# Running LR on two computers



## rph9 (Mar 4, 2008)

I am attempting to run LR on two separate PC's: work and home. I use MS Synctoy to syncronize the photo files and LR Catalog, BUT I have found LR crashes ("LR has encountered an error and must shut down") which I expect is due to the lack of syncronized Lightroom Catalog Previews. Is it really necessary to copy these hundreds of little files back and forth between computers? I thought LR would just re-create these previews if they weren't present.  I, of course, want to keep my editing steps intact on both computers or I could just use "export catalog". Any suggestions?


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## Ian Farlow (Mar 4, 2008)

Why on earth are you trying to keep synced copies of your database in two places? Way more work and stress than you should be putting yourself through! :shock:


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## Victoria Bampton (Mar 4, 2008)

Lack of sync'd catalog previews *shouldn't* be a problem, as far as I know.  It should just rebuild anything it's missing.

Which machine is crashing Lightroom?  One or both?  I'd be tempted to say it's catalog corruption causing the problem, or if just one machine, possibly corrupted preferences or presets somewhere.

Easiest solution, by a long shot, is simply to keep your Lightroom catalog on an external drive, that can be plugged into whichever computer you're using at the time.

And welcome to the forum!


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## ttk (Mar 4, 2008)

The best way as Victoria suggested is to have your catalog on a ex/drive, I do this and which ever pc/laptop i use just plug and play as they say..


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## jkhasson (Mar 4, 2008)

Ian Farlow said:


> Why on earth are you trying to keep synced copies of your database in two places? Way more work and stress than you should be putting yourself through! :shock:



If  I may answer this question...I too would like to do this.  Why?  So that I can work on my photos in LR on my laptop while on the road, and then work on the same photos at home on my desktop machine.  It's the ultimate in flexibility.


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## Ian Farlow (Mar 4, 2008)

You can, but you don't need to keep all photos synchronized across two (or more) machines. That's just too much work. Victoria and ttk have it right... use an external drive and plug in to the computer you wish to use. Everything remains portable and you don't have the headache of trying to keep everything in sync.

Or, I suppose you could export/import catalogs which will also do what you want, and is how I currently handle photo processing on my laptop. I shoot images and import them into the laptop. I might work on them if time permits. When I get home, I export my catalog from the laptop and import it into the desktop. Everything transfers perfectly, including any edits that I did on the laptop. I will then remove everything from the laptop so that it is ready for the next session.

Hopefully that makes sense.


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## Victoria Bampton (Mar 5, 2008)

Of course, there is an advantage to keeping the main files on the desktop, and only using the external on my laptop - external drives are usually slower than internal drives.

So there would be a case for having a catalog that lives on the internal desktop drive, which is sync'd to the external drive to use on the laptop.  Still a single catalog, but it's just transferred back and forth using sync software.  Of course, you have to remember which one you used last in that case, but that's actually my preferred course of action at this point in time.  It means I utilize the full speed of the internal hard drives on my desktop, but I have access to an up to date copy elsewhere if I need it.


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## rph9 (Mar 6, 2008)

Thanks for all the suggestions. External drive is probably the way to go. LR did crash on both computers when opening with pix synced and catalog synced as well, but not previews. Since I already use an external HD (and Microsoft Synctoy) to keep all 3 computers synced, I might as well just keep the catalogs and pix on that drive and work from it. LR does seem more tempermental in this regard than the 2' or so other programs I keep synced on multiple computers this way, but.....why fight it?


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## zcline (Feb 16, 2009)

Ian Farlow said:


> Why on earth are you trying to keep synced copies of your database in two places? Way more work and stress than you should be putting yourself through! :shock:




   I googled this question because I have the same issue.  I travel for half of the year and sync my computers when I return home.  While I haven't looked at a newer thread as of yet, I felt the need to respond this comment as it is rather narrow minded.

Many users do not want to use an external usb device to edit very large, original files.  As the drive used is the biggest bottleneck when it comes to speed, putting your files on a slower device instead of using your internal drives makes little sense.  That is, unless you don't care about having any free time to take photos.  Lightroom is supposed to speed up the process, not bring it to a slow crawl.

SyncBack is great sync software and is very intuitive.  I haven't had any issues with Lightroom crashing.  Once you specify the folders you want to sync, I would suggest creating a test catalogue to determine that everything you want to be sync'd (photos, metadata, develop settings, etc) are being copied back and forth properly.  

Now... to look for answers to my question.  I don't feel like asking it here since I've already seen the quality of responses I'm to receive.


