Lightroom wont see smart previews

hi! so I am helping out a nother photographer by editing some of her work. She sent me the LRCAT file, then later sent me the smart previews folder for me to edit. However when I open up the LRCAT file, it does not read that there are smart previews. How do I tell LR where they are?
thanks!
~mike

I think I lied to you - I believe you need her regular previews folder too - preferrably that containing the same cross-section of photos she exported for you as catalog (instead of the whole kit-n-kaboodle).
Reason: the smart previews have the same "ID" as the regular previews, which Lr gets from the regular preview database.
Sorry - we're kinda figuring this out together - such was a recent discovery for me.
Note: the simplest thing would be to have her export a fresh catalog for you, which includes everything you need, including smart previews.
Note: the simplest thing would be to have her export a fresh catalog for you, which includes everything you need, including smart previews.
* Select photos
* File menu -> export as catalog.
(exclude "negatives")
Rob

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Lightroom 6 creats smart previews slower than lightroom 5 why?

Can anyone tell me if this is a bug or something else... i couldn't beleive when I import my first gallery !!! IT WAS TOO SLOW (the smart previews import)!
I try the same gallery with Lightroom 5 and brought the smart previews in seconds !!

Thanks , I will follow the tread that you have mentioned.
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hopping new updates will increase and optimize the CPU utilization

Is there a way to move smart previews to different hard drive and point lightroom to them

I want to use lightroom on a surface pro. My Lightroom catalogue will be on a 64gb thumbdrive so I can use it between my stationary computer and the portable one. Since my Smart Preview folder is much larger than 64gb, can I put it on the internal hard drive in the surface keep my catalogue on the thumbdrive and point lightroom to the smart preview folder?

No, my smart preview catalogue is 160gb and I don't want to carry around an external hard drive, using the catalgue on a low profile thumbdrive solves the issue of using two computers, If I can figure out away to point the program to the smart previews, then I would be in business, since the images would synch up when I get home again.

Deleting photos that are in Smart Previews

I observed that when photos are deleted while in a smart preview collection the photos are not removed from the smart preview collection. Resulting over time in a large smart preview file with unused photos, consuming your hard drive space.
It is therefor important only to delete photos when they are first discarded from the smart preview catalog.
When eventually photos are removed while they were available in the smart preview catalog the work around to delete them is to locate the catalog named: "Lightroom 5 Catalog Smart Previews.lrdata" and to open it with Lightroom. When opened you can select the photos and remove them. After that you can remove the folder from your Lightroom folders and the file itself will consist of only 0 bytes.
It would maybe a good idea that removing photos automatically would discard them from the smart preview.
I hope this was helpful.

Smart previews are discarded upon startup if it's been more than an hour since photo was removed from catalog.

How can I edit lightroom 5 smart previews on mac book pro (mbp) when the lightroom 5 master image files are on my external hard drive is disconnected from the mbp

How can I edit lightroom 5 smart previews on mac book pro (mbp) when the lightroom 5 master image files are on my external hard drive is disconnected from the mbp? So far when I try to disconnect the external HD from the mbp, I get the following pop up window: The disk "external hard drive A" couldn't be ejected because "Lightroom" is using it. Quit that application and try to eject this disk again. When I do that and restart Lightroom 5, the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom - Select Catalog screen pops up but doesn't list my external hard drive A as a choice.
I've reviewed Adobe's Lightroom Help | Smart Previews Lightroom 5 web page and still haven't been able to figure what I'm doing wrong. Any help would be appreciated.

