# Storage limits???



## TimJWatts

Hi,

I'm very confused... Wonder if anyone could enlighten me please?

The basic photographers CC subscription including LR and PS is limited to a tiny 2GB and you don;t seem to be able to purchase add-ons (odd) - but there are rumours that Customer Services will increase to 71GB (also an odd number) if you ask nicely...

But what is that 2GB used for? I read somewhere else that LR-sync is unlimited.

I've got 97GB of photos (and some videos) most of which are cruft, with a smattering of ones I wanted to tag and star-rate in LR and make available via LR Mobile to the family.

So does this mean that I can't (97GB > 2GB) or is the 2GB only used for stuff I maybe "publish" explicitly to the general public (I assume you can do that in CC)?

Also - a side question:

Can I limit what syncs? I have some commercially sensitive photos that I prefer to never touch any cloud system. Is that just a case of "do not ever let LR see those" or is it possible to say sync only stuff I rate as (eg) 3 stars and higher or apply a certain tag to?

And as an aside AND/OR question: I know that older versions of LR can publish to many different photo sites - but is there any cloud storage that is not Adobe CC that LR can work with 2-way? (ie does it all have to be in CC's LR-sync storage to be flexibly accessible across mobile and desktop machines?).


Sorry - that's all very n00by - but would be very grateful 

Cheers, Tim


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## clee01l

Welcome to the forum  Lightroom Mobile syncs collections in your catalog to the cloud and from there to your mobile devices.  The image files stored in the cloud are Smart lossy compressed DNGs.  You are limited only by the capacity of your mobile device  (for me, my iPhone tops out at 32GB for everything including music, iPhone photos and LR Mobile syncs.

The 2GB limit is for Adobe Cloud Storage.  It is not limited to nor does it include LR sync'd collections.  It is similar to Dropbox, Onedrive or cloud and is intended primarily for your Adobe assets.

In order to sync an image, your image needs to be in a collection that is being sync'd.  You can only sync static collections.  The collections are accessible via a URL but only if you set these to be publicly shared. otherwise only the person logged in with your Adobe ID can view the images.


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## RogerB

Welcome to the forum from me too Tim. Cletus has covered most of your questions but I wonder if part of your confusion comes from the name "Creative Cloud"?  Despite the name, Lightroom CC does not run in the cloud or require any cloud storage to operate.  The application runs (as it always has) on your desktop and your catalogue and image files are stored locally.  There are some additional features (whose use is optional) to synchronise one or more collections with the LR Mobile app as Cletus outlined above, but you don't have to put any of your 97GB of images in the cloud if you don't want to.


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## TimJWatts

Hi,

Thanks folks...

I do get that LR is (still) primarily a desktop app (that I have to run under VMWare 'cos I use Linux). Thanks for answering the bit about sync'd images.

The extra features of LR Sync I was interested were:

1) Making my collection available to the family by sharing an account;

2) Very basic editing in the mobile app (well, you can star-rate a photo and manage collections) - that's cool as I can sit there on the train to work and do a first level pass over my 1000's of photos. Any say 3+ star I might go to LR-Desktop and polish them up or at least add some tags.

3) My very best (5 star) I might publish to a web album.

It sounds like this could be useful. And it sounds like I won't be using any of the online Adobe storage (apart from Sync) as I'm likely to choose another publishing service.

Cheers!

Tim


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## Linwood Ferguson

TimJWatts said:


> It sounds like this could be useful. And it sounds like I won't be using any of the online Adobe storage (apart from Sync) as I'm likely to choose another publishing service.


I use Smugmug, so I never found anything interesting about Adobe's cloud.  "real" photo sharing sites have a much more mature set of control and presentation features.  The publishing plugins tend to be quite sophisticated as well.

I think Adobe did a bad job with Creative "Cloud" subscriptions by conflating the cloud storage with the subscription model; I suspect a lot of people would be far more likely to accept subscription for service if they didn't think it somehow made them put stuff in the cloud.


