Syncing catalog in Lightroom 5

I have all my photos stored on an external drive connected to my office computer, which is very fast so I prefer to use it for editing. In addition to backing up all my photos offsite, I have a second external hard drive containing all my photos at home. I can use that drive if I feel like messing around with photos at home on my much slower laptop.
The problem is if I change something on one computer/external HD, it cannot be seen on the other computer/external HD. This effectively limits me to using only the work computer.
Is it possible to sync the two catalogs? For example, could I change the catalog on both computer to point to a Dropbox file? Has anyone tried this?

If you plan on setting up your Lightroom catalog to sync between computers with Dropbox, be aware that there is some danger in doing so, it could potentially damage your catalog. If you go this path, definitely disable any auto-syncing while you are using Lightroom.

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Using Lightroom Cloud to Sync Catalog Between Two Machines

I have use of so many cloud services including the 20gb that Adobe gives me. Is there a way i can sync my catalog on the cloud so that i can have all my metadata on both my laptop and desk top? I also have 300gb of cloud storage though Copy. I would just like some recomendations on how best to go about it. Thanks

Hi Pat,
Using Lightroom Cloud to Sync Catalog Between Two Machines
If you’re running Lightroom on a laptop during your location shoots, you might want to take all the edits, keywords, metadata, and of course the photos themselves, and add them to the Lightroom catalog on your studio computer. It’s easier than it sounds: basically, you choose which catalog to export from your laptop, then you take the folder it creates over to your studio computer and import it.
You need to decide whether you want to export a folder (all the imported photos from your shoot), or a collection (just your Picks from the shoot). In this case, we’ll go with a collection, so go to the Collections panel and click on the collection you want to merge with your main catalog back in your studio. (If you had chosen a folder, the only difference would be you’d go to the Folders panel and click on the folder from that shoot instead. Either way, all the metadata you added, and any edits you made in Lightroom, will still be transferred over to the other machine.)
Please refer to http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1930499 for more details.
Thanks!
Eshant Jindal

I use light room on both my desktop and laptop, syncing catalog via google drive. I have been working on the desktop all week, editing a collection in lightroom. this morning i opened the program however to find only an old version of the catalog. All wor

Hi all
So I have lightroom on both my laptop and desktop and sync catalog through google drive.
I have been working on the desktop all week on edits of high res scan in lightroom.
Today i opened the program to find everything i have done for a week isn't there.
Help.
I feel it has synced to the last time i opened on my laptop and lost what ive on on the desktop.
any help much appreciated.
p

I have no idea what happened, why you are seeing what you are seeing.
My only guess at finding the missing work is to look under File->Open Recent on both computers.
I do know that if you aren't making regular backups of your catalog file, and relying on synchronizing catalogs from one computer to another via the cloud, you are living very dangerously, and now you are possibly going to pay the consequences of not making regular backups.

How can I use the same master catalog in Lightroom 5 on my PC and Mac?

I have been using a PC with a Sinology NAS for picture storage. The master catalog has been generated from this PC. I would like to use the same catalog on my Macbook Pro. Is there a way to sync the two computers using one common catalog?

Some users have a shared catalog on an external hard drive, which if portable can be carried around. I’ve never use network storage; but in theory it could work if all the file paths were identical on both machines.
The alternative is to use a travel catalog. I dpo this on my Macbook Pro using a 128gb SD card. It means I can then process, edit photos and add metadata etc. When I get home, I import the travel catalog to Lightroom on the Windows PC to combine it with the master catalog.
Here is a video tutorial which demonstrates the use of a catalog on location.
http://tv.adobe.com/watch/the-complete-picture-with-julieanne-kost/how-to-use-lightroom-5- on-location/

When importing from an old Lightroom 2 catalog into Lightroom 4 (also from Windows to Mac) I seem to have lost all the development history of my photos. Is there any way to retain that?

I finally managed to get through the process of moving files and catalog from Lightroom 2.7 on a PC to Lightroom 4 on my Mac. I think I did it all correctly and all my file and previews and some tagging seems to be there. Two things are lost
1 - Most importantly, the development history on my files. I can see the edited versions in the previews, but as soon as I click on it, I can see that I lose all the changes I had made before. When I look at Development history, it just says "Imported on...." I'd love to get this back. That is a ton of processing work just lost because I switched computers.
2 - The collection names seem to have come over, but they are all empty. This is also a lot of work lost, though not as important as #1
Is there any recourse?

