Lightroom

[Barry Beckham]

Have any users of Lightroom experienced this annoying thing where the software grinds to a halt even on a reasonably powerful PC. Tools like the Spot Removal taking 2 seconds to fix ONE dust spot. The gradient tool not being able to be dragged in real time with a long lag between movement and action. An enlarged image not being able to be dragged, without the same delay as the gradient filter.

Setting the Lens Profiles I know is a core cause, but even with that not used there is still an issue. Looking on the internet there is no doubt this is a widely experienced problem, but not many solutions that work which indicate there isn't a solution.

Anyone here know of something apart from the usual nonsense of degragging a drive, as if that will make one jot of difference. It has to be the software because the same thing in Photoshop works as smooth as silk. I appreciate that the way Lightroom works and stores everything we do is the cause, but if in the end if stops you using the tools you need, its not so great.

I am looking for a simple solution if there is one to be found

[Ken Cox]

try disabling your antivirus?

what does the task manager say is running?

ken

[Barry Beckham]

No, it's nothing to do with that Ken, its a known fault with the way Lightroom works. What gives it appeal, also makes is memroy hungry. I am looking for a work around if there is one, but I admit I am not hopeful. I have tried Lightroom 5 beta and that is the same, perhaps a little better, but not much.

[nelson]

Good Luck in your quest Barry,

I keep reverting back to my Nikon software,DXO and Photoshop.

My recent computer has an SSD for the operating system and one for the Lightroom and Photoshop cache.

Lots of ram (36gb), 64 bit windows 7, but I still have similar issues.

Kieron

[Lin Evans]

Hi Barry,

Unfortunately I'm running it on XP so can't use the latest versions. When I've run into that situation, the only solution has been to exit from Lightroom entirely and reopen. I suspect it's a memory leak issue.

Best regards,

Lin

[baldsparky]

Hi Barry

just bought an all singing all dancing pc at the beginning of the year, expecting this problem to go away, but it didn't.

I have been in touch with Adobe and am still in touch with one of their head men in the UK.

This is just a quick reply if you want to know more details let me know.

What is the spec of your machine by the way, just for comparisons sake, please?

This is the answer(below) I got from Adobe, not very helpful, that's why I am still in touch with the guy from Adobe UK, he is still trying to sort the problem.

'The larger the monitor you use (and the higher resolution), the more work Lightroom does to calculate previews and update pixels when you make adjustments. If you experience performance slowdowns with large　monitors, try reducing resolution of the display using the Display Control Panel (Windows) or Displays System Preferences (Mac OS).

The same is documented over here : http://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/kb/optimize-performance-lightroom.html#main_Keep_standard_size_previews_as_small_as_possible'

They also said if you reduce the size of your image on screen to 1:2 or 1:3 I think, I know I tried this or it may have been 1:4, but when I had reduced the size of the image on screen it worked, but it made a nonsense of having just bought a larger screen to see the image I was working on larger {It's the old eyes you know:-) )

I know you are a Canon user, but I have more trouble with my Nikon files than I do with my Sony and Canon Raw files.

Don't know if this is any use to you.

Kind regards

Paul

[Barry Beckham]

Well, I can't hide the fact that I am disappointed that an adobe product falls so short. I can do the same work in CS-6 without issue. It seems Lightroom is designed for studio photographers who only require minimal image editing, but to suggest the monitor is too big is the daftest thing I have ever heard. Yeah, I just happen to have a range of monitor sizes here just in case I experience a problem with a large one.

Oh well, back to Photoshop

[cjdnzl]

Hi Barry

just bought an all singing all dancing pc at the beginning of the year, expecting this problem to go away, but it didn't.

I have been in touch with Adobe and am still in touch with one of their head men in the UK.

This is just a quick reply if you want to know more details let me know.

What is the spec of your machine by the way, just for comparisons sake, please?

This is the answer(below) I got from Adobe, not very helpful, that's why I am still in touch with the guy from Adobe UK, he is still trying to sort the problem.

'The larger the monitor you use (and the higher resolution), the more work Lightroom does to calculate previews and update pixels when you make adjustments. If you experience performance slowdowns with large　monitors, try reducing resolution of the display using the Display Control Panel (Windows) or Displays System Preferences (Mac OS).

The same is documented over here : http://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/kb/optimize-performance-lightroom.html#main_Keep_standard_size_previews_as_small_as_possible'

They also said if you reduce the size of your image on screen to 1:2 or 1:3 I think, I know I tried this or it may have been 1:4, but when I had reduced the size of the image on screen it worked, but it made a nonsense of having just bought a larger screen to see the image I was working on larger {It's the old eyes you know:-) )

I know you are a Canon user, but I have more trouble with my Nikon files than I do with my Sony and Canon Raw files.

