LR 3.0+ Network Catalog?

Is it now possible to create a catalog on a network drive in LR 3.0+....if so, can I move my old catalogs over to the drive?

Note that Lr is not a multiuser server application, so even if you have the catalogue on the network, you can't have multiple instances of Lr talking to it, and coordinating the managed photos between different sessions on different hosts will take some additional work.

Similar Messages

  • Moving Images and Catalog Questions...

    Since I first started using Lighroom, I have kept all images in one catalog on my laptop hard drive. It was time to change that and move all images to my NAS, further backing up a copy of all to another external drive, and keeping some copies of images on my laptop for when I am undocked and want to show my best work.
    Seemed the only way to do this was to use two catalogs, so I created a new one for the images on the NAS.
    After checking that all was good and making a backup of the Laptop catalog, I copied the master folder of all images and sidecars to the NAS. I then opened the new catalog which was empty and imported all from the new location.
    So, now I have two catalogs and both backed up as catalogs and complete image sets so I am good no matter what. Let's call them Laptop and Network. I have not yet deleted anything on the Laptop.
    Network found not only all images, but somehow 21 more than on the Laptop. Cannot figure out how the number of images could be different, but they are. Not really a problem, but a curiousity, no?
    All edits are there. Images look identical to Laptop. Keywords, image titles, folders - all perfect.
    But here are my questions:
    I lost my edit histories. By this I mean if I compare an edited RAW image on Laptop. I can see the original image before I started to edit. This is sometimes very helpful. On the Network catalog, it shows the current image and does not have the original preview. The laptop catalog shows the original and current state.
    And I lost my collections. Not the end of the world, but would be so nice to not have to rebuild these.
    So, is there any way to get these two back? Let's assume, for a moment, that both catalogs are identical (even though there is that 21 image difference). Can I do something with the catalogs or the Previews folder that would bring back the collections and original pre-edit images?
    I thought it worth checking before I start to delete images through Lightroom on the Laptop Catalog and continue to edit on the Network catalog. Anything? Export as catalog and replace the .lrcat and rename it? Copy over the root-pixels.db? Any trick?
    And last, if anyone is reading, a feature request:
    Would be nice to have a preference to select the number of backups to keep. For example, if I could set it to ten, I would never have to worry at all abotu backing up after each session and going to delete old backups no longer needed.
    Thanks for any advice. Posted this on  several boards hoping someone might reply before I start to edit again later today. Apologize if you see this in multiple places.
    ~Bob

    You are actually exactly right.
    I spent the morning deleting all I had done on the NAS drive and exporting as a catalog with negatives to the NAS. It now has everything I wanted there including the history and collections.
    Took a while to get there, but works just fine now and I have two catalogs - one portable and one server based with the .ircat on the laptop for both. Not the most intuitive, but done.
    Thanks.
    ~Bob

  • LR5: Import from another catalog - can't copy

    From LR4 on my desktop PC, I used to be able to select File->Import From Another Catalog..., navigate to a catalog on a networked laptop, select which photos/dates I want to import, then choose to Copy Photos to a New Location and Import. This would both copy the photos over the network to my desktop, and add the photos to my desktop LR catalog - in one step. Always worked great for me for getting travel laptop photos back into my main desktop & LR catalog.
    Both desktop and laptop recently upgraded to LR5. But now when I try this same procedure - the "Import From Another Catalog..." dialog no longer has the option to Copy Photos to a New Location and Import.  The only options are Add New Photos To Catalog Without Moving and Don't Import New Photos.
    Of course I can work around this by doing it with 2-3 extra steps: I can import over the network like above, but choose Add New Photos to Catalog Without Moving and then later copy the files & find the missing photos. Or export to a separate catalog & copy everything, etc.
    So what happend to the Copy Photos to a New Location and Import option in LR5? Was this option removed explicitly?  Or is there something else I'm missing (file path permissions, etc) that would cause the option to not be shown? Thanks.
    Lightroom 5 64-bit for Windows, ver 5.0
    Desktop: Windows 7 64-bit
    Laptop: Windows 8 64-bit