Your internal HDD. by default, is named 'Macintosh HD'. From what information you supplied, it looks like there is already a Lightroom catalog installed on you local (internal) HDD using the standard naming convention Adobe uses as well as a Lightroom catalog on your external drive which you created. To be sure of which catalog Lightroom is loading when it starts up, To do this, start Lightroom as you normally would. After it starts, select the Lightroom menu item, then select the Catalog Preferences item and finally, navigate to the General tab. The Location information will tell you exactly what catalog Lightroom is opening by default. This will likely be the Photography Mac Book Pro Versions catalog on your external HDD. Once that is confirmed, you are ready to proceed. As an additional test/verification, you can shut down Lightroom and, this time, start Lightroom while holding down the ALT/OPTION key. This will cause Lightroom to pause and display a screen which will allow you to chose a different catalog to open. Navigate to the /Users/[user name]/Pictures/Lightroom folder and select the Lightroom 5 Catalog.lrcat file. When Lightroom comes up, there should be no previews or folders as this catalog should be empty. Now you can be certain which catalog is being used and which catalog has all your data and you are ready to migrate your current catalog. Shut down Lightroom.
To migrate your current catalog, use Finder to locate your Photography Mac Book Pro Versions folder on your external drive. Select the folder and select COPY from the context menu. Next, use Finder to navigate to the /Users/[user name]/Pictures/Lightroom folder on you internal HDD. You can start at the Macintosh HD level and work your way down by opening each level (Macintosh HD/Users/[user name]/Pictures). Select the /Pictures folder and then select PASTE... from the context menu. When the COPY/PASTE is complete, you should see the following files on the Macintosh HD:
Macintosh HD/Users/[user name]/Pictures/Lightroom/ and
Macintosh HD/Users/[user name]/Pictures/Photography Mac Book Pro Versions
The Macintosh HD/Users/[user name]/Pictures/Lightroom folder will contain the empty default catalog the Adobe created when Lightroom was installed and Macintosh HD/Users/[user name]/Pictures/Photography Mac Book Pro Versions will contain a copy of the catalog you created on your external HDD.
You are almost done now. Make sure your external drive is still attached for this step. Restart Lightroom using the ALT/OPTION key again. When the Select Catalog screen appears, select the Choose a Different Catalog button (lower left side). When you do, a Finder window will open to allow you to navigate to a catalog of your choosing. Navigate to Macintosh HD/Users/[user name]/Pictures/Photography Mac Book Pro Versions and select the file Photography Mac Book Pro Version.lrcat. This is the copy you just created. Select the Open button and Lightroom should start. You should see all of your previews and settings just as before. Also, in the left hand panel, all of your folder should show up and none of them should be dimmed and none of your previews should display a small exclamation point badge. Either a dimmed folder name or an exclamation point badge indicates that Lightroom can't find the associated image file. If everything looks good, go to the Lightroom menu, select Preferences and then select the General tab. Under Default Catalog, select an option to either load the LAST catalog opened or select the Users/[user name]/Pictures/Photography Mac Book Pro Versions catalog from the drop down. Shut down Lightroom and then restart it normally. This time, when Lightroom starts, you should be viewing the new copy of your catalog. You can confirm this by looking at the General tab on the Catalog Preferences screen (Lightroom/Catalog Preferences menu items). Shut down Lightroom once again and this time, eject your external drive before restarting. This time, your folders in the left hand panel will be dimmed but you should be able to work with your smart previews. If Lightroom should display a Select Catalog screen with the external drive detached, double check your settings as it indicates Lightroom is still looking at the copy of the catalog on the external drive rather than the new copy you made.
Finally, if you are seeing dimmed folders and/or exclamation point badges with the external drive attached, this indicates a problem. You can select any folder and select Update Folder Location from the context menu. This will allow you to navigate to the copy on the external drive and select it. Lightroom will then update the catalog (select to synchronize the content). This will not only clear the dimmed folder problem but also remove the exclamation point badges for all photos in that missing folder. However, it may indicate that not all went well with the copy of the catalog so make sure to verify all went well. You can use the Get Info option on the two folders. You should see the same number of files/folders for both the copy on the internal drive as well as on the external drive but you can't rely on the byte count because of the possibility of differences between the geometry of the two drives. Hope this all helps!

Lightroom Mobile Sync - Does It Need to Create Smart Previews Again?

