HOW CAN I USE PHOTOS ON MY EHD ON BOTH MY LT AND DT USING PC

Status
Not open for further replies.
B

bjc

Active Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2009
Messages
178
i am using a pc with vista...i have a LT and a DT and all my photos are on my ehd...i use lightroom to bring my photos into the computer...then i adjust when i have time...at least once a week i am away and do this from my LT loading all the photos to my EHD that is shared with the Dt ...when i am home i then hook the ehd into the dt....i am totally confused how to use this system and not have to go import my photos again.....

i have been told to do an export of the catalog each time i am about to disconnect the ehd and then when i hook it to the lt import the catalog.... i am trying this with my 2'1' photos and it is taking forever... i dont think this will work...any ways to do what i want to do would be much appreciated?

i am a bit confused about the catalog thing and if i should be backing up to somewhere...like on my ehd??? and what to do

so thanks for easy directions for a novice grandmother who takes lots of photos....
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
can you tell me how i put the catalog on my ehd? and how i keep it updated each time i add photos? thanks so very much
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
On Windows, the previews database is the folder structure named your_catalog_name.lrdata, which should be in the same folder, right next door to the catalog, your_catalog_name.lrcat .

Usually, these are in the My Pictures/Lightroom folder.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
and how does this catalog get updated? does it just reflect the new photos and the changes to the photos as i do them or do i have to save or do something to this catalog?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
It's automatic. It keeps track of everything you do the images. So it's critically important to arrange for backups of the catalog, and the images. Keeping it on the EHD just makes it portable, so it travels with the images. Both the DT and LT will be able to access the current version, alternately.

You might want to have a look at The Starter Kit for guidance on most of the basic questions. We'll be happy to help you get organized with a backup plan as well.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Upvote 0 Downvote
In an ordinary graphics program, the changes to images are made to the image files themselves, and you save the files once the changes are made, which forever alters them, with no way back to the original.

In Lr, the changes are 'applied' to the files, but instead of making a physical change to the image files, the sequence of adjustment instructions is saved by Lr in a special place. That place is the catalog database file. The beauty of this is that your images are never harmed by your processing, and you can always start over, if you get a better idea, sort of like film negatives used to be.

However, computers and Lr aren't perfect, and since Lr keeps 'all its eggs in one basket', the catalog database, it pays to make sure you keep backup copies of that 'precious' file. Since you also will need the original image files in order for the adjustment instruction to work on, it pays to keep back ups of those as well.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
here is where i get confused.... when you open lr it says do you want to backup...is that backing up the catalog? or what? i have mozy that backsup my computer each night and it backs up everything on my ehd....so if i have that am i also doing that lightroom backup?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Lightroom has its own backup capability, but for the catalog only. It is entirely optional, and the frequency can be user set to a certain degree (e.g. never, once a month, once a week, once a day, every time LR starts). Typically it will create a date-stamped backup in the folder called Backups alogside the catalog (see your folder screenshot), so each backup file is unique and over a period of time you can find literally hundreds of backups in that folder. You have to manually delete them should you want to reduce the number there.

Do you need to use this option? Look at it as a safety measure should you get a catalog corruption which goes unnoticed for a couple of days or weeks....you might find that your regular backup routine has now overwritten the catalog backup with corrupted versions, but if you have used LR's own backup process in addition to your own regime there's a good chance you will be able to get back to an uncorrupted version. This is what I do....I have a backup process which creates three separate backups of both picture folders AND catalog (and LT settings) and I also have my preferences set for LR to take a weekly backup.

Hope this makes sense to you....
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
i hate to sound dum...but...lol.... i really just want to clarify all this so i understand what i am doing...I Love using LR to adjust my photos and am fine with it...i just want to be certain with my understanding of how it all is organized re the fact that i use the ehd for all the photos, and go btw my LT and DT....

1. i just put photos on my ehd using LR to get them off the CF card... i am on my LT and as you saw in the screen shot there is a file i made on my EHD called LR with the backup folder and the lcrat files etc..... so i want to be clear that i can close up the LT , disconnect the ehd and then hook up the ehd to the Dt ( i am away otherwise i would be trying this) and then i will see these new photos that i have along with all my old photos..... is this correct ?

2. i am attaching a screen shot of the backup window that opens when i start LR and want to make sure that is correct and that i should say yes to backup.... am i correct that the backup is different from the catalog.... ???? the catalog is what the LR uses to see all the adjustments etc to the photos...and the backup backsup the catalog so it is another copy of it???

just need some clarifying if i have it right so that i can understand it ...or any explanation of where i am missing something...thanks
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
No worries....we all had to learn (and in my case I still am!!).