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## Brad Snyder (Feb 16, 2009)

zcline;37'11 said:
			
		

> While I haven't looked at a newer thread as of yet ....
> 
> I don't feel like asking it here since I've already seen the quality of responses I'm to receive.



Well, thanks for the input. We sincerely value your opinion of our efforts, based on reading a single post in a single thread.

Try the Adobe User to User forums, that's a friendly knowledgable place for folks with strong opinions.


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## zcline (Feb 16, 2009)

Brad Snyder;37'19 said:
			
		

> Well, thanks for the input. We sincerely value your opinion of our efforts, based on reading a single post in a single thread.
> 
> Try the Adobe User to User forums, that's a friendly knowledgable place for folks with strong opinions.



A single post from the Administrator!  I didn't pick a response from a newbie.  

I tend to use thedambook.com user forum for lightroom and other management questions, but after quickly searching through this forum it seems to serve as a great exchange of information.


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## DonRicklin (Feb 16, 2009)

Brad Snyder;37'19 said:
			
		

> Well, thanks for the input. We sincerely value your opinion of our efforts, based on reading a single post in a single thread.
> 
> Try the Adobe User to User forums, that's a friendly knowledgable place for folks with strong opinions.


Brad, I think you are reading too much into this. I believe he is saying, he doesn't need to pose the question, because judging from answers here, Which he apparently likes and appreciates, he will find his answer by searching other threads at our forum!

Did I get that correct, zcline? And welcome to the friendly skies of LRF! 

Don


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## zcline (Feb 16, 2009)

DonRicklin;37'23 said:
			
		

> Brad, I think you are reading too much into this. I believe he is saying, he doesn't need to pose the question, because judging from answers here, Which he apparently likes and appreciates, he will find his answer by searching other threads at our forum!
> 
> Did I get that correct, zcline? And welcome to the friendly skies of LRF!
> 
> Don



Nope, I think Brad got it right, although it did come off a bit harsh on my end.  Just couldn't believe that a forum admin would completely disregard the question and instead tell him that he is doing something negative.  I thought to myself, "yikes, if this is how people respond maybe I won't post a question."  

Searching through the forum there seems to be a lot of great comments (and questions).  Just felt the need to throw in the option to use SyncBack as it completely syncs my Lightroom catalog, photos and settings with one click.  

EDIT:  Ah!  I always hit send before finishing!  Wanted to thank Don for welcoming me to the forum.


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## Kiwigeoff (Feb 16, 2009)

Welcome and thanks for your positive comments. I think we can all get a bit scratchy at times (yes, me too!!), enjoy your self here and I look forward to seeing some more of your posts.......:lol::lol:


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## Brad Snyder (Feb 16, 2009)

Okay, Peace.  Welcome, we truly do value diversity of opinion, and strive for civility.


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## Ian Farlow (Feb 16, 2009)

zcline;37'27 said:
			
		

> Nope, I think Brad got it right, although it did come off a bit harsh on my end.  Just couldn't believe that a forum admin would completely disregard the question and instead tell him that he is doing something negative.  I thought to myself, "yikes, if this is how people respond maybe I won't post a question."



Welcome aboard. I look forward to your participation.


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## kgilby (Feb 17, 2009)

*What about a wireless network?*

I just bought LR 2 and have it installed on the desktop and laptop.  Am I asking for trouble when I accessed files stored on the desktop through the network while using the laptop?  If I make modifications to images using the laptop, will I be able to then use that same image file (that is actually on the desktops HD) while working on the desktop?
My guess is that it would work OK - because the modifications done on the laptop will only be evident when using LR on the laptop?  I just wouldn't see any of the modifications to the file when I am using LR on the desktop - or would I?

Maybe my answer is to simply not use the same file on both computers?  It certainly would be convenient to be able to do that, though.

Ken


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## Denis Pagé (Feb 17, 2009)

Ken, if what you want to do is to work on the laptop and then continue from where you left but from the desktop and vice versa:

Just write the changes back to the original file. This will not affect the original image within the file _(container)_. To do so, either enable "Automatically write changes to XMP" in the configuration of both computers or/and hit Ctrl-S to commit the changes. This will export the changes you made to the image normally kept only in the database to the original file if it is JPEG, TIFF or PSD. For the raw formats _(CR2, NEF etc)_, a separate XMP type file with the name of the of the original will be created.

Keep in mind that changes made to the Catalog on one computer will not be seen automatically by the other. You will have to read the XMP info into the unaware Catalog.

