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annes93677055
Participant
March 10, 2019
Question

How do I migrate Lightroom CC files to new computer?

  • March 10, 2019
  • 3 replies
  • 7229 views

I have the Photography plan with Photoshop cc, Lightroom cc and Lightroom Classic CC (20gb storage).

Over the past year I have mainly used Lightroom CC and have about 3,000 edited images . I have dabbled with Lightroom classic and my cloud storage is full with another 800 images.

My elderly pc can‘t cope with modern life and I have just bought a new iMac .

I have copied all ‘my photos’ to an external hard drive.

My question?

How do I access the 3000 edited tiff images that I can see in Lightroom CC on my old pc on my new IMac in Lightroom CC (or get them into the library module of Lightroom Classic CC if this is a possibility).

(I have the original RAW files saved and the final edited images saved as jpegs ).

thanks

[ moved from Adobe Creative Cloud to Lightroom Classic CC — The desktop-focused app by moderator ]

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    3 replies

    Abambo
    Community Expert
    AbamboCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 10, 2019

    Just to start some precisions as I have the impression, you are mistakingly confounding Lightroom Classic CC and Lightroom CC:

    Lightroom CC: Stores pictures and edits in the cloud. If you are shooting raw you are filling-up your cloud space rapidly. There is no chance to do serious work with 20g.

    Lightroom Classic CC: uses the classic approach of storing raw files on the harddisk and using a database called catalog, also locally, to save the edits. You can edit your raw files and export them to JPEG or TIFF or DNG. Some operations create intermediate files (either TIFF or DNG) that are also “included“ into your catalog. There is a possibility to synchronize smart previews to the cloud, so that you may edit on mobile devices. Those edits are synchronized back to the local catalog, when you next connect your Lightroom Classic to the net.

    To migrate Lightroom CC to a new PC: Load and install Lightroom CC on a different computer and connect with your Adobe id.

    To migrate Lightroom Classic CC: As all data is stored locally and the basic design of the software does not allow editing from different computers (except some unsupported tricks or using an external disk), you need to copy both, the original raw files and the catalog data to your new computer, respecting for the original raw files the correct access path (there is a possibility to reconnect, when the access path changes, but best is to move inside of Lightroom if the access path should be reorganized).

    As soon as the catalog and the data is copied to the new destination, you should no more edit your files on the old computer as those edits will not synchronize with the new machine.

    If you want editing “on the move”, you should consider upgrading your cloud space. Please note that the Lightroom CC plan does include 1Tb of cloud space, but does not include Photoshop or Lightroom Classic CC.

    ABAMBO | Hard- and Software Engineer | Photographer
      P
      phenomfarm
      Participating Frequently
      March 22, 2020

      I use Lightroom CC and just purchased a new Macbook pro. I do not have all my photos in the cloud, just connected to my old Air's HD and stored on an external. Is there a way to move them over to my new Pro? 

      I have it downloaded on the new pro, and all the folders show, but not the photos (since I don't have them stored in the cloud). Will I have to upload to the cloud from the old air to be able to download to the new pro? Seems like there should be a better solution to transition to a new computer. 

      C
      Celestial_Mirage5C79
      Participant
      May 6, 2021

      I had this same issue and just figured it out!

       

      I put a USB in my old macbook and went to Finder > "Your Computer Drive" > Users > "Your User Name" > Pictures. 

       

      In this folder there is a file with the lightroom symbol called "Lightroom Library.lrlibrary". Click and see how large the file is (mine was 60 something gb because I had about 7,000 photos in my previous library). Make sure your USB drive has enough storage for this file. Then simply click and drag the file into your USB drive. It may take a long time for it to transfer, be patient.

       

      Once it's done, eject the USB and plug it into your new computer. Make sure Lightroom is already installed on the new computer but make sure it is not open when you do this. Go to the same place on your new computer, Finder > "Your Computer Drive" > Users > "Your User Name" > Pictures. You will already see a file there called "Lightroom Library.lrlibrary". Delete it, but know if you do it will delete any photos you already have stored on this new computer (not in the cloud, but any on the disk). You can try keeping both, not sure if it will work, but mine was a brand new computer so I deleted this one and it worked for me.

       

      Once that is done, simply click and drage your old "Lightroom Library.lrlibrary" file from the USB to the same place on the new computer... Finder > "Your Computer Drive" > Users > "Your User Name" > Pictures.

       

      Wait for the file to transfer, again, might take a while but be patient. Once it's finished, eject the USB and open Lightroom. It will have a pop up window saying that it is checking 0 / whatever amount of photos you have (might no be accurate, mine said 2,000 originally and then surpassed that number as it was checking them). Mine sat like this for maybe 30ish minutes and then started adding the photos, so BE PATIENT! 

       

      But, after all that, IT WORKED! All 7,000 of my photos are back and in their respective albums/folders in Lightroom CC PLUS all my photos that were saved in the cloud. It's just as it was on my old computer. 

       

      I hope this helps!!!!

        99jon
        99jon
        Legend
        March 10, 2019

        https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/desktop-app.html

        99jon
        99jon
        Legend
        March 10, 2019

        Activate sync in LR Classic if you wish to duplicate the images on your external drive. The same external drive may be specified in LR Classic Preferences.

        99jon
        99jon
        Legend
        March 10, 2019
        1. Download the Creative Cloud desktop app to your iMac
        2. Go to the apps tab and click the install button next to LRCC
        3. Your photos will appear like magic from the cloud.
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