# Ircat.locked file



## Vel Balais (Aug 25, 2018)

Hello Everyone!
Recently i downloaded Light room Classic CC - trial version and after the installation there's a
Ircat.locked file inside the folder.
What should i do ? I've tried many options to fix this issue but it couldn't.

Please help!


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## Samoreen (Aug 25, 2018)

Hi,

In which folder ?

The file *<your_catalog_name>.lrcat.lock* is created in the same folder as your current catalog. It is used, as its name implies, to lock it. This is to prevent another instance of Lightroom to open the same catalog (concurrent accesses to the catalog database of LR are not supported). When you quit Lightroom, this file is normally deleted. If this is not the case, this means that the lightroom.exe process was not terminated correctly (even if the LR main window has been closed). This indicates an anomaly.

You can't delete this lock file and you can 't relaunch LR with the same catalog while the lightroom.exe process is running. If you exited LR and the file is not deleted, you can check whether lightroom.exe is still running by using the Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+ Esc). If this is the case, just kill it (End Task). You'll then be able to delete the lrcat.lock file.


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## Vel Balais (Aug 25, 2018)

Hi Samoreen,
i"ve work as a Wedding photo editor on upwork and my client sent me a catalogue , after processing the photos in lightroom and export it as catalogue
when sending back the catalogue  to  my client  they couldn't see any photos! they said that photos is missing.
and everytime i click to the catalgue given to me Ircat.locked file pops up.
this happened using my old laptop
That is why i downloaded a trial version because i think this could help me fix the issue but the same thing happened. 

Thanks for your reply very much appreciated.


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## Samoreen (Aug 25, 2018)

Hi Vel Balais,

Not sure I understand your problem. It seems that there's a misunderstanding here. *A LR  catalog never contains any image*. It only contains data about the images and a reference to their location. After "exporting as a catalog...", did you send the images along with the catalog ?


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## Vel Balais (Aug 25, 2018)

Only the catalog  is sent back to my client.
is there any way to delete the locked file?
i've tried your options but locked file always pops up.


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## Samoreen (Aug 25, 2018)

Could you please explain your problem more clearly ?

What means "there's a Ircat.locked file inside the folder. " ? In which folder (already asked) ?
What means "everytime i click to the catalog given to me Ircat.locked file pops up. " ?
You are talking about about a catalog that your client sent to you, that uyou sent back to your client and that you are "clicking" on your laptop.
This is very unclear.


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## Vel Balais (Aug 25, 2018)

Please see screen capture below.


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## Johan Elzenga (Aug 25, 2018)

That is completely normal. When Lightroom starts and opens the catalog, it creates this file so that other applications cannot try to open the catalog at the same time (which would cause catalog corruption). When Lightroom quits, the file is no longer needed and so it is deleted.


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## Vel Balais (Aug 25, 2018)

Johan,
thanks for your reply 
When sending the catalog to my client do i need to include the raw photos so they could able to see it?
and also is it normal when clicking to  the catalog given to me by my client Ircat.locke pops up?


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## Johan Elzenga (Aug 25, 2018)

Vel Balais said:


> Johan,
> thanks for your reply
> When sending the catalog to my client do i need to include the raw photos so they could able to see it?
> and also is it normal when clicking to  the catalog given to me by my client Ircat.locke pops up?


Yes, your client needs the RAW files as well. Or you could export TIFF files if your client is not going to do any editing themselves. If you do send them the raw files, then the best approach is to select the files in question and use 'Export as Catalog'. Check all the options in the dialog that follows. That way a new catalog is created and the raw files are combined with that catalog in such a way that they don't get 'disconnected' again when the catalog folder is transferred to another computer (your clients computer).

I'm not sure what you mean with "lrcat.lock pops up", but if you mean that the client sees this file being created when he double-clicks the catalog file to open Lightroom, then that is exactly what's expected for the reasons I explained. Lightroom on the client computer works the same as on your computer, so it too creates a .lock file when it opens a catalog.


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## Vel Balais (Aug 25, 2018)

This is my problem now. please see screenshot below. 1. photo1- file could not be found 2. photo- catalog file of my client.