Example: Work on Laptop... Ctrl-S on all changed images, close Lightroom. On Desktop, open Lightroom, select images changed from laptop and choose the option "Read Metadata from files". This last step will bring to the Desktop's Catalog the changes made on the laptop's Catalog. Similarly, CTRL-S on Desktop, then Read Metadata on Laptop.


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## kgilby (Feb 17, 2009)

Denis Pagé;37'81 said:
			
		

> Ken, if what you want to do is to work on the laptop and then continue from where you left but from the desktop and vice versa:
> 
> Just write the changes back to the original file. This will not affect the original image within the file _(container)_. To do so, either enable "Automatically write changes to XMP" in the configuration of both computers or/and hit Ctrl-S to commit the changes. This will export the changes you made to the image normally kept only in the database to the original file if it is JPEG, TIFF or PSD. For the raw formats _(CR2, NEF etc)_, a separate XMP type file with the name of the of the original will be created.
> 
> ...


 
Thanks Denis - great explanation.  Is the fact that the desktop is running XP and the laptop running Vista a problem?

Ken


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## Denis Pagé (Feb 17, 2009)

kgilby;371'1 said:
			
		

> Thanks Denis - great explanation. Is the fact that the desktop is running XP and the laptop running Vista a problem?
> 
> Ken


No problem. You can even have one being Windows and the other MAC OS! 

EDIT: For OS X, use Cmd-S rather than Ctrl-S... Also, the files on the Windows system are to be on a FAT partition as Mac OS read but do not write NTFS file system.


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## kgilby (Feb 17, 2009)

Thanks Denis!


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## kgilby (Feb 17, 2009)

*Denis...*

I just went into LR on the laptop, in Library mode, highlighted the 5 images from the desktop hd that I had manipulated earlier, and hit ctl-s.  I got the message "'Writing XMP Metadata' did not complete successfully.  5 images failed."  With the option to either Ignore or Show in Library.

Any obvious reason for this that I just don't see?

Thanks again,

Ken


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## Denis Pagé (Feb 17, 2009)

It seem you reverted operations. You had to Ctrl-S on the Desktop to write changes and close Lightroom. Then from Laptop, open Lightroom and "Read Metadata from files" not doing Ctrl-S again as this would anihilate the first save.

Second thing to check is that you have sufficient rights to write to the Desktop folders from the laptop.


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## kgilby (Feb 17, 2009)

Denis,
OK, just so I am sure before trying this again -

I originally was working on the laptop, in LR, and imported files via the network that are stored on the desktop.  I then processed them on the laptop.

Now, to be able to work on those same files from within LR on the desktop, I should import them into LR on the desktop (since they were not already in that library) and then do the ctl-s on those images from with LR on the desktop?  I have myself thoroughly confused, and I thought I was doing so well :lol:.

Wait a minute.  Are you assuming that all the files on the desktop are already included in its Library?

I hope you understand my situation and can help, because I'm having a hard time spitting it out here.

Ken


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## Denis Pagé (Feb 17, 2009)

You get it reversed! And yes I was assuming that the images were already imported in both Catalogs; The one on the desktop and the other on the laptop.


kgilby said:


> I originally was working on the laptop, in LR, and imported files via the network that are stored on the desktop. I then processed them on the laptop.


OK. Fine. But Ctrl-S is to _Save_ the changes to the files XMPs, not to read them!


> Now, to be able to work on those same files from within LR on the desktop, I should import them into LR on the desktop (since they were not already in that library) and then do the ctl-s on those images from with LR on the desktop? I have myself thoroughly confused, and I thought I was doing so well :lol:.


As they were not previously imported in this Catalog, yes, just import and the import will read the changes made in the laptop from the XMPs data. No need to save unless you make further change to them. If you do make changes then do a Ctrl-S.


> Wait a minute. Are you assuming that all the files on the desktop are already included in its Library?


With the above steps, they will effectively be already included from now on. But as you can't import twice the same images, this is where it is changing. In the above step _(importing on desktop)_ the XMP _(changes)_ data was automatically read by importing. But in the future, as you can't import twice, you will have to read the metadata from file rather than import again.

