Up until recently, I found myself trying to figure out the best way to share photos between my laptop when I was on the road, and my iMac back at home. There's no perfect solution, but with a little bit of experimenting, I was able to get a solution that worked really well. What I tried During my recent trip to Las Vegas for WPPI, I knew I'd have a ton of different photos I would take both at the conference and during my spare time. I knew I would have to import at least some of my photos to my laptop, otherwise, I'd run out of space on my … [Read more...] about Best practices when using Lightroom Classic on multiple computers
catalog
Photo Mechanic details version 6 and Plus, announces catalog feature
The team of developers at Photo Mechanic have two big software announcements for 2019. First, Camera Bits (Photo Mechanic’s parent company) is releasing a new version of their excellent browsing software in March 2019. Second, they are releasing their long-awaited image catalog functionality in April of 2019. I can’t tell you how excited I am about this software announcement. I’ve known for years that Photo Mechanic was working on a catalog feature, but due to the technical difficulty of creating a photo cataloging tool that is also fast, it … [Read more...] about Photo Mechanic details version 6 and Plus, announces catalog feature
Understanding Lightroom catalogs
Remember back in our school days, when we had to look up something in our school's library? We relied on the Dewey Decimal System, basically a reference that told us where in the library to find a specific book we were looking for. We knew that all our favorite photography books, for instance, were in the 600-699 range — within the Fine Arts and Recreation category. Well, a photo catalog is kind of like a modern version of that. If you use Lightroom Classic, there are a few things to take into account when it comes to importing and managing … [Read more...] about Understanding Lightroom catalogs
Understanding Lightroom Classic’s import dialog
A couple years ago, Adobe made headlines by completely revamping the import dialog in Lightroom Classic. Since then, they've restored the classic look and feel that much of us are used to. But there are still several options here that most of us don't utilize, and we're really missing out! Things like applying develop settings, metadata, smart previews and more are always available to us in the import dialog. And what's the difference between Add, Move, Copy and Copy as DNG menu items? Here's an introduction (or refresher) into the Lightroom … [Read more...] about Understanding Lightroom Classic’s import dialog
Quick Tip: Use a single Lightroom catalog
A single Lightroom catalog makes managing Lightroom a lot easier. Having just one catalog will: Help you find images faster Keep track of backups Ensures you don’t lose track of images because you import images into the wrong catalog Quickly update the catalog when a new version of Lightroom is available Synchronizing Publish services such as Facebook, Zenfolio and Smugmug Hierarchy Want to learn more? Check out this article, "Should I have One or Many Lightroom Catalogs?" … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: Use a single Lightroom catalog
Speed up your Lightroom Classic catalog on Fusion Drive Macs
For the past few months, I've had a heck of a time with Lightroom Classic running slowly on my iMac. While my iMac is from late 2015, it's fully loaded. Tons of memory, a good graphics card and a modern-day processor. But it's had its share of problems too, between random restarts and a Fusion drive that slows things down. The Fusion Drive problem When Apple first introduced Fusion Drives, it was a great solution to get a fast solid state drive (SSD) coupled with a traditional hard drive, for a combination of speed and storage. The problem is … [Read more...] about Speed up your Lightroom Classic catalog on Fusion Drive Macs
Read This Before Updating Your Lightroom Catalog
When you go to install the Lightroom Classic update, your existing Lightroom catalog is going to go through a significant upgrade process.  This process WILL take longer (even a lot longer) than you are used to.  This is because Adobe is compressing the Develop History and Metadata values in lrcat. This is expected to improve the overall responsiveness of Lightroom Classic CC.  But it does take some time — Don't Panic. What is a Catalog? Your catalog is your database that tracks the location of your photos and all of the information about … [Read more...] about Read This Before Updating Your Lightroom Catalog
Lightroom FAQ: The Catalog Panel
This is an often misunderstood or completely overlooked panel, but it has some useful functions once you take a closer look. The most important thing to know about this panel is that it simply provides different ways to view/access photos that have gone through the import process already. These are not duplicates of your photos, but just alternative ways Lightroom can reference the source files and display them for us. All Photographs This collection is a quick way to view all of the photographs (and videos) that you've ever imported into … [Read more...] about Lightroom FAQ: The Catalog Panel