I'm on Lr 5.5 and using the 30 day trial of Adobe CC to try syncing one collection of slight more than 1000 images. Despite already having generated the Smart Previews, I can see my CPU crunching through image after image (the rolling hills pattern in the task manager) while doing the sync. I was assuming, since I already created the Smart Previews, that the sync of this collection would begin immediately and be done by simply uploading all of the existing Smart Previews. The Smart Previews folder of the catalog is 871MB and has stayed the same despite the CPU obviously doing *something*. As it is now, the sync progress is incredibly slow, almost at a pace like it's actually exporting full-res JPGs from the RAW images (as a comparison only, I know this should not be what it's actually doing).
Another side effect of this is that I'm basically unable to use my computer for other tasks due to the high CPU utilization.
Win 7 x64 / Lightroom 5.5
Intel i5 2500k OC'd 4.5GHz
16GB RAM
SSD for OS, separate SSD for working catalog and files

One more update, I went into Preferences and deleted all mobile data, which automatically signed me out of Adobe CC and then I signed back in. Please keep in mind the Smart Previews were long generated before even starting the trial, and I also manually generated them again (it ran through quickly since it found they were already generated) many times. Now that I'm re-syncing my collection of 1026 images, I can clearly see Lightroom using the CPU to regenerate the Smart Previews which already exist. I have no idea why it's doing this except that it's making the process of uploading the Smart Previews extremely slow. I hope this time around it will at least sync all 1026 images to the cloud.

Do iPhone photos sync to Lightroom Mobile in Original Quality or Smart Preview?

From my iPhone, I want to get the original (high quality) photo from my camera roll into Lightroom on my desktop. Currently, I am doing this by having Dropbox read my camera roll, and using WiFi, sync all new photos to a Dropbox folder. Then, when I launch Lightroom on my desktop, I have watch folder setup that imports all new photos sync'ed from Dropbox into Lightroom.
I recently downloaded Lightroom Mobile, which has the ability to import any new photos from the camera roll directly to Lightroom Mobile. I have set this up to sync to Lightroom on my desktop with my Lightroom Mobile. From what I have read online though, Lightroom Mobile only syncs "smart previews", not the original image. This make sense for RAW files as they are huge, but what about regular JPEGs?
My question is, if someone sets up Lightroom Mobile to sync in this way (from iPhone camera roll -> Lightroom Mobile -> Lightroom Desktop), does it sync the original (high quality) photo to your desktop, or just a Smart Preview? I am wondering if I can now eliminate the Dropbox syncing, and just use Lightroom Mobile instead.

When you import photos from your camera roll via Lr Mobile, then the original will be synced to Lr Deskop. But when you open up the photo in Lr Mobile you will see a smaller kind of smart preview. Hope that answers your question. - Guido

Lightroom Mobile - Does It Need To Create Smart Previews Again?

