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Archive 2015 · Smart Preview Limitations?

  
 
ohsnaphappy
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Smart Preview Limitations?


We all know how far you can push raw files from the D810, it's pretty amazing. But if you switch to smart previews can you still push as far? Seems unlikely since the smaller file size gives LR less data to work with


Apr 18, 2015 at 10:33 AM
Ian.Dobinson
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Smart Preview Limitations?


but thats not how smart previews work . as soon as your back connected to your images your edits are made on the real raw file .




Apr 18, 2015 at 12:05 PM
ohsnaphappy
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Smart Preview Limitations?


I wanted to bring up this question again. I don't know why more of you haven't responded. I just watched a video with Julieanne Kost and she specifically says that the sharpening you apply to the smart previews will not match the sharpening applied to the RAW file. She recommended going back afterward and checking to see if you're satisfied with the sharpening when you sync up your drives later.

Is this just being overcautious on her part? Or are there, in fact, limitations to what you can do with a smart preview? Thanks!

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/help/lightroom-smart-previews.html



Apr 21, 2015 at 12:24 AM
Alan321
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Smart Preview Limitations?


It can't match in terms of appearance, for the simple reason that there is less info to work with, and so there is a risk that you will not apply an amount of sharpening that is appropriate for the full data of the raw file. However, what was mentioned by Ian still applies - whatever sharpening commands you do apply to the smart previews will be applied to the full data of the raw file when the opportunity arises.

You can probably minimise the discrepancy by using larger previews but the smart previews will always involve a compressed version of the available image data and will never look absolutely identical to what the full raw file data can produce.

The limitations of editing smart previews are not so much what you do with them but rather what the results look like while you do it. That end result will be updated when the original data is available from the raw files but the same instructions will be used. At that stage you may or may not notice some differences. That's the general theory but there are exceptions to every rule. e.g. If you try making a high quality large print from a smart preview then you are committing to paper the result of working with a restricted set of image data. In that sense there are limitations to working with smart previews.

Julieanne is being wisely cautious in her recommendation but not overly cautious.


Something I am not clear on about editing smart previews is when the edits will actually be refreshed with the raw file image data. Early indications were that it would happen as soon as the raw files were available but I suspect that it may not happen straight away; that it might be delayed until those images are viewed again or you tell Lr to update its previews. The reason I think it might happen this way is that I don't notice any significant processing burden or extra drive access immediately after I re-connect my laptop to the main raw file storage after working away from home with smart previews. On the other hand, I do notice a significant burden when I tell Lr to rebuild previews even though it only updates those that need to be updated - and why would they need to be updated if Lr had already updated them from smart preview edits ? Either way, building previews is done by applying the latest list of edits to the raw file data and should involve a lot of processing.

Also, I believe that applying new edits to my raw files does not automatically update the smart previews, which probably therefore need to be rebuilt manually.

- Alan



Apr 21, 2015 at 01:46 AM
Ian.Dobinson
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Smart Preview Limitations?


Yeah OK thats one of 2 things you probably don't want to do with smart previews . NR being the other one .

You probably know this but a smart preview is a DNG file with a much lower resolution than the original file . I think the res is 2560 on the long edge .
so when you zoom into 100% (which you would normally do to do Sharp or NR) you are only zooming a much smaller res file so won't zoom in as much .

But thats not say you CANT do those things . if you know that you normally apply X sharpening or Y NR to your files you can apply that and then your probably in the 'ball park' .

everything else is pretty much the same as per the normal raw file .

what I will say is we could see a change in the way smart previews work with LR6 (probably today ) .

A Smart preview is basically a 4mp DNG (very similar in size to my old original 1D) and many of todays high res laptop screens are getting near that res or even over it . I think the retina MBP is that res on the 13" and slightly more on the 15" .
so maybe Adobe will have rejigged the smart preview section to either allow more res (downside is the larger file) or even better allow you to choose the Smart resolution .

Note I only say MIGHT and these are only my thoughts



Apr 21, 2015 at 01:58 AM





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