Lightroom Classic sync images to multiple computers

[unf0rg0tt3n]

Hi all,

I have:

1 laptop

2 desktops

Great story right? But a real pain to switch spots when editing photos.

How is it possible to import the photos to my laptop and then get my library synced up to all my devices?

My workflow is as following;

I shoot some pictures and get them imported to my laptop and that saves everything to my nas and uploads to the cloud.

But to enable sync on my workstation it asks me to save that library instead.

How to fix this?

Thanks!!

Message was edited by: Sahil Chawla

[Sahil.Chawla]

Hi there,

It is not possible to sync images in Lightroom Classic from 1 computer to another computer. Because Lightroom Classic syncs the images a part of a collection to Lightroom Web Photo Editor | Online Photoshop Lightroom and these synced images can be synced on a mobile devices but not another computer. However, you can use the same catalog on multiple computers and edit the images.

Please check this article to see how it works. https://www.lightroomqueen.com/how-to-lightroom-catalog-multiple-computers/

Regards,
Sahil

[unf0rg0tt3n]

Hi and thanks Sahil,

So in my case, I technically need to store my catalog onto my NAS and access it from all my stations.

When I'm out of home i.e. travel I need to sync the catalog when home correct?

How does this solution answer to synchronization? Can I have sync enabled on all devices since it's technically the same catalog?

Thanks!

[gegjr]

I realize this is a month old post but I think there needs to be some clarification made. You CANNOT keep a Lightroom Catalog on a Network Drive (NAS). If you are mistakenly calling your actual original files your catalog than yes, you can keep your original files on a NAS (network drive). You CAN keep your catalog (lrcat) on an external hard drive as well as your actual original files and you CAN keep your catalog (lrcat) on an external hard drive or a computer hard drive and keep your actual files on a NAS. By the way, Lightroom will allow you to keep your catalog on the cloud (Microsoft One Drive or Dropbox) as long as the cloud storage is synced to your desktop. My point here is that original files are NOT your catalog. Your catalog is the lrcat file which is a database that contains pointers to where the original files are located and contains adjustments you've made to the original files. It just felt to me that you were confusing your original file location with the catalog because as I said, Lightroom does NOT allow the catalog (lrcat) to be kept on a networked drive.

[unf0rg0tt3n · Accepted solution]

So I have dictated a guide on how to have your full catalog on multiple devices without the synchronize problem.

It's written in dutch but has auto translation added the the article.

It can be found here: https://denniskluytmansfotografie.com/index.php/2019/08/07/lightroom-classic-cc-catalogus-meerdere-l...

[trunkafunk]

it can be confusing, especially when traveling and wanting to work on photos and do backups.

1) I have a laptop, desktop, and ipad. I ALWAYS try and import my photos to my desktop, which puts RAW/JPG file onto external SSD's for quick editing.

2) I select a target collection upon import, which auto-syncs the smart previews of all the imported photos to a new collection (we'll call it 2022).

3) If I'm using ipad, I have access to all my photos via smart previews, although I can't export them full size. 

For a while, I was storing the catalog on an external disk and moving between computers but I decided this was a recipe for disaster. 

currently:

If I'm in the field, I'll import the RAW's to a laptop and work on them and then merge them back afterwards.

Also I can import directly to Lightroom on iPad and it will sync the RAW's to my adobe storage if I have enough space.

ideally:

I'm fairly sure that synology allows you to access your NAS files remotely as a network share.

If this were the case, you could potentially store your CATALOG in cloud desktop storage (that could be accessed anywhere), and store your Original files on the NAS storage, and then just point lightroom to the remotely mounted network folder when you are working remotely.

I have yet to try syncing my catalog files via cloud storage. 

I understand why adobe doesn't advertise a path for this as data loss / syncing issues could potentially arise.

[stefpix]

If you are in the field,

you said you can import to the iPad for backing up to the Adobe cloud. 
In this case how can you edit on your laptop if your synced catalog in on your desktop computer?
do you import the same photos into the iPad and into the laptop?
then how do you apply the edits you performed on your laptop catalog to your main catalog?

lightroom on iPad OS does not allow pasting captions and other IPTC metadata to multiple photos at once, which for me is a workflow dealbreaker in many cases. 

I wonder how can someone use a laptop to edit new photos while traveling away from the synced Lightroom catalog at home. 
lightroom should allow syncing across multiple catalogs. 

[Bob Somrak]

@stefpix said

This is definately a glaring ommision in Lr Mobile.