# Free LRViewer views LR catalogs without LR



## Marc Rochkind (Feb 15, 2008)

LRViewer is a standalone viewer for Lightroom image previews and metadata.






LRViewer makes no changes to the Lightroom catalog, which means that it can't create any previews that aren't already present.

Both the catalog (ending in "lrcat" or "lrdb") and the associated preview file (ending in "lrdata") must be present. You open just the catalog; LRViewer then opens the preview file automatically. No images have to be exported from Lightroom, since LRViewer accesses the catalog and previews directly.

You can distribute LRViewer freely. In particular, you can give it to clients or others along with a catalog and preview file you've exported from Lightroom so that they can view images without having a copy of Lightroom itself.

LRViewer is available only for the Mac, although a Windows version is under development.

Details are at http://ImageIngester.com.

--Marc


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## Kiwigeoff (Feb 16, 2008)

Awesome Marc!!
Take a bow!!


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## Marc Rochkind (Feb 16, 2008)

Thanks for the encouragement!

--Marc


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## Ian Farlow (Feb 16, 2008)

Oh wow! This is excellent! Hm... this gets me thinking. Marc... look for a PM.


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## Kiwigeoff (Feb 16, 2008)

Marc, this can't be run with an open catalog?


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## DonRicklin (Feb 16, 2008)

Nice, I like it. Will the next version allow 1:1 view, if available and simple slideshows?

Don


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## Brad Snyder (Feb 16, 2008)

Wow!  This has long been requested from the Adobe crew.

This is going to solve so many family problems for me.  My Raws and DNGs don't compute with their jpeg viewers, so I'm always exporting a entire additonal jpg tree to share on the local network.

Waiting patiently (ahem) for the WinDoze version.


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## wblink (Feb 16, 2008)

Ahhh, nice!!

When the Windows version is there :cheesy:


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## Marc Rochkind (Feb 16, 2008)

Some answers:

The catalog can be open, and LRViewer will pick up any new images or previews, but it won't pick up new Folders, Collections, etc., for its outline. You have to re-open the catalog for that.

There are brief times when LR locks the catalog, and if LRViewer tries to access it then you'll get an error dialog. You just retry what you did, unless it was the initial catalog load. In that case you have to re-open.

I'm starting the Windows version in a day or so, and should be finished in about a week.

LRView will do a 1:1 view if there is a 1:1 preview. Its "large" size setting takes the largest image there. However, currently there is no zooming, so a 1:1 view of a big image will overfill the screen (my screen, anyway).

Slide shows and other nifty extras will come along once I get the basics down.

Ian: What's a "PM"?

--Marc


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## Brad Snyder (Feb 16, 2008)

Marc, a PM is a private message between forum members.  It will be available on the site PM system, plus by "aliased" email, if you've registered a valid email address. Aliased meaning that I can ask the forum to send you an email, but I never know your actual address.  Spammers are shot at sunrise.

Edit: I just thought of a question, will it run across a network? Since it's read-only, doesn't seem as if it needs the lockdown that Adobe puts on it.


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## Marc Rochkind (Feb 16, 2008)

Runs across a network, but maybe a bit slower. It just reads files (that's all SQLite3 does, too). Nothing fancy. Uses the SQLite3 database for the catlogs, plain file reading for the previews.

LRViewer never locks the database. It's at the mercy of whatever LR does, however.

--Marc


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## Marc Rochkind (Feb 16, 2008)

Doesn't work across a network right now, Brad.

(Correction to what I said previously.)

Working on the problem. (Reports that the database is locked.)

--Marc


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## Brad Snyder (Feb 16, 2008)

Ummm, Yee-hah!

Oops. Now it's dang it!  After Marc's bad news edit.


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## MMarz (Feb 16, 2008)

Nice!!  Waiting on the Win version...  This will bring me closer to be comfortable with adopting DNG's!!   Thanks!!


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## Victoria Bampton (Feb 16, 2008)

Nice work Marc!


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## Denis Pagé (Feb 16, 2008)

Quite interesting!

I am in the very same situation as Brad as my family is very upset by the fact that I abandoned the JPG format with the introduction of Lightroom last year...

I do not care having to close my Lightroom session for the others being able to use the LRViewer as long as they can open my catalog from their computers and the share I have on it. Will it work that way?

Will certainly give it a trial when the Win version come out.

Thanks!


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## Denis Pagé (Feb 16, 2008)

Marc Rochkind said:


> You can distribute LRViewer freely. In particular, you can give it to clients or others along with a catalog and preview file you've exported from Lightroom so that they can view images without having a copy of Lightroom itself.


Forgot to add that I have a great use for the above mention!

Looks to be quite a useful app.


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## Marc Rochkind (Feb 16, 2008)

Denis--

LRViewer won't work across a network for the same reason that Lightroom won't. SQLite3 uses locking primitives that don't work across a network.

No easy solution is at hand, unfortunately.

--Marc


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## rb_stern (Feb 17, 2008)

*Great idea, but mine won't work*

Sounds like a great idea, but but it doesn't view anything for me. I have the .lrcat and .lrdata files in the same folder, and I can browse all the pictures in all ways (standard, by date, by metadata etc. in LR (1.3) but when I open the catalog in LR Viewer, it seems to run through all the things it's supposed to, and then I get a big blank square with a message saying No Images to View. I only have the one catalog, and the same happens whether LR is open or closed.

Richard (OS X 1'.4.11)


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## Denis Pagé (Feb 17, 2008)

Marc Rochkind;8'43 said:
			
		

> Denis--
> 
> LRViewer won't work across a network for the same reason that Lightroom won't. SQLite3 uses locking primitives that don't work across a network.
> 
> ...


