Lightroom on external drive

[thommo]

Hi Guys
This is probably a simple question for you guys but not for me.
I shoot a lot of motorsport and I wish to review my shots at the track on the day. I am thinking of connecting an external drive to my laptop and card reader as well. I would like to download the photos directly to the external drive and review them in Lightroom.
Can I load Lightroom on to external drive and then the photos onto the external drive and then review them and delete the non keepers.
Please explain in simple terms if you don't mind.
Hopefully you can help.

Jeff

 

[ThomasB]

Hello Jeff,

Mac or PC? Please fill out the signature, so we all know your setup.

For PC, IMHO you can't install LR on an external drive completely, because there are always files in the system and user folders and keys in the Windiws Registry. Therefore you need to install the basic program on every machine separately. What helps is keeping all installations in sync like installed third party add-ons.

You can store the RAW files and the catalog on the external drive. If you assign the same drive letter (like L: for Lightroom ) to the external drive on every machine, you can transport the drive from laptop to desktop and continue working. What helps is checking the "store presets with catalog"-option.

And don't forget to backup the catalog to another drive.

 

[Replytoken]

Hi Guys
This is probably a simple question for you guys but not for me.
I shoot a lot of motorsport and I wish to review my shots at the track on the day. I am thinking of connecting an external drive to my laptop and card reader as well. I would like to download the photos directly to the external drive and review them in Lightroom.
Can I load Lightroom on to external drive and then the photos onto the external drive and then review them and delete the non keepers.
Please explain in simple terms if you don't mind.
Hopefully you can help.

Jeff

Why not install LR on the laptop? Either way, you need to know that you will need to import the files before you can view them in LR. Depending on your compter's speed, the number of files, their size, and any other metadata operations you wish to preform, this could take quite some time. You might want to carry a copy of a program like FastStone on your laptop or external drive (as the program is "portable") for quick viewing on the spot. Then, when you have the time, import them into LR at your convenience.

--Ken

 

[thommo]

Thanks guys I know what to do now.

Thanks
Jeff