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## Victoria Bampton

Ferguson said:


> I think Adobe did a bad job with Creative "Cloud" subscriptions by conflating the cloud storage with the subscription model; I suspect a lot of people would be far more likely to accept subscription for service if they didn't think it somehow made them put stuff in the cloud.



I think it's their vision of the future (and most other big tech companies too).  If you look at the way all of their mobile apps are interconnected via the cloud, the name was just ahead of its time.


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## Linwood Ferguson

Victoria Bampton said:


> I think it's their vision of the future (and most other big tech companies too).  If you look at the way all of their mobile apps are interconnected via the cloud, the name was just ahead of its time.


It certainly is, after all, having proprietary control over your customer data is a great lock-in, but I think it actually delayed peoples adoption of the CC subscription for many since there's no necessity to use it yet, but the perception they were linked made it too big of a bite for many to take.

I think a lot of people's concerns over what Adobe was doing was also ahead of its time.  The subscription itself was not the evil master plan it was made out to be; but when one day you must store things in the cloud to work on them... it sounds anathema to most of us, but for the facebook generation that do not even have computers and store everything "out there somewhere", it will just seem natural to turn everything over.


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## rob211

The "cloud" refers to the rather opaque and fuzzy nature of Adobe's online services; sort of creatively cloudy. 

The online storage is in no way backup, but is a way to store synched images that go from the desktop to your mobile. You can view them on the web at Lightroom on the web and share from there. That site also gives the option to directly upload, but I am not sure which storage limit, if any, that bumps up against. It's confusing.


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## Victoria Bampton

Ferguson said:


> when one day you must store things in the cloud to work on them



True, but everything gets synced back to your chosen desktop and images etc. aren't kept in a proprietary form, so there's not really anything to worry about.


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## Linwood Ferguson

Victoria Bampton said:


> True, but everything gets synced back to your chosen desktop and images etc. aren't kept in a proprietary form, so there's not really anything to worry about.



Oh, there's always something to worry about.

Consider the whole sync issue.  If someone gains access to Adobe's cloud, they could if they choose encrypt all your files, which in turn would sync back to your desktop and laptop and mobile and everything else, then charge you to decrypt them.  All without you having any security breach, just Adobe having one.  A couple years ago this would be far fetched, but now Ransomware is almost a daily event.  

Many of the people expressing concern about the "cloud" worry about nefarious intent of the vendors; I do not think one needs to even go that far, just assume they are not secure.  To date, there is are few vendors who have yet to be compromised, many multiple times.

I use the cloud.  I'm not suggesting one not use it.  Just be paranoid about it.  Assume your cloud vendor WILL be compromised one day and ask if you are prepared.  Assume your cloud vendor will be nefarious one day, and ask if you are prepared?   If neither happen, be pleasantly surprised.


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## Victoria Bampton

Ferguson said:


> they could if they choose encrypt all your files, which in turn would sync back to your desktop and laptop and mobile and everything else, then charge you to decrypt them



Yeah, but that's what you have disconnected backups for!    No, you're right, we can spend all our time worrying.  It's just a question of covering the most likely suspects.


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## Linwood Ferguson

Victoria Bampton said:


> Yeah, but that's what you have disconnected backups for!    No, you're right, we can spend all our time worrying.  It's just a question of covering the most likely suspects.



Absolutely, though it is frightening to talk to people who treat these cloud systems as "backup", i.e. their only backup.  Hopefully these discussions will spur a few toward more care!


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## clee01l

Ferguson said:


> Absolutely, though it is frightening to talk to people who treat these cloud systems as "backup", i.e. their only backup.  Hopefully these discussions will spur a few toward more care!


Belts AND suspenders.