1. In principle, yes that is exactly how it should work....if you have ONE catalog into which all pictures are 'imported', and that catalog is on the same EHD as all the pictures, then you can happily switch between laptop and desktop and it also doesn't matter which PC you are using when you import. I said 'in principle', reason for that is there's one potential fly in the ointment....and that is that ideally the EHD should have the same drive letter when it is connected to either laptop or desktop. Lightroom keeps track of all your pictures and folders for you, but these are indexed under the drive letter of the particular hard drive(s) on which they are kept. SO.....if your EHD has drive letter N on the laptop, and all the pictures/folders have been successfully indexed under that drive letter, and then you connect the EHD to your desktop AND IT HAS A DIFFERENT DRIVE LETTER then LR will report all the folders as missing (i.e. there will be a ? alongside all the folders in the folder panel of the Library module). Obviously the easiest thing to do is to ensure the drive has the same drive letter on both PCs....but even if it hasn't you could still go through the 'find missing folder' procedure to point LR towards them (although it helps to have the 'parent' folder showing, then you just have to locate the one and all sub-folders will automatically be found).

Hope that all made sense....

2. Yes you are correct, if you use the LR backup process (looks like you have it set to backup the catalog every time LR starts, which may be overkill if you also have your own independent backups) then a COPY of the current catalog is created in the folder called Backups (have a look in there, you might be surprised at how many backup copies you find).....
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
ok...thank you for clearly answering my questions...thanks to eveyone here that responded....it has been helpful....when i get home i will see what the letter is for the ehd when hooked up to my DT but i think it is the same.... as for the backup set up where do i find that and what do you suggest? once a week???

thanks so much...fyi...i waited on hold for almost an hour at adobe the other day and the person did not explain nor understand...he had me exporting my catalog every time i shut down the computer and the export of the catalog takes a long time.... so you guys were much more helpful and i didnt even have to be on hold with musac for an hour..!!!LOL
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Hey, glad we were able to help.

To change the Lightroom frequency, click on Edit, Catalog Settings and you'll find the Backup options in the middle of the General tab....click the down arrow to the right and you'll find the options there. As to how frequent, that really depends on your own preferences....if you are comfortable with your own backup routine then you may decide that weekly is OK. But if you only generally use LR every few days, you could perhaps leave it at the current setting....entirely up to you, but I wouldn't do it less than weekly though!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Also, what if the EHD breaks? Better to choose a location on the local drives and configure it on both machines. This is in the first line of your screen shot...
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
hope someone is still around here to help me...i thought i had it all fine by showing you my files on the ehd and yes the ehd does have the same letter when i use it on the LT or with the Dt...i have been using the Dt cause i was home...now i am away and i open up LR and none of the more recent photos that i had put on using my DT and the EHD are shown....????? whats up???? what am i still doing wrong???? and what screen shots should i show you to show where the problem is????

this screen shot shows what i see on the LT and there are several more dates in april that have photo folders.... hoping for some help to figure this out thanks
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
thought i would add these screen shots...one is of the folder that is on my ehd that i believe is the catalog??? the other is in that folder i opened up the backup folder./..

any help to figure out why the lt isnt showing my newer photos that i added with the same ehd but using my dt ....
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
It is because your catalog on the laptop is different than the one on the desktop. Lightroom will not be aware of new photos by itself. You have to import to make Lightroom aware of their location. But do not do the import from both the desktop and from the laptop! The trick is to work with only one version of the catalog (by transfering it) or more simply with a single catalog. In your case, the very simplest way to do this is to move your catalog on the EHD. With Lightroom closed, copy both YourCatalogName.lrcat file and YourCatalogName Previews.lrdata folder to the EHD and double-click the .lrcat to open. Be sure that on both computers, Lightroom will alway open the catalog on the EHD. You can hold the Ctrl key when you double-click the Lightroom sortcut and it will immediately offer a dialog box where you can tell it where to look for the catalog and put a check-mark for "Always load this catalog on startup".
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
OK so you laptop's catalog is N:/Lightroom for ehd/Lightroom 2 Catalog.lrcat

If it is not showing the images the desktop catalog was showing it is because the desktop was still configured to work from the catalog on C:. Recopy from desktop to EHD and configure both computers to open from the EHD catalog as I explained before.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
have to take my grandson out now.... will be back and check back later to see if i can figure this out..appreciate yourhelp and will post again when i try to figure this out
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
here is where i am really confused.... this is what opens when i go to see what catalog i am using...and since i only have one folder on the ehd ...i dont understand why this isnt the same for the dt and the lt.... i am attaching what it said...i did not change or move anything cause my ehd is where this info is...at least that is what my thinking is and that is what i have shown above in a screen shot previously... can you clarify
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
The thing you need to remember is that your are running TWO versions of Lighroom, one of each of your two computers. Your goal of trying to have them both access the ONE set of picture files and ONE catalog is perfectly reasonable, BUT you have to ensure that Lightroom on BOTH computers opens the same catalog by default.

You have shown us a screenshot from ONE of your computers which shows that it is correctly trying to use the version of the catalog that you have created on the EHD.....now you need to perform the same check on the OTHER computer to make sure that it too has the EHD catalog as its default. If you are having inconsistencies across the 2 computers, chances are that one of them has a different default catalog.

Have a look at the other computer and let us know what you find....

Have faith, this WILL get sorted!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
thanks...when i am back home and on the dt i will do the opening window with the ctrl to see what it says for the catalog..... and then get back to you later this week...thanks so very much
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top