Narrative saves your ratings and other culling choices to your photo files as you cull. Lightroom Classic keeps its own copy in its catalog. The two can be different until you sync them, and this article shows you how to do that without losing work.
Which situation are you in?
Find your situation below, then follow that section:
You've already edited or rated photos in Lightroom Classic and want to cull them in Narrative: see How do I keep my Lightroom edits before I cull in Narrative?
Your photos are already in Lightroom Classic and you want your Narrative ratings there: see How do I bring my Narrative ratings into Lightroom Classic?
Narrative says some photos "can't be Shipped as they are already in this catalog": see Why can't I ship photos that are already in my catalog?
You want a different AI Preset on photos already in Lightroom Classic: see How do I bring a new AI Preset into Lightroom Classic?
You shipped with an AI Preset but can't see the edits: see What if my AI Preset isn't showing in Lightroom Classic?
What does Narrative save to my photo files?
Narrative saves your star ratings, color labels, tags, rotation and crops to your photo files as you cull, not only when you ship. Keywords aren't saved.
RAW files (including DNG) and HEIC files: Narrative saves them in an XMP file, a small sidecar file with the same name, next to your photo.
JPEG files: Narrative saves them inside the photo file.
When you ship with an AI Preset, Narrative also saves the AI Preset's edits. AI Presets work with RAW files only.
What do Read Metadata from File and Save Metadata to File do?
Lightroom Classic has two menu options for syncing with your photo files:
Read Metadata from File replaces the catalog's edits and ratings for the photos you've selected with the ones in the files.
Save Metadata to File does the opposite. It replaces what's in the files with the catalog's edits and ratings.
Either one can overwrite newer work, so check which one has the work you want to keep before you use it.
Important: If you shipped photos with an AI Preset, Lightroom Classic shows the AI Preset as a Snapshot called "[AI Preset name] (via Narrative)". Read Metadata from File can reset those photos and take the AI Preset off. If that happens, open a photo in the Develop module and click its "(via Narrative)" Snapshot in the Snapshots panel to get the AI Preset back. Edits you made in Lightroom after shipping aren't brought back, so save them as a Snapshot first.
How do I keep my Lightroom edits before I cull in Narrative?
If you've already edited or rated photos in Lightroom Classic, save that work to the files before you start culling.
In Lightroom Classic, select the photos. To select them all, press ⌘A on Mac or Ctrl+A on Windows.
Right-click and choose Metadata → Save Metadata to File. Lightroom saves your edits and ratings to the XMP files.
Create a project in Narrative with that folder of photos. Narrative reads the ratings, color labels and crops you saved, so you start where you left off.
Important: Do this before you change any ratings in Narrative. If you save metadata from Lightroom after rating in Narrative, your Narrative ratings are overwritten.
How do I bring my Narrative ratings into Lightroom Classic?
If your photos are already in a Lightroom Classic catalog, you can read your Narrative ratings into it.
Finish culling in Narrative.
In Lightroom Classic, select the same photos.
Right-click and choose Metadata → Read Metadata from File.
Try it on one photo first, then do the rest.
Any edits or ratings you made in Lightroom for those photos are replaced. If you shipped these photos with an AI Preset, read the Important note above first.
Why can't I ship photos that are already in my catalog?
Narrative only ships photos that aren't in a Lightroom Classic catalog yet. If some of your photos are already there, Narrative shows how many "can't be Shipped as they are already in this catalog" and ships the rest. If all of them are already there, you can't ship them to that catalog.
Shipping again doesn't change the photos already in your catalog. To update them instead:
Ratings, color labels and crops: read them in with Read Metadata from File. See How do I bring my Narrative ratings into Lightroom Classic?
A different AI Preset: see How do I bring a new AI Preset into Lightroom Classic?
A fresh start: ship to a different catalog. Learn how to create a new catalog when you ship.
What if only some of my photos are in Lightroom Classic?
If only some of your photos are in Lightroom Classic, ship from Narrative first, then read the metadata for the rest.
In Narrative, click Ship + Edit and ship your photos to the catalog. Narrative ships only the photos that aren't there yet.
In Lightroom's import window, photos already in the catalog aren't selected. Import the new ones.
Select all the photos, right-click and choose Metadata → Read Metadata from File.
Your Narrative ratings now show on all of them.
How do I bring a new AI Preset into Lightroom Classic?
To apply a new AI Preset to photos already in Lightroom Classic:
In Narrative, click Ship + Edit and choose your photos.
Turn off Open in editing program, then turn on Apply AI Preset for Lightroom and choose your AI Preset.
Click Pre-edit [number] Images and wait for it to finish.
In Lightroom Classic, select the same photos, right-click and choose Metadata → Read Metadata from File.
The new AI Preset replaces the current edits, so save any edits you want to keep first. Learn more about applying a different AI Preset.
What if my AI Preset isn't showing in Lightroom Classic?
If you shipped with an AI Preset but your photos look unedited in Lightroom Classic, the AI Preset is usually there as a Snapshot.
Open a photo in the Develop module.
In the Snapshots panel, click the Snapshot called "[AI Preset name] (via Narrative)".
To do the same for more photos at once, use Sync Snapshots (below).
Don't use Read Metadata from File to fix this. It can take the AI Preset off. If you can't see a "(via Narrative)" Snapshot, contact us through the chat bubble or at [email protected].
How do I use Sync Snapshots?
If you shipped with more than one AI Preset, each one is already a Snapshot in Lightroom Classic, so you don't need to apply it again. Sync Snapshots applies one of them to all the photos you've selected.
In Lightroom Classic, select all the photos you want to change. They need to have been shipped with that AI Preset.
Go to File → Plug-in Extras → Sync Snapshots.
Choose the Narrative Snapshot you want to apply to all of them.
Select more than one photo first, or Lightroom shows "Please select multiple photos before using Sync Snapshots."
Important: Sync Snapshots applies the same Snapshot to every photo you've selected, and replaces any edits you've made since shipping.
Do I need to close Lightroom Classic before I ship?
On a Mac, you don't need to close Lightroom Classic yourself. If you ship to a different catalog from the one that's open, Narrative asks to close and reopen Lightroom, and switches the catalog for you.
On Windows, open the catalog you want in Lightroom Classic's Library module, then drag the whole folder of photos in. Learn how to ship to Lightroom on Windows.
What about Lightroom CC?
Lightroom CC doesn't have these metadata menus. To load changes from Narrative into a photo in Lightroom CC, refresh the photo.
If you're not sure which version has the work you want to keep, stop before you sync anything and contact us through the chat bubble or at [email protected].