For iTunes Help
Add artwork to songs and other items
Music and video you buy from the iTunes Store comes with its own artwork. You can add your own artwork to songs and other items in your library.
You can add many popular types of still image files, including JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, and Photoshop. You must convert WAV files to another format before you can add artwork to them.
Album artwork for the currently playing item appears to the left of the progress bar. To view album artwork at a larger size in a separate window, click the artwork.
Hide
Add artwork to music and video
Do any of the following:
Add artwork to one item at a time:
Select an item in your iTunes library and choose File > Get Info.
Click Artwork and do one of the following:
Click Add, select an image file, and click Open.
Drag the art file to the artwork area.
To add artwork to another item, click Next or Previous.
Add the same artwork to multiple items: Select the items, choose File > Get Info, click Info, and drag an image file to the Artwork area.
Retrieve album artwork for songs in your library from the iTunes Store: Control-click the songs and choose Get Album Artwork from the pop-up menu.

Why do i get the following message when i attempt to open my backup file for lightroom cc? "Lightroom cannot use the catalog named "Lightroom Catalog" because it is not writable and cannot be opened". This message just started coming up after downloadi

why do i get the following message when i attempt to open my backup file for lightroom cc? "Lightroom cannot use the catalog named "Lightroom Catalog" because it is not writable and cannot be opened". This message just started coming up after downloading lightroom cc (previously using lightroom 5)...am i backing up properly or not???

Open Pictures folder and move the files named lrcat-journal and lrcat.lock to Desktop.
Make sure that , they are not inside Pictures folder any more and try to open backup from Lighrtroom and check..
Any LRcat file with .lock extension , move it to Desktop.

Is there a way to migrate Elements 11 (on Windows) catalogs to LightRoom 5 on Mac?

I have just converted to LightRoom on Mac and would like to migrate my Elements 11 catlaogs that exist on my PC. Can this be done?

On your PC, download the 30 day free trial for Windows, then upgrade the PSE11 catalog to Lightroom, then move Lightroom to the Mac via http://www.lightroomqueen.com/how-move-lightroom-to-new-computer/

Import a 2nd Photoshop Elements Catalog into Lightroom 2.1?

Okay Lightroom Gurus ...
On my old computer (Windows XP), I had several Photoshop Elements 5 catalogs, one of which was my main catalog, and the others were photos I hardly ever used. I imported the main catalog into Lightroom 2 just fine and have been running with it ever since.
Then, my old computer crapped out, I bought a new Windows Vista 64 computer, installed Lightroom 2.1, transferred the Lightroom catalog and continued along just fine.
But now, on my new computer, I want to import one of the other Photoshop Elements 5 catalogs (which still exists and still runs in PSE5 on the Vista 64 computer), but the command in Lightroom to do the import seems to have disappeared! I can't find it! Where did it go and how can I get it back? Is this a Vista 64 or Lightroom 2.1 issue (or is it me)?

Roy, I am 99% certain that importing PSE 7 catalog to LR 2 is not possible at this time. The release cycles of the products did not coincide for that to happen. However you can import from PSE 6 I believe.
I feel sure that this will be addressed soon........... but don't know when.

Cannot open my catalog in lightroom (2,7)

When I try to open my catalog in LIghtroom (2,7) it says the catalog is already opened in another application. But it is not as far as I can see. Somebody who knows what to do? Or i it a crash?

Thanks so much!!! I really learned something and many hours of work
were not spoiled.
maidi
25 jul 2011 kl. 15.33 skrev Pete Marshall:
With LR closed, check to see if there is a file ending in .lock next
to the catalog. Like this
http://forums.adobe.com/servlet/JiveServlet/showImage/76881/
Capture.JPG
If there is then delete it and then open LR again.
The lock file should be deleted every time LR is closed, but if your
computer has crashed or you have shut it down without closing LR
sometimes it doesn't. LR can have only one catalog opened at a time
and the presence of the .lock file indicates to LR that a catalog is
open.
>

Question re: second catalog in lightroom 4

I created a second catalog in lightroom 4 and imported a number of photos. the photo id number i.e. the name of the photo was not imported so the second catalog has an entirely new set of identification numbers. this is not helpful to me as I have references/notes to the original numbers. how do I indicate that I want the original names/numbers to transfer to the second catalog? can I fix what has already happened?
Also: now that I have the second catalog, I want to delete some photos with out deleting the photo from the original catalog. so far, when I delete a photo it gets deleted from both catalogues in lightroom.

