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Import from Lightroom

Lumidex Studio reads your existing Lightroom Classic catalogue directly — your photos, ratings, flags, colour labels, keywords, collections and previews come across in one pass. Here's how to prepare, what's supported, and what to expect.

The short version

In Lightroom: build standard previews and save metadata to files. In Lumidex Studio: File ▸ Import from Another Catalogue… and point the wizard at your .lrcat. Don't cancel your Adobe plan until the import has finished and you've checked it over.

New here? See why Lumidex Studio is a Lightroom alternative built for Mac.

Which catalogues are supported

Lumidex Studio imports catalogues from Lightroom Classic 9.0 (2019) and later. Both current catalogue formats are handled automatically — you don't need to know which one you have:

  • Pre-2024 — a standard .lrcat SQLite file.
  • 2024 and later — a .lrcat file plus a .lrcat-data/ folder sitting alongside it. That folder holds Adobe's cloud-sync data; Lumidex Studio ignores it. You do not need to select, move, or delete it — just leave it where it is.
Older catalogues

Lightroom Classic 8.x or earlier is not supported. Those catalogues are missing tables Lumidex Studio needs, and the import can fail without a clear error. If you're on an older version, open your catalogue in Lightroom Classic 9.0 or later first (Lightroom upgrades it automatically), then import the upgraded copy.

Before you start, in Lightroom

Two of these steps make the difference between a fast, complete import and a slow one — do them in Lightroom Classic before you open Lumidex Studio.

1. Build standard-sized previews

In Lightroom: Library ▸ Previews ▸ Build Standard-Sized Previews. Lumidex Studio reuses these previews for its grid and loupe, so building them first means your photos appear instantly instead of being regenerated one by one from the originals (which is slow if your files live on a network drive).

2. Save metadata to files

In Lightroom: Library ▸ Metadata ▸ Save Metadata to All Files. This writes your ratings, flags, colour labels and keywords out to standard XMP sidecars next to each photo, so nothing important stays locked inside the .lrcat. Lumidex Studio reads both the catalogue and these sidecars.

3. Export edited masters (optional)

If you have photos with develop adjustments you can't afford to lose, export full-resolution JPEGs or TIFFs of them from Lightroom as insurance. This is belt-and-braces only — your originals and their edits are untouched by the import.

4. Note where your catalogue lives

The wizard will ask you to select your .lrcat file. By default it's in ~/Pictures/Lightroom/. You don't need to find the .lrdata previews folder yourself — the wizard locates it automatically next to the catalogue.

Don't leave Adobe yet

Keep your Lightroom subscription active until the import has completed and you've spent a few minutes confirming your photos, ratings and keywords all look right in Lumidex Studio.

Running the import wizard

On first launch, choose Migrate from Lightroom on the welcome screen. You can also start it any time from File ▸ Import from Another Catalogue…. The wizard has four steps:

  1. Select catalogueClick Choose… and pick your .lrcat file. The wizard checks it's a supported version before continuing.
  2. Choose save locationPick where to save your new Lumidex Studio catalogue (a .lumcat file). Your Pictures folder is a good choice. Thumbnails are stored in a companion .lumthm file alongside it — keep the two together.
  3. Verify photo locationsLumidex Studio lists every photo location it found in your catalogue. Any shown in orange couldn't be found on this Mac (for example, a drive that isn't mounted). Use Remap… to point it at the new location, or Ignore for now to skip that location for this import.
  4. ImportThe import runs with a live progress count and estimated time remaining. A large catalogue (tens of thousands of photos) typically takes several minutes. You can press Run in Background to start using the app while it finishes, or Cancel Import to stop.

What comes across

The wizard migrates, automatically:

  • Every photo record — file path, capture date, camera, lens, ISO, aperture, shutter, focal length and GPS.
  • Ratings, pick/reject flags and colour labels.
  • Your full keyword tree and each photo's keywords.
  • Collections and collection sets.
  • Which photos have develop adjustments (flagged so you can find them).
  • Your Lightroom previews, copied into Lumidex Studio's own thumbnail store so the grid is fast from the first scroll.
  • XMP sidecars found next to your photos, linked to each record.

When it finishes, you'll see a summary: how many photos, keywords and collections were imported. Photos that Lightroom had never previewed are skipped for thumbnails during import and generated on demand the first time you browse to them.

Your originals are safe

Importing only reads your Lightroom catalogue and your photo files — nothing is moved, renamed or modified. Your .lrcat keeps working in Lightroom exactly as before, so you can run the two side by side while you settle in.

After the import

Have a look around: scroll the grid, open a few photos in the loupe (Spacebar), check that ratings and keywords are where you expect, and open a collection or two. Once you're happy everything's there, the .lrdata previews folder is no longer needed by Lumidex Studio — you can archive or delete it if you want the space back — and you can cancel your Adobe plan whenever you're ready.