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Sónamerica
Participant
July 28, 2017
Answered

Using Lightroom CC on both windows and mac

  • July 28, 2017
  • 2 replies
  • 16840 views

Im in the market to purchase a laptop running windows. My question to you all is can I use lightroom on both platforms and swap my work between the two?

example: Imac at home where most of my work is being done, but I would like to be able to take my work with me on the laptop running windows when I travel so that I can finish up my work and still be able to meet the deadlines I set for my clients. I have looked into this but I can't find a solid answer I am aware of how CC works and that I can have it installed on both platforms but can only run one at a time. I just want to make sure that im not going to have an issue with lightroom not being able to see my work because I jumped into another platform. Thank you in advance for your assistance

Regards,

Rob

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer JP Hess

    Although I have never used a Mac, I can tell you that Lightroom is cross-platform. The catalog, which is the file that Lightroom opens, is platform independent so you should have no problem with your plans to use it on both Windows and the Mac.

    2 replies

    John Waller
    Community Expert
    John WallerCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 28, 2017

    Sónamerica  wrote

    My question to you all is can I use lightroom on both platforms and swap my work between the two?

    What Jim said. I use LR on Mac and Windows daily. Works fine, as it is designed to.

      S
      SónamericaAuthor
      Participant
      July 29, 2017

      Thanks John I was really worried about that since I had read something about lightrooms paths were different in each platform and thus when one platform opened the catalog it would write that path and when you moved the catalog to the other platform lightroom would not see it since the path had changed.

      Thanks again you've been a big help these last couple of days!

      W
      williams11032794
      Participant
      September 2, 2017

      Seems to me it depends on what kind of answer you are looking for. Needs to be one which works for you.

      There are steps and workarounds available to circumvent most of the awkwardness in any setup.

      Which part is not answered for you? Have you tried using a Mac/Win workflow yourself? If yes, do you have any problems with your setup?


      Let me give you some background.  I run Lightroom 6.9 on an iMac.  I plan to move to CC in the near future. I want some portability to do edits while travelling, so I have  been looking at the new Ipad Pro and the Microsoft Surface Pro.  For ease of use, I am assuming the best choice is the iPad Pro.  But I like the Surface Pro.  If the Surface Pro could be used seamlessly - by that I mean, edit on the road to some level using the Surface and be able to do final tweaks at home on the iMac with very little effort in syncing.  I would still like the iMac to keep final copies of everything.  But I don't want to buy other products and go through a lot of steps that I can screw up.

      JP Hess
      JP HessCorrect answer
      Inspiring
      July 28, 2017

      Although I have never used a Mac, I can tell you that Lightroom is cross-platform. The catalog, which is the file that Lightroom opens, is platform independent so you should have no problem with your plans to use it on both Windows and the Mac.

      S
      SónamericaAuthor
      Participant
      July 29, 2017

      Thank You Jim

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