Lr: 1 drive, 1 Library used alternately on 2 Macs

OntheRez
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Lr: 1 drive, 1 Library used alternately on 2 Macs

I have an iMac Pro 128Gb, 2TB, 16Gb graphics. This is my desktop machine and where I do development. Currently have three SSD drives attached: Time Machine, Lr-Backup, and Backup Boot. Recently acquired a nicely equipped MacBook Air M1. Am starting to do more work on the road and need the (one) Lr Library available for 2 different machines. Have not been able to figure out how to detach the Lr-Backup then reattach to the Air and have Lr read/use the drive/library exactly as it is on the iMac Pro. In other words, 2 devices that will alternate using one detachable drive with an identical Library.

Done some research without joy. Guess I can’t ask the question properly. So, experts, please help me out here.

Thx

Sep 04, 2023 at 09:43 AM

schlotz
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Lr: 1 drive, 1 Library used alternately on 2 Macs

Seems to me it's the concept of wanting to use the Lr-Backup disk is where the problem lies. If you had an external SSD setup to be the main disk where your library catalog resides and named for this purpose, as MAIN. Both your desktop and the MBA can be set for LR to look for the attached MAIN SSD. Obviously after editing on the MBA and returning home you would plug in the MAIN SSD to the desktop, bring up LR and everything you've done will be there. Good idea though to immediately tell it to backup to the attached Lr-Backup SSD.

Sep 04, 2023 at 12:26 PM

dordek
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Lr: 1 drive, 1 Library used alternately on 2 Macs

Not claiming expert status, but LR is just a catalog of editing steps for images out on your disk. LR knows a "path" to them, but does not contain those images. So a catalog that was developed on one machine and then transferred to another might have all the editing steps for the images on the first machine, but wouldn't find the images on the new machine (and wouldn't let you "work" on them).

If you make "smart previews" you can still do editing for those images with smart previews (you do it on that preview until it finds the file again).

If you copy your catalog to an SSD and keep the images you are working on on that SSD, then your catalog will know about them on whatever machine to which you have the SSD attached. But you wouldn't want that SSD to be "A" on one machine and "B" on the other, images in A/working won't be found in B/working without telling the catalog how to find them.

LR knows the image layout on the disks of the current machine it is on. Unless your machines have the same disk layout and the same images loaded on them in the same locations, you won't be able to access all images without redirecting LR about where to find the images. Any images on only one machine will not be accessible from the other. The Smart Previews would still allow editing, as would having the images being worked on located on the SSD with the LR catalog. But the latter is only possible because the image is still available for LR there on the SSD (while other images on you other machine would not be "available" to the LR catalog on the current machine - but would be found once the SSD is mounted back on the other machine). And once you had "worked" an image and moved it off the SSD to one of the machines, you would have to tell LR the new location of the image.

There will probably be others telling you LR can move the images and thus know where they are. For a small number of files this will probably work fine. I once had LR moving a large number of files and wound up losing a month's worth of editing. I find it safer to move the image files and then use the "locate" feature (clicking on the "!" (image not found) icon and then telling it where the image is now).

Hope this helps.

Sep 04, 2023 at 02:42 PM

amv8
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Lr: 1 drive, 1 Library used alternately on 2 Macs

I keep my LrC catalog on an external SSD along with my recent years images (usually the last 3 years). I simply move the SSD between my Mac desktop and MBP depending on which machine I'm working on. I keep older images on another SSD and if I need those I plug that SSD in as well. I have LrC setup to make a catalog backup on the local machine (not the external SSD) so I end up with backup catalogs on each of the two macs.

I've been doing this for several years and it has worked great.

Sep 04, 2023 at 04:10 PM

schlotz
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Lr: 1 drive, 1 Library used alternately on 2 Macs

Definitely agree with @dordek. The key is to use smart previews if you want to edit photos with the MBA that are stored back on the desktop. If that's not the case and you're only editing photos you took while away from home it becomes a bit easier but you will need to get them back to the desktop at some point. Personally I would save the photos to the ext SSD attached to the MBA. You can then plug that SSD into the desktop and deal with getting them moved from the desktop..

Sep 04, 2023 at 07:14 PM

OntheRez
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Lr: 1 drive, 1 Library used alternately on 2 Macs

Okay, appreciate the responses and am getting some ideas. To clarify. I have one external drive (SamsungT7). On a weekly basis the entire Lr library (and catalog) are backed up to the Samsung from the iMacPro. (I use Carbon Copy Cloner. Works extremely well. Recommended.)

