Lightroom: Why Wait For The “Loading…” Overlay

When processing photos in the develop module, I have to wait for the image with the message at the bottom: “loading…”

It takes a while and patience has never been my forte. So the 6½ seconds seems like forever. Now, disabling the message and clearing the cache, makes me wait only 3 seconds before I can start working on the photo. I know my computer is slow, it’s an old one and I’ve ordered a “speedy-gonzales.”

1. Develop module
2. View
3. View Options
4. Disable the Show message when loading or rendering photos

1. It takes exactly the same amount of time to load and process the photo, but I can start working on it earlier, by a full 3 seconds.
2. The Library module only loads the lower quality previews.

3. The Develop module loads the 1:1 preview if it exists. If not, the Develop module will generate the 1:1 preview and then load it.

   • If the 1:1 preview does not exist, it will read the raw file to create the 1:1 preview.
   • Load from the Lightroom database any change that was previously done, and apply them to the 1:1 preview.
   • Enable the develop panel.

The “load from the Lightroom database” and the “enable the Develop panel” are threaded, meaning that depending on the CPU load, they can happen at the same time or later depending on the CPU load.