Light

Hi Guido,
Since my other thread doesn't seem to be getting any responses, I'm pasting what I've found here. Please keep in mind I am not a beginner with Lightroom and consider myself very familiar with Lightroom's features excluding the new mobile sync.
1st message:
I'm on Lr 5.5 and using the 30 day trial of Adobe CC to try syncing one collection of slight more than 1000 images. Despite already having generated the Smart Previews, I can see my CPU crunching through image after image (the rolling hills pattern in the task manager) while doing the sync. I was assuming, since I already created the Smart Previews, that the sync of this collection would begin immediately and be done by simply uploading all of the existing Smart Previews. The Smart Previews folder of the catalog is 871MB and has stayed the same despite the CPU obviously doing *something*. As it is now, the sync progress is incredibly slow, almost at a pace like it's actually exporting full-res JPGs from the RAW images (as a comparison only, I know this should not be what it's actually doing).
Another side effect of this is that I'm basically unable to use my computer for other tasks due to the high CPU utilization.
Win 7 x64 / Lightroom 5.5
Intel i5 2500k OC'd 4.5GHz
16GB RAM
SSD for OS, separate SSD for working catalog and files
2nd message:
As a follow up, now Lightroom thinks all 1026 photos are synced (as shown in "All Sync Photographs" portion of the Catalog though all images after the 832nd image show the sync icon per image stuck at "Building Previews for Lightroom Mobile" and the status at the top left corner has been stuck at "Syncing 194 photos" for over 12 hours. Is there no option to force another sync via Lightroom Desktop and also force the iOS app to manually refresh (perhaps by pulling down on the collections view, like refreshing via the Mail app)?
3rd message:
One more update, I went into Preferences and deleted all mobile data, which automatically signed me out of Adobe CC and then I signed back in. Please keep in mind the Smart Previews were long generated before even starting the trial, and I also manually generated them again (it ran through quickly since it found they were already generated) many times. Now that I'm re-syncing my collection of 1026 images, I can clearly see Lightroom using the CPU to regenerate the Smart Previews which already exist. I have no idea why it's doing this except that it's making the process of uploading the Smart Previews extremely slow. I hope this time around it will at least sync all 1026 images to the cloud.
4th message:
All 1026 images synced just fine and I could run through my culling workflow on the iPad/iPhone perfectly. Now I'm on a new catalog (my current workflow unfortunately uses one catalog per event) and I see the same problem: Smart Previews already generated but when syncing, Lightroom seems to re-generate them again anyway (or take up a lot of CPU simply to upload the existing Smart Previews). Can anyone else chime in on what their CPU utilization is like during the sync process when Smart Previews are already created?
New information:
Now I'm editing a catalog of images that is synced to Lightroom Mobile and notice that my workflow has gotten even slower between photos (relative to what it was before, this is not a discussion about how fast/slow LR should perform). Obviously Lightroom is syncing the edited settings to the cloud, but I can see my CPU running intensively (all 4 cores) on every images I edit and the CPU utilization graph looks different than before I started using LR mobile sync. It still feels like every change isn't simply syncing an SQLite database change but re-generating a Smart Preview to go with it (I'm not saying this is definitely what's happening, but something is intensively using the CPU that wasn't prior to using LR Mobile).
For example: I only update the tint +5 on an image. I see the CPU spike up to around 30-40%, then falls back down, then back up to 100%, then back down to another smaller spike while Lightroom says "Syncing 1 photo". I've attached a screenshot of my CPU graph when doing this edit on just one image. During this entire time, if I try to move onto edit another image, the program is noticeably slower to respond than it was prior to using LR mobile, due to the fact that there appear to be much more CPU intensive tasks running to sync the previous edit.
I'd be happy to test/try anything you have in mind, because it's my understanding that re-syncing photos that are edited that are already in the cloud should be simply updating the database file rather than require regenerating any Smart Previews or other image data. If this continues, I will probably not choose to proceed with a subscription despite the fact that i think LR mobile adds a lot of value and boosts my workflow significantly if it wasn't causing the program to lag so badly in the process.
I know this message was incredibly long and probably tedious to read through so I thank anyone in advance who gets through it
-Jeff

Lightroom 5 - Smart Previews | What's New in Lightroom 5 | Adobe TV

Learn how to create lightweight, efficient Smart Previews to work with offline images in Lightroom.
http://adobe.ly/11rZI6q

Hello Julieanne,
I'm using Lightroom 5 and I'm interested in the smart preview feature; one question: is it possible a workflow like this one: work with a desktop with all the photos in one hard disk and no smart preview; then export one catalog with smart preview and open it in my laptop so that I can work with the files and modify. Then export it back to the desktop version once I'm back home.
Thanks and regards,
Marco

Lightroom can't find Smart Previews?

I have a Photographer trying to send me files via Smart Previews in Lightroom. She wants the edited files returned to her in the original NEF formats that she sent them in.
Here's what I've done:
1. I downloaded her original LR Catalog that you sent me, and also downloaded the original Smart Preview file that she sent.
2. I put both of them in one folder together on my desktop
3. I went to that folder and clicked on the Lightroom Catalog - it opened, but it said that the Photos could not be found. They are showing as NEF files.
4. Since the photos couldn't be found, I clicked on the Smart Preview file. This caused the photos to open in Lightroom - but when they open, they suddenly are DNG files, and in Lightroom it shows them as being "Original Photos" instead of "Smart Previews"
5. Since they are opened as DNG files, that is what they are showing up in her LR view as since, I am attaching the Smart Previews to the photos that I've edited.
The part that is baffling me is that a) when the LR Catalog and the Smart Preview file are in the same folder, and I open the LR Catalog, it is showing photos as missing and not picking up on the Smart Preview file in the same folder. And - b) Once I click on the Smart Preview files, it's converting them instantly to DNG files, and showing them as Original photos, instead of Smart Previews. It's almost like there is something wrong with the Smart Preview file? Or am I missing a step here?

Sorry - that first line item should have said the LR catalog she sent me - not "you" sent me.

