Moving to a New Mac...

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
November 29, 2022
4 replies
1972 views

...is not as easy as pie as all the instructions say. I want to move from a 27" iMac to a 16" MBP M1 Max ru. All OS's and Adobe apps are latest versions.

My photos are on an external SSD (+ three backups). I had thought it was as easy as moving the Adobe files (.lrcat and others) from the iMac (Pictures/Lightroom) to the MBP and plugging in the SSD that contains the photos. No deal. When I open Lr on the MBP it shows the previews from the old Lr Classic library (under a separate Adobe license). Yes, I logged out of the old account and into the new. I tell it to open the new .lrcat and also set that as the default catalog. Still no deal; I'm seeing the old previews. Can someone please tell me what I am doing wrong or point me to the real instructions for performing what should be an easy task?

macOS

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JohanElzenga

Community Expert

I think you misunderstand how catalogs and licenses work in Lightroom Classic. You think the catalog and your license are connected, so if you change license you'll change catalogs. That is not the case however. Your license has nothing to do with the catalog. If you open an 'old' catalog, then you will see the 'old' previews, regardless of which AdobeID you used to log into your Adobe account. That means you can keep using your old catalog if you change to a different account, or you can create a new catalog and start from scratch again. That's completely up to you.

-- Johan W. Elzenga

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David_IlligAuthor

Inspiring

Thanks for taking time to reply. I don't think that a misunderstanding of catalogs or licenses is the issue. I want everyone to understand that I have two licenses because I sometimes need to run Lr Classic and/or Photoshop on two machines simultaneously, which the license does not permit (despite the trend toward more liberal licensing among other software vendors; q.v. Microsoft 365, Topaz, Software Bisque, and many others). Specifically, my wife and I often need to run the software simultaneously. That may be no clearer than Mississippi mud, but it's as clear as my aged brain can make it.

TheDigitalDog

Inspiring

The catalogs are utterly activation/license agnostic. You could send me a catalog, and I could open and view it with my license (activation). Doesn't matter if you run one, two, or a dozen copies with differing activations (licenses).

You and your wife running two versions of the same time/simultaneously, with the same catalog? BAD idea!

So again, it's still unclear (to me, seems others) what your problem with the product is.

Author “Color Management for Photographers" & "Photoshop CC Color Management/pluralsight"

Victoria Bampton LR Queen

Community Expert

When I open Lr on the MBP it shows the previews from the old Lr Classic library (under a separate Adobe license). Yes, I logged out of the old account and into the new. I tell it to open the new .lrcat and also set that as the default catalog.

That means you either moved the wrong catalog, or you haven't opened the catalog you moved.

The catalog and previews are local - e.g. not related to a specific Adobe account. The only exception is photos stored in the cloud, perhaps from mobile, which may sync down from the cloud if it asked you to change to syncing this catalog.

Victoria - The Lightroom Queen

GoldingD

Legend

When I open Lr on the MBP it shows the previews from the old Lr Classic library (under a separate Adobe license). Yes, I logged out of the old account and into the new.

Why a separate Adobe license, account. You do not need a separate account to work on a separate computer. Please expand on that, it makes no sense, clearly missing something.

Was this perhaps a subscription at work or school, owned by work or school, and now you need your own personal subscription?

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David_IlligAuthor

Inspiring

You're missing that I need two licenses to run some apps on two Macs simultaneously. I have a full Creative Cloud Plan for two 27" iMacs and a Photography Plan for two MacBook Pros. I'm swapping one of the MBP's for one of the iMacs, and thus need to swap libraries, as well. I'm not counting the second Photography Plan that I pay for for my nephew.