# syncing with classic and cloud storage



## Charles Burris Carpenter

Mobile Operating System: ios
Desktop Operating System: Windows 10
Exact Lightroom Version (Help menu > System Info): classic 2018 I have CC photography subscription.
 I don't use the new Lightroom cloud version even though it is installed.  When I sync my iPhone to lightroom classic does this automatically sync to the Lightroom cloud version and in doing so use cloud storage space? The reason I ask is... Will I eventually not be able to sync mobile with classic when I run out of my free cloud storage? Is this a backdoor to force more people to buy more cloud space?  ...if so would uninstalling LR cloud version solve this.
thanks
Charles


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## Johan Elzenga

Yes, it's all the same space. However, the smart previews that are synched from Lr Classic apparently do not count for your cloud space, so if you only sync your images (as smart previews) from Lr Classic (no shooting on your iPhone!), you will never run out.


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## Charles Burris Carpenter

grrrr. so I can't take pics on my phone, edit in LR mobile...which will sync it with the desktop app automatically... without using up space on adobe cloud space, of which, I will eventually run out of, even though I do not use the cloud version of LR?? I shoot in raw on iPhone.


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## Jim Wilde

Even if you don't use the LRCC desktop app, you are still using the cloud storage and syncing system. So, if you don't want to buy more than the included 20GB cloud space, you'll need to find a way to manage within that limit. If you don't want/need your iPhone pics to sync to LR Classic to take up space on the cloud, you could turn off sync on your iPhone.


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## Johan Elzenga

Charles Burris Carpenter said:


> grrrr. so I can't take pics on my phone, edit in LR mobile...which will sync it with the desktop app automatically... without using up space on adobe cloud space, of which, I will eventually run out of, even though I do not use the cloud version of LR?? I shoot in raw on iPhone.


There is a work around. The images you shoot on the iPhone are automatically downloaded to Lightroom Classic. If you remove them from the synched collection in Lightroom Classic, they will be deleted from the cloud (and so from your iPhone too), but not from Lightroom Classic. They will now be stored locally on your hard drive only. If you wait till that is all done, and then add them to your synched collection again, they will sync as smart previews only and count as smart previews from Lightroom Classic (so they don't count for your cloud space).


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## Charles Burris Carpenter

JohanElzenga said:


> There is a workaround. The images you shoot on the iPhone are automatically downloaded to Lightroom Classic. If you remove them from the "synced photos" collection in Lightroom Classic, they will be deleted from the cloud (and so from your iPhone too), but not from Lightroom Classic. They will now be stored locally on your hard drive only. If you wait till that is all done, and then add them to your synched collection again, they will sync as smart previews only and count as smart previews from Lightroom Classic (so they don't count for your cloud space).



TY   seems like an easy answer but I will ask... If I delete them from the "synced photos" collection, will they remain in their separate collections on LR classic?  another... If after removing from "synced photos", then drag each collection bk to the "synced photos collection, would they be arranged in those separate collection again on my iPhone and LR? I guess I should ask also if I can actually drag them from their separate collections into the" synced photos" collection?


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## Johan Elzenga

Charles Burris Carpenter said:


> TY seems like an easy answer but I will ask... If I delete them from the "synced photos" collection, will they remain in their separate collections on LR classic?


Yes. The synched collection is just like any other collection. If you remove a photo from a collection, it is not removed from any other collection and/or from Lightroom. You obviously have to make sure that the photo is removed from *any* synched collection, however.



Charles Burris Carpenter said:


> If after removing from "synced photos", then drag each collection bk to the "synced photos collection, would they be arranged in those separate collection again on my iPhone and LR? I guess I should ask also if I can actually drag them from their separate collections into the" synced photos" collection?


After you've removed the photo from the synched collection so that the photo is removed from the cloud, it is like any other photo in Lightroom Classic. You can add it to any synched collection you want to get it back (as smart preview) on your phone.


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## Charles Burris Carpenter

another related... If I delete data from cloud...(using prerences>Lightroom sync tab> remove data) and changed settings on iPhone to "use smart previews" would this solve this "problem"  It's not actually a problem yet, but I did just purchase a Canon 80D.  LOL 
I could upload raw files to a folder on the desktop from iPhone, edit in LR classic, place in a collection and sync as smart previews? does that work as logical as it sounds? This cloud space is just a money grabber (it seems to me) as eventually, even an enthusiast level user like me would have to purchase more space if they just casually edit and sync. Even if they do not use the cloud version.


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## Johan Elzenga

Charles Burris Carpenter said:


> another related... If I delete data from cloud...(using prerences>Lightroom sync tab> remove data) and changed settings on iPhone to "use smart previews" would this solve this "problem"  It's not actually a problem yet, but I did just purchase a Canon 80D.  LOL
> I could upload raw files to a folder on the desktop from iPhone, edit in LR classic, place in a collection and sync as smart previews? does that work as logical as it sounds? This cloud space is just a money grabber (it seems to me) as eventually, even an enthusiast level user like me would have to purchase more space if they just casually edit and sync. Even if they do not use the cloud version.