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## Sashina

Ah - this answers a key question for me!
Like the OP and most of us I have a huge catalogue on my laptop. I've been using LR Mobile on iPhone and iPad for some time. I've recently switched to an Android phone, and just last week have swapped the iPad for a Samsung Galaxy Tab S2. I've ordered a 128GB micro-SD card for the Tab (still waiting for delivery!), but was still unclear as to whether I could use this to increase the number of photos I sync. 
Fundamentally (thank you Cletus for clarifying), I thought I was limited to 5GB of *synced files*. Now it looks like I will be able to sync my *entire catalogue* with the S2 - brilliant! Now I just need to wait for the SD card to pop through the letterbox.
Thank you!

~Sashina


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## MarkSD100

I'm still a little confused.   I have about 300GB of photos.   I use the stand-alone/perpetual version of Lightroom.    If I switch to CC, what exactly gets stored in the Adobe cloud?   If not my source photo files, then how does the sync happen with Apple TV Lightroom and Lightroom mobile?   I assume I have to put the photos in collections but what if I put 300GB files in collections?  Will they all be visible on my Apple TV Lightroom?

Currently, replicate all files to a Synology disk station and use their DS Photo Station to view the files on Apple TV.  The issue is that it doesn't read the XMP files.

-- Mark


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## clee01l

MarkSD100 said:


> I'm still a little confused.   I have about 300GB of photos.   I use the stand-alone/perpetual version of Lightroom.    If I switch to CC, what exactly gets stored in the Adobe cloud?   If not my source photo files, then how does the sync happen with Apple TV Lightroom and Lightroom mobile?   I assume I have to put the photos in collections but what if I put 300GB files in collections?  Will they all be visible on my Apple TV Lightroom?
> 
> Currently, replicate all files to a Synology disk station and use their DS Photo Station to view the files on Apple TV.  The issue is that it doesn't read the XMP files.
> 
> -- Mark


No master files get stored in the cloud space that come with CC.  What you do get is the ability to send SmartPreview type DNGs to a dedicated space at Adobe. These Smart Previews are then sync'd to your mobile device and you will be limited on that device to the storage capacity of that device.  
The LR Mobile app for the Apple TV will have the same capability AND limits as an iPhone or iPad  and all of the images will sync to the AppleTV via the internet


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## MarkSD100

clee01l said:


> SmartPreview type DNGs to a dedicated space at Adobe



Is this space unlimited?  I realized they are compressed but can I store 500,000 SmartPreview DNGs for example?



clee01l said:


> The LR Mobile app for the Apple TV will have the same capability AND limits as an iPhone or iPad and all of the images will sync to the AppleTV via the internet



Sorry, not following.   When my Apple TV runs the new Lightroom tvOS app, will it display the image at 1920x1080 resolution and have access to all 500,000 photos?

Where is the Apple TV pulling the image from?   The possibilities seem to be:

1)  Apple TV will read SmartPreview DNG from the Adobe Cloud
2)  Apple TV will read full resolution raw file and XMP from Adobe Cloud
3)  Apple TV will read full resolution raw file and XMP from PC/Mac where source library is located
4)  Apple TV will read SmartPreview DNG from a phone that is running Lightroom Mobile
5)  Apple TV will read SmartPreview DNG from local Apple TV storage

Seems only 1 or 5 is likely.

-- Mark


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## clee01l

MarkSD100 said:


> Is this space unlimited?  I realized they are compressed but can I store 500,000 SmartPreview DNGs for example?


Theoretically, the space at Adobe is unlimited. However there is a practical limit which is the available storage on the iDevice (in your case, the AppleTV).  I have an iPhone the has 64Gb of storage.  Storage for OS, other apps and Lightroom Mobile images. I do not know the storage capabilities of the AppleTV, but I suspect that it won't hold 500,000 Smart previews. 





> Sorry, not following.   When my Apple TV runs the new Lightroom tvOS app, will it display the image at 1920x1080 resolution and have access to all 500,000 photos?


