# Working with lightroom on a Macbook pro retina with only 256gb SSD



## chparigi (Nov 22, 2013)

Hi everyone!

I've been working on lightroom for a couple of years now, and until recently, I ran everything on my Mac mini with the pictures and catalogs on an external HDD. So far so good.

I just bought a new Macbook Pro Retina with 256 gb of SSD, well knowing that 256 gb is not much space for a computer. But anyhow, I didn't think that it would become a problem, since i would just carry around my external HDD with catalogs and the raw-files there. That also solved another issue for me - working on to different computers on one catalog.

But here is the thing. Having an external drive with me all the time, kind of ruins some of the portability i hoped to have with a laptop computer, because its a bit clumsy, and because it's using a lot of power from the computer!
Moving the whole catalog and all of my pictures over to the laptop is not a solution since there isn't a lot of space in the SSD. Am i just stuck with the external drive hooked up all the time, or do you have any other ideas?

I've watched some videos showing how to sync the two computers, either by exporting the catalog, og by manually copying the catalog. I don't care if I'm only able to work on my laptop, i just need a solution regarding the lack of space...


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## Jim Wilde (Nov 22, 2013)

Hi, welcome to the forum.

How big is your catalog (actual file size on disk, not number of images), and how big is the associated previews folder? And how much spare space is available on the SSD? I'm thinking that Smart Previews may be the answer, i.e. leave the images on the external drive, build Smart Previews, then leave the external drive at home when you go travelling. That's really what Smart Previews were designed for, but you still need some disk space. Question is: is there enough?


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## Stranex (Nov 22, 2013)

I've got a similar problem to you in that I've just purchased a MBP with 256GB drive which I'll be doing the majority of my processing on rather than sitting in the study all alone! 

Like you, I'm trying to figure out where to store my master picture files and catalog and think it really depends on how often you work with "old files". 

Personally I don't *need* access to all my catalog at any one time, just the most recent month or so that I've not worked on yet. Therefore I plan on storing my original files and catalog on my PC (or possibly a NAS drive) and export those I'd like to work on via an external HDD. For you, this would equate to continuing to use your External HDD as "master" and then just exporting/importing to/from the Macbook those you want to work on? You would also have the advantage that when at home, you _could _plug your external HDD into the Macbook and work direct from that when portability isn't an issue? My only concern with continuously importing/exporting to the MBP is that the SSD will wear out quicker due to constant writing/deletion of files. This concern may be misplaced? 

Jim's suggestion about Smart previews is also valid if you need access to ALL your pictures and you have the room on your MBP for the reduced size of Smart Previews. It will also mean you're not doing so much writing/deleting to the SSD?


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## clee01l (Nov 22, 2013)

Stranex said:


> I've got a similar problem to you in that I've just purchased a MBP with 256GB drive which I'll be doing the majority of my processing on rather than sitting in the study all alone!
> 
> Like you, I'm trying to figure out where to store my master picture files and catalog and think it really depends on how often you work with "old files".
> 
> ...


In chparigi's case, Smart Previews may be the answer.  Moving all of your master images to the NAS works great if you are doing all of your "heavy lifting" inside the same local network.  I keep only the most recent master images locally (about 3 months).  The rest can reside happily on a NAS, sincce you are likely only going to need these for creating a derivative via publish or export.  I have a MBP with a 500GB SSD, It takes about 140GB just to load the OS and an assortment of apps.  Yours will likely be about the same. And for you that leaves a little over 110 GB for data, working storage and a swapfile.


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## chparigi (Nov 23, 2013)

Thanks a lot for all your answers!

The previews-folder is 10 gb, and the catalog is 250 mb, so it's not that bad. I have about 180 gb free space on my macbook, so using smart-previews may be the solution! So here is what I'm thinking about:
I have two external HDD's. The first is a backup of all the pictures. The second contains the pictures that i use right now, fx pictures from 2013 only, and the the catalog-file is on my machine.
But then i want to sync the two external HDD's - does any of you know a program that can make that kind of sync, preferably a two-way sync?


