Switching between computers in lightroom

[nasoj21]

Is there an easy way to import photo's and edit on my laptop and then get home and finish up on my desktop? Is there a way to view the same catalog on two different computers?

The only ways that I know are continually creating metadata files and then opening the metadata on the other computer, after you re-import the new photos, or....
setting lightroom to backup it's catalog everytime you start lightroom and restarting the program to get a new catalog everytime you finish editing. Then you can copy the catalog from one computer on the other. A pain.

[brian.austin]

You need a common catalog to do it. The only way to do it in that scenario is copy the catalog.

If you have a network set up, you could put your laptop catalog file and images in a specific folder that syncs with the desktop when it's back in the "home" network. Power them both up, let the laptop sync, and then open up LR on the desktop. The drive letters and file paths need to be the same, though.

[tomrock]

I use a little 2.5" external self-powered disk. I keep the pictures and the catalog on that disk and whatever computer I plug it into works.

I back that disk up to my desktop with a file syncing utility so I'm always backed up.

[nasoj21]

Brian~ I will try that. Does this then keep a copy of the catalog on the desktop or does the desktop only access the file via the network and therefore I have to have the laptop on the network inorder to access the catalog?
This shouldn't be a problem because 99.9% of the time my laptop is on the network when I am working at home.

Tom~ I may also try what you are suggesting. At first I was trying to decide which harddrive I would have to keep it on but I suppose the most current.
(I was working mostly on a 2.5" hdd but for some reason my desktop usb ports don't power it. I think that I need a stronger powersource in it.)

[brian.austin]

Originally Posted by nasoj21

Brian~ I will try that. Does this then keep a copy of the catalog on the desktop or does the desktop only access the file via the network and therefore I have to have the laptop on the network inorder to access the catalog?
This shouldn't be a problem because 99.9% of the time my laptop is on the network when I am working at home.

Sync'd files are actually copied from one source to another. So they'd be available on both, provided the full sync has taken place since the files were updated. After that, there is no reason to keep the other source on the network.

Depending on the setup, you might not be able to use both computers accessing the same files at the same time.

Tom's solution is actually less complicated from a computer perspective but not as automatic.

[Eero Makela]

You have to also make sure the external drive mounts as the same drive letter on both systems. In other words the same drive and path should be seen when you move external drive between the 2 systems.

On the USB power make sure you are using a port that is part of the motherboard (usually on the back of the system. Not the front as these usually have a length of wire going to a connector and hence there is a power loss.

Also you can get a special USB cable that has 2 connectors that plug into the computer and 1 of them adds more power to drive.

[nasoj21]

Yeah I put in front a usb drive mounted on my front and it had diffent conectors than just the typical usb cable running to the back pci slotted usb ports. I assumed that they were for power. My mother board only has usb1 for some reason.

I have had a lot of problems with drive letters, and recently decided to start using letters starting at the end of the alphabet. I was using h: but then if I hooked up my card reader before I hooked up my hard drive the letter would change since it had alread assigned efgh to the slots on the reader. Annoying.