Lightroom 5 - Smart Previews | Adobe Evangelists - Julieanne Kost | Adobe TV

Learn how to create lightweight, efficient Smart Previews to work with offline images in Lightroom.
http://adobe.ly/1bDUO7Q

"Automatically update the original when the original comes back online"
So the .xmp file will be updated with any offline adjustments that were made?
If this is true, I don't think this functionality is working
The dates of my .xmp files do not get updated when I plug the external drive back in.

Building smart previews much slower in Lightroom 6 than in Lightroom 5

Building smart previews is much slower in Lightroom 6 than in Lightroom 5.
Creating a smart preview from a DNG (Fuji X-E1 raw file) takes about 12 seconds.
Enabling/disabling GPU accelaration does not really make a difference.
When monitoring the Lightroom process with Process Explorer the GPU usage is always 0.
Below is my system specification.
Anyone got some idea why this might be?
Wilhelm
Version von Lightroom: CC 2015 [1014445]
Lizenz: Abgelaufene Testversion
Betriebssystem: Windows 8.1 Business Edition
Version: 6.3 [9600]
Anwendungsarchitektur: x64
Systemarchitektur: x64
Anzahl logischer Prozessoren: 4
Prozessorgeschwindigkeit: 2,3 GHz
Integrierter Speicher: 8071,2 MB
Für Lightroom verfügbarer phys. Speicher: 8071,2 MB
Von Lightroom verwendeter phys. Speicher: 655,5 MB (8,1%)
Von Lightroom verwendeter virtueller Speicher: 692,1 MB
Cache-Speichergröße: 0,0 MB
Maximale Anzahl Threads, die Camera Raw verwendet: 2
Camera Raw SIMD-Optimierung: SSE2,AVX,AVX2
DPI-Einstellung des Systems: 144 DPI (High-DPI-Modus)
Desktop-Komposition aktiviert: Ja
Monitore/Anzeigegeräte: 1) 2560x1440
Eingabetypen: Multitouch: Ja, integrierte Toucheingabe: Ja, integrierter Stift: Nein, externe Toucheingabe: Nein, externer Stift: Nein, Tastatur: Nein
Informationen zum Grafikprozessor:
Intel(R) HD Graphics 5500
Check OpenGL support: Passed
Vendor: Intel
Version: 3.3.0 - Build 10.18.14.4029
Renderer: Intel(R) HD Graphics 5500
LanguageVersion: 3.30 - Build 10.18.14.4029
Anwendungsordner: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Lightroom
Bibliothekspfad: C:\Users\wmedetz\Lightroom\Lightroom Catalog.lrcat
Einstellungen-Ordner: C:\Users\wmedetz\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Lightroom
Installierte Zusatzmodule:
1) Behance
2) Facebook
3) Flickr
Config.lua-Flags: None
Adapter Nr. 1: Anbieter : 8086
Gerät : 1616
Subsystem : 222717aa
Version : 9
Grafikspeicher : 0
Adapter Nr. 2: Anbieter : 1414
Gerät : 8c
Subsystem : 0
Version : 0
Grafikspeicher : 0
AudioDeviceIOBlockSize: 1024
AudioDeviceName: Lautsprecher/Kopfhörer (Realtek High Definition Audio)
AudioDeviceNumberOfChannels: 2
AudioDeviceSampleRate: 44100
Build: Uninitialized
Direct2DEnabled: false
GPUDevice: not available
OGLEnabled: true

I know that is the official line but copying speed is fine in Windows 8 under Parallels. I have the latest Windows 8 Broadcam driver installed for the network adapter in Boot Camp and everything else works fine.
I can download a file from the Internet 10x faster than I can from my Airport disk in the next room in Boot Camp!

Is there any benefit for me to use smart previews if my Lightroom 5 catalog, previews and media are all on the same external USB HD?

I keep everything on 1 External USB3 HD so that I can pug it into my Mac at home or my PC at work and just keep working without syncing anything to the local machine. So is there any benefit with Smart Previews in this case? I heard somewhere that it might make the Develop module a little quicker, but is this only when using the Smart Preview and not the full res image?

