Lightroom Q&A From The Indispensable Guide to Lightroom CC by Sean McCormack
Everyone has to start somewhere, and no one person knows absolutely everything about Lightroom. I learn new aspects of the program from gurus all the time, and they, in turn, learn from me. This is a collection of frequently asked questions and their answers. I will start by giving you one bit of sage advice: with any problem, always restart Lightroom before you do anything else. Seriously. The program sometimes gets tired and needs a little nap from time to time. In fact, my friend and fellow PhotographersToolbox.com plugin writer, Matt Dawson, once took pity on me and wrote a script that restarts Lightroom. I love it. I use it often. You can find out all about it here.
With that said, here’s some help!
I’ve Installed Lightroom CC, but it Crashes Immediately When I Open it. Help!
Open the Adobe Creative Cloud App. Click on the Cog icon in the top-right corner. Choose Preferences from the menu. In the General Tab, click Account Click Sign out of Creative Cloud Sign in again when prompted. This resets the account information and should cure your problem.
This issue was also fixed with version 6.0.1 of Lightroom.
How Do I Import from iPhoto or Aperture?
Lightroom ships with a plugin that allows this transfer. First back up your catalog by going to Catalog Settings and setting Backup (in the General tab) to When Lightroom Next Exits. Restart Lightroom. From the File menu, go to Plugin Extras and choose Import from Aperture Library or iPhoto Library.
Lightroom will detect the library location, but you can specify a different one. You can also choose where the image files will be moved. The number of files, space required, and the space remaining are visible in the dialog. There’s an Options button. Press this to open a dialog box where you can select to import Previews from iPhoto, Apply Keywords, and choose to Reference photos rather than creating new copies. Referencing photos saves space, but because the photos are still connected in iPhoto, this could lead to conflicts at a later time if you still use iPhoto. Click Import when you’re done setting these options. For more information check out the official Adobe blog here.
Lightroom is Not Syncing Correctly With My iPad
Try deleting the Sync.lrdata file, which is located in a hidden directory. From Mac Finder, hold down the Option key and click on the Go menu. You will see an additional Library entry. Click this. From there, go to Caches/Adobe/ Lightroom/Sync Data, where you will see the sync.lrdata file. Remove the sync.lrdata file and restart Lightroom on the desktop. This should restart/refresh the sync. On Windows, Sync.lrdata is located at: C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\ Adobe\Lightroom\Caches\Sync Data\Sync.lrdata
AppData is a hidden folder. To view hidden files on Windows 8, use the shortcut Windows key + E. Click the View tab Check File name extensions and Hidden items.
For Windows 7, right-click the Windows Logo button and choose Open Windows Explorer. Click Organize and choose Folder and Search Options. Click the View tab, and then select Show hidden files and folders. Clear the checkbox for Hide protected system operating files. Click Yes on the warning and then click OK. This should help the syncing process.
I Have No Idea Where Lightroom Put My Pictures. Where Can I Find Them?
To find any photo on the drive, use the shortcut Command + R on Mac, or Control + R on PC. You can also right-click on a file and choose Show in Finder (Mac) or Show in Explorer (PC) from the menu that appears. If you want to go back to the Folder in Lightroom from a Collection, right-click on the photo and choose Go to Folder in Library. Lightroom has placed these files based on your Import settings. If you use Add, Lightroom yet hasn’t moved these files. If you used Copy or Move, the place Lightroom moved the files to is set in the Destination panel on the right of Import.
My Laptop is Full. How Do I Move My Images Safely off the Internal Drive?
To have Lightroom keep track of your photos, move them from within Lightroom. The easiest way to add a drive is to import a photo using Add. Then move your folders over to the new drive. The number of images you have dictates how long this process will take.
I’ve Updated Photoshop, but Lightroom Keeps Using the Old Version
The easiest solution to this issue is to reinstall Lightroom. Remember that both Mac and PC need to use the uninstaller to remove Lightroom. Lightroom doesn’t delete your catalog when you uninstall Sometimes on a PC you need to edit the windows registry to make it work go here.
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