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Lightroom Catalog on thumb drive

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hafeatherston

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Lightroom Classic subscription
Operating System
  1. Windows 10
I would like to use my Lightroom Classic on my desktop and laptop (to edit and add keywords, etc.). If I put the catalog on a thumb drive and my photos are on Onedrive, will that work?
If I add photos to the desktop LR, will the laptop version be aware or will it get everything out of sync?
Any help on how to be able to use classic on two computers would be appreciated.
 
One option would be to buy an SSD drive, like the Samsung T5, and put your catalog with Smart Previews on it, especially if the majority of your laptop work is keywording.

--Ken
 
One option would be to buy an SSD drive, like the Samsung T5, and put your catalog with Smart Previews on it, especially if the majority of your laptop work is keywording
I'm using the Samsung T5 also for this purpose. Very good device, small, fast and affordable. I formatted it as exFAT so i can use it on my main system (Windows) and lapotp (Macbook Pro).
 
Thanks. The catalog and smart previews on a T5 I think would work. Keywording was one of the things I was wanting to do. I assume this will sync back to the original photos?
I'm still new to Lightroom though; how do I get smart previews on the external drive?
 
Thanks. The catalog and smart previews on a T5 I think would work. Keywording was one of the things I was wanting to do. I assume this will sync back to the original photos?
I'm still new to Lightroom though; how do I get smart previews on the external drive?
Smart Previews are kept with the catalog files. You should create them when you are connected to your images. Here is a helpful explanation of how they work: How to use Smart Previews to view and edit photos in Photoshop Lightroom Classic .

--Ken
 
I'm using the Samsung T5 also for this purpose. Very good device, small, fast and affordable. I formatted it as exFAT so i can use it on my main system (Windows) and lapotp (Macbook Pro).
Samsung's newer version of this drive uses an NVMe controller and it is supposed to be much faster than the T5 series. Unfortunately the price is commensurate with the speed.

--Ken
 
Before I run out and buy a T5, I had another thought/question. All of my photos and my catalog are in the cloud on Onedrive. Since both machines access the same cloud and files would it be possible to load Lightroom classic (subscription) on both machines and have them work from the cloud files (which is what I do now on just one PC) and therefore not need an external drive? Thanks again for all your help.

Holly
 
As long as the OneDrive files are actually synced down to the local hard drive on each machine, and you give them time to fully sync before switching computers, then yes. However I would do more frequent catalog backups, as there's a higher chance of catalog corruption.
 
Thanks so much for the quick reply. To avoid the chance of corruption you mentioned, I just want to make sure I understand what you mean when you say the OneDrive files should be synced down to the hard drive on each machine. I normally try and keep my photos on OneDrive, to save space on my PCs. When I access a file to work on it will download to the machine I'm working on and then I was assuming I should make sure everything syncs "up" to the cloud when I'm done. When I switch machines and access that file I should get the edited (or keyworded) version. Am I looking at this correctly or am I looking at it backwards. Again I really appreciate the help.

Holly
 
It's particularly the catalog and its related files that needs to be local and fully synced before switching machines. The photos themselves are only needed locally when you need to access an original.
 
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