Example from the unread originals:

Images on desktop not yet imported anywhere
From laptop, import images in Lightroom
Work on images from laptop
Save those changes with Ctrl-S
Close Lightroom
From desktop, import images in Lightroom
Work on images from desktop
Save those changes with Ctrl-S
Close Lightroom
From now on for existing images in both catalogs...
From laptop, you can't import again and the last changes you did on the desktop are not visible yet. So, select the images and "Read metadata from files" to bring those changes into the laptop's Catalog
Work on images from laptop
Save those changes with Ctrl-S
Close Lightroom
From desktop, you can't import again and the last changes you did on the laptop are not visible yet. So, select the images and "Read metadata from files" to bring those changes into the desktop's Catalog
Work on images from desktop
Save those changes with Ctrl-S
Close Lightroom
Repeat from the red note... Ad vitam aeternam...
For new images, start from first step on either the desktop or laptop.

EDIT: NOTE: Ctrl-S will not save changes for all images but only the selected ones! So take care to select you images before hitting Ctrl-S! Alternative method: Enable "Autowrite to XMP" on both machines.


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## rph9 (Mar 4, 2008)

I am attempting to run LR on two separate PC's: work and home. I use MS Synctoy to syncronize the photo files and LR Catalog, BUT I have found LR crashes ("LR has encountered an error and must shut down") which I expect is due to the lack of syncronized Lightroom Catalog Previews. Is it really necessary to copy these hundreds of little files back and forth between computers? I thought LR would just re-create these previews if they weren't present.  I, of course, want to keep my editing steps intact on both computers or I could just use "export catalog". Any suggestions?


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## kgilby (Feb 17, 2009)

Denis Pagé said:


> Example from the unread originals:
> 
> Images on desktop not yet imported anywhere
> From laptop, import images in Lightroom
> ...


 
Denis, this is where I got the message telling me that it failed - when I tried to save the changes with Ctrl-S. The scenario was exactly as you described it.

Ken


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## Denis Pagé (Feb 17, 2009)

kgilby;3712' said:
			
		

> Denis, this is where I got the message telling me that it failed - when I tried to save the changes with Ctrl-S. The scenario was exactly as you described it.
> 
> Ken


This is why I said that you have to check that you have sufficient rights to write on the desktop images' folders first!


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## kgilby (Feb 17, 2009)

So very sorry!  That's what it was - I 'assumed' those rights were there when I set up sharing on the network, and they were not.

Thanks so much for taking your time to explain - several times - what I needed to do.

Ken


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## Brad Snyder (Feb 18, 2009)

Ken, one thing to keep in mind. Some data which is normally preserved in the Lr catalog, is *not" preserved via the 'Save Metadata' XMP mechanism. Principally, this data is workflow related, as opposed to being image adjustment related.

Lost via XMP are:
Pick flag settings
Collection membership
Virtual Copies
Stacks
Intermediary steps of Develop History (only the final state is retained)

There are some other relatively arcane things lost as well, for more info, see my post at O'Reilly's Inside Lightroom.

Denis, excellent documentation of a complex subect.


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## kgilby (Feb 18, 2009)

Thanks Brad, I'll keep this thread bookmarked for future reference.



			
				Brad Snyder;3716' said:
			
		

> Denis, excellent documentation of a complex subect.


 
I think I may have made things a bit more complex for Denis than they needed to be...  


Ken


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## Denis Pagé (Feb 18, 2009)

Do not worry Ken and thanks Brad to point this out!

Ken, I tried to follow closely on your intended forkflow. But if what Brad say is of importance to you, there is another method that some others use. It is to copy the Catalog forth and back between machines. But then, you have to take care using the last version! You may also have to sync the preferences and plugins if those are used...


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## Denis Pagé (Feb 18, 2009)

In addition of what I just wrote, many being tired of the hassles of the above methods opt for simplicity. How they do that? They buy an external hard disk and put their images AND Catalog on it. I then simply become a matter of plugging the external on the computer they want to work with.

And for backup purposes, they copy to one computer's internal HD or on secondary(s) external(s).


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## Katherine Mann (Feb 18, 2009)

*Opting for simplicity*

I have to be away from my desktop five days a week lately. I have two major projects on the go and both envolve Lr. I chose the usb external drive solution. All my data is on a 1T drive. It may not be the fastest but it all works fine. Everything is there and everything is updated.


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## kgilby (Feb 18, 2009)

Denis Pagé said:


> In addition of what I just wrote, many being tired of the hassles of the above methods opt for simplicity. How they do that? They buy an external hard disk and put their images AND Catalog on it. I then simply become a matter of plugging the external on the computer they want to work with.
> 
> And for backup purposes, they copy to one computer's internal HD or on secondary(s) external(s).