So we learn something here!
It is not Lightroom that is not sharable on a network but SQLite? :roll:


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## Marc Rochkind (Feb 17, 2008)

*Accessing previews*

Richard--

LRViewer makes some assumptions about the file naming that aren't always right. I'm working on this. Can you help by giving me the exact names of the lrcat and lrdata files?

--Marc


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## Marc Rochkind (Feb 17, 2008)

Denis--

SQLite3 tries to work across a network. It uses operating-system locking facilities to lock the database, but those don't always work across a network. For that reason, it's easier for developers of apps using SQLite3 to just say that it won't work. Otherwise, they would have an unmanageable tech support burden.

My own tests on my network indicate that neither LR nor LRViewer work across a network.

--Marc


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## Marc Rochkind (Feb 17, 2008)

Richard--

On second thought, I don't think your problem is failure to access the previews file. The "No images to view" message means that you've clicked on an outline item that has no images. If the previews weren't available, you would still see image placeholders, with a message in each rectangle to the effect that the preview isn't available.

Is it the former (solution: just click on an item with images) or the latter?

--Marc


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## Sean McCormack (Feb 18, 2008)

Marc,
A request we've seen is the ability to extract the available preview into a Jpeg. 
Is this a feasible request for LRViewer?

Sean.


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## Marc Rochkind (Feb 18, 2008)

Yes... that would be straightforward, Sean... I'll put that on my list.

--Marc


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## Marc Rochkind (Feb 15, 2008)

LRViewer is a standalone viewer for Lightroom image previews and metadata.






LRViewer makes no changes to the Lightroom catalog, which means that it can't create any previews that aren't already present.

Both the catalog (ending in "lrcat" or "lrdb") and the associated preview file (ending in "lrdata") must be present. You open just the catalog; LRViewer then opens the preview file automatically. No images have to be exported from Lightroom, since LRViewer accesses the catalog and previews directly.

You can distribute LRViewer freely. In particular, you can give it to clients or others along with a catalog and preview file you've exported from Lightroom so that they can view images without having a copy of Lightroom itself.

LRViewer is available only for the Mac, although a Windows version is under development.

Details are at http://ImageIngester.com.

--Marc


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## rb_stern (Feb 18, 2008)

Marc Rochkind;81'' said:
			
		

> Richard--
> 
> On second thought, I don't think your problem is failure to access the previews file. The "No images to view" message means that you've clicked on an outline item that has no images. If the previews weren't available, you would still see image placeholders, with a message in each rectangle to the effect that the preview isn't available.
> 
> ...



Hi,

All I know is that there is only 1 folder on my computer that contains Lightroom data, and when I double click the Lightroom Catalog.lrcat folder it opens Lightroom and all the thumbnails appear in the Library module. When I "open with" using LR Viewer, or drag the folder and drop it onto the LR Viewer icon that I have put in my Applications folder, I just get the big blank box with the No Images message. Here's a screen shot of my Lightroom folder.

Any help appreciated!

Richard


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## Kiwigeoff (Feb 18, 2008)

rb_stern said:


> Hi,
> 
> All I know is that there is only 1 folder on my computer that contains Lightroom data, and when I double click the Lightroom Catalog.lrcat folder it opens Lightroom and all the thumbnails appear in the Library module. When I "open with" using LR Viewer, or drag the folder and drop it onto the LR Viewer icon that I have put in my Applications folder, I just get the big blank box with the No Images message. Here's a screen shot of my Lightroom folder.
> 
> ...


Richard, can you take a moment to fill in your signature in the UserCP (top left of page) please, saves hunting to find the OS you use etc.
I have the Viewer installed and just open the  .lrcat file and I get all images showing. Are the folders showing in the left panel of the viewer?


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## rb_stern (Feb 18, 2008)

Hi,

Sorry - Hopefully details are now in signature. Yes, the folders are showing in the L.hand panel. 

Richard


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## Kiwigeoff (Feb 18, 2008)

rb_stern said:


> Hi,
> 
> Sorry - Hopefully details are now in signature. Yes, the folders are showing in the L.hand panel.
> 
> Richard



Cheers Richard for the signature. Now you have clicked on the folders???


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## Marc Rochkind (Feb 18, 2008)

Richard--

(I also replied to you personally via email.)

Not all headings in the outline have images (same story as in LR itself). You have to expand the outline and click on a heading with images. There's a count next to each (also similar to LR) that shows you what you can click on.

--Marc


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## troyhark (Feb 18, 2008)

Good work - I've been requesting something like this for years now, so clients can view what I see in Bridge. Though seeing what's in LR is also pretty damn cool.
Though being able to allow clients to rate and label images would be high on my list of useful functions.
Just tested it and first thoughts are the RAW files look undeveloped, i.e.RAW. Is that anything to do with whether ior not images have been preview rendered by LR, as I also notice not all images have a preview and some only have small previews?


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## Marc Rochkind (Feb 19, 2008)

Troy (Troyhark?)--

1''% of the images LRViewer shows are LR previews. It has zero ability to produce anything else. In fact, it doesn't access the image files at all, even if they're present.

So, good or bad, image quality is whatever LR provides.

My understanding of how LR works isn't complete, but I believe it renders previews on the fly, as it needs them, unless you explicitly ask it to render. Even then, it's possible (even likely) that it only renders what it needs for the current view.

LR experts can give a better answer.

Also, in case it isn't apparent, LRViewer has no communication with LR at all. It only accesses the LR catalog and previews file.

--Marc


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## rb_stern (Feb 19, 2008)

Marc -

Thanks - it works!

I think perhaps I just wasn't expanding the items that needed it. I apologize for seeming so stupid!

Great program, and it achieves what I've been looking for - the ability to copy and paste Exif data from individual images.

Richard


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