A Smart Preview is a lossy compressed DNG. It is limited on the long edge to 2048 pixels.  More than enough pixels to be resized down to fit your 1920X1080 display. 





> Where is the Apple TV pulling the image from?


Lightroom Mobile retrieves its images (Smart Preview lossy DNGs) from your storage space at Adobe.
Here is a web link to one of my Shared Collections 2016.05 Trans Pecos Photo Trip 
Every collection  that I choose to sync with my Master catalog (including those collections that are not shared publically  are available to my LR Mobile app the I use my Adobe ID to sign on with the Mobile app.  Collections that I choose to share publicly are (like the one above) available to anybody, any device using a standard Web Browser (Safari, Chrome, etc.)  So, #1 & #5 are both true.


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## RikkFlohr

clee01l said:


> A Smart Preview is a lossy compressed DNG. It is limited on the long edge to 2048 pixels. More than enough pixels to be resized down to fit your 1920X1080 display.


These should be 2560px on the long side.


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## clee01l

RikkFlohr said:


> These should be 2560px on the long side.


Thanks for the correction and clarification.   However, the files in my master catalog that have been sync'd with LR Mobile are no larger than 2048 px.  Is this Larger size a result of a recent update in LR and if so what do I need to do to resync images that are already synced to LR Mobile?


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## Jim Wilde

Where are you looking to see that 2048px figure, Cletus? AKAIK, the uploaded smart previews have always been 2560px on the long edge, but the previews in LR WebView would appear to be only 2048px, so maybe that's what you have seen?


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## Gnits

This is an extract from the Lightroom Journal back in 2015.


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## rweather

I have a CC subscription and have my main storage of photos at home on my computer.  I am presently travelling in Latin America and I transfer photos I take on my camera to my ipad. I used to upload the unedited photos to Dropbox then download them to my computer when I got home.  Now that I have Lightroom on my home computer and the mobile version on my ipad, I import the photos into Lightroom Mobile where I do some editing. I intend to let them sync to my desktop version of Lightroom and then move the photos to an appropriate folder on my hard drive.   I have noticed that these synced photos seem slightly smaller in size (less megabites) than the originals. Do I lose any significant quality from the photos?  Is this a good workflow system?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## clee01l

Jim Wilde said:


> Where are you looking to see that 2048px figure, Cletus? AKAIK, the uploaded smart previews have always been 2560px on the long edge, but the previews in LR WebView would appear to be only 2048px, so maybe that's what you have seen?


Yes, it is webView.  If I download an image, LR Webview tells me that I will download an image that is 2048px  So What is the point of uploading an image that is 2560 on the long edge if all you can download is 2048px?  I do see now that you have pointed it out that if I download an image TO MY iPhone via LR Mobile it is 2560.  However, Only I am able to download MY images via LR Mobile.   If I make an image available to you is is via a Public Link on LR WebView.
Here is a link to an image whose original has a long edge of 12-15000px

https://lightroom.adobe.com/v2c/cat...e/renditions/8e2f799a348c48c18ce4c60e1cd3e338

A lot of image definition gets lost getting to 2560 and even more to retrieve an image that is only 2048px  I am mystified that the extra pixels are even uploaded to LR Mobile if you can't share an image that has a long dimension of only 2048px.


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## Victoria Bampton

Two different file types. Web uses pre-rendered JPEGs, which are 2048px. Mobile uses pre-rendered JPEGs for some views, and 2560px smart previews for editing.


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## TimJWatts

Hi,

I'm very confused... Wonder if anyone could enlighten me please?

The basic photographers CC subscription including LR and PS is limited to a tiny 2GB and you don;t seem to be able to purchase add-ons (odd) - but there are rumours that Customer Services will increase to 71GB (also an odd number) if you ask nicely...

But what is that 2GB used for? I read somewhere else that LR-sync is unlimited.

I've got 97GB of photos (and some videos) most of which are cruft, with a smattering of ones I wanted to tag and star-rate in LR and make available via LR Mobile to the family.

