How do I work with Lightroom Classic on multiple Macs?

[rawdawg]

I've finally subscribed to LR after many years of not using my DSLRs and only taking iPhone pics. It's been a long time coming but I don't make a living with my photography so just sort of stopped taking photos.

I have many TBs of photos to manage so I believe LR Classic is the best for me. I have a M1 Mac Mini in my office where I have my external HDDs. But it would be nice to be able to use my MBP as well to edit photos. So:

When I'm at home: Can I use file sharing on my M1 Mac Mini so my MBP can access the files? I've long wanted to setup a Mac Mini as a server(?) so I can assess files including movies, but despite having many hobbies, programming and computers are not one of them. This has always been too intimidating for me.

When I'm away from home: Can I make use of the 20GB Abode storage, or my 200GB (possibly upgraded to 2TB) iCloud storage to host files and photos I may be currently working on so that I can use LR on my MBP?

Because iCloud offers 2TB for $9.99 wouldn't that be better than using Adobe's LR + 1TB package? I could then have Adobe's LR+PS+20Gb plan (for $9.99) for the same cost as LR+1Tb. Or do I need to host through Adobe for LR?

Lastly, where is it best to put my LR catalog file? iCloud? I assume it needs to stay sync'd or else I'd loose edits (for instance if I work on my MBP offline and forget to sync when I'm back online before editing on my Mac Mini.

Thanks for helping me understand this process. I couldn't find good threads here. Hopefully this will help others as well. Happy New Year.

 

[mollyc]

you can put the catalog on an external drive, but not a network drive. however, you can have photos on a network and access them from a catalog on your hard drive. i have my catalog and 2021 photos on my imac but 2020 and earlier (like 15 years worth) live on my NAS and i can still access and edit them in my catalog.

if you want to use both computers i think you’d have to put the catalog and relevant photos on an external and just move the drive back and forth. you do lose some performance with the catalog on an external but i can’t say how much.

 

[rawdawg]

you can put the catalog on an external drive, but not a network drive. however, you can have photos on a network and access them from a catalog on your hard drive. i have my catalog and 2021 photos on my imac but 2020 and earlier (like 15 years worth) live on my NAS and i can still access and edit them in my catalog.

if you want to use both computers i think you’d have to put the catalog and relevant photos on an external and just move the drive back and forth. you do lose some performance with the catalog on an external but i can’t say how much.

Thanks. I don't have a NAS so you're not sure I can use File Sharing abilities on my Mac Mini to essentially make it a NAS? That's what I always hoped to do.

I guess catalog files are too much for an NAS to handle?

 

[mollyc]

Lightroom catalogs don't work on any network server. It's a Lightroom constraint, not a NAS constraint.

 

[OreoCookie]

While those hard limits suck, performance is notably worse if your libraries and photos reside on a network drive. Back in the day I have kept my older Aperture libraries on my NAS. Works fine for retrieval from archives, but it is quite slow and I wouldn’t want to work with a whole bunch of photos this way.

 

[Robotti]

I would recommend using Lightroom Classic on your main computer, and syncing the photos with Collections to Adobe cloud. Smart previews will be created for those files, and they will be synchronized to your Lightroom CC (not Classic) on your other computer and iPad / iPhone. You can then edit your photos on those devices, and the edits will be synced back to your Lightroom Classic on your main computer.

There are of course limitations on what you can do with the smart previes, e.g. in exporting and editing in Photoshop, since they are not the original raw files. But other than that, it’s a very convenient method if you want to just cull / edit on the road and can do the more demanding photoshopping and exporting on your main computer.

 

[rawdawg]

I would recommend using Lightroom Classic on your main computer, and syncing the photos with Collections to Adobe cloud. Smart previews will be created for those files, and they will be synchronized to your Lightroom CC (not Classic) on your other computer and iPad / iPhone. You can then edit your photos on those devices, and the edits will be synced back to your Lightroom Classic on your main computer.

There are of course limitations on what you can do with the smart previes, e.g. in exporting and editing in Photoshop, since they are not the original raw files. But other than that, it’s a very convenient method if you want to just cull / edit on the road and can do the more demanding photoshopping and exporting on your main computer.

Oh wow, good idea. So I can have my huge library on my Mac Mini, and for files I need to still work on while not in my office I'll use CC on my MBP. And then, I'm assuming, I'll have two separate catalog files because I'm using Classic and CC which are separate programs, so I won't have to worry about them being fully up to date for possible conflicts.

I don't know how Collections work (or the Smart Previews issue going to PS you mentioned) but I'll figure it out hopefully. Sounds like Smart Previews are for iPad/iPhone editing in leu of that actual raw files? Since I'll be on my MBP maybe it would be fine.

 

[mollyc]

There is no catalog option for CC. It's just a mess of photos. But if you sync collections from LR classic on your main computer, you will still see those collections on your secondary devices in the collections through CC.

