# Migrating from  Lightroom to Lightroom Classic:  Any advantage to Lightroom?



## reidthaler (Oct 6, 2020)

I have a client who is using Lightroom with about 50K images.  I've never found any advantage to Lightroom over Lightroom Classic since Lightroom doesn't have feature parity and requires you to upload everything to Adobe.  My initial recommendation would be to switch to Lightroom Classic and back up with Backblaze, mostly because that's what I'm familiar with and recommend for most of my photography clients, but this may be a different situation. 

On the other hand, she has the Premier Pro package that includes Lightroom. She's really not interested in photo editing, just image management. Thinking as I'm typing, I'm wondering if it may make sense to stay with Lightroom, since she's paying for it already, and then when she does hit the storage limit, then just increase to 2 TB for another $10/month.

I'm open to suggestions and just trying to figure out what make the most sense for her.  I've never recommended Lightroom to anyone, but it this case it may make sense.

Thanks,

Reid


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## Conrad Chavez (Oct 6, 2020)

I use Classic myself, but while Lightroom cloud does not have strict feature parity with Classic, it has advanced so much that it does now cover most of what most people need. Does she use images personally or for business in a way where it makes a material difference to have all images available on any device as long as there’s fast Internet? Or not having to manage local backups, which is required with Classic? For some people, those capabilities are worth more than the Classic features that Lightroom Cloud doesn’t have.


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## prbimages (Oct 7, 2020)

You say she is already using Lightroom (cloudy) with around 50K images, and she is not particularly interested in photo editing, only management. So my first question would be, is there anything that she cannot do, or that she finds limiting, with her current setup? There are features in Classic that help with photo management, such as smart collections, publish collections, hierarchical keywords, etc. etc.. Does she need these? If not, it may be a case of "If it's not broken, don't fix it"!


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## reidthaler (Oct 7, 2020)

Yes, that's gotten to be my thinking as well, since she's already paying for cloudy with Premier Pro


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## Linwood Ferguson (Oct 7, 2020)

I'd also point out that the primary (at least in my opinion) benefit of the Cloud version is that it is a "edit/manage anywhere on any device" paradigm. Classic has some cloud integration but it is not nearly as robust, Classic is much more of aimed at having "a" computer with your photos on it.  How your friend needs to (or has gotten used to) using it may be the biggest issue.


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## clee01l (Oct 7, 2020)

prbimages said:


> You say she is already using Lightroom (cloudy) with around 50K images, and she is not particularly interested in photo editing, only management. So my first question would be, is there anything that she cannot do, or that she finds limiting, with her current setup? There are features in Classic that help with photo management, such as smart collections, publish collections, hierarchical keywords, etc. etc.. Does she need these? If not, it may be a case of "If it's not broken, don't fix it"!


There are two issues to ba addressed with a cloud only approach.

Is there functionality needed that is not available in the Cloud version?  Some examples:
Printing quality images locally
Dependence upon an internet connection

Versioned back up and the ability to recover deleted images beyond 60 days.
There are advantages to being able to work anywhere on any device but there is a certain amount of security that comes with having complete control AND responsibility over your image files managed locally.    For me I have found that a cloud sync'd  Classic catalog gives me the best features of both versions.


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## mikebore (Oct 7, 2020)

reidthaler said:


> I have a client who is using Lightroom with about 50K images.  I've never found any advantage to Lightroom over Lightroom Classic since Lightroom doesn't have feature parity and requires you to upload everything to Adobe.  My initial recommendation would be to switch to Lightroom Classic and back up with Backblaze, mostly because that's what I'm familiar with and recommend for most of my photography clients, but this may be a different situation.
> 
> On the other hand, she has the Premier Pro package that includes Lightroom. She's really not interested in photo editing, just image management. Thinking as I'm typing, I'm wondering if it may make sense to stay with Lightroom, since she's paying for it already, and then when she does hit the storage limit, then just increase to 2 TB for another $10/month.
> 
> ...



I use Lightroom, rather than Lightroom Classic, for one overriding reason. My wife can have her devices signed into the same Adobe ID and all the photos both of us take are always available to both of us including culls and edits. In practice I do all the editing, culling and organising but it all syncs to her devices. This shared library aspect is an extension of what Ferguson mentioned, and is a personal use rather than a business use as mentioned by Conrad.

Fast Internet certainly helps for syncing  if the volume of change is high, but not needed for everyday viewing, and smart previews means you can edit off line.