    OK - never mind. I think I figured it out. 
    LR appears to only display the Copy Photos to a New Location and Import option when you have a drive letter mapped to the root of the remote volume where the images are stored (and where the remote network catalog is located). Just browsing to the catalog via UNC path doesn't seem to work. Basically, you have to trick LR into thinking the photos are on a local drive.
    I think when this was working previously, my desktop probably did have a drive letter permanently mapped to my laptop drive root. That mapped drive seems to have disappeared during the laptop upgrade from Windows 7 -> Windows 8.  So no change in behavior between LR4 and LR5.
    In general, I find this the quickest & simplest way to get travel photos from my laptop catalog back into my desktop catalog, when I return home from a trip.

  • How will the Cloud effect use of files on Networked drives?

    Currently I have LR on my desktop and my laptop. I cannot work on my files via my laptop and have the work show up when I use my PC. I have imported the files to LR from the same location on both of my machines but the file updates are specific to the machine I use. I had tried to move all files to a ntework drive and that doesn't work either. The only way to do it is to unplug the drive from one computer and move it to the next. Will the CC subscription eliminate this un integrated use of LR?

    Hi Steve,
    Working with Catalogs is not changing with CC subscription. Lightroom will still be available as a boxed product as well.
    The current support for networked catalogs has not changed (not supported due to the many many different network configurations possible).
    As far as working on the same catalog between laptop and desktop, you'll want to put your catalog on your external drive along with your images and previews.
    More info on that process here
    Hope this helps,
    Regards

  • After editing in Photoshop, unable to save

    I'm on a Mac, using LR 3.2 and Photoshop CS4. My image files are on a network drive. Catalog of course is local (since we can't work with networked catalogs).
    If I right-click a PSD (not raw file) in Lighroom and "Edit in Photoshop", then edit, when I'm done editing and hit "Save" I get an error message that the file is open/in use by another application. My only option appears to be to "save as" a new file in Photoshop...THEN import that new file in LR...THEN add it to the collection I was working from...THEN delete the old PSD from the collection...THEN delete the old PSD from the drive - since I don't really want to save a bunch of incremental PSDs (that's what layers in Photoshop are for).
    I saw a couple of older posts here about the same problem, with older versions of LR. At least one case the user was on a PC, not a Mac.
    Is this because I'm working with files on a network volume? Any workarounds?
    Man it's irritating...
    - Bob

    Yep - it works locally.
    I had similar problems back when using Expression Media/iView MediaPro - wouldn't let me delete files from the network drive. Perhaps it's related to when I try to delete files in the finder, and get a "this can't be undone" warning.
    Well, I got all excited about the idea of launching Photoshop edits from within LR, but I guess I'll go back to my "old" way, which was to export, then go to Photoshop and open the exported file, and work on it. I think if LR doesn't think it's currently managing the file somehow, it won't try to hold onto it and so Photoshop can save without running into problems.
    Adobe - maybe this can be addressed?
    - Bob

  • Kelby's wish list for LR4 ...

    Scott Kelby posted his wish list for LRv4 on his blog today pointing out features, adjustments and tweaks he would like to see in the next iteration of Lightroom ....
    http://www.scottkelby.com/blog/2010/archives/11824
    Is he on target? Are his suggestions worthy, important and doable?
    I must say I wouldn't be disappointed with his vision of what LR4 would be capable of ....