 

[jz0309]

here is another option, though probably not the cheapest ...
I have all of my photos (raw, jpg, tiff ...) on an external 2TB Sandisk Extreme, I keep the catalog/index on my internal SSD as it is ~ 2x faster. You could easily move the catalog/index onto the external SSD, and thus use it on any computer that runs LR classic, and there are TB3 external SSDs that are quite fast (eg: Sabrent Rocket ).
While I have not tested it, I don't see why it wouldn't work, and when I get to go out again to take more photos on trips (after pandemic) I might go that route ... and it will also be cheaper than Apple's SSD upgrades.

 

[JamesMay82]

I just use Lightroom CC which stores them all in the cloud so you can access from any Mac or iOS device. On my main Mac I have Lightroom but tick the option save them locally as well which works great for me.

I find Lightroom CC has a much nicer user interface over Lightroom classic plus the simple storage and device access is the winner for me.

I've also just copied all my photos to the apple photo app as well which I'm really enjoying as it sends me notifications of memories and photo events. Plus I then have 2 diff cloud account back ups of my photos.

 

[Robotti]

Has anyone tried storing catalog, photos and all of the preview / intermediate stuff the Lightroom creates, on an external (fastest available) Thunderbolt SSD? I'm interested whether there is any noticeable lag compared to internal SSD.

 

[MCAsan]

The wife runs LrC on her M1 mini with external RAID 0 that has the images and catalog backups. I do similar with C1P on my M1 mini. No problems.

 

[cthompson94]

Has anyone tried storing catalog, photos and all of the preview / intermediate stuff the Lightroom creates, on an external (fastest available) Thunderbolt SSD? I'm interested whether there is any noticeable lag compared to internal SSD.

I know this post is a little older, but I just came across it. I actually have my whole Lightroom catalog on a 2tb Samsung T7 that I use a usb-c to usb-c cable (it may be thunderbolt I am at work so I am not sure off the top of my head) with my M1 MBP. I shoot with a Sony A7III so RAW files being around 40mb (I shoot uncompressed) and I do have a slight delay when importing. This is also with needing to use a hub to connect my SD card to as I haven't bothered copying the photos to the internal storage and then doing an import because typically when I have time to do imports/edits the little extra time doesn't bother me.

Back on topic.. In comparison to my built PC where my catalog used to be I can tell a difference, but the PC had a built in pretty decent SD card reader along with a M.2 SSD. The initial Import is the only time I personally see a noticeable lag and part of that is building the smart previews also. Once everything is good to go I can click around and make edits just fine, I suppose technically there is a very slight lag (depending what kind of system you are coming from) only when sometimes changing photos in a massive library. I am perfectly fine with it all since I do not do professional work and to have the whole catalog on my SSD that fits in any bag and pocket it is very handy. I will occasionally also sync a folder with Lightroom CC and do edits on the iPad also. I hope this helps a little.

 

[kenoh]

Oh wow, good idea. So I can have my huge library on my Mac Mini, and for files I need to still work on while not in my office I'll use CC on my MBP. And then, I'm assuming, I'll have two separate catalog files because I'm using Classic and CC which are separate programs, so I won't have to worry about them being fully up to date for possible conflicts.

I don't know how Collections work (or the Smart Previews issue going to PS you mentioned) but I'll figure it out hopefully. Sounds like Smart Previews are for iPad/iPhone editing in leu of that actual raw files? Since I'll be on my MBP maybe it would be fine.

Adobe are now offering their photography plan - LR and PS - with a 1 TB storage option.

IMHO your smoothest and least human intervention option is to use the collections solution. The collections make it easy to organise what is synced to the Adobe cloud and easy to track what is where for editing. It also means you can import form either machine (or mobile) and have it on your editing machines ready for you. When editing in LR it can use a smart preview which allows you to edit a lower quality image for the purposes of speed. However anything involving exporting or moving to PS will trigger a download of the full image for editing. Depending on the speed of your connection, this is a good or bad thing in terms of loading times. Also, if you turn off the smart preview in the sync options then it defaults to just pulling the full image down. The smart preview is beneficial when working on a cell phone connection.

This then lets the Adobe cloud handle syncing in the background for you without you having to remember where you have files that need moved around.

You can setup multiple collections for example:

1. Work in progress - images you want to sync for editing at some point later or say for each photo assignment/project/trip
2. To be filed - images you are finished with, move to this collection then when back at your main computer, they sync and you then do some filing of those images moving them out into your main image storage thus freeing space on the Adobe cloud

Like the others have said it is an Adobe limitation that the catalog for LR Classic has to be on a local drive (internal or external not network). My standard workflow is that I have all my images on NAS devices and my catalog on my machine at home that references the locations on my NAS. I am connected to it by 1Gbps network cable and it is fast enough for me. My cameras are 24-26mp range so the files are not massive - PS TIFF files are though and I don't get annoyed at the loading and saving speeds.

I then do most of my importing on the sofa on my iPad or wherever I am at the time, typically I do culling and then some edits. All the while the images are syncing up to the cloud. Then when I open up my main computer, I fire up LR classic and it pulls them down and I then drag them into my library on my NAS and then clear them from the synced folder to free up the cloud space.

This works for me but I normally only have 1 "shoot" worth of images "in flight" at a time.

