Library module Why are Lightroom Classic program files larger after deleting

[hmpost]

Lightroom Version Number

13.5.1

Operating System

1. macOS 15 Sequoia

I have been culling my Lightroom Classic images, from 94,810 to 82,010 and I am finding certain files like Previews.lrdata (206 .49 GB to 224.01), Sync.lrdata (289 MB to 298.2 MB), and a few more.

I have optimized the catalog after each session of culling. Looking to drop another 10,000-15,000 before upgrading.

Also I have noticed a slow down in LR speed in processing, writing to XMP and a few other issues.
Is this normal?

thanks,
marshall

 

[clee01l]

Unless you have a laptop and or your images on an External drive, you don't really need Smart Previews, standard Previews will grow unless you limit the number of 1:1 preview to 30 days. Deleting images doe not immediately delete the previews though I think it will eventually.

If you upgrade to LrC v14.01, you also now have the option to limit the size of standard previews not exceed 100 or 150 GB or what number that you set. LrC will the delete previews beginning with the oldest and starting with the 1:1.

I have about 82,000 images in my master catalog and a standard preview size of 41GB. On import I generat minimal previews, no 1:1 and have 1:1 previews set to delete after 30 days. I have not (yet) set a limit on the size of my standard Previews.

 

[Califdan]

As you cull images, LrC may need to build previews for images that didn't have one before to allow you to see the images in the grid. If you then examine the images more closely in the Loupe view or I suspec in the compare view, it may build a larger preview. So, if you are actually looking at images to decide whether to cull it or not, it is quite logical that the previews folder will be bigger when you're done than when you started.

The before/after sizes of sync.lrdata is really too insignificant to have any meaning. But if a large number of your culled images were synced, this may come down after a bit (maybe 30 (or is it 60) days which is how long such "deletes" are retained in the Lr/Cloud deleted list.

@clee01 is correct about the 1:1 previews and the option to limit size in 14.0

Where you'll see the most impact is in the folders where the actual images are stored - especially if they are RAW, TIFF or PSD files. However, here too, if you're just looking at the drive usage you must empty the trash to reclaim that space.

 

[hmpost]

Thanks for your comments. I do use a M1 Mac Book Pro and all my images are on an external 7200 rpm drive. As mentioned I am hoping to delete another 10,000 (I am a heavy shooter and a lot of my earlier work was HDR), before I upgrade.
I have been tracking the loading time of LR and it takes approximately 30 seconds from launch to full open. Thinking an external SSD drive may help.
Appreciate all your comments and will update.

 

[clee01l]

Thanks for your comments. I do use a M1 Mac Book Pro and all my images are on an external 7200 rpm drive. As mentioned I am hoping to delete another 10,000 (I am a heavy shooter and a lot of my earlier work was HDR), before I upgrade.
I have been tracking the loading time of LR and it takes approximately 30 seconds from launch to full open. Thinking an external SSD drive may help.
Appreciate all your comments and will update.

I think your problem might be the M1 MBP, How much unified memory do you have?. The recommended minimum is 24-32GB. I had a 16GB M1 iMac and it was a slug when LrC v13 came out. In January I switched to an M2 Ultra MacStudio w/ 64GB. I just installed Sequoia 15.1 yesterday and my LrC version is v14.0.1. I just timed the opening of LrC and it was ~10 sec.

Except for printing and exporting, LrC rarely accesses the original files. So, getting a faster external drive won't help. Writing to XMP is not productive and does not add anything to LrC. My recommendation is to turn of the automatic write to XMP. It is a waste of disk space Instead make sure that you backup the maser LrC catalog frequently so that when your primary disk fails you have a recent backup to recover from.

Delete the standard Previews folder and Smart Previews folder and let LrC start over. You can selectively rebuils previews to create a smaller compact set of previews.

 

[hmpost]

On my M1 I have 32 GB and only recently (past year) have I noticed a slowdown in Lightroom processing. Just a quick question about deleting Previews and Smart Previews. I have a lot of Collections that I use to show my photos on Lightroom Mobile. Will deleting the two folders affect the collections?

thanks

marshall

 

[clee01l]

Will deleting the two folders affect the collections?

thanks

marshall

If you delete standard Previews, LrC will rebuild the ones you need. When you view a collection, any preview not available in the collection will get rebuilt. This will take only a few seconds to render all images in the collection.

Every thing in LrC accesses the Previews for display.


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[hmpost]

Thanks. Just a follow up. After I delete and rebuild my Previews will I have to re sync to Adobe Cloud so I can view the collections on Lightroom Mobile?

 

[clee01l]

Thanks. Just a follow up. After I delete and rebuild my Previews will I have to re sync to Adobe Cloud so I can view the collections on Lightroom Mobile?

The Previews folders have nothing to do with the Adobe Cloud. LrC syncs “Smart Previews” to the Adobe Cloud. These are more properly proxie files for the full size original in your catalog They arrive via a special export that creates DNGs that are 2560 px on the long edge. LrC does not use anything for the Smart Previews folder to do this.

This is another reason the Smart Previews folder is irrelevant and redundant.


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[Jim Wilde]

LrC does not use anything for the Smart Previews folder to do this.

If a Smart preview already exists for an unsynced image, LrC will use that Smart Preview instead of generating a new one when that image is set to sync.

 

[clee01l]

At some point in the past, you told me the Smart Preview DNG for the Adobe Cloud was not the same Preview in a Smart Preview Folder.

If a standard preview is available, won’t LrC resize that and create a DNG for sync with out having to go back to the original file for the Smart Preview DNG?


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[hmpost]

Just a follow up to my issue.
I have been culling images and down 17,000 from 94,800. I also deleted the Previews.lrdata file which was 237..62 GB and the new file is 1.14 GB
Lightroom seems to be a lot faster now.
Just wanted to say thanks to all that posted replies. As always some great help here

 

[Jim Wilde]

I don't think I ever said that the Smart Preview which is synced to the cloud is a different type of smart preview than the one generated by LrC for use within the Develop module, because they're not different. What I think the confusion was related to the fact that a Smart Preview generated by LrC specifically for syncing is NOT also copied into the Smart Preview Lrdata package/folder (if one doesn't already exist there), i.e. in that situation the SP is discarded after upload. That might have led to the assumption that the Smart Previews are different types of proxy, though they are not.
Whereas if a Smart Preview is already available in the Lrdata package/folder when the original image is enabled for syncing, that SP is simply copied and uploaded rather than being regenerated anew.

So apologies if I wasn't clear back in the past.