Moving location for Lightroom 6 Files off SSD

[josh.lafrance]

Hi, new to this forum and I'm new to using Lightroom. I got LR6 recently and have been working on build my library and tagging my photos. The problem I have is my computer (win 10) is set up with a 250gb SSD for running programs and windows, and I have a series of 2-4tb drives for storage. Lightroom with its cache file are eating up 85gb on the SSD! W/o just uninstalling and re-installing on a different drive, is there a way to get it to keep the cache on one of the other drives?



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[bratkinson]

After screwing around in my copy of LR 6, it looks like WHERE Lightroom puts its cache and catalog files is not up to you. It puts them in the 'My Documents' and 'program data' folders whether we like it or not.

For what it's worth, I checked the registry with regedit and could not find any references to my LR folders in My Docs. So I checked various internal, hidden directories and files and the best I could find was it's buried in one or more of their unique format - unreadable without their internal software - 'preferences' files. In short, us 'mortals' can't change what they have forced us to do.

However... You can go to the 'edit' tab, then 'preferences', 'file handling' and then click the two 'purge cache' buttons to clear the cache, but I doubt it will free up any space on your SSD. If you wish, you could relocate your 'camera raw cache' on the same screen to a slower HD. But then you've successfully defeated one of the purposes of an SSD....speed. Do you REALLY want to wait and wait for LR to react to your next click.

For what it's worth, it's my opinion as a retired mainframe programmer/consultant that LR uses a sequential 'chain' file for each action you take, in the order you take them. In other words. The first action you take goes to record #1 of the chain file. The next action to record #2, and so on. When you make action #3, it first 'reads' record #1 and #2 to determine that spot #3 is where to put the new action. For #4, it reads #1, #2, and #3 to find the next available spot, and on and on. Averaging 20-30 clicks per slide, after 100 images, that's 2,000-3,000 'read' actions before it writes the next new 'action' to disk. That's how it safely keeps all the changes you made intact in the event of a power failure, computer lockup, etc. Unfortunately, I've discovered that when performing scanned slides and I'm manually removing larger dust and scratches with the 'heal' function, by the time I get to slide #100 or so, computer response is noticeably sluggish compared to when I started. And I'm running on an 8-processor computer overclocked to 4.8ghz with 32gb RAM with NOTHING else running on my computer other than Windows 7 background trash. So I'm happy that LR puts its cache on my SSD. I've also ensured all of Windows work/temporary files are on the SSD as well. So, I ask again...do you REALLY want to wait and wait for LR to react to your next click?

 

[weepete]

Yes, there's a way. I've got a similar setup, 250gb SSD and two 1TB hard drives, one of which has all my photograhy stuff on it. I also changed the location of the user folders when I set up windows. But my SSD isn't there to make lightroom fast.

 

[smoke665]

I have a similar setup, SSD, with HD and another external SSD via Thunderbolt port. Lr doesn't care where you store your raw files, as long as it knows where they are. How do I move only my photos to another hard drive, leaving the catalog where it is? | The Lightroom Queen The Lr catalog is where all the editing information on those raw files is stored. Its also possible to store it on another drive but it will generally slow down processing. https://forums.adobe.com/thread/2394856 I've thought several times about trying the catalog on the Thunderbolt connected SSD but haven't got around to it as the need for space on the internal SSD hasn't been an issue.

With Win 10, Adobe, and other software that needs the speed installed on my SSD I'm using about 120gb. I use the external SSD primarily as a scratch disk for Ps. So with both Ps, Lr, and other software running my internal SSD usage jumps to around 150gb.

 

[smoke665]

I'm manually removing larger dust and scratches with the 'heal' function, by the time I get to slide #100 or so, computer response is noticeably sluggish compared to when I started. And I'm running on an 8-processor computer overclocked to 4.8ghz with 32gb RAM

It's a known issue with LR adjustment brushes. The effect on speed is cumulative, the more you use the slower it gets. Sometimes you can clear Lr history and regain a little, but generally if it's more than just a few brush edits, it's better to do it in Ps. Strangely the gradient and radial tool don't affect speed.

I'm running an HP with a 9th generation I7 2.6-4.5 GHz. 16GB ram., and NIVDA GE Force graphics card with 8 GB of ram. I've never increased processor speed, partly because of temperature. The internal fan just doesn't provide enough airflow. Still there's little complaint with Lr and Ps is blazing fast.

In most cases 16GB of Ram (with a good graphics card) is sufficient. What you might look at since you have more then enough ram is to allocate part of it to Lr as cache.