Of course this won't suit everybody but I come across a lot of families and couples who do want this. I used to use Apple Photos but that requires being signed in the same Apple ID (which is strongly discouraged and impossible since Activity and Heath came along). The Apple Photos sharing capabilities come nowhere near Lightroom, but are adequate for many people.


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## tspear (Oct 8, 2020)

clee01l said:


> There are two issues to ba addressed with a cloud only approach.
> 
> Is there functionality needed that is not available in the Cloud version?  Some examples:
> Printing quality images locally
> ...



I tried Cloudy, and the flat keywords drove me crazy, plus needing to go back to "folders" for workflow management. Or at least, I did not figure out any other method.


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## Colin Grant (Oct 8, 2020)

I have still not worked out what to do once you use all the space up?  Buy more is an option of course but Adobe cloud space is not cheap. Bringing some images back to archive in Classic might be the answer but that sort of defeats the object.


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## clee01l (Oct 8, 2020)

Colin Grant said:


> I have still not worked out what to do once you use all the space up?  Buy more is an option of course but Adobe cloud space is not cheap. Bringing some images back to archive in Classic might be the answer but that sort of defeats the object.


Keep in mind that any photos sync'd TO the cloud from Classic are proxy SmartDNGs and do not count against your 20GB limit.  Proxy SmartDNGs are unlimited when sent from Classic.  Only full size originals originating in Lightroom (cloudy) are added to the cloud storage plan.


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## Colin Grant (Oct 8, 2020)

Yes I've got that thanks and it is what I do.  I was thinking of those who are, or are thinking of going "cloudy only" and what happens to them when the library of images increases beyond their available cloud storage.


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## clee01l (Oct 8, 2020)

Colin Grant said:


> Yes I've got that thanks and it is what I do. I was thinking of those who are, or are thinking of going "cloudy only" and what happens to them when the library of images increases beyond their available cloud storage.



A Lightroom only subscription comes with 1TB of storage. This is a significant amount of storage for all but the most prolific shooters.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## tspear (Jan 14, 2021)

Wondering if there have been any changes in the comparison. Looks like I am still down to two major functions I would miss.
Smart Collections (use for processing workflow, seems like folders/albums would be a giant step backwards) and keyword hierarchy.


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## clee01l (Jan 14, 2021)

tspear said:


> Wondering if there have been any changes in the comparison. Looks like I am still down to two major functions I would miss.
> Smart Collections (use for processing workflow, seems like folders/albums would be a giant step backwards) and keyword hierarchy.



I’ve not heard of any progress on either. Because of the advantages of using Lightroom (mobile) I have made adjustments to my workflow. I use Lightroom as the front-end to Lightroom Classic


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## tspear (Jan 20, 2021)

@clee01l

I am sure you have documented somewhere on here a how-to setup Lr and Lr Classic for your workflow.
I have found the overview (load via cloudy, cull on cloudy, some meta tagging on cloudy, sync down to classic).
But I am missing the details, and also how do I delete the existing sync I setup apparently for Classic  three years ago and never used 

Any help would be appreciated. I have decided I really need to do some of the basic work while on the road, and my wife has decided she wants to load and process her roughly 10K images... And then work on a scanning project....  I figure Cloudy is going to be much easier for her if I can work out a solution. Or maybe I just need to bite the bullet and switch to Cloudy if I can figure out some dam workflow.


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## clee01l (Jan 20, 2021)

tspear said:


> @clee01l
> 
> I am sure you have documented somewhere on here a how-to setup Lr and Lr Classic for your workflow.
> I have found the overview (load via cloudy, cull on cloudy, some meta tagging on cloudy, sync down to classic).
> But I am missing the details, and also how do I delete the existing sync I setup apparently for Classic three years ago and never used



There’s not much to document. Before anything else, I sync’d about 7000 of my Classic catalog images to the cloud. These proxy images did not use any of my Cloud storage plan. However, the 20GB plan did not give me enough cloud storage to transfer 64GB camera cards to LrC via Lr on my iPadPro. The 1TB plan is more than adequate as I am only using about 100 GB of cloud storage. 

My workflow is as follows:
Import a camera card into Lr on the iPadPro.
Cull these and perhaps do some basic edits.
My hierarchical keywords are a mess in LrC since Lr does not support anything but flat keywords. I haven’t found the time to convert Classic to a flat keyword regime.
With a fast internet connection, my IPadPro imports are sync’d to my masters Classic catalog on my iMac automatically and available on my return.
If I want to share new Lightroom images I create an album for Lightroom (web). This will show up as a collection in the master catalog. Or I can create a sync collection in the Master catalog


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