Lr uses smart previews instead of ACR cache for initial develop-module view when photos are online - amount of benefit is, in my experience, very minor (not noticeable without using a stop-watch..).
But if photos are offline, you may experience more substantial savings.
Note: smart previews are reduced resolution - smart previews of raw files are 2560 x (say) 1920, so if your original raws were say 5120 x 3840, then you/Lr are dealing with 1/4 the number of pixels when editing via smart previews.
Anyway, if you are willing to give up zoom for one edit pass, you can resize the smart previews so 1:1 fits in your allotted display space (e.g. 1280 x 960, which would be 1/8 number of pixels..), e.g. using the PreviewExporter plugin - then things may be significantly faster in develop module. PreviewExporter also has a feature to take originals offline, and put them back online.
To be clear: the amount of savings may or may not be dramatic - how much there is depends on your system, size of raw vs. smart preview image, number and type of edits applied, etc..
Why don't you try it and tell us what you think?!
Cheers,
Rob

Can not remove ? from external hard drive folder in LR5 & can't link smart preview & original pic

I have LR5 and a MacBook Pro OSX 10.8.5 I have an external hard drive that when I imported photos from my cameras memory card I selected the hard drive as the source to move the pictures to. I forgot if I clicked ADD, MOVE, or COPY.
In the library mode in LR5 the external hard drive shows up under folders, but has a question mark on every folder on the external hard drive. I control clicked on the question mark for the first folder (the parent folder?) and choose “Find missing folder”. I then navigated to the external hard drive and clicked on that same folder, then clicked choose. Nothing happened. I tried this same method with individual folders and the same, I control click on the folder with a question mark, navigate to the same folder on the hard drive, click on it (I tried both just clicking on the folder so it was highlighted and actually opening the folder), and select choose, the question marks remain.
1. How do I link the two to remove the question mark?
Second question, possibly related. I have a collection in the library mode that has only previews, the originals were added to the same external hard drive as above. When I navigate to the hard drive via my finder (not in LR5), the originals are there. When I am in the library mode in LR5, in this collection, and click on the preview square in the top right corner of an individual picture in that collection, it says “image can be edited using its smart preview but the original file can not be found. Would you like to locate it".
The original location of it shows below this statement and is correct; it shows the path to the external hard drive and the folder where the original is contained that I mentioned previously. I navigate to that picture on the external hard drive and select it. I get another notice box pop up that says “the file is associated with another photo in the catalog. Each file can only be associated with one photo.” I select show in library and it brings me right back to the image that is a smart preview only. I am stuck in this loop and cant figure out how to associate the original on the external hard drive with the smart preview in LR5.
1. I have the originals still on my camera memory card, do I import again? I am afraid I will loose all my edits.
I hope I gave you the right info. Every link I find to answer this question is related but not quite the same, any link you know of is apreciated. Thanks!
Ashley

Have you ever re-named files using duplicate file names e.g. names that have been used previously?
See if this link helps to locate missing files and near posibilities:
http://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/help/locate-missing-photos.html

Using smart previews on iMac to control two sets of identical original files on two external drives --- render previews setting when using smart previews

I’m just getting started with Lightroom and if someone can help me I’ll be very appreciative.
I’m using an iMac with a 1TB drive and two external 2.5 TB drives for backup. My active files are on all three drives and I’m running out of room on the iMac drive.
With the smart previews capability of Lightroom 5, I’m hoping to remove all the active files from the iMac drive. I hope to import existing images into the LR catalog from two identical drives with identical folders and have both sets of images reflect the changes I make using smart previews on my iMac.
I just created two identical test folders of junk images on the external drives and was following a beginners tutorial on importing. However, I see nothing about using smart previews on my iMac that, when connected, will update more than one external drive at the same time.
I’m also wondering if, when using smart previews, it matters how I set the render previews during the import process.
Many thanks for any help,
Karl Hentz

I don't see any way to use smart previews to update both external drives at the same time. The smart previews are linked to a specific set of images. But it seems to me that if both drives are in fact identical, once the catalog is updated when one of those drives is connected those changes should also apply to the files on the other drive. It's actually the catalog that gets updated, not the images. Smart previews and regular import previews are completely unrelated. How you have your import previews configured will have no effect on your smart previews.
Incidentally, in order for my suggestion to work it would be necessary to only have one of those external drives connected. And when the other EHD is connected it would have to have the same drive letter or name. In other words it would have to appear to the iMac that it is precisely the same drive.

Lightroom wont see smart previews

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