# Dealing with a deceased person's Lightroom (Cloudy) Library.



## mikebore (Jan 27, 2022)

The deceased person I am thinking about is me....or at least statistically it will be sometime in the next 12 years.

I have a Lightroom cloudy library of about 80,000 pics which uses about 600GB on the Adobe Cloud.

What should I say to my family about dealing with my photos when the time comes?

The Library has about 600 folders by subject or event date, and includes a lot of scans and photos of photos which hve no meaningful exif dates. So downloading 80,000 originals will be a mess.  I think they would have to browse by folder and download by folder what they want.  They would have to do this reasonably quickly as they wouldn't want to keep paying the subscription.

The basic problem is that a Lightroom Cloudy library is inherently a transient entity,  without permanence, unlike a collection of organised jpeg files.

I do have some plans but would like to have any ideas before describing them.

One thing I can definitely do is cull them down to the fraction that are worth keeping!

Thanks for any input


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## Victoria Bampton (Jan 27, 2022)

That’s an interesting question, and one I’ve been bumbling around doing a blog post for. For Classic, it’s relatively simple. For Cloudy, they have a year after you/they stop paying to download everything, but the downloader doesn’t have all your nice organisation.


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## mikebore (Jan 27, 2022)

Look forward to a blog article.

80000 pics with no organisation would be a nightmare!


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## mikebore (Jan 28, 2022)

Victoria Bampton said:


> That’s an interesting question, and one I’ve been bumbling around doing a blog post for. For Classic, it’s relatively simple. For Cloudy, they have a year after you/they stop paying to download everything, but the downloader doesn’t have all your nice organisation.



 I realise they have a year after that to download the photos, but didn't realise that this is with a downloader. What you say implies this an all or nothing download of all photos with no structure. Is that correct? Is there no access to the library so that relatives could download by folder?

When a person dies their bank accounts are frozen so the subscription will lapse. I wonder whether it is possible for relatives to carry on paying and extend access to the library.

The complex virtual organisation possible in modern DAMs is great until the library is no longer available!

Since I switched to Cloudy about four years ago I have maintained an independent (non syncing) Classic Library with the masters in a structure originally created many years ago. It doesn't use collections. I export to it out of Cloudy every month. My sub doesn't include Classic so I can't edit but I can maintain the Library. Really, for the use I make of it I might as well use Bridge. It will be much easier for my relatives to ignore Cloudy and go straight to Classic/Bridge and my structured masters.

Obviously the organisation in my Classic is much simpler  than Cloudy, but it will be much more useful.


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## Jim Wilde (Jan 28, 2022)

mikebore said:


> I realise they have a year after that to download the photos, but didn't realise that this is with a downloader. What you say implies this an all or nothing download of all photos with no structure. Is that correct? Is there no access to the library so that relatives could download by folder?
> 
> When a person dies their bank accounts are frozen so the subscription will lapse. I wonder whether it is possible for relatives to carry on paying and extend access to the library.



The Downloader isn't the only option. The Lightroom Desktop app will still be available for a year after the subscription has lapsed, but obviously not all functions would be possible, in the main editing and uploading new images to the cloud would not be possible. But downloads/exports *will* still be possible.

With that last point in mind it would be possible to download albums, either "As Original" or as derivatives (Jpeg, Tiff, etc.), thus retaining a good measure of structure/organisation, which is certainly more useful than the dated folder structure that the Downloader creates.

Regarding the original question, an awful lot will depend on the aptitude and attitude of ones survivors. In my case my immediate family probably would be interested only in the personal family photos that I've taken/collected over the years, plus maybe some favourite places/landscape shots. These are easily identified in my folder/album structure, so would be available to export/download should they be prepared to try to find out how to do that (the jury is still out on that!). There would be zero interest in many of the images I've taken at airshows and other "events", and which probably take up the larger part of my catalog, and there would be even less interest in retaining the original raw files. So it's fairly simple for me to identify a set of albums that need to be exported as (probably) Jpegs, in fact I could do a large part of that today and keep it going as and when there are more images that I think they might like to retain.

One potential advantage with the downloader is the somewhat quirky fact that any image edited in Lightroom would be downloaded as original, but also a derivative jpeg copy is also automatically created. That's potentially a very useful function, except for the fact the jpeg is created minus all EXIF and Metadata, which somewhat ruins the effectiveness. I keep pestering Adobe about that, and I'll probably carry on doing that until either they change it or I've passed on.

So currently my "instructions" to my family would likely be to use the Lightroom Desktop app to export those albums that I will have identified as being of some interest to them, plus a recommendation to run the Downloader, thus preserving the raw files in the event that lightning strikes and one of my surviving kin expresses an interest in them.


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## clee01l (Jan 28, 2022)

mikebore said:


> When a person dies their bank accounts are frozen so the subscription will lapse. I wonder whether it is possible for relatives to carry on paying and extend access to the library.



That is not entirely true. The estate executor has access to the deceased banking accounts. 

Also Anyone can pay the Adobe subscription for the deceased. 

My recommendation would be to sync the deceased Lightroom images and albums stored in the cloud to a (temporary if necessary) Lightroom Classic catalog. This would preserve the albums assignments as Collections and the Lightroom Classic Catalog can be accessed even after the subscription lapses. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## Replytoken (Jan 28, 2022)

Having helped the family of a close friend (and LR Classic user) after he passed  about a year ago, I suspect that unless you have a family member who is into photography, they are probably not going to know what to do with LR/LR Classic or your photos, especially in the days/months after you pass.  I would suggest finding the photos of highest interest, usually of people you know, and putting them on a hard disk in jpeg format.  It is far easier to plug in a hard drive and look at images then it is to have to deal with Adobe LR or LR Classic.