    Personally, I'm on a pretty different page.
    I could care less about Lightroom's slideshow capability - because I don't use it (I use 3rd party presentation tools after exporting from Lr).
    I could care less about Lightroom's photobooks - because if I did use photobooks, I could do it in Aperture or some other 3rd party software.
    I could care less about soft-proofing because I don't use it, and if I did, I could always pull the photos into another app that does support soft-proofing.
    ... I could go on, but my point is that anything that can easily be done at the endpoints of the workflow with another tool is less of a concern to me than the things I do day in and day out, which is Library + Develop, especially Develop.
    And Adobe still has some serious image quality matters to address, e.g. Highlight recovery.
    I would agree with Scott on these points:
    - Networked catalog support (although I don't have need, I understand other peoples need for this).
    - Soft-proofing: this is not a contradiction - I acknowlege other peoples strong desire/need for this.
    Other stuff I don't use but would imagine becoming big:
    - GPS/Location support.
    My wishlist:
    - Finish what they started being #1 image-quality-wise
        - especially highlight recovery
        - and other hue shift anomalies.
    - Finish what they started being #1 performance-wise (read: get the bugs out so the performance for "all" of us matches the performance for the lucky ones).
    - Add better color handling and/or adjustment capability.
    - Better auto-tone and Active-D-Lighting-like support (fill-light + clarity goes pretty far now, and jjust fixing highlight recovery would be a huge step in the right direction here).
        - Fix 'Clarity' so that one can down-throttle its affect on "already high-contrast" edges.
    - targeted adjustments (based on luminance, color, ..., e.g. U-points only better)
        - includes making the auto-mask work better.
    - all adjustments available locally.
    - Separate channel levels and curves.
    - distraction removal brush (e.g. content-aware fill).
    - Support for image enhancement via plugin. - once pixel manipulation is integrated with parametric editing (see my #1 wish below) - this will be a fallout - I don't care too much whether image manipulation tools plug into photoshop or lightroom, as long as they are readily accessible in Lightroom without forking a separate photo.
    - Full-screen editing with develop panels + library panels simultaneously open on secondary monitor.
    - Full access to Lightroom UI via SDK (plugin) - including event notification and having things in the panels.
    AND MY #1 WISH FOR LIGHTROOM 4:
    - 100% integration with Photoshop and/or other 3rd party pixel editors and plugins - this would include the ability to have multiple shots be considered sub-shots of an HDR image. - If this were done, it would lessen many of the needs for natively supporting things like separate channel levels and curves and all adjustments local. To reiterate: the main goal is to be able to do things presently relegated to pixel editors without forking a new photo, even if internally its handled as a fork - I don't want to have to manage an additional independent photo entity just to remove a twig.
    I'm sure there's more, but I gotta go dance...
    Rob

  • Brush mode: Tone curve, etc

    Well, I'm new for LR, I'm trying to tweak a certain part in the photo by using Tone curve and else, but I don't think the LR would allow me to do that in the "Brush Mode", am I correct?
    Because, I need to change some parts in the photo by increasing only red or green or blue, or even highlight and shadow, but I can't do that like Aperture in Mac. Or I do miss any feature control panel in the LR?
    Seem like the LR would not give flexibility when working in Brush Mode, is this correct?

    mrkavin wrote:
     ...but sometime it's frustrated when stuck with the LR limitation along the way while the other can do.
    I understand.
    When I first tried Lightroom (1.4), I was a bit disappointed with the scope of the develop tools available (and did not buy it). When Lightroom 2 included Clarity and Locals it was a big improvement (and I bought it and started using it along with Nx2 & DxO & Photoshop), but it still seemed lean compared to some raw converters (Nx2 as example). I mean, what Lightroom does it does well, for the most part, but full-featured develop tools can not really be touted...
    Lr3 is known as the release when Lightroom became a true professional-grade development tool in my opinion: image quality + lens corrections. I applaud Adobe's decision to do just that. No more front-ending with DxO or Nx2 or DPP or CaptureOnePro, or Photoshop + Noise Ninja... I love Lr3 .
    Still, I'm hoping Lr4 is known as the release when Lightroom comes of age, develop-module-wise... (distraction removal, more locals, signature auto-masking technology, better color adjustment including rgb curves, ..., and of course fixing of highlight recovery). No more doing without or frequently processing with a pixel editor after basic adjustments in Lightroom... If they do this, I will really-really love Lr4 .
    Then in Lr5, Faces & Places & GPS & Collages & HDR & Layers & DLNA Servers & Networked Catalogs, or whatever... - I wont care... (yeah right .
    R