Hope this helps.

 

[Robotti]

I know this post is a little older, but I just came across it. I actually have my whole Lightroom catalog on a 2tb Samsung T7 that I use a usb-c to usb-c cable (it may be thunderbolt I am at work so I am not sure off the top of my head) with my M1 MBP. I shoot with a Sony A7III so RAW files being around 40mb (I shoot uncompressed) and I do have a slight delay when importing. This is also with needing to use a hub to connect my SD card to as I haven't bothered copying the photos to the internal storage and then doing an import because typically when I have time to do imports/edits the little extra time doesn't bother me.

Back on topic.. In comparison to my built PC where my catalog used to be I can tell a difference, but the PC had a built in pretty decent SD card reader along with a M.2 SSD. The initial Import is the only time I personally see a noticeable lag and part of that is building the smart previews also. Once everything is good to go I can click around and make edits just fine, I suppose technically there is a very slight lag (depending what kind of system you are coming from) only when sometimes changing photos in a massive library. I am perfectly fine with it all since I do not do professional work and to have the whole catalog on my SSD that fits in any bag and pocket it is very handy. I will occasionally also sync a folder with Lightroom CC and do edits on the iPad also. I hope this helps a little.

This sounds good. Import / export are not that important to me, because it's basically a one-time operation. But if editing on eternal SSD is as smooth as it can be on the internal one, it could be the way to go. I had a desktop a few years ago, and it was really difficult to keep everything in sync between the desktop and laptop. If I can have basically everything that Lightroom accesses on an external SSD, it should be relatively easy.

 

[cthompson94]

This sounds good. Import / export are not that important to me, because it's basically a one-time operation. But if editing on eternal SSD is as smooth as it can be on the internal one, it could be the way to go. I had a desktop a few years ago, and it was really difficult to keep everything in sync between the desktop and laptop. If I can have basically everything that Lightroom accesses on an external SSD, it should be relatively easy.

The editing for me is smooth, and any delay I may encounter is more so a Lightroom thing, because even in Photomechanic and other Raw Image viewers I have no problem loading or changing images. Since most tech items have anywhere from a 7-14 day return policy, it wouldn't hurt to just try it out, maybe do a trail run of like half your images (for quicker testing) and see if it is snappy enough for you. As I mentioned before I am no professional and soley just a hobbiest that doesn't demand perfection especially since I know that using an external SSD is a Mobile solution and nothing will top internal SSD speeds. With trying to work with multiple computers your limited anyway with using things like NAS or something. The only options really is either the external SSD with Classic or the Lightroom CC 100%.

Like I said I do both where ill have my regular catalog on Classic on the external (I do an automatic backup to my NAS) and if I want to edit on a different machine like my iPad or desktop or something I go ahead and cull the photos I do want to edit and sync the "good" photos to Lightroom CC to edit on whatever device.

 

[JoeFkling]

I used to use target disc mode when I had my iMac and my MacBook. In the field I would have a catalog on the MacBook. Then when I got home, I would use target disc mode and import that days catalog to the home working catalog. Before that process I kept the catalog and catalog files, but not the photo files, on an external drive. I would work off that drive in the field then come home and load up the same library on the iMac. Most of my files are stored on an external 0+1 Raid but I keep the working files locally for home or mobile working. Basically an external SSD was where the catalog and most recent images I am working on. Once the gallery is worked and needs to go to storage I move the files within Lightroom. I also would delete the 1:1 previews on the worked images so that the catalog worked faster.

Now I just use my 16" pro as my main computer so it hosts the catalog files and recent work. When I get home its connected to the Raid so I have access to all my files. Anything I need continual access to is on the internal SSD. Exported worked images also reside on my home cloud for access if needed there as well. The Raid mainly has the RAW files and a backup copy of the worked JPEG exports.

 

[ZaceFron]

Only one catalogue can be synced at a time in Lightroom Classic. Furthermore, you cannot sync catalogues between Lightroom Classic on two different machines because it uses two different catalogues on each of them.

 

[bunnspecial]

Maybe I'm missing something obvious, but I regularly work on my laptop and my iMac(and in the past have used multiple different computers).

I have a 2TB Dropbox plan that i use for everything, and for a given project I create a folder on Dropbox that contains my catalog file+the converted DNGs+any JPEG exports.

The times I've tried it, I can open a catalog file started on one computer and work with it on the other. I don't do it super often, as my M1 MBP is a terrible Lightroom computer(yes, I said it, and it's my fault for buy the 8gb version...) but it does work.

The only catch is that I need to keep Lightroom 100% up to date on both computers. Hopefully we get at least a couple more years of Intel OSs so that I can keep my iMac(2019) going.

 

[mollyc]

Keeping a catalog on dropbox is not the greatest idea. Yes, it's possible, but I was just chatting to someone this week where the catalog got corrupted and they lost all the photo files. In her case, she had sent the catalog to an outsourced editor and both were accessing it at the same time, causing the files to corrupt.

It can be done, but there is a much larger risk of corruption working from a cloud based catalog.