Lightroom on desktop and laptop.

Craikeybaby

Craikeybaby

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Lewis
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My main Lightroom catalogue is on my iMac, however when I'm on the road I can't take it with me. In the past I used an iPad first with Photosmith, then Lightroom Mobile to do metadata updates and check/backup images taken whilst on the road. I was able to sync the images back to my Lightroom catalogue on my iMac.

I've now replaced the iPad with a MacBook, as for other stuff I do a keyboard and proper operating system is needed. I've installed Lightroom on my MacBook, but it doesn't seem that I can sync images back as easily as from iOS, which seems a bit counter intuitive to me.

So far I have created a new catalogue for each trip on my MacBook and used the import catalogue feature on my main Lightroom catalgue on my iMAc to import the photos, but that doesn't seem ideal, I can't get photos into my preferred folder structure, when the catalogue contains images from multiple days. Is there a better way of doing this?
 
I keep my catalog on my laptop with my latest images that are all imported into my chosen directory structure. After I have worked upon them I move them to a larger disc array on my server using Lightroom so all edits and file structures remain. There no harm in having disconnected images in a working catalog because when you reconnect the main file store it will notice it's back and reconnect to it.

I think though you are trying to use two instances of Lightroom and still keep everything in sync? This may be possible using one catalog but it's not something I have done.

Have a look at.

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/adobe-eva...al-lightroom-catalogs-into-a-master-catalog-/

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/kb/catalog-faq-lightroom.html

http://lightroomkillertips.com/should-you-create-multiple-catalogs-in-lightroom/
 
Last edited:
ianm2k4 said:
This may be possible using one catalog but it's not something I have done.
Click to expand...
technically you cannot share a cat, it can result in corruption. its also the reason why LR wont let you put the cat on a network drive.

i believe the official supported method is to export and import cats between machines, but I think you can also have the cat on an external drive which you can swap between machines.
 
You can try using a separate hard drive , tried that myself but only for a very short time. Not very practical. I don't know how you organize your photo's but I work two ways when using a laptop on location. If it's a simple shoot I simply import from catalogue and then sort things out in Lightroom on the desktop. If it gets more complicated, multiple shoots over multiple days, I simply sort the images on the laptop as I would on the desktop . The only difference is I use one encompassing folder for all the images, but have subfolders for the sub categories. I then export the encompassing folder and import that into Lightroom . From there I then move the images to the appropriate folders ( within Lightroom) .
 
I used to do this by keeping my catalogue in dropbox and files on an external HDD.. as long as one computer is accessing the dropbox file at any one it it was fine..
 
technics100 said:
I used to do this by keeping my catalogue in dropbox and files on an external HDD.. as long as one computer is accessing the dropbox file at any one it it was fine..
Click to expand...

Yeah, Dropbox say not to do that..... ;)

Lots of people do it quite happily, but as you say the key bit is only to have one computer accessing the cat at once (and allow time for the cat to sync locally before starting LR) If you ever have the desktop and laptop turned on together then you'll want to turn syncing off. Corrupted cats are pretty nasty.
 
I never had any issues, but as you say if both computers were on it could cause hassle.. I only ever used it for when I was away on Hols, so no one would be on my desktop at home..
 
Thanks for the replies. I'm not fussed about having my existing images on my laptop, just the ones I take on a particular trip. Then get them back into my main catalogue when I return home, maintaining any edits etc made on the road. Once imported to my main catalogue they will stay there, so no need for syncing etc.

I'll have a go at Chappers's suggestion of moving into place post import to Lightroom and see how that works.
 
I shoot on location with a laptop quite often. I'm generally shooting tethered so raw files are saved to the laptop hard drive and the (mobile version of) the catalogue updated with selects, trial edits, whibal tweaks etc.

At the end of the shoot (and key points before) I'll use Chronosync to back the raw files up to a portable HD and in LR select all today's files and export as a catalogue. (I don't need to do that but I like to have 2 copies of everything before I leave.)

Back at base, drag the files from the HD onto my desktop machine and import the catalogue into the client's catalogue. Go to the first image, click the question mark on it and locate it on your hard drive. Everything else flows from there.

As a one way sync it's fine. As a 2 way LR doesn't work.
 
Just to close off this thread I have got merging my field and base workflows sorted.

On my laptop Lightroom I always create a new catalog for the trip/shoot.
I import all my images into Lightroom and do any editing/metadata etc.
I've set up a automator script to pull the images and catalog files on to an external hard drive, which I use to transfer to my desktop Lightroom.
I use the "Import from another catalog" option to pull the new field images into my main catalogue, opting to leave the images in their current location on my transfer disk. Using this option means that I don't make extra duplicate copies, or apply my import presets etc.
Once the images are imported I drag them from Transfer drive/YYYY/YYYY-MM-DD to the appropriate YYYY-MM-DD folder on my desktop in Lightroom, so that the images are on the correct drive. Doing this from within Lightroom keeps the database links up to date.
 
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