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## Jim Wilde (Nov 23, 2013)

Don't forget that when you render Smart Previews, which you'll need to do before taking your external drive offline, that'll take up some more space (not usually as much as the existing library previews folder, but several more gigabytes). But it does sound as though you have sufficient space for now.

In terms of syncing your external drives, I'm not a Mac-user but I have heard that Chronosync is highly regarded. Time Machine also?


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## clee01l (Nov 23, 2013)

chparigi said:


> ...I have two external HDD's. The first is a backup of all the pictures. The second contains the pictures that i use right now, fx pictures from 2013 only, and the the catalog-file is on my machine.
> But then i want to sync the two external HDD's - does any of you know a program that can make that kind of sync, preferably a two-way sync?


I use TimeMachine for a complete system backup of all of my critical data to a Firewire connected drive.  I have another set of data on a USB drive for which there is not enough room on the TimeMachine drive for TimeMachine to backup. For that, I use a free app called GetBackup2 that backs up to a NAS,  It can also backup to an EHD.  You can set it up to do a oneway backup, clone or synchronise.


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## Selwin (Nov 24, 2013)

chparigi said:


> I have two external HDD's. The first is a backup of all the pictures. The second contains the pictures that i use right now, fx pictures from 2013 only, and the the catalog-file is on my machine.
> But then i want to sync the two external HDD's - does any of you know a program that can make that kind of sync, preferably a two-way sync?


1. There are several good options, just keep in mind that only the pro versions (that you pay 20-40 bucks for) have a feature that will only backup changed or added files so you won't need to copy the entire drive every time.
2. I have a strong preference for Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) but I've never used ChronoSync so that may be a very good option as well.
3. Why do you need two-way sync between your two HD's? The most straightforward approach would be to have all source images on one HD and back them all up on the other. 
4.  If you use your external HD's for more than just photography, I'd recommend splitting each HD into two partitions, one for your images and one for other data. When you do the same on the backup HD you can simply maintain a backup of your images from the source images partition to the backup images partition. 
5. Where do you store your system backups, like your home folder and how do you backup your LR catalog?


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## DonRicklin (Nov 24, 2013)

What I have done with my MacBook Pro 15" l(non-retina) is replace the DVD Combo drive with a 240 GB SSD and put the DVD unit in a shell and have a standard HD SATA drive at 500GB for my images on board with System and Apps on the SSD.

All this was done with stuff from OWC. LR works great and the HD is onboard and i use Smart Previews for my oldest images not on the HD out of about 45K images. 

Don


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## Selwin (Nov 24, 2013)

That is funny, I did exactly the same with my 2013 Macbook, also with a bracket from OWC. I think it's an ideal setup and I hardly ever miss my DVD. I must say though that installing that bracket is only for the brave. Many screws need to be loosened and some very delicate parts need to be removed.

if you are seriously interested in doing this, have a look at ifixit.com, find "replace hard drive" for your particular model and have a look at the pictures. You will know if it's for you or not


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## clee01l (Nov 24, 2013)

Selwin said:


> ... it's an ideal setup and I hardly ever miss my DVD...


 Apparently, Apple thinks so too.  None of the new retina models come with a DVD slot.  PC manufacturers have quietly omitted the DVD player for several years now.  With streaming music and video, the DVD is becoming/has become obsolete like the floppy drive.


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## Selwin (Nov 24, 2013)

I agree Cletus. Actually this is a shame because now we won't be able to DIY ourselves a second hard drive in newer Macbook models, like the current retina lineup. The non-retinas will allow for a second HD.

Basically it's not a big problem if you can slap down lots of cash on a larger internal hard drive. But the added comfort of being able to backup files from the one internal drive to the other internal drive has always made me feel very good about my setup. Well, I guess this is another good reason not to upgrade my current (but ancient) 2.0 GHz Macbook (non-Pro) 2008 w/ 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD + 500GB int HD...


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