Using a Drobo 5N to Allow Access to a Lightroom Catalog on Multiple Computers
More and more I hear from people who want to be able to use a single Lightroom catalog of the same photos on more than one computer (not surprising in 2016). While there isn’t a perfect solution (that I am aware of), there are some techniques worth investigating. Now, before I go further I have a caveat, which is that this is not a solution everyone needs, and Lightroom is still designed to work best for a single user with a single catalog on a single computer. That said, if you want to take a walk on the wild side, then let’s go … The most … [Read more...] about Using a Drobo 5N to Allow Access to a Lightroom Catalog on Multiple Computers
A Client-Centric Approach to Lightroom Folders
Just this week, I took on the tedious task of completely re-organizing my Lightroom catalog. Not to say that I was using Lightroom wrong, or even organizing my photos incorrectly...I knew I needed a new system that fit my workflow better. Defining the Problem Up until this point, I had used the default import options — copying my files to Lightroom and organizing by date. I would refer back to old emails if I needed to find a specific project (in order to find the date), or (if I was smart) I put the photos into different collections. But … [Read more...] about A Client-Centric Approach to Lightroom Folders
Instant Replay: Lightroom FAQ’s with Rob Sylvan
Rob Sylvan answers many of the most common and pressing questions about Lightroom--especially ideas about fixing your catalog. Rob mans the Lightroom Help Desk for KelbyOne, and there's no one on the planet better qualified to answer these questions and help you get things running smoothly again. Hosted by: Rob Sylvan and Levi Sim Produced by: Rich Harrington and Photofocus.com https://youtu.be/kDTdMq4lrz4?t=3m3s … [Read more...] about Instant Replay: Lightroom FAQ’s with Rob Sylvan
Lightroom Tip: Transferring Photos Between Catalogs
I use Lightroom, and I have one main catalog on my desktop computer. This catalog houses all of my photographs (over 250k of them), and they all are on a Drobo in my office at home. However, when I travel, I still want to be able to use Lightroom, and so I have what I call my "travel" catalog on my laptop. This is sort of a temporary home for the photos I am creating while traveling. Here's how it works: I create photos with my camera, import them to my laptop (and oftentimes a backup hard-drive as well), and then sort, edit, and share from … [Read more...] about Lightroom Tip: Transferring Photos Between Catalogs
Merging Lightroom Catalogs in 5 Easy Steps
I have two computers - a beautiful 5K iMac at my studio, and a MacBook Pro that I travel with. My schedule can get crazy, especially when I'm traveling 2-3 weeks in a given month. It's not practical to take my entire photo library with me when I travel, so I often find myself creating a temporary catalog on my laptop and merging it with my main catalog back at the studio. While the task sounds daunting, it really isn't that complicated. Let's get started. I'm assuming you already created your temporary catalog and you're about to merge it … [Read more...] about Merging Lightroom Catalogs in 5 Easy Steps
Should I have One or Many Lightroom Catalogs?
Should I have a single Lightroom catalog or should I have many? That was the the first question I asked back in July 2006 when I received a beta version of Lightroom. Like many, I was sailing in uncharted waters. At first, someone started a rumor and said Lightroom can handle a maximum of 15 thousand images before performance was affected. Everyone started to repeat that rumor. This caused many, including myself, to split my images into several Lightroom catalogs. Before we begin, let me take a step back for a moment and explain what a … [Read more...] about Should I have One or Many Lightroom Catalogs?
Back Up your Lightroom Catalog before Upgrading to Lightroom CC
When theres a shiny new program on the market, its often easy to install it right away and start using it. The Adobe team did a lot of work reengineering how Lightroom works to improve its speed and efficiency, so when you upgrade from Lightroom 5 to Lightroom CC you'll need to update your catalog. Don't just click upgrade. Your Lightroom catalog is a vast database that contains all the metadata, organization and edits youve done to your photo library. Should something happen when upgrading, you don't want to take the chance that you might … [Read more...] about Back Up your Lightroom Catalog before Upgrading to Lightroom CC
Where Should I Keep My Lightroom Catalog?
Keeping your Lightroom catalog safe is essential to preserving your hard work. After all, your catalog contains your organization (and possibly the bulk of your edits). The Quick Answer on Location So where should you store the catalog? The answer is it depends. Single computer: create a folder on your local hard drive, name it Lightroom Catalog and save the catalog to this location. This is the fastest way Lightroom can access the catalog. Multiple computers: create a folder on an external hard drive, name it Lightroom Catalog and save the … [Read more...] about Where Should I Keep My Lightroom Catalog?
