ptarmigan Posted January 22, 2011 Share #1 Posted January 22, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) Does anyone have any experience of this? I use a Mac Pro and run a Lightroom. All of the images are held on a second drive. I now have a Macbook Pro and wish to be able to view and access the image/library from it but i don't want to always have to be connected to the main data drive when viewing the library - hope this makes sense. Any help would be appreciated. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted January 22, 2011 Posted January 22, 2011 Hi ptarmigan, Take a look here Lightroom - sharing catalogues between 2 computers. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Shootist Posted January 22, 2011 Share #2 Posted January 22, 2011 Are both on your home/office network? If they are and you share other files between them there is no reason you couldn't point one computer to the other to access the Lightroom catalog. Mind you it will be slower access across the network so it would be a good idea to setup the external drive on the computer you are going to use most for image editing. Just go into Lightroom and Open the catalog on the other computer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptarmigan Posted January 22, 2011 Author Share #3 Posted January 22, 2011 Are both on your home/office network? If they are and you share other files between them there is no reason you couldn't point one computer to the other to access the Lightroom catalog. Mind you it will be slower access across the network so it would be a good idea to setup the external drive on the computer you are going to use most for image editing.Just go into Lightroom and Open the catalog on the other computer. They are and thanks for the fast reply but I want to be able to 'carry' LR around with me on the laptop and don't want to be tied to the network. I'm kinda hoping I can perhaps run a library on the MBP and sync it to the Mac Pro library so when it's off-line but I thought I'd canvas other more informed views first. I also don't want to be continually pulling stuff across the network either - I doubt the MBP will be used for that much photo editing when I have 16gb of ram and a fab monitor as opposed to 4 and the MBP screen. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shootist Posted January 22, 2011 Share #4 Posted January 22, 2011 You can do that only if the catalog is on the local computer. Since you wanted to SHARE the catalog you would need to be connected to the network the computer that has the catalog is connected to. Once you disconnect from that network the catalog is no longer available. You could copy the catalog to the notebook and then point that to the shared external drive and the source for the real images but then again if that notebook disconnects from the network the external drive is connected to all you would have is embedded thumbnail images stored in the catalog. You really couldn't edit anything and only view the thumbnails. If you mean carry it around your house/office then you can do this as long as the notebook has a wireless card and you have a wireless router/access point for it to connect to in your house/office. Then you are still connected to that network where the other computer is that has the catalog and the external drive. If you mean to go out and about and still have access to the catalog, NO that is not possible. This brings up another point. I'm not sure what would happen if one computer was using the catalog, Lightroom open and that catalog loaded, and then you went to the other computer and tried to open that same catalog and do edits. Not sure if LR locks the catalog when it is opened so it can't be access from some other source. I do know with programs like AutoCad if a file is opened for editing on one PC and you try to open it on another you get a warning that the file is already opened and your copy/version will be for viewing only. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptarmigan Posted January 22, 2011 Author Share #5 Posted January 22, 2011 Not sure that I ever said I wanted to share the catalog, just have the contents sync'd so that I can view the catalog content on two separate macs that are not always connected. Having read your comments and after further thought I'm coming around to the idea that I'll create two 'local' catalogues and find some means of keeping them sync'd. I am looking at using Chronosync so that I can keep other docs in sync so maybe this is an option. As I'm the only user of both macs I don't foresee a problem with update conflicts. Anyway thanks for the continued input. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stickan1 Posted January 22, 2011 Share #6 Posted January 22, 2011 I have an Imac24 with an external HD for backups and a MacBookPro. And I have LR installed on both computers. I keep all the original stuff on the Imac. When I travel I have the MacBookPro with me and often do quite a lot of editing. When I come home I make an export catalogue from the MacBookPro and then import catalogue on the Imac. I have a local network at home, but you can also use an USB-stick. If you want to bring files with you when you go for a trip you can reverse the procedure. If you use this procedure you can always be sure to have all the original files with editing in one place with a backup and you can also use the MacBookPro for editing and also for showing older photographs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shootist Posted January 22, 2011 Share #7 Posted January 22, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) Ok sorry I misinterpreted your meaning. Yes you can have the same catalog on both computer and point the catalog/program on the notebook to the shared external drive on the other computer but only when you are connected to the network that shared external drive is. But you will still need to update that catalog on both computer. importing images on one computer to the catalog on that computer will not update the other catalog. That goes for importing and deleting of images. I think the edits are stored with, inside, the DNG file so what ever edits you do on one box will show on the other. I know it works this way if I edit a DNG in ACR and then look at it in LR. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob_w Posted January 24, 2011 Share #8 Posted January 24, 2011 I have an Imac24 with an external HD for backups and a MacBookPro. And I have LR installed on both computers. I keep all the original stuff on the Imac. When I travel I have the MacBookPro with me and often do quite a lot of editing. When I come home I make an export catalogue from the MacBookPro and then import catalogue on the Imac. I have a local network at home, but you can also use an USB-stick. If you want to bring files with you when you go for a trip you can reverse the procedure. If you use this procedure you can always be sure to have all the original files with editing in one place with a backup and you can also use the MacBookPro for editing and also for showing older photographs. +1 Once you have the catalog and photos on both computers it is relatively simple to keep both up to date using 'catalog export' in one direction or the other -- IF you use one or other computer for discrete periods of time, e.g. when on a trip. It would be pretty tedious to do every day or during the day. When you return, just export the catalog (selecting only the new photos) to a USB stick or USB hard drive, and import to your main machine. Vice versa when you are preparing to travel. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shootist Posted January 24, 2011 Share #9 Posted January 24, 2011 +1 Once you have the catalog and photos on both computers it is relatively simple to keep both up to date using 'catalog export' in one direction or the other -- IF you use one or other computer for discrete periods of time, e.g. when on a trip. It would be pretty tedious to do every day or during the day. When you return, just export the catalog (selecting only the new photos) to a USB stick or USB hard drive, and import to your main machine. Vice versa when you are preparing to travel. Well that's just it you need both catalog and PHOTOS on both computers. The OP states he has the images on another HDD, whether external or internal, on only one computer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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