  • AFP issues with 10.4.6

    Hi,
    I have network of 3 Macs running 10.4.6. Two are wired and the other is my laptop and it is wireless. When I try to connect with AFP to any maching (wired to wired, wired to wireless, or wireless to wired) I get the following error:
    "Connection Failure
    The server may not exist or it is not operational at this time. Check the server name or IP address and try again."
    I get the same message when I try to connect by IP address or name.
    I have IPv6 and Appletalk turned off on all machines. All machines also have static IPs and DNS info entered manually. If I scan each machine with NMAP port 548 is open and I can telnet to it. I also can see the server when I browse the network for AFP servers.
    Any ideas?
    Thanks in advance,
    Andy
      Mac OS X (10.4.6)  

    Hmm thinking twice about it, sounds like MacOS-BSD idiosyncrasy...
    Every time we update MacOS X the I/O and network catalog is being reset, returning most of the settings to default values (at least when dealing with default (not customized) installations)...
    Your issue regarding TCP sendspace sounds like a good feedback to Apple.
    I'll fire an email to the developers...
    btw: mark your question as answered, it's the most interesting AFP issue I've read so far
    Macs running 9.x, Macs running 10.4.x, SGI workstations running Irix 6.5.x

  • Collaborative Rating

    I would like multiple ratings capabilities. There are several scenarios where this can be useful, even without networkable catalogs.
    For example, the same photos may be rated by different criteria (personal vs business) or by different people (to have friends, family or colleagues to rate my photos) but I should be able to identify the rating person/criteria later.
    I know there are both color and star rating methods now, but is there further capability already available that I am missing?
    My idea can be implemented by adding additional values to the current colors and stars; for example, adding a letter before the stars, so there could be a photo with two ratings like "A★★★" and "C★★", or even better would be user defined, like "Adam★★★" and "Charlie★★" or "print★★★" and "web★★".
    A related idea would be to have the option to filter based on multiple ratings, i.e. only photos with same or better rating by all persons/criteria; or only by one of them.
    Thanks, Jim

    I totally agree with this idea.
    Furthermore, this should only be applicable to followers of the playlists, and ratings should not display votes of people no longer following; you unsubscribe from a playlist, your votes are cleared permanently.
    Alternatively, two ratings solution can be used
    a 5 stars system
    a up/down vote system
    If using the second solution, this could also apply to all the other ideas out there; people up/down voting music... because, to be honest, score-by-play-count is a little biassed; it's not because I played some music that I necessarily like it.
    Free users (aka leechers) may have a limited amount of votes per day, so the major contribution will come from premium users.

  • I cannot create a catalog because everywhere I try on my computer, it comes up with cannot Lightroom cannot create a catalog on network volumes.  And is there any way to contact Adobe directly?  Would you be able to give me a phone number and/or email add

    I cannot create a catalog because everywhere I try on my computer, it comes up with cannot Lightroom cannot create a catalog on network volumes.  And is there any way to contact Adobe directly?  Would you be able to give me a phone number and/or email address?@@

    The short and direct answer to your question about catalogs on a network drive is that you can't do that. The catalog must reside on a local drive.
    Here is a link to a list of telephone numbers. Choose one that is appropriate:
    Adobe Connect Support phone numbers

  • Using a network-stored catalog with Mac OSX

    Greetings all.
    I am using Photoshop Elements 11 on Mac OSX Mountain Lion and want to store my catalog on a local network drive (FreeNAS).  I have encountered many problems while attempting to do this.  Then I noticed in the Elements Organizer help, under the section "Repair a catalog", the following: "Note:  (Mac OS) You cannot access catalogs present on a network drive."
    Is this true. or has someone found a workaround to the problem?
    Thanks!
    --John