Why don't you just try my advice with a single image?


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## Charles Burris Carpenter

JohanElzenga said:


> Why don't you just try my advice with a single image?



I unsynced one of my collections, removing those pics from synced photos folder. Those pics disappeared from the collection on LR and my phone. I added them again to the collection from the "all photographs" folder. They were not put bk on my phone until I synced that collection again. I also changed the preference on my iPhone to smart previews only. The number of synced photos did not change. How did you mean to get them back to collections/phone as smarts only and not take up cloud space?  I tried to put photos back in the synced photos folder both by dragging and I couldn't set it as a target collection.


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## Johan Elzenga

I didn't say you should *unsync* any collections, I said you should *remove* the photo(s) from the synched collection(s). That is not the same thing. Please read the instructions again.


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## Charles Burris Carpenter

JohanElzenga said:


> I didn't say you should *unsync* any collections, I said you should *remove* the photo(s) from the synched collection(s). That is not the same thing. Please read the instructions again.


sorry man ....


JohanElzenga said:


> If you remove them from the synched collection in Lightroom Classic, they will be deleted from the cloud (and so from your iPhone too), but not from Lightroom Classic. They will now be stored locally on your hard drive only. If you wait till that is all done, and then add them to your synched collection again,


 _*Where do I add them to the "synced Photos" folder (again) from?*_ I have removed them in classic only and tried adding them to, separately, to synced and collection and they still showed up on cloud. I took them out of the collection in LR cloud version too. They disappeared from same collection on classic version and when added back to desktop version only, they showed up in cloud version. I'm sorry, really, I am not understanding the mechanics of the software to cloud sync. ty again


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## Johan Elzenga

Charles Burris Carpenter said:


> sorry man ....
> _*Where do I add them to the "synced Photos" folder (again) from?*_ I have removed them in classic only and tried adding them to, separately, to synced and collection and they still showed up on cloud. I took them out of the collection in LR cloud version too. They disappeared from same collection on classic version and when added back to desktop version only, they showed up in cloud version. I'm sorry, really, I am not understanding the mechanics of the software to cloud sync. ty again


Yes, they do come back. That's the whole point! When you remove the images from the synched collection in Lightroom Classic, the *originals* are removed from the cloud. They remain in Lightroom Classic however, so they are not lost. When you then add them to a synched collection in Lightroom Classic, they are uploaded to the cloud again. But this time it's not the _originals_ that get uploaded, but only _*smart previews*_. And smart previews don't count for your cloud space allocation.


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## MarkNicholas

For my Iphone Photos what I do is use the Cloud as a temporary means of transferring them to my desk to and into classic to then synced to cloud again but as Smart Previews that take up no storage.

So I initially add Iphone photos to the cloud. This takes up storage. I then go to my desktop and open up either Classic or LRCC (I actually prefer LRCC for this) and then save these photos to my hard drive in my chosen folder structure. Then from Classic I import these photos. I then create a collection for these photos and sync to the cloud (or add them to an existing synced collection). I then then safely remove the "original" Iphone photos from the cloud (again I prefer to use LRCC to do this). You can also do this once you have saved the photos to your hard drive.

You can then sit on the sofa with your Iphone and edit, manage keyword, rate these synced Smart Previews from within the  LR CC app and all the edits etc. will be synced to the cloud and back to Classic, well except for keywords which only sync from Classic to the cloud on the initial sync (assuming you have applied keywords in Classic).

As said by others, just take a test shot and play around.


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## Jim Wilde

Seems a bit complicated, Mark. I simply let them sync into Classic, then if I was wanting to remove them from the cloud to save storage space I'd just remove them from the All Synced Photographs collection in Classic, which deletes them from the cloud but retains them in Classic. If I wanted, I could then just add them back to a synced collection in Classic and it'll upload smart previews.


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## MarkNicholas

Jim Wilde said:


> Seems a bit complicated, Mark. I simply let them sync into Classic, then if I was wanting to remove them from the cloud to save storage space I'd just remove them from the All Synced Photographs collection in Classic, which deletes them from the cloud but retains them in Classic. If I wanted, I could then just add them back to a synced collection in Classic and it'll upload smart previews.


I think my long winded explanation makes it sound complicated but it’s actually very straightforward and satisfies my sense of control over what goes where.


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## Johan Elzenga

Jim Wilde said:


> Seems a bit complicated, Mark. I simply let them sync into Classic, then if I was wanting to remove them from the cloud to save storage space I'd just remove them from the All Synced Photographs collection in Classic, which deletes them from the cloud but retains them in Classic. If I wanted, I could then just add them back to a synced collection in Classic and it'll upload smart previews.


Yes, that is what I'm saying all the time, but it seems the OP (which is not Mark) was a bit confused about that approach and maybe still is.


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