Don't know if this is any use to you.

Kind regards

Paul

I think that either the Lightroom guy is confused or insufficiently knowledgeable to have suggested large monitors might be the cause. An image displayed on a 1920 x 1080 monitor takes a whisker over 2 megabytes to fill the screen, and 2 MB is peanuts to a reasonable computer. The time for a graphics card to generate that size image is in milliseconds - bear in mind that the PicturesToExe 60Hz refresh rate fills the screen 60 times per second without a problem. If your computer can handle that, then Lightroom displaying a single image should have no problem. My take on the problem is Lightroom has issues with other software running, maybe anti-virus, firewall, or some component of Windows.

I used to use a program called PowerDesk, a superset of Windows Explorer, and it was deadly slow when listing the contents of a folder. The reason appeared to be that it opened and checked every single file in the folder for malware I finally ditched it and bought Directory Opus, a similar program, which opens folders immediately.

I'm sorry I don't have 'the' answer as although I have Lightroom 3.6, I don't really like it, and I stick with DxOptics and Photoshop, a great combination.

Regards,

Colin

[Barry Beckham]

Colin

I don't think it can be that Lightroom has issues with other software running. If it did, some enterprising techie would have sussed it and you would find that solution listed everywhere in relation to Lightroom slow down. You don't and the solution offered don't do a thing. Adobe are coming up to Version 5 and that is much the same. If that was an issue surely it would have been addressed by now

[cjdnzl]

Colin

I don't think it can be that Lightroom has issues with other software running. If it did, some enterprising techie would have sussed it and you would find that solution listed everywhere in relation to Lightroom slow down. You don't and the solution offered don't do a thing. Adobe are coming up to Version 5 and that is much the same. If that was an issue surely it would have been addressed by now

One would think so, Barry, but some problems are really difficult to resolve. One needs programmer-level understanding of what is going on when software hiccups, and often the actual problem is never found. Sometimes a rewrite of parts of the software, to work around a conflict is easier than trying to pin down the lesion, and it all depends on the willingness of the software purveyors how much effort they are prepared to put into solving it. Sometimes I think they are waiting for some savvy persons to find the problem for them rather than expend time and money themselves.

It reminds me of the Ford Pinto vehicle sold in the States. There were a number of rear-ended crashes where the Pinto would burst into flames, possibly incinerating the rear seat passengers.

It was rumoured that Ford did an analysis of the problem and concluded that it would be cheaper to pay damages for each accident than to recall and fix however many thousands of these vehicles that were on the road.

I don't think Lightroom will kill anybody, but maybe the same principle operates?

Regards,

Colin

[Barry Beckham]

I think they need to include a function like flatten in Photoshop Layers.

At a certain stage you can save the layered file, flatten it to finish off and a load is taken off the OS and PC. It seems to me that Lightroom needs that. It does seem odd that you have to leave lens corrections to the end of a manipulation when logically it's the first.

Oh well, I won't hold my breath for a solution or I would have had it by now

[baldsparky]

Hi Barry

interesting to hear you mention the problem with the Lens Corrections,

I had also found this to be just as you described.

I have sent an email to the man I am in touch with at Adobe,

at least I can tell him now that it is not just me who is having problems.

You have described exactly the same symptoms that I am having, to a T.

I will let you know what his answer is.

Kind regards

Paul

[Barry Beckham]

Paul

I don't think there is an answer, the issue appears well known and widespread. You will be told all sort of things you can do, but they are all red herrings, defrag your drive, use smaller previews and a host of other small things, but none do a thing.

[Ray Groome]

Barry

Although it appears your problem is fairly common, I do not believe it is universal. I had similar problems 3 years ago, which prompted me to seek a higher specification computer (so I am sure there will be much better ones available today!) I am a frequent user of Lightroom and have not experienced the delayed responses you described since purchasing this computer. As described in the Adobe website there are dozens of things that can affect the optimum operation of the program, so I can appreciate the difficulty of solving your problem.

I suggest the Luminous Landscape Forum might be a better source of knowledge for this topic.

Ray Groome

[stonemason]

Lightroom 5 is now available and appears to work quicker than previous versions, and has some nice new features. However there are problems with some output resolutions, which Adobe confirm exist, so it would be better to wait for the first hotfix to these problems before committing fully to the new version.

