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givemeafreakingbreak
Known Participant
February 5, 2023
Answered

Sync catalog between mac and pc

  • February 5, 2023
  • 2 replies
  • 4294 views

I sync my LR classic catalog & previews (the entire LR folder) and master photos between my desktop and laptop (everything is hosted on my synology NAS which syncs out from there).  This has worked just fine with my windows desktop and windows laptop - I can open LR on either system and everything is updated (I make sure to close LR whenever I leave one system).

I'm now considering getting a macbook, but I'm don't know if mac and windows LR folders are completely compatible.  Can you open up LR catalogs and previews made by a pc in a mac without conversion, and vice versa?  Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance...

Correct answer Jao vdL

The catalog and other associated folders are exchangeable indeed. The problem is the way the path to your images is coded inside the catalog file. While the file format of the catalog and the previews is the same, the way windows codes paths is different from how Macs code paths. Macs don't use drive letters for example so you might have to relink the top level folder where your images are every time you switch between machines. This will be the biggest problem you encounter (apart from possible data loss that you already are dealing with with two windows machines if you forget to close out of Classic on one computer) and it is not entireably solvable.

2 replies

GoldingD
GoldingD
Legend
February 5, 2023

I have a Windows workstation for at home use, and a MACBook for travel use (when it came time to replace old Windows laptop, the MAC was a better deal). When on travel I use an external hard drive for the catalog and photos. When I get home, I copy all that to my Windows workstation hard drive (yes old school multiple catalogs, bla bla bla). So yes it is possible (would assume merging catalogs, exporting/importing, syncing, would work as well)

 

 

    J
    Community Expert
    Jao vdLCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    February 5, 2023

    The catalog and other associated folders are exchangeable indeed. The problem is the way the path to your images is coded inside the catalog file. While the file format of the catalog and the previews is the same, the way windows codes paths is different from how Macs code paths. Macs don't use drive letters for example so you might have to relink the top level folder where your images are every time you switch between machines. This will be the biggest problem you encounter (apart from possible data loss that you already are dealing with with two windows machines if you forget to close out of Classic on one computer) and it is not entireably solvable.

      G
      givemeafreakingbreakAuthor
      Known Participant
      February 6, 2023

      That makes total sense... and I think this will bite me with other applications as well...

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