more frustrating.

I see Lightroom Classic as a mature product. And as such there in IMO not much room for new features or new functionality. No one wants a bloated unresponsive app. Lightroom Classic sync's to the cloud with Proxy Smart DNGs, It Sync's from the cloud any image managed by Lightroom (cloudy) I don't know how Adobe would go about improving upon that capability.

There are users that Lightroom (cloudy) is an ideal product. Others that need additional functionality, like Printing and Publish Services, Map, Book , Slideshow modules , hierarchal keywords etc. Doubt that there is a single users that makes uses of every module in Lightroom Classic.

There are others like me (and I may be in a small minority) that have managed to create a workflow that makes use of both Lightroom Classic and Cloudy,

My objection to Johan's use of the term "relic" stems from this definition: "an object, custom, or belief that has survived from an earlier time but is now outmoded." The Lightroom Classic sync feature is not "outmoded."

 

[johnbeardy]

Stunted.

 

[charleskinghorn]

Sorry to hijack your thread Charles.

Mike, you didn't really hijack my thread. In fact, all the numerous responses to my last posting, including yours, have helped me come to a decision as to how to proceed. In the four days between my last and your first posting I decided to leave Adobe entirely. Yours and those following made me change my mind.

I have always enjoyed using Lightroom since I first started using it (version 1 or 2). But I never liked the structure of the catalog. The software I use to mirror my main photographic drive to its backup lists all the file changes, additions, and deletions. My experience with databases was all mainframe experience, except for Microsoft Access which I used for data analysis in conversion projects I worked on. You could always display the mainframe data tables and see the actual data. When I watched the file movement in the Classic catalog I always wondered what was going on and thought that this could easily become error prone, but it did always work. Another software developer posting on this site, with much more PC/Mac experience, described the catalog structure as outdated and problematic which confirmed my feelings to some extent. Then one night last week in my mirroring process I saw that Classic had deleted 100,000 records from the catalog and added a 100,00 more (approximate figures from memory). That was a way too much file movement in the catalog for me; I could see no reason for it. That and the problems described in my previous post made me decide to leave Adobe.

I had my departure all figured out, and then your posting showed up. Yours and all the following postings told me I wasn't alone in my quandary, that others were facing exactly the same issues. I need 2TB to store all my current photographs. My plan was to split those between Classic and the Cloud so that I would have to add only 1TB to the Photography plan; I would double my monthly cost but not triple it which I wanted to avoid (I pay in Canadian dollars so multiply by a factor of 1.6 to include taxes). I know others have worked out work-arounds for using both Classic and CC together, but the whole thing was getting more complex than I wanted.

I do a lot of infrared photography so I needed Photoshop for the channel swap and a few other things, but I'm not a heavy user of it. In the days I contemplated leaving Adobe I studied my other software options. Gimp, I discovered could do a channel swap and, from what little I have seen of it so far, probably the other few procedures I would need from Photoshop.

So I have moved from the Photography plan with 1TB to the Lightroom plan with 2TB. What I will lose that matters to me in Classic (Map and Print modules) can be replaced with other software. Brush masking I will miss, but that will probably be added to CC at some point. I started the migration of my remaining photographs last night and the uploading will take several days because of my slow internet connection.

I want to thank everyone here who has responded to my postings for all their help in what has been a somewhat difficult decision on my part. My daughter Lucia was getting sick of hearing about my "Adobe saga". I'm glad I have a resolution.

 

[mikebore]

Glad if you think I have helped ! I wonder how many others have felt like you about leaving Adobe because of these issues, and just done it without debate.

BTW after that plan switch, you will still be able to use Classic for some tasks, can't remember which but you can still add photos manually. Pretty sure Develop doesn't work.

 

[Victoria Bampton]

I believe the "All Sync'd Photographs special collection was added to Lightroom Classic since the Lightroom (cloudy) app was released for computers .

I've just checked a 2014 mobile eBook and it's in there. The sync activity in prefs was later though, 6.6 I think.

 

[Johan Elzenga]

I see Lightroom Classic as a mature product. And as such there in IMO not much room for new features or new functionality. No one wants a bloated unresponsive app. Lightroom Classic sync's to the cloud with Proxy Smart DNGs, It Sync's from the cloud any image managed by Lightroom (cloudy) I don't know how Adobe would go about improving upon that capability.

One thing they could improve is syncing keywords. Hierarchical keywords would be best, keywords in general would already be an improvement over the current situation. The other one would be syncing originals rather than smart previews, as an option.

My objection to Johan's use of the term "relic" stems from this definition: "an object, custom, or belief that has survived from an earlier time but is now outmoded." The Lightroom Classic sync feature is not "outmoded."

Semantics. I think the word was well-chosen, because the sync feature in Lightroom Classic "has survived from an earlier time". Enough said.