    Thanks, for that ( I assume we have to carry on in English due to forum policy even though we are both of German tongue I assume)
    You mean the access problems are part of the "no network drive" thing? I suspected that. Took me a whole day in front of my computer to realign the mess.  So should one better not use the network drives at all? Quite a pity in times where everybody seems to use network storage.
    No, I did not use organizer to use the photos. So there is no way to reconnect them? Should I delete the catalogue and start with the photos from scratch?
    Regards
    Andibuch
    Am 02.01.2013 um 23:35 schrieb Barbara B.:
    Re: Using a network-stored catalog with Mac OSX
    created by Barbara B. in Photoshop Elements - View the full discussion
    Well, yes, these are part of the "no network drive" thing.
    As for moving the photos, did you use organizer to move them? You will always have trouble if you move photos outside of organizer, even on the same drive--you have to let it manage your photos or it doesn't have a clue as to what happened.
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  • Can Lightroom references files in a network folder? And can multiple people all share a Lightroom catalog?

    I would like to use Lightroom 5 at work to organize and manage photos. There are 10 people that consistently access the photos and videos. All of the photos and videos are on a network folder/drive. Is it possible for all 10 people to have a copy of Lightroom on their computers and then have a single catalog that all of the computers references? I guess the first question is whether Lightroom can references files on a network folder (if not than my first question isn't really relevant). If it is possible, what happens if two people (or more) have Lightroom open at the same time? Does that cause problems with the database? Please let me know if there is some way to make this work. Thanks..

    Photos can be stored on Network Drives.
    Catalog files cannot be stored on Network drives, and there is no way to allow multi-user access.
    If you need multi-user access, you might want to consider software that allows multi-user access, such as Daminion. (Note: I am not endorsing Daminion, as I have never used it. I simply state that it claims to have a feature you are asking about)

  • How do I move all photos and catalog (PE 6)  from local computer drive to network server drive?

    I'm using PE 6. I have about 40 GB of photos all organized and cataloged on my local PC's hard drive. I have just installed a home server that is networked and want to move/migrate all the photos and catalog information/organization from my local PC drive to the home server's hard drive. Basically, just moving everything to a new drive. I then need to point PE 6 to this new location for the photos and catalog information. All advice on how to do this would be appreciated?

    I just got done doing this and I'm not so sure I'd recommend it.
    #1 reason: The #$%%#$ Organizer has REAL PROBLEMS figuring out network path names. It has this really nasty habit of thinking, say, \\homeserv\photos, \\Homeserv\Photos, and \\HOMESERV\PHOTOS are DIFFERENT paths. And depending on how you use it to navigate, or drag and drop files onto it, or teach it to watch a folder on a network drive or whatever, it uses variants on these kinds of path names. This leads to problems like duplicate imports that are really the same file.
    What a ***.
    You MIGHT have better luck if you use a mapped drive letter to make this work. Sad. The rules for writing WinApps to NOT NEED mapped drive letters have been common knowledge to developers for a decade. Just not Adobe developers, apparently. Beyond sad. Pathetic.

  • Moving part of a catalog to network drive.

    I need some good advice for a catalog of 13k+ photos that I'm trying to clean up. I'm using Elements 7, I have purchased Elements 11, and am planning to install it soon. Part of my photos are physically located on my hard drive, and part are on a network drive mapped as J:.  Elements finds these photos on J: but I don't think that the Elements Catalog is aware that J: is a network drive/removable drive. It looks for them every time I open Elements, making the program very slow to start up. Should I use the "move to removable drive" to move these photos? How will Elements treat these photos that have been sent to a removable disk? Will I still be able to see thumbnails of the photos and search through my tags for them? If I copy my photos to a new drive, but still call that drive J: will Elements be able to find them? And finally, if I perform this "move to removable disk" task, should I do it now with Elements 7 or update to Elements 11 first? Please help. Joanne