Question: Are smaller catalogs faster?
Answer: At some things: yes; other things: not at all.
Yes: when doing whole catalog metadata operations, like displaying consolidated metadata, and lib filtering, and updating smart collections.
No: when editing in develop module, or displaying thumbs or loupe view in library module.
Why?
Databases use random access (read/write directly from/to pre-computed location) for reading and writing info for a single photo. - Therefore it is just as fast even if there are millions of photos and 100's of gigabytes in the database (catalog).
However some things do require Lightroom to read or write *all* records of the database, and process the data - those things take longer when the catalog is bigger.
So, whether to split your work into multiple catalogs depends on how you work. For me, a second catalog when traveling, consolidated with main upon return is my only use for a second catalog. But for people who work for independent clients, or who don't re-access older photos... - multiple catalogs makes more sense.
Summary: How you divide your work (photos) into catalogs depends mostly on how you work. Dividing into multiple catalogs for general performance improvement is not recommended, unless it really fits your workflow. However you do it, I recommend minimizing switching back and forth - lest you become crazy... .
Just my .02 opinion - YMMV...
potato321 - until you know what you're doing, I'd definitely recommend consolidating back to one catalog: just import your 2nd catalog into your main (original) catalog. Make backups of both catalogs first, in case you run into trouble.
PS - I agree with both Cornelia and dj-paige: having the same photo in more than one catalog is a recipe for disaster - just don't do it (ok, I could imagine some really unusual circumstance where this might make sense, but in 99.9% of cases: no). Now that I think about it, I did have all the same photos in Lr3 catalog and Lr4-beta catalog when I was strattling both worlds, but at the risk of sounding immodest: I knew what I was doing.
PS - Catalogs don't suck photo file data into themselves, they reference it from where it sits, in "independent" files on the disk, *but* you can duplicate physical photo files into the same directory as the catalog when you export a catalog - so be careful: it's worth knowing exactly where your photo files really are... - and whether you've inadvertently created duplicates... - I help way too many people recover previews who've inadvertently deleted photo files.
PS - I wish Lightroom had a checkbox you had to check: "I swear I understand the basics of catalog/photo-files and importing, non-destructive editng/xmp, and embedded-previews vs. rendered raw data" before it would allow you to open Lightroom - until then, it just presented the basic tutorial... (joking, but you get the idea - right?).
Rob

Sharing of a Catalog in Lightroom 4

Is it possible to share a catalog in Lightroom 4. In other words is it possible to have the main catalog and be able to share it on another computer.

Arthur,
Sort of. You can't have the catalogue on a network drive. It has to be local to the computer using it.
If you place your catalogue and all your images on an external hard drive, you can attach it to the computer that you want to use it on.
Hal

Is the catalog from Lightroom 5 compatible with Lightroom 6? Also, can Lightroom CC 2015 and Lightroom 6 use the same catalog?

I am a current Lightroom 5.7 user - I have purchased and installed Lightroom 6, but have not launched the program yet - will LR 6 make changes to my LR 5 catalog, such that it cannot be used in LR5?
Also, can LR6 and LR CC 2015 share the same catalog?

Lightroom 6 will require an updated database are catalog format. When you first start Lightroom 6 after you have installed it, it will prompt you to upgrade your catalog. This will create a new copy of your catalog in the new format, leaving your Lightroom 5 catalog intact and usable if you still have Lightroom 5 installed. Lightroom 6 and Lightroom CC can use the same catalog. But they cannot share the same catalog because that catalog must be installed locally on both computers. The Lightroom catalog cannot be placed on a network drive.

How do I how do I upgrade a Photoshop Elements 13 catalog with Lightroom 5.6 - it only sees the older PE 12 catalog

How do I upgrade a Photoshop Elements 13 Catalog with Light room 5.6 ? It only sees an older PE 12 Catalog.

At the moment, you cannot upgrade a PSE13 catalog to Lightroom. Perhaps when Lightroom 5.7 is released, this will be possible (and perhaps not)

Can Lightroom 5 save catalogs in Lightroom 4 format

I'm taking a College course in digital photography. The school only has Lightroom 4. I use Lightroom 5 at home. Is there a way to open Lightroom 5 catalogs in Lightroom 4? Or, can I tell Lightroom 5 to save my catalogs in Lightroom 4 format?
Thanks

I did not see any settings for saving to an older version.
But what you can do, is save the metadata to each file, then in lightroom 4 import the entire collection of pictures which would then bring in all the settings with it.
If necessary in lightroom 4 create a new catalog first, then import.

Import Elements catalog into Lightroom

Hi everybody,
I used PSE on my notebook for a couple of years now. As i bougth a new pc recently I want to upgrade to Photoshop CC / Lightroom. So here is my question:
Is it possible to import my elements catalog into Lightroom including my tags?
I still have got my copy of Elements 11 installed on my notebook, I´ve got a trial copy of PSE 13 on my new pc and already imported my catalog. I also installed Lightroom 5.6 on the pc.
I already looked on the internet but I only found one video which shows the solution I need but on Lightroom 3 and the function used in the video isn´t avalible in 5.6 any more.
If you need any more information please feel free to ask.
Greatings from Germany
Sebastian

Roy, I am 99% certain that importing PSE 7 catalog to LR 2 is not possible at this time. The release cycles of the products did not coincide for that to happen. However you can import from PSE 6 I believe.
I feel sure that this will be addressed soon........... but don't know when.

Syncing catalog in Lightroom 5

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