Good luck,

--Ken


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## mikebore (Jan 28, 2022)

Jim Wilde said:


> The Downloader isn't the only option. The Lightroom Desktop app will still be available for a year after the subscription has lapsed, but obviously not all functions would be possible, in the main editing and uploading new images to the cloud would not be possible. But downloads/exports *will* still be possible.


Thanks! That does change things very helpfully.  Unfortunately, my photos of most interest are scattered around the 80K, which are only my personal photos (my 150k professional ones are in a separate classic library...I am already assuming that will be of no interest).


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## mikebore (Jan 28, 2022)

clee01l said:


> That is not entirely true. The estate executor has access to the deceased banking accounts.
> 
> Also Anyone can pay the Adobe subscription for the deceased.
> 
> ...


Thanks. I have been executor to four estates (in the UK) and none of them had Adobe subscriptions, but I think I was only able to use money from the estate for funeral expenses etc. OTOH could be useful for another family member to continue paying.

I think the idea of syncing the Cloudy Lib to Classic is not likely to happen as it requires more expertise than will be available, and anyway my 80k are already in a separate Classic library, which I have maintained as an insurance.


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## mikebore (Jan 28, 2022)

Replytoken said:


> Having helped the family of a close friend (and LR Classic user) after he passed  about a year ago, I suspect that unless you have a family member who is into photography, they are probably not going to know what to do with LR/LR Classic or your photos, especially in the days/months after you pass.  I would suggest finding the photos of highest interest, usually of people you know, and putting them on a hard disk in jpeg format.  It is far easier to plug in a hard drive and look at images then it is to have to deal with Adobe LR or LR Classic.
> 
> Good luck,
> 
> --Ken


That is kind of the conclusion I have come to. The referenced masters of my Classic (insurance) lib are on a separate drive. Of course these won't have the edits (although many are not editted). At least the pics are available without needing to use Cloudy or Classic. I do have a son-in-law who uses Classic.


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## clee01l (Jan 28, 2022)

mikebore said:


> Thanks. I have been executor to four estates (in the UK) and none of them had Adobe subscriptions, but I think I was only able to use money from the estate for funeral expenses etc. OTOH could be useful for another family member to continue paying.
> 
> I think the idea of syncing the Cloudy Lib to Classic is not likely to happen as it requires more expertise than will be available, and anyway my 80k are already in a separate Classic library, which I have maintained as an insurance.



Probate laws may vary from state to state and from the US to the UK. Here is Texas the Executor has the responsibility to settle debts and pay bills of the deceased. This would include payin the rent on the abode where the deceased property resides . 

Maintaining a Classic included plan sound like a good idea. But for those that have a Lightroom only plan, that would mean an additional monthly expense.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## mikebore (Jan 29, 2022)

clee01l said:


> .Maintaining a Classic included plan sound like a good idea. But for those that have a Lightroom only plan, that would mean an additional monthly expense.


I previously had a 1TB Photography Plan which included Ps and LR classic. When I changed this down to a 1TB Lightroom Cloudy Plan, LR classic has remained and I can use the library module to import/export/organise. It gets updated by Creaive Cloud app.

I suspect someone who only has a Cloudy Plan could download Classic and keep it on a trial and achieve the same end result as me.


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## Replytoken (Jan 29, 2022)

mikebore said:


> I do have a son-in-law who uses Classic.


If he was willing to help the family after your passing, then I would suggest buying two or more years of your subscription at a time, and make sure he has account access.

--Ken


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## mikebore (Jan 29, 2022)

Thanks all. Interesting that most replies acknowledge the difficulty of dealing with a Cloudy library compared to Classic.

I love Cloudy for what it does for us, but have resolved to put more work into my Classic library for the sake of my family.

Specifically cull it down to the real keepers and export and reimport so that the master files incorporate the edits, and have a folder structure.

I have always been a people photographer, and realise from going through my father's and grandfather's photos that anything without familiar people is not generally interesting to the next generation.  (Might be different if my name was Ansel Adams). However I have kept a lot of very similar pics of the same people in the same situations, where one or two are obviously best. This is where culling will help.


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## mikebore (Jan 29, 2022)

Just  realised that the Library tool that would really help relatives find the pics they would want to keep is People/Faces.


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## tspear (Jan 29, 2022)

Just started this discussion at Xmas with brothers and parents about "digital" assets; we did not come up with an answer yet.


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## Replytoken (Jan 29, 2022)

tspear said:


> Just started this discussion at Xmas with brothers and parents about "digital" assets; we did not come up with an answer yet.


I will say that it was quite the learning experience after my friend had passed away, although I suspect that not being able to see his family in person because of COVID had a big impact.  I had helped my friend set up his folder structure and LR Classic so I offered to help his family locate the images, many of which he had converted to jpeg for their convenience.  But, their first biggest issue was being able to log into his computer and tablet.  Then, it was trying to understand what files he had on his machine.  I strongly urged them to make a back-up or clone of the drive for fear that somebody would start moving files around and then it would not be easy to put them back for LR Classic.  They did so and then mostly focused on many other items in need of attention after his passing.  I do not believe they have even thought about the photos and it has been over a year.  I wish you better success with your family.

--Ken


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## dmedlock (Feb 22, 2022)

I have thought about this often for my own account. I have about 50K images, but realize that only a handful will be interesting to my daughter. No-one will want to maintain 10’s of thousands of images.

I would recommend creating collections of photos of likely interest to your descendants and than exporting them as individual folders or having them printed.

I have also started making Books from Lightroom to collect images.


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