Having two catalogs and how to do it ?

[guido.coza]

Hi All
I guess this question was asked a thousand time but i could not find the thread, sorry!
I got a new desktop computer and would like to do two things
Keep one copy on my laptop, which I take with me on travel.
Have a copy of that catalog on my iMac.
Two things
After every trip I load the pictures from the laptop on a external drive, as the SSD of the laptop is to small to hold all pics. So there is actually only a rellativly small amount of pics on the laptop.
All the heavy editing ( pano, stacking, hdr, PS ) I would prefer to do at home on the big boy.
How do I sync the two catalogs so that both catalogs know where the pics are and have all metadata available.
Thanks for your help in advance
cheers
Guido

 

[clee01l]

I will call the catalog on the iMac the "master" catalog. and the one on the laptop the "travel" catalog
The first thing you need to do is get the "travel" catalog and the images that it references to the EHD that you are sharing between both computers. When the master catalog can "see" the travel catalog and the images associated with the travel catalog, you can use the function "Import from another catalog" to merge the contents of the "travel" catalog into the "master" catalog. Then all of the previous adjustments and metadata found in the travel catalog will be available in the master catalog.

 

[Linwood Ferguson]

Is the travel catalog JUST for the images you are accumulating while you are travelling? Do you need the other images from prior trips?

If not, this is fairly easy, just start with an empty catalog each trip and merge it when you return into the master.

If you use presets, calibrations, keyword lists (to choose from), etc. be aware you have to separately keep those in sync (and each varies as to how, e.g. presets and calibrations and the like are not in the catalog.

 

[guido.coza]

The first thing you need to do is get the "travel" catalog and the images that it references to the EHD that you are sharing between both computers. When the master catalog can "see" the travel catalog and the images associated with the travel catalog, you can use the function "Import from another catalog" to merge the contents of the "travel" catalog into the "master" catalog

First off all thanks for the reply.
Do I understand you right. I should have the images AND the catalog files (Lightroom 5 ....Ircat) ON the EHD? I think I did ask something to that extent at one stage and was advised not to??
If so, can I also put the previews folder(10.2GB) on that EHD??

 

[clee01l]

While you can run LR (except for the app itself) entirely on the EHD, if this is a USB2 connected EHD, that might be a little slow for daily processing. But still a doable process. The other option is to create an "Export as Catalog" on the EHD. This will let you choose which images from the travel catalog you want on the master catalog and at the same time create a package consisting of a parent folder, a Export catalog in the parent folder and photo copies in subfolders of the parent folder. Optionally you can include a Previews folder and a Smart Previews folder. This parent folder and the created catalog file contained in it, is a compact and complete catalog that has almost everything that you need to run LR (even on a Windows machine). It has everything necessary to use the "Import from another Catalog function" with your Master catalog file.