Moving off Adobe doesn't have to be scary. Lumidex Studio imports your Lightroom Classic catalogue directly, keeps your ratings, keywords and collections, and never touches your original files. Here's exactly how to do it — safely, and without losing anything.
The golden rule of any migration is to keep your old setup running until the new one is proven. Everything below is non-destructive — it reads your Lightroom catalogue, never rewrites it — so you can switch at your own pace and only cancel your subscription once you've seen your whole library land safely in Lumidex Studio.
Library ▸ Previews ▸ Build Standard-Sized Previews. Lumidex Studio reuses these, which is what turns a multi-day import into a few minutes — so this one step is the biggest time-saver.
Metadata ▸ Save Metadata to All Files. This writes your ratings, labels and keywords into XMP sidecars, so nothing important is trapped inside the .lrcat.
Develop edits don't transfer yet, so for photos you've adjusted, export a full-resolution JPEG or TIFF from Lightroom as insurance. Skip this for un-edited RAW files.
Install Lumidex Studio, then choose File ▸ Import from Another Catalogue… and point it at your .lrcat. The wizard walks you through remapping folder paths if your photos have moved.
Confirm your photo count, spot-check a few folders, and make sure your keywords and collections look right. Your catalogue and originals are still untouched, so there's no rush.
Once you're happy everything came across, your library lives entirely on your Mac. Lumidex Studio needs nothing from Adobe from here on.
Full detail with screenshots: Import from Lightroom →
For images you've developed in Lightroom, export a full-resolution master first (Step 3). Your original RAW files are always preserved — the import is strictly read-only.
Build previews and save metadata in Lightroom, then use File ▸ Import from Another Catalogue in Lumidex Studio and point it at your .lrcat. Everything migrates in one pass.
No — ratings, flags, colour labels, keywords and collections all carry across. Only Develop edits and presets don't transfer yet.
Importing is read-only. Your RAW files and your Lightroom catalogue are never modified, so you can keep both until you're satisfied.
No. Once the import is verified, your library lives entirely on your Mac and needs nothing from Adobe.
Usually minutes, not days, because Lumidex Studio reuses your existing Lightroom previews. Building standard previews first (Step 1) is the key.
£99 £49 once — half price until 31 Aug 2026. No subscription.