Awesome video. Finally someone has given an explanation of what Smart Previews are, how they work, what you can and can't do with them, etc. And your way of explaining things is so easy to understand. Thank you so much.
I'm pretty much brand-new to LR and I've been looking for a while for this info, explained in such great detail and with helpful "use cases"! THANK YOU!
Good video if you keep your LR catalog on your system drive. But it's a whole new ballgame if you have your LR catalog on your external HD with your Photos! Which a lot of people do for ease of backing up. If you do keep your LR catalog on your external HD it gets quite complex and I'd recommend staying away from SP unless you learn the steps it will take to keep everything in sync.
Thanks for such a great video. I'm thinking of getting a NAS for the photos, keeping the catalog on the SSD primary drive but heard this can be slow. If I do Smart Previews while there's still a connection to the NAS, do you know how/when the master raw file is updated?
Great video. My question is why would you or need to work on images that aren't there? So is it like an intelligent second copy of your library in the photoshop folder?
You may have a situation where it's inconvenient to carry along or even plug in your external drive. Say, you're on a train or plane and you want to pass the time processing images -- It's easier to not plug in the external drive. Most of the reasons would be specific to the person and what they need done where. An intelligent second copy is a good way to think of it. Thank you for watching!
+Anthony Morganti cool yes that makes sense. Being mobile but keeping master copies safe at home whilst maintaining work flow. Didn't think of that. Going to watch street photography now. Thanks for great stuff as always, really is the one stop shop of photography.
Anthony, great video. Just learning about smart previews even though I've been an avid user of LR! Question, once the original image changes with edits made to it's corresponding smart preview image, deleting the smart preview won't change the edits made, right?
Hi Sue. I'm sure you have found the answer to this already, but in case you haven't.... no, your changes will not go away once you get rid of the smart preview.
so the smart previews will occupy a lot of space in my local drive? like, if I do a smart preview of all photos (all 29 thousand of them) will double my Lightroom library? Or some amount like that?
Hi, I bought a new computer. I installed lightroom desktop version and then opened the recent catalog that I copied to my new computer from the external hard drive. The images are all shown but they are all blank, without an image. Just grey. It would be much easier to know where to look at the original files if I would see what im searching for. I searched a few images just with the file name and when I found the right image it worked as it should. All editing was found and the image came also to be seen. But the rest are all grey and blank.
I'm not sure if you are still looking for the answer to this, but yes. That is the biggest benefit to using smart previews. You can put the smart preview file and the LR catalog file on your MBP and you can edit, make adjustments and even process images out at a limited size. You do not need to be connected to the original RAW files to do this. Hope that helps and makes sense.
When I create smart previews in light room while my external hard drive is in, it won't let me eject my hard drive because it is saying light room is still using it. If I close out of light room then eject my hard drive I don't have a option to reopen my light room catalog because my main one is on my hard drive. What am I doing wrong?
You will need to reconnect to the RAW files later on in order to process out at a larger size. Smart previews are helpful for editing, but not so much for exporting (unless you just need small image sizes.)
Awesome video. Finally someone has given an explanation of what Smart Previews are, how they work, what you can and can't do with them, etc. And your way of explaining things is so easy to understand. Thank you so much.
I'm pretty much brand-new to LR and I've been looking for a while for this info, explained in such great detail and with helpful "use cases"! THANK YOU!
Again, another great vid Anthony! Simple and to the point. Thank you
You are the MAN Tony!! Thanks for all you do!
Great tutorial Anthony. Smart previews are so helpful for editing on the go.
Excellent !! Just a great lesson !!!! GReetings from Piraeus.Thanks
Thankyou so much for this fabulous tutorial. So damn well made! Kudos to you!!
Good video if you keep your LR catalog on your system drive. But it's a whole new ballgame if you have your LR catalog on your external HD with your Photos! Which a lot of people do for ease of backing up. If you do keep your LR catalog on your external HD it gets quite complex and I'd recommend staying away from SP unless you learn the steps it will take to keep everything in sync.
Big help! Thank you Anthony.
Great explanation, thanks!
Hi Anthony. Love you tutorials. Can you do a full chapter on processing JPEG images? The advantages and disadvantages.
Thank you. You are the best! :D
Helpful. Thanks
I didn't know this - Thanks
Thanks for such a great video.
I'm thinking of getting a NAS for the photos, keeping the catalog on the SSD primary drive but heard this can be slow.
If I do Smart Previews while there's still a connection to the NAS, do you know how/when the master raw file is updated?
Great video. My question is why would you or need to work on images that aren't there? So is it like an intelligent second copy of your library in the photoshop folder?
You may have a situation where it's inconvenient to carry along or even plug in your external drive. Say, you're on a train or plane and you want to pass the time processing images -- It's easier to not plug in the external drive. Most of the reasons would be specific to the person and what they need done where. An intelligent second copy is a good way to think of it. Thank you for watching!
+Anthony Morganti cool yes that makes sense. Being mobile but keeping master copies safe at home whilst maintaining work flow. Didn't think of that. Going to watch street photography now. Thanks for great stuff as always, really is the one stop shop of photography.
Anthony, great video. Just learning about smart previews even though I've been an avid user of LR! Question, once the original image changes with edits made to it's corresponding smart preview image, deleting the smart preview won't change the edits made, right?
Hi Sue. I'm sure you have found the answer to this already, but in case you haven't.... no, your changes will not go away once you get rid of the smart preview.
Thanks Anthony. I've just hosed a number of unwanted smart previews from my catalog :)
Awesome! Thanks for watching!
so the smart previews will occupy a lot of space in my local drive? like, if I do a smart preview of all photos (all 29 thousand of them) will double my Lightroom library? Or some amount like that?
Hi, I bought a new computer. I installed lightroom desktop version and then opened the recent catalog that I copied to my new computer from the external hard drive. The images are all shown but they are all blank, without an image. Just grey. It would be much easier to know where to look at the original files if I would see what im searching for. I searched a few images just with the file name and when I found the right image it worked as it should. All editing was found and the image came also to be seen. But the rest are all grey and blank.
What if I want to edit my pictures on the go on my MBP and I have my images in Lightroom on my Imac at home, can i make use of smart previews here?
I'm not sure if you are still looking for the answer to this, but yes. That is the biggest benefit to using smart previews. You can put the smart preview file and the LR catalog file on your MBP and you can edit, make adjustments and even process images out at a limited size. You do not need to be connected to the original RAW files to do this. Hope that helps and makes sense.
so if i have smart preview but i have original raw photo too in the drive, i still can export full size photo instead of just 2540 pixel?
When I create smart previews in light room while my external hard drive is in, it won't let me eject my hard drive because it is saying light room is still using it. If I close out of light room then eject my hard drive I don't have a option to reopen my light room catalog because my main one is on my hard drive. What am I doing wrong?
Why not make smart previews of all the huge raw files and then delete them all and save tons of space?
You will need to reconnect to the RAW files later on in order to process out at a larger size. Smart previews are helpful for editing, but not so much for exporting (unless you just need small image sizes.)
i always watch the videos at 2x speed XD
This should've been a 60 second video, not nearly 11 minutes of blah blah blah, and 47 seconds of information.