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## Johan Elzenga (Aug 25, 2018)

Please read my message again. You have to use 'Export as Catalog' and include the raw files (check all the options in the dialog).


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## Vel Balais (Aug 25, 2018)

If my client send to me a catalog, do   they need  to send also the raw files? catalog + raw files?  so i can import it to my lightroom and make some further adjustments? 

Thank you for your help.


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## Samoreen (Aug 25, 2018)

Vel Balais said:


> If my client send to me a catalog, do they need to send also the raw files? catalog + raw files? so i can import it to my lightroom and make some further adjustments?



Please read again my first answer or a tutorial about the Lightroom library module. *Lightroom catalogs never contain any image*. They just contain information about their location and metadata about the images and about the corrections you made. So, if you open a catalog in Lightroom and if the files this catalog refers to are not there, Lightroom will say that it doesn't find the files. Logical.

Now, if both you and your client have the same set of RAW images, you don't even need to exchange catalogs. Just generate the XMP files for all the images you are working on and send these XMP files to your client. Once the XMP files are installed in the same folder as the corresponding images, the client just has to load the catalog pointing to these images. Lightroom will recognize that the XMP files containing your corrections are more recent than the metadata contained in the catalog and will ask you (or your client) whether you want to overwrite the latter. Say yes and your corrections will be seen by your client.

By the way, I didn't understand how you are working. You are the wedding photographer but you told us that your client first sent you a catalog. How comes ? We can't give you any valuable advice if we don't understand your workflow. Who made the photographs ? Who ist post-processing these images ? What is your client expecting from you ?

You also told us that you are using a trial version of Lightroom. So I understand that it's not your usual tool ? But your avatar info says "Lightroom experience : advanced". I'm confused.


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## Johan Elzenga (Aug 25, 2018)

Vel Balais said:


> If my client send to me a catalog, do   they need  to send also the raw files? catalog + raw files?  so i can import it to my lightroom and make some further adjustments?


No, they don't. There is a special option for this. Tell your client to select all the images that need to be worked on, and then choose 'Library - Previews - Build Smart Previews'. Then he needs to send you the catalog *folder*, not just the catalog *file*. Now you can edit these photos without having the original raw files, because the smart previews are small substitutes for the originals. Just use the catalog he sent you, don't try to import anything into your own catalog. When you return this catalog, all he needs to do is use 'Import from Another Catalog' to import your edits into his own catalog. There will be no issues with missing images in that case.


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## Vel Balais (Aug 25, 2018)

Sorry for the confusion @Samoreen. anyway  Thank you so much for your help
@JohanElzega  thank you for your help. I will tell my client about this.

God bless you


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## Vel Balais (Sep 1, 2018)

Hello everyone!
how are you guys?  @JohanElzega  I follow the instructions above but the problem won't fix
Problem Still occurred in my Lightroom. my questions are every time I export catalog do I have to generate the
xmp file so that my client won't see any missing photos?


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## Vel Balais (Sep 1, 2018)

I received a catalogue from one of my clients and when importing it into my catalogue this will appear.   He said that he's using Build<smart previews. I have attached screenshot photos below  1. Empty Catalogue when importing 2. catalogue of my client.

Please help me!


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## Johan Elzenga (Sep 1, 2018)

Vel Balais said:


> Hello everyone!
> how are you guys?  @JohanElzega  I follow the instructions above but the problem won't fix
> Problem Still occurred in my Lightroom. my questions are every time I export catalog do I have to generate the
> xmp file so that my client won't see any missing photos?


Clearly you did not follow my instructions. My instruction were *not* to export as catalog. When your client sends you a catalog folder with smart previews, then all you need to do is open the catalog file in that folder, make your edits, and send back that folder. Your client then starts Lightroom, chooses ‘Import from another catalog’ and imports this catalog in their main catalog.

If the catalog sent by your client is empty, then clearly they also did not do it correctly. Tell them to select the images that need to be worked on, then choose ‘File - Export as catalog’. In the dialog they should check all the options (including to export only the selected images), except the one to include the negative files. Then send this exported catalog folder (the entire folder) to you.


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## Vel Balais (Sep 4, 2018)

Thank you so much!


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