# Which strategy for 2 computers?



## Nortonian (Nov 1, 2017)

Operating System:Windows 10
Exact Lightroom Version (Help menu > System Info):2015-12

LR user since Day 1: desktop PC, highish-end laptop, Android Tablet and phone: relevant LR catalog has about 20k images; have had the Photography CC subscription plan for few years. I do like to use the desktop, but for social reasons, use the laptop downstairs AND ALSO on campsites (with poor-to-reasonable wifi) maybe 15 trips a year in our motorhome.
I haven't made a move yet since the new versions were announced, but have really struggled in the past with exporting/importing catalogs.
But the new announcements have opened up something I have ignored up to now - SMART PREVIEWS. Marvellous!!! Now, I believe, after exporting the lrcat, previews and Smart Previews to my laptop, I just have to carry on copying the lrcat file between the 2 PCs? Pretty good! BUT, I'm sure I have read that if I go with the New Photography Plan, I won't even have to do that: my laptop, and a reasonable wifi connection, could access these Smart Previews in the Adobe Cloud (and if I'm in the middle of a field, I could revert to the lrcat-copied-to-a-USB-stick) would see me sorted.
You will all be aware that I am not the smartest strategist on the planet, but which workflow makes the most sense (and is least prone to errors!) to you guys? Some of you will have had days and days of practice by now!
Thanks in advance - you've never let me down.

Ian


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## Johan Elzenga (Nov 1, 2017)

Your laptop could indeed access the smart previews online, but only if you would install and use the new *Lightroom CC* on that laptop. *Lightroom Classic* (the Lightroom version you are using right now) can only synch one catalog to the cloud, not two catalogs on two different computers.


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## Nortonian (Nov 1, 2017)

Hi Johan, There is definitely just one catalog involved, as far as doing what I wrote about. Any other catalogs  that exist are pre-2010, so get looked at very rarely: I have no plans to put them anywhere near the Cloud.
Can I INSTALL LR Classic AND CC on the laptop in case I find the CC interface just isn't my cup of tea? My thinking was that the new "Photgraphy Plan" with its 20Gb storage easily accomodates my lrcat file + previews + Smart Previews. Force of habit tells me that I would be more comfortable using Classic for editing on a laptop, but it is a fear of the unknown rather than anything else: that is why I wondered if anyone had "hands on" with the new programs. My "synched" collections are already in the cloud and available on My Portfolio - what, in actual practice, is going to happen: that's what is confusing me.

Ian


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## Johan Elzenga (Nov 1, 2017)

Yes, you can install both applications on both computers. However, you seem to misunderstand something. Your 20 GB is not some kind of Dropbox alternative. You can't store a Lightroom Classic .lrcat file and its previews in the cloud, so it can be used by Lightroom Classic on two computers. That is not how this works. You can only use the 20 GB to synchronize images and edits between the different Lightoom versions.


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## Nortonian (Nov 1, 2017)

Ahaaa! I thought it might be too good to be true. So it's back to Plan A, which is using a memory stick to port that lrcat between the computers?

Ian


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## Johan Elzenga (Nov 1, 2017)

Nortonian said:


> Ahaaa! I thought it might be too good to be true. So it's back to Plan A, which is using a memory stick to port that lrcat between the computers?



Yes, that's probably the way to keep doing this.


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## Nortonian (Nov 1, 2017)

Thank you, Johan.


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## clee01l (Nov 1, 2017)

Nortonian said:


> Ahaaa! I thought it might be too good to be true. So it's back to Plan A, which is using a memory stick to port that lrcat between the computers?
> 
> Ian


I don't know if this helps, but you can store a catalog file in your Creative cloud assets. Locally, theses are stored in a folder (named on my Mac "Creative Cloud Files".  Since it is a local file, you can open it directly in LR. I don't you can effectively store Previews and Smart Previews in that same folder.   And the same caveats apply that apply to Dropbox.  You can't have the catalog open on both computers and the sync must be complete before you open it on a different computer.


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## Johan Elzenga (Nov 1, 2017)

As with Dropbox, the problem with this scenario is that Lightroom needs the previews and smart previews to be in the same folder as the catalog file. It's possible to use Dropbox to sync the catalog, but because of the size of the previews, you would probably need a paid account to have enough storage.


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## Nortonian (Nov 1, 2017)

I don't think I would ever try to have LR open on both computers at the same time, so that bit seems OK. Waiting for the sync to complete may be problematic, but would it show as a progress bar in the top left corner of Lightroom? (Or is it all going on quietly in the background!)

Ian


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## Johan Elzenga (Nov 1, 2017)

Nortonian said:


> I don't think I would ever try to have LR open on both computers at the same time, so that bit seems OK. Waiting for the sync to complete may be problematic, but would it show as a progress bar in the top left corner of Lightroom? (Or is it all going on quietly in the background!)



If you talk about Dropbox: Lightroom knows nothing about what Dropbox does, so it can't show you whether or not the catalog has been properly synched.


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## Nortonian (Nov 1, 2017)

I only have a small, free, Dropbox, so it would be Adobe's 20Gb.

Ian


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## Johan Elzenga (Nov 1, 2017)

As I said before, you can't use that 20 GB for this. It's not a Dropbox alternative.


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## Johan Elzenga (Nov 1, 2017)

JohanElzenga said:


> As I said before, you can't use that 20 GB for this. It's not a Dropbox alternative.



H'm, a correction. Apparently you do have the 20 GB for CC Assets too. Browse, sync, and manage Adobe Creative Cloud assets So maybe you could use it that way. Lightroom won't know about the sync however.


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## Johan Elzenga (Nov 1, 2017)

Do consider this however: when you are in the field, there is no use synching your catalog to the cloud each time you use it, unless you consider it as a backup too. Synching each time will only cost money if your internet connection does not include unlimited data. So would this really be more convenient than a one time 'sync by usb stick' when you get home?


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## clee01l (Nov 2, 2017)

JohanElzenga said:


> As I said before, you can't use that 20 GB for this. It's not a Dropbox alternative.


 Creative cloud assets is included in that 20GB. 
Creative Cloud file storage and quota


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## Johan Elzenga (Nov 2, 2017)

clee01l said:


> Creative cloud assets is included in that 20GB.
> Creative Cloud file storage and quota


I already corrected my post a few minutes later.


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## clee01l (Nov 2, 2017)

JohanElzenga said:


> I already corrected my post a few minutes later.


While Creative Cloud assets is an alternative to DropBox, it still comes with the same pitfalls as DropBox wrt sync'ing and referential integrity.


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## Johan Elzenga (Nov 2, 2017)

clee01l said:


> While Creative Cloud assets is an alternative to DropBox, it still comes with the same pitfalls as DropBox wrt sync'ing and referential integrity.



Indeed. And because the OP would not change between computers often (only at the beginning and the end of a trip), I wonder what the advantage of synching would be. It possibly costs quite a bit of money if he has an internet connection with limited data, and doesn't serve much purpose during the trip itself (apart from creating an online backup). If I were him, I would continue using his current workflow.


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## clee01l (Nov 2, 2017)

JohanElzenga said:


> I wonder what the advantage of synching would be. It possibly costs quite a bit of money if he has an internet connection with limited data,


I'm sure Adobe has thought all of this out and plans to give all LRCC users limitless high speed internet connections no matter where they are in the world


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