    Valkyrie Anne wrote:
    Part of my photos are physically located on my hard drive, and part are on a network drive mapped as J:.  Elements finds these photos on J: but I don't think that the Elements Catalog is aware that J: is a network drive/removable drive. It looks for them every time I open Elements, making the program very slow to start up.  Joanne
    If the Organizer is slow to start and seems to be searching, you should check two things:
    - that you have not set the 'watched folders' service to look at the network drive (file/watched folders menu)
    - that in the preferences, files, you don't have checked automatic search and reconnection.
    If you can access your files on the network drive from the organizer and see the thumbnails, no need to worry. You can move files from your internal drive to and from the network one by the file / move menu or by dragging and dropping folders in folder view. The organizer should not consider the network drive differently from an external USB drive : if such a drive is not physically connected, you'll get 'missing files'. Only the thumbnails which are stored in the catalog will show. It's different from files on a CD/DVD : if they are not connected, you'll get an offline media warning.
    Only the catalog itself (the database) cannot be stored on a network drive; however it can be stored on an USB external drive.
    If you want to upgrade to PSE11, be sure to make a full backup on a second external drive (such USB drives are affordable today). Note that from that backup, you are able to restore the files not only on their original location, but also in custom location, for instance in the internal drive of another computer (even if the original files are scattered over several internal or external drives).
    If you install PSE11 on your present computer, you should be prompted to convert the existing catalog(s) to the new PSE11 format without having any files or folders to move or copy. That conversion does not change anything to your present PSE7 catalog, which is still working as before.

  • Why can't Lightroom open or create a catalog on a network drive?

    I just filled up my external drive and spent over $1300 on a Drobo NAS to find out Lightroom can't open or create a catalog on a network drive? EPIC FAIL!!!!
    How do I store over 8 TB of catalogs on my NAS and still be able to access them? Do I need to copy the catalogs and pictures from a local drive to a NAS, then copy them back to my local drive if I ever want to use them?
    I can't believe this is the case. There really is no reason you shouldn't be able to store a catalog on a network drive. How do I fix or get around this?

    Yes, I really have 8 TB of photography. Its from the past 10 years of dozens of worldwide photography jobs. Granted, not all of it is in Lightroom yet, but much of it is. I used Aperture until Apple abandoned all of its professional software development and have been moving to Lightroom for a while now. Aperture is able to use the NAS as a storage drive, no problem and it uses a database as well, so I really don't see why Lightroom can't do it.
    I have an 8 TB Drobo connected by Firewire to my iMac and storing photos on it for Lightroom (and Aperture prior to that) and it works fine. But it's filling up and I wanted some archive storage so I didn't have to have Lightroom catalogs and Aperture libraries on it I really don't use on a regular basis. So I got the Drobo FS800 loaded up with 12 TB of space as a network storage server to make sure everything is safely backed up. I am slowly converting my old Aperture libraries to Lightroom, one at a time as well as using Lightroom for everything I have done for about the last two years.
    But it is completely impractical to have to store the pictures and catalog on the NAS Drobo, then have to copy it all over to a local drive if I ever want to find a photograph in on a Lightroom catalog. It will takes hours if not a day to do that, just so I can open it. So I may see if I can store the pictures on the NAS Drobo but keep the catalog on the local Drobo. But I hate the idea of not keeping everything together. It something happens and the shots getting separated from the catalog, I have no idea what will happen or if it will be easy to re-connect the media. I also want to keep a backup of the catalog, but I think the built-in catalog vaults will do that.
    But again, Apple's Aperture could keep everything together and has not problem pulling it off a NAS, local drive or anywhere. Really hard to imagine why Adobe can't do the same thing, especially since Aperture is overall so obsolete in every other way to Lightroom by now.  Guess I need to try a few things and see if I can make this work. But really not comfortable splitting catalogs up on different drives than the picture files are located.

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