LR Preview JPEG Extractor

Overview

This script is designed to extract the largest JPEG image embedded within Adobe Lightroom's preview files (.lrprev). It can process individual .lrprev files or directories containing multiple .lrprev files. The script also supports querying a Lightroom catalog (.lrcat) to retrieve the original file path for more organized output.

⚠️ Warning

• Use a copy of your Lightroom catalog and preview files with this script.
• Tested with Lightroom v6.13 catalog on macOS

Features

• Extract the largest JPEG image from .lrprev files.
• Process a single file or a directory of files.
• Query Lightroom catalog (.lrcat) for original file paths.
• Optionally include image dimensions in the extracted JPEG filename.

Requirements

• Python 3.6 or newer
• Pillow library for image processing
• argparse for command-line options parsing

Installation

Ensure you have Python and pip installed on your system. You can install the required dependencies by running:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Usage

Command-Line Arguments

• -d or --input-dir: Path to your Lightroom directory(.lrdata) containing .lrprev files (optional).
• -f or --input-file: Path to your .lrprev file (optional).
• -o or --output-directory: Path to the output directory where extracted JPEGs will be saved (required).
• -l or --lightroom-db: Path to the Lightroom catalog file (.lrcat) (optional).
• --include-size: Include the image's dimensions in the filename of the output JPEG (optional).

Examples

Extracting from a Single File

python lrprev-extract.py -f /path/to/file.lrprev -o /path/to/output

Extracting from a Directory

python lrprev-extract.py -d /path/to/lrcatalog/directory.lrdata -o /path/to/output

Including Image Size in Filename

python lrprev-extract.py -d /path/to/lrcatalog/directory.lrdata -o /path/to/output --include-size

Specifying Lightroom Database

python lrprev-extract.py -d /path/to/lrcatalog/directory.lrdata -o /path/to/output -l /path/to/lrcatalog/catalog.lrcat

Note

• Either --input-dir or --input-file must be supplied. Both cannot be used simultaneously.
• The script prints the progress and any errors encountered during execution to the console.
• Ensure the output directory exists or has the necessary permissions to be created.
• Default path for Lightroom catalog are:
  • Windows: \Users[user name]\Pictures\Lightroom.
  • macOS: /Users/[user name]/Pictures/Lightroom.