Using Lightroom Classic on two different computers with an external hard rive

Question

I am wondering what is the easiest way to work on two different computers on Lightroom classic with an external hard drive? The reason I ask is because when I tried to hook up my external hard drive to my second computer, the photos showed up, but none of my presets, and or brushes, what am I missing?

GoldingD · Accepted Answer

Yes, I should include these additional thoughts.

1. Develop presets vs Profile presets (what presets are missing?)

2. Available Develop Module presets in the Presets panel

3. LrC version comparison between two computers. (hey, things happen)

4. Process version (a bit far fetched)

Both develop module presets and profile presets can be affected for those presets provided by Adobe based on LrC version, but that is not often, and for the develop module those would probably be creative presets, for the profiles they would be camera matching. If both computers have the same LrC version, not the issue. A missing color profile should give you an error message.

I may be wrong, but Color Profiles, such as Camera Matching profiles may be effected by Process Version. It is extremely rare for that to show up however. Fairly sure it requires a user error.

For the Develop module presets, Bring up the Presets Panel. That is click on the + symbol. Select management. See if the preset in question is simply not selected as available. If I remember correctly Adobe got into the habit of not having all presets turned on by default. And added presets may need user intervention to turn on.

richardplondon · Answer

The Lr Preferences file, and various other resources, are stored in a central location on the computer concerned. This is separate from the Catalog location and also separate from the images location. There are two classes of resource: those also available to ACR (lens profiles, custom lens assignments, downloaded camera profiles and such) - held in a user files location named CameraRaw - and those specific to LrC only - held in a user files location named Lightroom.

In LrC preferences, Presets tab are two buttons: Show Lightroom Develop Presets and Show All Other Lightroom Presets - which navigate you to these two locations. If all contents of those two locations can be synced regularly between the two computers, both installations of LrC as well as of ACR will work on the same footing even if multiple Catalogs are used over time.

There is an option in Catalog settings, "Store presets with Catalog". This is set on and off per Catalog if you have more than one. Any Catalog with this set ON will maintain and refer to a folder next to the storage location of the Catalog, instead of to the default central location, for Develop presets and a few other matters. This means initially no user Presets will be seen at all. Any that you do already have elsewhere would need to be copied here (and LrC restarted) before you would see those. This same task is needed each time LrC converts a new different Catalog due to version upgrade: that new Catalog would begin 'empty' of accompanying presets until you actively copied those in alongside. The folders where these live are specific to a particular Catalog name.

So any new develop presets created, or any updates to those presets, would now be happening there. And transfer between computers naturally along with the Catalog and the image files, as the external drive is switched over. Those other kinds of resource which cannot "store with Catalog" will not transfer in this way. But perhaps that is a secondary matter - especially if, leaving aside develop presets and similar, everything else is largely left as it came 'out of the box' in both places.

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