Moving a Lightroom Classic catalog to LightCraft
Lightroom Classic keeps your whole library in one catalog file, and LightCraft can read that file itself. This article explains what is inside a catalog, how to import it safely, and what to expect on the other side.
What a .lrcat file actually contains
A Lightroom Classic catalog (.lrcat) is a database. It does not contain your photographs. It holds a record for each photo that points to the original file on disk, plus everything you have done to that photo inside Lightroom: ratings, pick and reject flags, colour labels, titles and captions, keywords and their hierarchy, collections, virtual copies and the develop settings that describe your edits.
Two consequences follow. First, the catalog is small compared with the photos it describes, and moving it is easy. Second, the catalog is only useful if the originals can still be found where it expects them. Previews are a separate cache that Lightroom builds next to the catalog, and they are not your edits; they are a rendering of them.
Before you start: back up and close Lightroom
LightCraft only reads the catalog and never changes it, but a careful migration still begins with a copy. Do two things first:
- Close Lightroom Classic, or work on a copy of the
.lrcat, so the file is not changing while it is read. - Copy the catalog to a safe place. Your originals are not touched by the import either, but a backup of the catalog is the only record of your Lightroom-side work if something goes wrong.
If your photos live on an external drive, connect it before importing so the folders can be found straight away.
Importing the catalog
LightCraft reads Lightroom Classic catalogs itself, without Lightroom installed. In LightCraft choose File > Import Lightroom Catalog and pick the .lrcat. There is no separate converter step, which is why the site's page for this pair, Lightroom Classic to LightCraft, is mostly a pointer to that menu item. LightCraft also saves a recovery archive of what was imported in its own library.
The photos are referenced in place. They are not copied or moved. If the catalog came from another computer and the folder paths differ, LightCraft tries to reconnect the folders, and any original it cannot find stays in the library so you can relink it later.
What carries over
| In Lightroom | In LightCraft |
|---|---|
| Ratings, picks and rejects, colour labels | Carried over |
| Titles, captions and XMP metadata | Carried over |
| Hierarchical keywords | Carried over |
| Collections and collection sets | Carried over; smart collections become regular albums |
| Virtual copies | Carried over |
| Develop settings | Mapped to LightCraft's own controls, approximately |
The smart collection point deserves attention. A smart collection in Lightroom is a saved search, so its membership updates itself. In LightCraft it arrives as an ordinary album, which means it holds the photos that matched at the time of import and will not refill itself. If you rely on a smart collection, re-create the rule afterwards.
Where edits and previews may differ
This is the part to take seriously. Develop settings are instructions for a particular raw developer, and every raw developer renders differently. LightCraft maps the settings onto its own controls, so the import is a good starting point rather than an identical result. According to the project's own notes, some things are not reproduced:
- Camera profiles.
- Adobe's AI-based models.
- Some masking and retouching fields.
- The rendering of older process versions.
LightCraft lists the settings it could not map, and that list is the most useful thing to read after an import. Do not expect the old Lightroom previews to match pixel for pixel either; they were rendered by Lightroom's engine and LightCraft will render from the originals with its own.
A sensible check after importing
- Open ten photos you know well, covering different cameras and different kinds of edits.
- Compare each one with a Lightroom export or screenshot you kept.
- Read the unmapped-settings list and note which photos it affects.
- Fix the few that matter, then decide whether the rest are close enough.
For work you already delivered, the final exported JPEGs or TIFFs are your reference. Keep them; they do not depend on either program.
Going the other way with XMP sidecars
If you want to return to Lightroom, or share metadata with someone who uses it, the route is XMP sidecar files, covered on the page LightCraft to Lightroom Classic. In LightCraft turn on File > Automatically Write Changes into XMP, or use Photo > Save Metadata to File (Cmd+S). In Lightroom Classic, select the photos and choose Metadata > Read Metadata from File, or import the folder.
What travels this way is standard metadata: star ratings, colour labels, titles, captions, copyright, keywords, capture time and GPS. Only the .xmp files next to your photos are written; the photos themselves are not touched.
The limits are real and you should plan around them:
- Develop edits do not come back. LightCraft's sidecars carry the standard fields and its own
lc:settings, but not Adobe'scrs:develop settings. Edits made in LightCraft will not show up in Lightroom. To keep a finished look, export the edited photos as full-size TIFF or JPEG. - Pick and reject flags do not travel. They are LightCraft-only.
- Keywords arrive flat. LightCraft writes flat keywords, so the hierarchy from your original catalog is not rebuilt.
The practical rule is that the move in is rich and the move out is metadata only. Treat the import as the point where you commit, or keep your Lightroom catalog as the archive of record.
What to check before you commit
- That every folder resolved, or that you know which originals need relinking.
- That keywords and collections look right, especially the former smart collections.
- That your most important edited photos look acceptable, using your delivered exports as the reference.
- That you still have a backup of the original catalog and its originals.
The supported formats page, the guide and the FAQ explain how this fits with the other Adobe to Craft routes on the site.
Closing thoughts
Moving to LightCraft is less a conversion than a hand-over of references and instructions: your photos stay put, your organisation comes across almost whole, and your edits come across as an approximation you should review. Back up, import, read the unmapped list, and keep Lightroom around until you have checked the photos that matter.