# Looking for suggestions: best approach using LRCC and /or LRCC Classic to manage current (10GB) and archived (60GB) libraries



## Tairuup (Oct 5, 2018)

I'm currently trialling the Photography Plan and plan to opt for the 20GB of storage plan.  I no longer amass thousands of images per month so in terms of the images I need access to for viewing / editing on a daily basis, my needs are quite modest and 20GB will be more than enough cloud storage for me.

I do however have around 60GB of images that I rarely, if ever, access but don't want to delete forever. These images I prefer to keep locally with back up.  They are all on a Mac in Aperture / Photos.  I am currently also  planning my move away from all things Apple (except for an iPad) so have a need to migrate my photos towards something which is not platform specific.

I'm thinking of 2, maybe 3, potential approaches:

1) Use LRCC for the 'live' photos and LRCC Classic for the 60GB of archived photos.  Only issue I see with that is that it's using two apps, both with, from what I gather, slightly different approaches to library structure.  It's probably my preferred option though as it splits the two 'catalogues' nicely.  I need to be sure that when I create the library in Classic, and store it on an external HDD (pending my purchase of a Windows machine), that Windows will be able to read the files created on a Mac.  The other things I need to explore is, as images on LRCC enter the 'archived' arena, can they be downloaded from and imported to Classic without losing metadata, keywords, captions and ratings.

2)  The other option that I need to research is using LRCC for everything IF it's possible to have LRCC access both the live catalogue and the 60GB archive catalogue but the latter ONLY from an external HDD.  If this were even possible I'd need to Import the archive stuff folder by folder, sort them all out, then drop them back down and out to an SSD, deleting anything they leave behind from my cloud data storage.  Bonus of this is that it needs me to only use one app, and I find LRCC very user friendly (Classic, less so) and it also means all images and related data are being managed by the same app with the same approach to library and metadata / filing management.

I did also contemplate opting for just the LRCC 1TB plan to make everything a WHOLE lot easier.  Everything all in one place, using the same app, all in full size images, editable across multiple devices.  I still haven't ruled that option out.  Problem is I don't really need that 60GB of images in the cloud (in fact after the ruthless cull I intend to do it might actually be a lot less than that) and, the (possibly) bigger problem in that while I don't edit extensively these days, at least with the 20GB plan I get access to PS CC and LR CC Classic if I ever need them.

Any thoughts appreciated.


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## Tairuup (Oct 5, 2018)

Forgot when I posted, new to the forums, fairly excited about getting to grips with LR and PS CC but also a slight sense of dread having been familiar with the Apple (Aperture and the now much dumbed down Photos for Mac).  Photos is still pretty lame IMO and while Aperture still works it hasn't been updated for ages and won't be so, seeing as I've also become a bit disillusioned with the concept of Apple quality (2 HDD failures, 1 GPU failure, overheating and blown speakers) I've decided it's time to give Windows a crack of the whip and am starting to migrate everything towards non OS specific programmes, including, the one I'm least looking forward to, my photos.

As far as I understand the workings above I probably need to come at my photography from two ends, photos that will likely be of more importance, likely shot on a DSLR and snapshots, shot with a phone.  The former I plan to import to LR CC Classic, convert to DNG, keyword etc etc then farm off to an external drive (that the new Windows laptop can then access), AFAIK that will allow me to also sync 'Collections' (should I want to) to the mobile version which will be thumbnails and will not count towards the 20GB storage.  The latter, the phone pics, I'll likely just upload them direct to LRCC cloud as and when (I would turn on auto upload IF I could select an upload album like 'Phone Camera' rather than just have them dump into 'All Photos' alone)  Then keyword (although what I do for mobile shots is very very basic) and farm out to the various albums.  Once the photos on LRCC get to an archive age I'll likely download them to LRCC Classic and archive them to a HDD.  What I'm not sure of yet is if I turn sync on, will Classic automatically download every full image from LRCC or do I have to tell it to do so?  Lots to think about.


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## Chris Wimlett (Oct 5, 2018)

I've recently switched from a MacBook to a Windows 10 laptop and had no problems at all transferring the Lightroom Classic catalogue and images. There are detailed instructions about moving to a new computer here .  You need an ExFAT formatted external drive that can be written/read by OS X and Windows.

I was in a similar position to you with about 60GB of legacy photos and decided to make the move to Lightroom CC and use it for all my images.  I did take out the 1GB Photography plan though as I use Photoshop a lot, and you do get it discounted for a year.


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## Tairuup (Oct 5, 2018)

Thanks for that.  More I think about it, given I'm not that desperate to get into LR Classic on the Mac given I'll be picking up the new latop within the next 4-6 months, I might invest the time tidying up and culling the Photos library then literally export the albums one at a time to a folder structure on the Mac then copy that to an external drive or send them direct to the external drive.  My archive is largely subject based rather than year / month based, I more often use the subject rather than year / month to find shots given I shoot a lot of events.  When it's down to locations I find them by location and name all of the albums within them with a year prefix.  Doesn't really matter how they are organised really.  Then, rather than 'import' that to LR CC Classic now, just wait for the new laptop.  It is just an archive afterall.

I only really need PS CC for the current stuff which will be in LR CC and don't really need the 60GB archive in the cloud.  I'l give it some more thought, see what I can come up with.


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