Then I remove the drive from the laptop, plug it in the laptop, and use it (not the MBA internal drive) as the working drive. When I've finished with the MBA, the Samsung will be disconnected from the Air. Then it will be reattached to the Pro and its content copied back to the iMac Pro internal drive.

The MBA only has a .5Tb internal SSD. My current Library is approximately 1.3Tb thus it can't be copied to the laptop. This means that when using the laptop I'll be working Lr directly from the Samsung drive. (I also backup the catalog onto the same drive.)

If I understand AMV8 correctly, I can simply eject the drive, plug it into the MBA and will be good to go. Return to the desktop is the same procedure plus contents of the Samsung are copied back to the iPro. This is exactly what I'm looking for.

Not quite understanding the value of smart previews in this operations?

Thanks again,

Sep 05, 2023 at 10:29 AM

amv8
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Lr: 1 drive, 1 Library used alternately on 2 Macs

OntheRez wrote:
If I understand AMV8 correctly, I can simply eject the drive, plug it into the MBA and will be good to go. Return to the desktop is the same procedure plus contents of the Samsung are copied back to the iPro. This is exactly what I'm looking for.

Not quite understanding the value of smart previews in this operations?

Thanks again,

For clarity, I am only backing up the Lr catalog back to the local macs (desktop and MBP) when I exit LrC. I backup all the images that are on the external SSD using separate cloud backup services (which is also backing up the main Lr Catalog that is on the SSD).

Sep 05, 2023 at 10:45 AM

dordek
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Lr: 1 drive, 1 Library used alternately on 2 Macs

Sounds like you are setup and good to go. As long as you have your LR catalog and your image library on one of the removable SSDs you can just switch that drive to the machine you want to use and you will have everything there. As long as you have the LR program on the machine you want to use, just point it at the LR catalog when it opens up.

The smart previews are useful if you will be using a machine that does not have the images you want to work on available to it. So an image file that was on the desktop and not the laptop could be edited on the laptop with LR if you had a smart preview of that image in the LR catalog. But it sounds like you don't need them if I am now understanding your workflow. You could work on any machine with LR by plugging your LR catalog, image library SSD into that machine. You would then just point LR at your catalog and tell it to open that (double-clicking on your NAME.lrcat file would start up LR with your "NAME" catalog).

If you always use the LR catalog that is on the SSD there is no need to copy it back and forth. You can make LR catalog backups to each machine as you go along so you do have those on both machines, but there is no need to use the LR catalog on the MBA, move the SSD to the "desktop" and then copy the catalog to the desktop's internal drive to use it there. The desktop can use the SSD catalog just like the MBA. The only reason would be if there were significant speed advantages to having it on the desktop's internal drives. With no significant speed advantage, it seems like the more safe approach is to avoid the copying and just use the catalog where it resides on the SSD. It will always be in sync with less chance for it getting out of sync between the machines. You could still make copies of the entire catalog for safety, but you are making backups and without those significant speed advantages I would just use the LR catalog on the SSD all the time with both machines.

Sep 06, 2023 at 09:57 AM

OntheRez
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Lr: 1 drive, 1 Library used alternately on 2 Macs

Alright girls and boys, we got it. Did a test run by backing up the iMac Pro internal drive - with catalog - to the external SSD. Eject, plug into MBA, invoke Lr, direct to the external catalog, and viola! Work on the laptop uses the external drive for files, library, etc. Guess I made it too hard in my mind. Now I've got to find a way to purse the external drive, compare to iMac library, and only import those with changes, and oh and the catalog. Got to be something out there.

You know, for me Lr has basically become a library with card index. I rarely use its develop tools. What I want is an honest-to-god relational database with superb search capabilities, and a customizable import/export tool. Things like that used to exist in mainframe days but haven't seen it around much anymore.

Again, thanks

Sep 06, 2023 at 10:35 AM

Zenon Char
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Lr: 1 drive, 1 Library used alternately on 2 Macs

Not sure this will apply in our case. I have read that if you sync files to the cloud from LrC it only sends smart previews and don't even apply to cloud storage space. People then use the mobile apps to edit and those edits sync back to the desktop. LrC on two devices might do that. Even it if does it may not work for you but just another tidbit of information.

Sep 06, 2023 at 12:57 PM


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