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blueeyes2's avatar
blueeyes2
Explorer | Level 4
7 years ago

Lightroom and Dropbox Pro Nightmare

I'm a photographer and was hoping that upgrading to Dropbox Pro would help my workflow but it's been a nightmare and I'm wondering if anyone can help.  I am using lightroom and I have one catalogue ...
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  • Lusil's avatar
    Lusil
    7 years ago
    Hi there blueeyes2!
     
    Initially, please note that many processes on your computer may look at files that you may have not manually opened and, in order to fulfill these requests, Dropbox syncs the files. Such examples include:
    • Backup services.
    • Antivirus.
    • Recently used file lists.
    • Third party applications that monitor files in general. 
    Please note that if there are apps that constantly look at your files, your files may come back following the behavior described above if you didn't recall them manually. 
     
    If this is the case, I'd kindly recommend to test this out by temporarily quitting or disabling relevant apps until you see that the issue no longer occurs. If you do, it could be that the last app that you closed may be the one performing this action.
     
    However, please remember that when you set a file to be online-only, only information about the file, such as the name, the location, and the date that the file was updated, is downloaded. You can find more info about this here. 
     
    Having said that, from what you describe in your post, it sounds like the third-party app you use requires access to these files you set to be online-only so as to preview them, hence why they could be downloaded as local. 
     
    In any case, let me know what you find! :grinning:
Rich's avatar
Rich
Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
7 years ago
blueeyes2 wrote:

Since I upgraded it's like they won't stay 'online only' and keep downloading the raw files every time I scroll through my lightroom catalogue.

What you're seeing is expected behavior.

Smart Sync works by removing a file that you've marked as Online-only from your hard drive, and leaving a reference file in its place. When that reference file is accessed, either by you opening it or another program trying to perform some action on it, Dropbox downloads it back to your computer and marks it as Local.

As you scroll through the files in your catalog, Lightroom is likely accessing each file so it can obtain a thumbnail or other file information. When this happens, Dropbox is re-downloading the file so Lightroom can access it.

This same thing can happen with virus scans, backups or any other program or utility that attempts to access the file, and is the expected behavior. Online-only files aren't accessed directly online. They're re-downloaded first.

  • blueeyes2's avatar
    blueeyes2
    Explorer | Level 4
    7 years ago

    Thanks so much Rich

    I guess then I dont' understand how 'Smart sync' is meant to save hard drive space if merely scrolling past a file downloads a 25mg file locally, I feel like I've been terribly missold this upgrade which is meant to solve my space issue.

    I totally understand why it is doing it but I preferred it in the previous version when it only accessed the files I had selected to sync as I never ran in to this issue.  I now just need to figure out how to make it stop as dropbox has ceased syncing due to lack of space and there is literally nothing else I can delete from my harddrive.  

    • Lusil's avatar
      Lusil
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
      7 years ago
      Thanks for the swift reply, blueeyes2. 
       
      If you have folders that contain files that you don’t need to access directly, nor are you using with the third party app in question, I’d recommend giving selective sync a try.
       
      Selective sync is also a feature that saves space on your hard drive (as you mention as well), but it does so by unsyncing the folders you select. 
       
      I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.
      • blueeyes2's avatar
        blueeyes2
        Explorer | Level 4
        7 years ago

        Thanks Lusil but my dropbox has totally stopped syncing due to my hard drive being out of space so even applying new selective sync settings won't wor.  I have deselected everything to stop it from syncing but there are huge TIFF files from 2016 showing up when I go to my storage settings on my Mac which are the reason things have stopped syncing

        What I can't figure out how to get these off my computer to then have dropbox apply my new sync settings.  I've uninstalled the dropbox app but the folder still shows up in finder and the files still show up in the storage management screen.  

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