 
It's interesting that you suggest the external drive, Denis.  I was wondering if that might be the way to go.  It certainly would make things much 'cleaner'.  If I did that, could the ext hd be left connected to my desktop and then simply accessed by the laptop via the wireless network, without having to physically move it around?  It seems to me that should work, yes?
If so, then I guess I'd have to figure out how to combine the current desktop and laptop catalogs onto the ext hd?  Is that possible?  If not, then since I am so early in my use of LR, could I forgo combining the existing catalogs and just create a new catalog on the ext hd?

Ken


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## Denis Pagé (Feb 18, 2009)

kgilby said:


> It's interesting that you suggest the external drive, Denis. I was wondering if that might be the way to go. It certainly would make things much 'cleaner'. If I did that, could the ext hd be left connected to my desktop and then simply accessed by the laptop via the wireless network, without having to physically move it around? It seems to me that should work, yes?


That won't work Ken. This is because the Catalog can't be located on the network. It must appear as being local. But as you are beginning and have nothing much to loose, you may want to try my tip. Thruth is that moving the external is much less trouble and safe.


> If so, then I guess I'd have to figure out how to combine the current desktop and laptop catalogs onto the ext hd? Is that possible? If not, then since I am so early in my use of LR, could I forgo combining the existing catalogs and just create a new catalog on the ext hd?


I don't think that you have to combine as if you followed my instructions, just copying the last used Catalog should do fine. I was about to forget but I also wrote a *Procedure for moving the catalog to the external drive with photos...*


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## pwkitch (Apr 2, 2009)

*More running Lightroom on 2 computers*

I too would like to be able to sync my Mac laptop and Mac Desktop back and forth both ways without taking my library on the road as an external hardrive.


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## Victoria Bampton (Apr 2, 2009)

That's definitely possible pwkitch, but you'll need to tell us a bit more about what you have in mind.  And welcome to the forum!


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## bigG (Jun 4, 2009)

Victoria Bampton said:


> Of course, there is an advantage to keeping the main files on the desktop, and only using the external on my laptop - external drives are usually slower than internal drives.
> 
> So there would be a case for having a catalog that lives on the internal desktop drive, which is sync'd to the external drive to use on the laptop.  Still a single catalog, but it's just transferred back and forth using sync software.  Of course, you have to remember which one you used last in that case, but that's actually my preferred course of action at this point in time.  It means I utilize the full speed of the internal hard drives on my desktop, but I have access to an up to date copy elsewhere if I need it.



OK...hello everyone BTW. Long time listener, first time caller 

This is exactly, precisely the setup I am trying for. I have a desktop at work (PC), laptop at home (Mac) and am going to start working from home part time. I want to be able to share and sync my catalogs and photos, but I do not want to work from the external drive unless absolutely necessary because of the aforementioned speed issues. 

I have figured out all of the cross-platform stuff (even how to get the mac to write to NTFS ), so that's not an issue.

My questions focus on how to best approach this situation...

If I try to simply open the catalog that's backed up from the work PC on my Mac, it thinks all the photos should be on the C drive, which obviously doesn't exist when I'm running the Mac. 

I do keep all of the original photo files backed up on the same external drive, but again it's not the same drive the catalog thinks they're on. 

So how can I go back and forth between the two computers at will using this external drive???

An idea I have:

Keep the original photos backed up in a folder on the external that is the same as what I have on the PC.
Create a new catalog on the Mac and import them without moving from the external (I'll probably just work from the external while on the laptop)
Whenever I go from one computer to the other, I can update the respective catalog with new photos, adjustments to existing photos, etc. (not sure exactly how to do all of this)
Would this work? Or is there a better way?

I thank you humbly for reading this and offering any suggestions.


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## Denis Pagé (Jun 4, 2009)

Welcome to the forums bigG!

As you already gave a hint to the potential problem... Your main concern will be that the Windows machine will look for photos residing on some drive letter and that the Mac will seek them on a drive name. So, each you will go forth and back, you will have to point the _missing folders_ to their source.

Easiest workaround: BootCamp on the Mac to use Windows on it like the desktop and fix the external's drive letter to match on both machines.

For the rest, I think you already have a good idea of how it works...

If you want to discuss more, that would be easier if you fill your signature as per Rules & Regulations: Signature thanks.


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## Victoria Bampton (Jun 4, 2009)

bigG, welcome to the forum!  As long as you've got the folders showing as a nice hierarchy, it's really easy to relink the files when you switch computer and OS.  You'll find instructions on that here:  (well, it's on www.lightroomqueen.com/blog, but the server's down for maintenance right now, so I can't find you the right link... just search for the word hierarchy and you'll find it!)


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