Workflow with smart previews

If I export catalog with smart previews to my laptop, do I need to also have smart previews in files on my destop so that when I reconnect exteranl HD to desktop, it will see the changes?

when you make smart previews and re-import does LR automatically make virtual copies?

Similar Messages

  • Create HDR with smart previews

    Currently, to create HDR images I select my images and choose "Edit HDR in Photoshop".
    Now that we can use smart previews to edit our photos on the go without having to have the full file with us, does this extend to creating HDRs?  I'm going to guess that we need the full file to create the HDR and it can't just apply my "create HDR" changes later when the full files are plugged in like it can normal photo edits, but I wanted to check.
    Also, same question for panoramas.  Can they be done with smart previews or do I need the original file?
    EDIT: In case anyone comes across this in a search, I went ahead and bought LR5 and tried it and it is not possible.  All of the "Edit in" options are grayed out when using a smart preview in lieu of the original file.

    Yes that would make sense because smart previews are for synchronizing work entirely within Lightroom. Once you go outside and into Photoshop you would lose that functionality.

  • Is it possible to have working catalog with smart previews on your laptop synced with two eHDD

    These external HDD would contain the original dng files and these files would have to be updated when the smart previews are modified.

    You could put the pictures in the field on your laptop
    Send them to Dropbox from your laptop
    At home, when you are on the desktop, access the pictures from Dropbox and put them in a folder of choice
    Enhance the pictures in PSE, then send them to a destination folder, to preclude overwriting the orginals
    Populate the organizer from the destination folder
    This requires that you install Dropbox (free, with quite a bit of storage) on both machines. I have the app on my ipad as well, and it synchs perfectly (no catalog, however).
    One advantage to this type of work-flow would be that you can get rid of the non-keepers and save the pictures that you fixed at home, prior to any organizer machinations. The old axiom: It's a virtue to be selective.

  • How do I reinstall original catalog with smart previews?

    Uninstalled Lightroom 5 to do work on my hard drive.  How do I apply saved Smart Preview settings to the old catalog once it has been reimported?

    Hi Bert1,
    Please check the link : http://myglasseye.net/news/lightroom-5-smart-previews-sync-desktop-laptop/
    and the KB : http://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/help/lightroom-smart-previews.html

  • 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

  • Smart Preview Warnung at Export

    Hi,
    does anyone knows if it's possible to have a warning, if you're about to export just from the Smart Preview data? I really love Smart Previews and it speeded my workflow very much, but it happend some time that I exported my data without having my external harddrive connected, just working with Smart Previews. So the only "warning" was that it's much faster than usual if you export your files :-) It would be great to have kind of a dialog, if' you're really sure to export just from Smart Previews!
    Thanks,
    Harry

    Bob Somrak wrote:
    Lightroom tells you with the Icons under the histogram if you are using Smart Previews or The Original photo for your selected photos.
    It is definitely worth looking at those icons before exporting, since it gives a complete summary of all selected photos (when it's working I mean - sometimes in my copy of Lr it just says "Photo is missing", when no photos are missing. And also, there are occasions where it may not be practical or visible, i.e. auto-publishing, exporting from develop module... For those cases, you can use Exportant's "Warn If Smart Preview" preset to alert prior to inadvertant exporting of smart previews.
    Exportant (plugin)
    Rob

  • 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

  • Smart previews- photo is missing

    I created a catalog with smart previews from my PC (Win 7, 64 bit) and copied it onto my macbook pro (OSX 10.9.1) via a thumb drive. I can view the photos fine, zoom in and use the develop controls. However I get no histogram, cannot export and below the histogram it just says 'photo is missing'.
    The whole point of this exercise was to choose and export lo-res selects to customers when out of the office. I can't do that. Any ideas? Thanks.

    Well, if you didn't copy over the preview cache, then the only way that Lightroom could regenerate previews is from the Smart Previews. So if you now have a preview image on the MBP for the file in question, then obviously the Smart preview must be present.
    It sounds as though you might have encountered a bug that I reported last year, when basically Lightroom partially loses track of the Smart Preview....you can edit, zoom etc., but there's no histogram and the status is shown as "Photo in Missing". I can't remember how I got round that problem (it was on a test system so not critical to me at that time).
    Are ALL the files on the MPB showing the same status, or only a few? If only a few, it might be worth going back to the main computer, discarding the Smart Previews for those images, rebuild them, then re-copy the Smart Preview cache back to the MBP.

