Extract preview images
There’s a script on Adobe Labs to extract as JPEGs the thumbnails and previews that you see in Lightroom 4:
Sometimes, lost or deleted photos in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 still display a preview. This script allows you to extract and save those previews.
The script extracts previews for all the images that are selected at the time you run the script. It extracts poster frames for any video clips that are selected at the time. You can choose a location for these files. The previews are in JPEG format, and the name contains the size of the image, for example: _MG_0233-360×240.jpg.
Also see Jeffrey’s “Extract Cached Image Previews” Lightroom Plugin.
How about this? Open your previews in Lightroom and then select all. Right click and select edit in photoshop as smart object. Once your images are loaded into photoshop, you can save them in any format you like in full-sized images in any format you choose. If your computer is older and/or slower, you may wish to do this one image at a time.
When the image is missing, you can’t right click and do anything to them in Photoshop. That’s why the script exists, and to do the job in volume.
I somehow deleted all my original files while still working on important projects. I downloaded the extraction script ans was able to export the previews but the file sizes are extremely small and still useless to me. Is there something im not doing to get the full sized jpeg extract? Working on a PC.
I don’t know. You’d get a better chance of an answer from the plug-in’s author.
Kayla – I am in exactly the same situation as you posted here (I didnt render 1:1 previews) and I wonder if you found a solution. Many thanks
Jacqui
Will the previews still show in the catalog if I extract them?
Yes – the “extract” really means “create a copy”
My Time Machine backups were all deleted, and I lost every scrap of original photo data.
Before the loss, I was able to transfer ALL lightroom catalogue/preview folders to my imac. Using Lightroom4 I can see all images catalogued. During my workflow, I always render 1:1 previews and export full res JPGS.
As I can’t “locate” the original files, I was hoping to find a way to extract these previews, however every plug-in i’ve found, most of my previews are extracting between 600-300 dimension but i’ll get the odd 1000+ or even original res when imported.
If I rendered all 1:1 previews, why are they now not exporting all the same size?
Were those 1:! previews all up to date, and remember there is a preference for deleting them after 30 days.
So have you tried the Adobe script? There is also one from Jeffrey Friedl.
i have sucessfully extracted previews but they look dull, i guess colour profiles are messed up,,do you have any idea on how to fix it??
Yes, it is the profiles. Try http://regex.info/blog/lightroom-goodies/preview-extraction – I think it may get the profiles too.
Those previews saved my butt once when I lost the original RAW files. I thought was lost, but I’d generated 1:1 previews before the originals were deleted. Nice that Adobe is giving us this little workaround – I just hope none of you ever have to use it!