# Smart Previews vs the old 1:1 Previews



## canyonlight (Jun 12, 2013)

With Lightroom 5, I can now generate a "Smart Preview" file. The question  is, can I get rid of the old (and huge) 1:1 preview file? Are there  advantages? Disadvantages? 

Thanks in advance,

Stan


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## Jim Wilde (Jun 12, 2013)

Smart Previews aren't a replacement for the "old" previews (including any at 1:1), they are a new feature for use in different ways. The previews you are familiar with are used mainly in the Library module, whereas Smart Previews are used almost exclusively in the Develop module. Because they are different to the library previews they can be used to process develop edits when the original file is offline, which makes them very useful for those who want to work in Lightroom when their original image files aren't available.

So the answer is "yes you can get rid of the 1:1 previews, but that will slow down zooming into 1:1 in the Library as the new 1:1 preview will need to be built on the fly".


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## canyonlight (Jun 12, 2013)

Thank you, Jim. Very helpful.

Stan


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