  • Repeated building of smart previews

    5.2RC has a bug whereby if you select all photographs and tell it to build smart previews, instead of scanning existing smart previews and then building any missing ones, it just starts building all smart previews again. But it obviously isn't since it goes through them very fast. It's just like the old bug in L44 that kept rebuilding standard previews if they were below a certain size. That bug got cured in LR5, but now we've got a new version of it!
    Bob frost

    Hi Adrian
    I think you may be confusing ordinary previews with smart previews. I always select standard for all imports because it’s quicker and I like to filter my images first by selecting picks and rejects. When I’m ready to go start editing in the Develop module I generate 1:1 previews for the keepers especially if I’m going to be doing any work under the Detail tab, such as noise reduction.
    Smart previews are a standard size being a maximum of 2540 pixels on the long edge. They are designed for working off-line e.g. you may have your main catalog on a laptop with all your images on an external hard drive. Smart previews let you disconnect the ehd and continue working when you are on the road with just your laptop. All the adjustments you make in Develop automatically sync with the originals next time you re-connect your ehd. It’s also possible to export to Facebook or other published services and to use smart previews for emailing as those kind of options typically require an image no larger than 2540 px.
    See this video for further information:

  • Workflow with raw for editing (offline) and JPEG for viewing

    Hello,
    Up to this point I have been using both Lightroom and Aperture. I do my editing in Lightroom, my raw files are in indexed in Lightroom's catalog. I then export to JPEGs and store them in Aperture for viewing, (internet) export, archiving etc.
    I want to switch to a Lightroom-only workflow, so I have both my raw files and the JPEGs in one application, to minimize maintenance (keywords, collections, etc).
    The only issue I cannot seem to work around (and also exists in the current workflow) is that if at some point after the initial JPEG export I reedit a photo, I have to reexport, reimport, add to my stack (different versions of the image), update keywords etc etc.
    One obvious solution is not to export to JPEGs and keep the raws always available. But this is not local-space efficient.
    Any ideas how to handle this?
    Thanks in advance

    Hi ahalatsis,
    I understand the desire for having copies readily viewable outside Lightroom without having to export every time you wanna look at something. I recommend using a publishing service for accomplishing this goal, if not Lr's native hard drive publishing, then my (Rob Cole) TreeSyncPublisher or Jeffrey Friedl's Collection Publisher.
    Note: you can take raws offline after publishing, but they must remain in the catalog for editing...
    Whether to re-import jpegs upon publishing is an interesting question - I don't do it, in order to keep Lightroom "originals only", so if I see a photo in Lightroom, I can edit it and publish it without thinking. The downside: I have to use other programs for dealing with those exported jpegs (I use ACDSee for that, among others). So, some people like to re-import exported jpegs, and just be careful not to edit the jpegs - personal preference.
    There are some (relatively few) souls who prefer to edit raws, export jpegs back to catalog, then remove raws from catalog and archive them "just in case" (editing jpegs from there on out, if need be). While it's doable, and there are some plusses (e.g. making minor tweaks to such jpegs is very fast compared to raws), I can't recommend it, since it's too limiting, and most people shoot raw to be less limited (for example, re-editing 2003 raws using current (2012) process version).
    To be clear: photos do not have to be online for viewing (or editing of metadata) in Lightroom - that's what the "lib" previews are for. And you can even create "smart" previews and then photos don't even have to be online for editing in develop module (or exporting/printing at reduced quality) either. They do have to remain in the catalog though, even if offline.
    And to be doubly clear: if you don't have enough space on internal drive(s) for photo files, you can just put them on a big external drive in the first place, and never move them.
    Cheers,
    Rob

  • 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

  • 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.

  • 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!

  • I have been using LR5 on a Mac mini. The LR was installed on an external drive. Now I would like to use Smart Previews on my Internal drive to take advantage of the speed. When I make previews they go to originals. How can I put them on the internal drive

    when started with LR 5 on my Mac I used advise from Adobe's LR5 book, I installed  it on an external drive, processing originals was a little slow so I decided to make smart previews on my internal drive to get faster processing. However the smart previews hook up with the originals and so there is no advantage just a bigger file. Is there anyway when I make the previews stay on the internal drive or am I locked in with the current setup. I can find no LR5 folders on the internal drive.
    Thanks,
    John Sr.

    Are you doing a lot of spot removal or brushing?
    This doesn't sound like a disk drive issue at all. Once Lightroom reads the file from the disk, and you are editing, the disk plays no further role. Using a faster disk drive here will not make the slightest difference.
    So, I would check your graphics drivers to see if they are up to date. I would also temporarily disable your virus checker and firewall.
    How much memory does your computer have? What CPU do you have?
    How big (in megapixels, not megabytes) are the photos you are editing?

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