How Lightroom Shared Albums Impact Storage and Download Sizes

Something that catches a lot of people out is the difference between how Lightroom Desktop/Mobile handles your photos in the cloud versus what happens when you sync from Lightroom Classic.

They look similar on the surface but behave very differently, especially if you're using the Share and Invite web gallery feature.

Here's how it breaks down.

Uploading from Lightroom Desktop or Mobile

When you copy photos to the cloud using Lightroom Desktop or Mobile, you're uploading the original file, whether that's a RAW or a JPEG.

• Cloud storage: This counts against your Adobe storage allowance. Every file you add uses the same amount of space as the original. Upload 100 RAW files at 25MB each and you've used 2.5GB of your plan's storage, whether that's 20GB or 1TB.

• What your “client” downloads: A full-resolution JPEG. The pixel dimensions match your original, so a 24-megapixel file stays 24 megapixels. Adobe converts the RAW to JPEG for delivery, so a 24MB RAW might come down as a 4 to 8MB JPEG, but the detail is all there.

Official Adobe Reference: You can read the storage rules directly in the Adobe Help: Lightroom Cloud Storage FAQ. Look under the "How does storage work in Lightroom?" section, which details how original files consume your plan's space.

Syncing from Lightroom Classic

When you tick the Sync with Lightroom box on a Collection inside Classic, your original files stay on your hard drive. What goes up to the cloud is a Smart Preview.

• Cloud storage: This uses none of your allocated storage. Adobe syncs these Smart Previews completely free of charge, and they count for nothing against your 20GB or 1TB limit.

• What your “client” downloads: A reduced-resolution JPEG, capped at 2560 pixels on the longest edge. That's it. Because the cloud only holds the Smart Preview, that's all anyone can download.

Official Adobe Reference: This storage exception is outlined in the Adobe Help: Sync Lightroom Classic with Lightroom Ecosystem guide. Check the "Sync overview" and the "FAQ" at the bottom, which explicitly states that Smart Previews do not consume your cloud storage quota.

Quick Summary

If you're sharing a web gallery and have Allow Downloads switched on, what your viewer receives depends entirely on where the file came from:

• Lightroom Desktop or Mobile as the source: Uses your cloud storage. Viewer downloads a full-resolution JPEG.

• Lightroom Classic Collection as the source: Uses zero cloud storage. Viewer downloads a 2560px JPEG, maximum.

Official Adobe Reference: The download behavior for shared galleries is documented in the Adobe Help: Share Photos and Albums from Lightroom Web guide under the "Allow downloads" and "Shared Album Settings" toggles.

The practical takeaway is straightforward; if your “clients” need full-resolution files, upload via Lightroom Desktop or Mobile and keep an eye on your storage. If they just need to view images or grab web-sized copies, syncing from Classic is far more efficient and won't touch your storage allowance at all.

HOW I Edit THIS Portrait in 2025 – Full Lightroom Workflow (No Photoshop!)

Not long ago, retouching a stylised portrait like this one was something I'd only have done in Photoshop. In this video I show how I now do the whole edit in Lightroom instead, with no Photoshop at all. The key is making big use of Lightroom's masks, and I take you through my full workflow step by step, so you can see just how much of this kind of retouching is possible without ever leaving Lightroom.

From Movie Magic to Photographic Mastery | Lisa Carney

This is the recording of a live broadcast where I chat with Hollywood movie poster and artwork retoucher Lisa Carney and uncover the how, what and why of her personal work. We talk about her photography, her process and retouching, her travel and her personal projects, including Grief, which is about art as therapy. The recording starts with a slideshow of her images, and then you get to learn how she captures and edits them; I guarantee that, like me, you'll be blown away.

Links mentioned in the video

Website: lisacarney.com (Portfolios, Photoshop Tutorials, Courses and more … )

Grief ( Art as Therapy - Personal Project ) LINK

Instagram: @lisacarney

The Lightroom Virtual Summit 2024: bit.ly/lvs-2024

Glyn’s Adobe Lightroom Community Page: LINK

Unsurprisingly, Lisa was a HUGE hit judging by some of the comments posted already from folks watching the recording …

Adobe release A.I. Noise Removal in Lightroom and Camera Raw

April 2023 brought some updates to Lightroom and Camera Raw, headed up by the release of Denoise AI noise reduction. Here I run through what's included, starting with Denoise and then moving on to the enhancements to AI masking, the arrival of Adaptive Presets and a number of workflow improvements, including changes to scrolling. It's a quick way to get up to speed with what the update brought and where each of the new features fits into your editing.