So does this mean that I can't (97GB > 2GB) or is the 2GB only used for stuff I maybe "publish" explicitly to the general public (I assume you can do that in CC)?

Also - a side question:

Can I limit what syncs? I have some commercially sensitive photos that I prefer to never touch any cloud system. Is that just a case of "do not ever let LR see those" or is it possible to say sync only stuff I rate as (eg) 3 stars and higher or apply a certain tag to?

And as an aside AND/OR question: I know that older versions of LR can publish to many different photo sites - but is there any cloud storage that is not Adobe CC that LR can work with 2-way? (ie does it all have to be in CC's LR-sync storage to be flexibly accessible across mobile and desktop machines?).


Sorry - that's all very n00by - but would be very grateful 

Cheers, Tim


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## thommy

clee01l said:


> Theoretically, the space at Adobe is unlimited. However there is a practical limit which is the available storage on the iDevice (in your case, the AppleTV). I have an iPhone the has 64Gb of storage. Storage for OS, other apps and Lightroom Mobile images.


I would say that it's absolutely unlimited space at Adobe, if we mean the cloud space at Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. And if you work online at this site with your photos, there are no limits whatsoever!
And regarding the mobile amount of Gb storage, I would like to know how photos from LR desktop are synched to my mobile phone and then editable and viewable on my LR app. 
I have a couple of photos synched that way but cannot find the photos physically on my mobile storage. Just did a test synching 50 photos from LR desktop and opened LR app in my Android phone, and checked storage used before and after in my mobile phone - no difference.
I understand that your mobile storage has to be considered if you take photos with your phone. But the other way around?


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## Jim Wilde

AFAICT, it's a three-stage process when syncing from LR Desktop to LR mobile. When you sync a collection, and you've waited until the upload has finished, when you open LR mobile on your iDevice you'll see the changes happening in the sense that the collection will appear, with the relevant number of images alongside, and the Lightroom Photos special collection number will also increase.

At that point all that I think has been downloaded is a single thumbnail preview, which you see as the "cover photo" for that collection. So virtually no space on the iDevice has been used at that point. 

When you open the collection you'll initially see one thumbnail and blank place-holders for the other images. If your iDevice is online, you should immediately see those place-holders populated with the appropriate image thumbnail....so now a little bit more space has been used. 

The smart preview is not downloaded until you open an image into the Loupe view, so now bigger chunks of space are being used. If you choose in the collection's preferences to "Enable Offline Editing", then you should see a dialog box telling you how much space is needed for the download, and how much is available on the iDevice. If you confirm, all the SPs will be downloaded. So it's only this third stage which really starts to utilise your space.

All of the above relates to the iOS versions of LR mobile, but I'm assuming the same or similar will happen on Android.


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## thommy

Thanks for the explanation!
That means that storage usage is really not very much affected until you start downloading for offline editing.
Are the Loupe view smart previews stored forever or just cached?


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## Jim Wilde

thommy said:


> Are the Loupe view smart previews stored forever or just cached?



The user can decide. If you do nothing then yes they will remain cached on the iDevice until no longer needed. However, at the collection level, one of the preferences is "Clear Cache" which does as expected and deletes all downloaded SPs (and raw captures) in just that collection. Useful for getting rid of the cached original raw captures when they've been uploaded, and then replacing them with SPs.


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## thommy

Now I understand a lot more how it works.
There is however no Android version of the "Clear Cache" at the collection level, only at the highest level and for entire LR cache.


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## Jim Wilde

Must say I'm a bit surprised about that. However, in some areas the Android version is playing "catch-up", so hopefully that option will appear soon.


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## Gnits

Victoria Bampton said:


> Two different file types. Web uses pre-rendered JPEGs, which are 2048px. Mobile uses pre-rendered JPEGs for some views, and 2560px smart previews for editing.



Useful info ... thanks.


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