[Barry Beckham]

Ray

I don't see it as my problem and at least one of the computers the slow down is evident on handles all I can throw at it in CS6 and that is quite a lot. I know its not universal, but it depends what level of manipulation its being used for and how powerful the PC is. In CS-6 I can open multiple, smart object images in 16 bit, but there is no slow down at all, so its the LR4 program and LR5 isn't much better.

I suspect that if you use Lightroom to do some, delicate work, in other words just minor changes, then it's fine, but it can't handle what I want to do and what I have been doing for years.

In LR4 if you open up a 16 bit 20MP image and apply lens corrections and Chromatic Aberrations fixes. Make adjustments to the exposure, clarity, white and black sliders and perhaps colour balance too. All normal stuff. Then add an adjustment brush to lighten just one part of the image.(what its designed for) Then apply a Graduated filter to the sky and the filter is likely to go into go slow mode. Try zooming into 1:1 and applying the Spot removal and wait 2 seconds for each dust mark to be fixed.

I have done a lot of serches and none of the solutions come close to doing anything and the fact that Photoshop doing the same thing works a treat on both my PC's points the finger pretty firmly at LR

My computer is running fine.

[baldsparky]

Hi Barry

I said I'd let you know what reply I received, well here it is, much as you expected me thinks.

'I have not had a chance to pursue. As i mentioned, the Engineering team are not aware of any issues

and it will be challenging to work out a problem within one or two environments out of our extremely large

customer base.

I am not sure what to suggest next.'

Kind regards

Paul

[Barry Beckham]

Paul

If that reply is from Adobe, they are lying through their teeth. A casual search on the Internet reveals the problem and the fact that I can do the same thing with Photoshop CS6 and now CC perfectly ok, but not with Lightroom is evidence enough. I have found the main culprit, which is the Lens Corrections/Profiles. If you add Lens Corrections at the start of a manipulation, that is the cause of the slow down. So, while the workaround is to leave the lens profiles till last, that is an illogical way of working.

When you adjust lens profiles it can alter the tones around the edges, hence me saying that logically it should be done first, but it can't. I guess most users have never even found Lens Profiles (Mostly mac users) let alone apply them. So the majority of users don't have a problem and Adobe can't admit that anyway can they.

[paulziets]

Barry,

Thanks for the tip on lens profile. My old 1Ds has far too many dust spots and so I make use of the "Visualise Spots" dust removal in ACR. In Photoshop CC there is little time delay, but like you I get frustrated at the delay in Lightroom 5 (both the beta and now the full version). My computer is running Windows 7 on a quad core AMD Phenom II 3.40 GHz processor with 16Gb RAM and two Radeon graphics cards with 1GB RAM each. I love using Lightruin otherwise, so will take your advice and spot remove as the final step in processing.

[Barry Beckham]

Barry,

Thanks for the tip on lens profile. My old 1Ds has far too many dust spots and so I make use of the "Visualise Spots" dust removal in ACR. In Photoshop CC there is little time delay, but like you I get frustrated at the delay in Lightroom 5 (both the beta and now the full version). My computer is running Windows 7 on a quad core AMD Phenom II 3.40 GHz processor with 16Gb RAM and two Radeon graphics cards with 1GB RAM each. I love using Lightruin otherwise, so will take your advice and spot remove as the final step in processing.

Paul. My 1Ds Mk3 also has a lot of dust after 6 years of use, but it's away for a repair and clean at the moment, so hopefully I can look forward to less spots (for a little while :rolleyes:/> ) I agree that the visualise spots in ACR works a treat doesn't it and all those things that go slow slow slow in Lightroom work great in ACR 8.1

I wonder sometimes what all the bitching and whinging is all about with regard to Photoshop. Never have we had such a superb program at such a good price in Photoshop CC. One cup of coffee every working day will set you back 900 bucks a year, if your lucky. Adobe ask for $240 a year and all I hear is moans. As a registered user I have it for $9.99 per month and it's on two machines and switchable to a third if I want.

[paulziets]

I agree Barry. My initial thoughts were against the idea of a subscription, but as long as it stays reasonable, I am quite happy with the idea now. They are charging me £8.78 a month and my last upgrade, to CS6, cost a tad under £190.00. It's a no brainer.

[Barry Beckham]

I agree Barry. My initial thoughts were against the idea of a subscription, but as long as it stays reasonable, I am quite happy with the idea now. They are charging me £8.78 a month and my last upgrade, to CS6, cost a tad under £190.00. It's a no brainer.

Well, I think I know what the real issue is and why many are tossing their dummies out of the pram.