I PRINTED a 72" iPhone Photo and you WON'T BELIEVE THE RESULT !!!

Yes, you read that right: a 72 inch print of an iPhone photograph. Here I not only show the print itself but also take you through the kit I used, along with my favourite iPhone app for creating long exposure photographs. I also show what I used to upscale the original image more than four times to reach the final 72 inches, and I honestly couldn't believe how good the quality of the print turned out to be. It made me very excited about where mobile photography is heading.

iPhone Photography of the iconic Portland Bill Lighthouse

Despite temperatures going down to -8, I couldn’t resist heading down to Portland Bill Lighthouse again to catch the incoming tide and hopefully some better light at sunrise.

My GoPro Hero 10 wasn’t having any of it with the batteries immediately losing all power but thankfully my Insta 360 X3 was having no problems, so I did manage to get some Behind the Scenes footage (below)

Here though is my favourite shot from the morning; captured using my iPhone 14 Pro Max and the Lightroom Mobile App camera, and then edited in Lightroom Mobile and Photoshop on my iPad …

I’m absolutely LOVING the mobile workflow.

Being able to take a photograph with my iPhone and then moments later be sat in a nearby café editing the photographs I’ve just taken on my iPad because they’ve automatically synced across, just blows me away.

BUT to then edit in Lightroom and jump back and forth to Photoshop on my iPad too is just so much fun.

It doesn’t stop there though, because when I get home and sit in front of main computer, the images and all of the edits I’ve done are there waiting for me to tweak and finish off if needed.

Incredible!

To add to this, IF I was using my main camera I could have an equally easy and joyful editing experience by simply loading the images off the memory card onto my iPad Pro and into Lightroom Mobile whilst sat in the café … or wherever 😃

Seeing how this has progressed since Lightroom Mobile and Photoshop on the iPad were introduced, genuinely excites the heck out of me! Sure, Lightroom Mobile and especially Photoshop on the iPad don’t have the exact same functionality as the desktop version (yet) … but it’s coming and to be honest, the workarounds aren’t much to figure out anyway.

I’ll be putting a video together for my YouTube Channel showing this soon.

In the mean time though, here’s a 44 second YouTube Short I put together giving a look ‘Behind the Scenes’ of this Portland Bill Lighthouse Photo Shoot …

HIDDEN SETTING in LIGHTROOM MOBILE for Long Exposure Photography 🤷‍♂️

How did I not know about this? There's a setting in Lightroom Mobile that, once it's turned on, makes fantastic long exposure photography possible, whether you're shooting handheld or on a tripod. It works by taking multiple photographs very quickly and then blending them together into a single image. Here I show where to find the setting, how to switch it on and what the results look like.

Lightroom COLOR GRADING HACK 💥 Adobe PLEASE add this !!!

Lightroom version 12.0 brought a big update, but there's one thing I really wish Adobe had added: an Amount slider in the Colour Grading tab. Here I explain why, using colour grading to add the finishing touches to a photograph so you can see where that extra control would help. I also show a hack that gives you even more control over the colour grading, so you can fine-tune just how strong the effect is.

DOG PORTRAIT from START to FINISH in Lightroom and Photoshop

The dog in this portrait belongs to my friend Trigga, and I took it after I'd finished taking his portrait. Here I go through all of the editing and retouching I did from start to finish, first in Lightroom and then in Photoshop, so you can see every step that went into making the final picture. Nothing is skipped, so you can follow along with how the portrait went from the original file to the finished result.

Lightroom is for Photographer's who take the picture correctly ... REALLY???

Had to share this and to ask your thoughts...

So my most recent video which is only 9 minutes long is all about Color and which Color Space (sRGB , Adobe RGB , ProPhoto RGB ) to use for Photography ... Editing , Printing , Sharing , Posting on the Web ... Comments have been fantastic BUT one posted yesterday stopped me in my tracks; this is it...

Photoshop is for people who are engineering images.
Lightroom is for photographers who take the picture correctly the first time.

I disagree.

Lightroom is getting better and better. It's exciting to see the enhancements BUT there are things we can do in Lightroom now that only a short while agree would only have been possible in Photoshop; in fact, Lightroom's full name is ... Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.

We would always see and hear the “I like to get it right in camera” comments (well...don't we all?!?) but this made me think ... will we now start to see the 'I only edit in Lightroom' comments as being the modern day Put Down attempt ?

Images are edited.

They ALWAYS have been.

Even choosing a paper is (in my opinion) editing, because paper influences the look / feel of the final image.

Just a thought 🤔

Anyway, if you haven’t see my Color Space video, here it is …