transfer catalogue from notebook PC to Mac

[neilv]

I have been on vacation & taken many images which I filed & keyworded on my notebok each day. Before leaving home I transfered my keyword file from the Mac to the notebook & now I am back I have imported the updated keywork file back to the Mac. Now I am trying to transfer the photos from the note book to the MAC with all the keywording attached.

I have done this a number of times before & have created a workflow sheet with every single step required. Following this I get to a point where Lightroom seems to have changed.

The second part of my work flow after creating the .lrcat file is
File/Import from Catologue
Select the file called test.lrcat
A text box will open/select "copy photos to new location & import"

This is where it has changed, "copy photos to new location & import", is no longer an option.
The two options are "add new photos to catalog without moving" or "Don't import new photos"

Has Lightroom changed & if so how do I import now or have I done something wrong.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Neil

[Victoria Bampton]

Hi Neil, first things first, can you confirm which LR version you're using now? And where are the photos with the catalog stored? On the notebook internal drive or on the external drive?

[neilv]

Hi Neil, first things first, can you confirm which LR version you're using now? And where are the photos with the catalog stored? On the notebook internal drive or on the external drive?

Hi Victoria
I am using Lightroom Version 3.6. The main catologue (target) is on a Mac internal hard drive, the location from which I would like transfer is an internal notebook hard drive.

Thanks

Neil

[TNG]

Neil, could you post a screenshot of your "Import from Catalog" dialog, with the "File Handling" drop down box showing, like in this screenshot:

[neilv]

Jim
Attached is a screen grab.

[TNG]

Thanks. Will need to setup some tests to see if I can replicate.

Can I just be clear, when you try the import where exactly in the catalog "test.lrcat"? I know it was on your notebook, have you copied it to the main Mac or are you trying to import via a network connection?

Also, I think I'm seeing some differences in your File Handling section, compared to my PC-based dialog. There's something underneath your drop down options box which starts with 'Copy'....can you give me a new screenshot but without the drop down so that I can see it more clearly?

[neilv]

I created the "test.ircat" on the notebook then transfered only that file to a folder in the Drop Box on the Mac. I then went to file / Import from catalog & selected the "test.ircat" file which opens this box. The connection between the two computers is wireless network but both are in the same room.

[TNG]

To be honest, Neil, I haven't seen an Import from Catalog dialog box quite like that....it looks as though you have the option to copy the photos (and to choose a different location) in the line immediately below the File Handling line. I really don't know if that's a normal Mac version of the Import from Catalog process, we need a Mac person to advise.

[neilv]

Thanks Jim

For the moment I have copied every thing to the hard drive & loaded them into light room on the Mac & an now going through & re keywording. I don't edit while away only key word so the work is not huge.
My concern is that something has changed since the last time I did this (about LR Vers 3.1) so I was wondering what had changed me or LR.
I may have more time on the weekend so will make some dummy files & try to work out a new work flow.

Again thanks for trying.

All the best

Neil

[Victoria Bampton]

That is the import from catalog dialog - we're just used to seeing it with the 'show preview' checkbox checked and the thumbnails showing down the right. That's LR2 though, isn't it?

It's only finding 4 new photos, plus 553 that are already in the catalog and need updating. Does that sound right?

So let me just double check - you're opening your main catalog, then going to file > Import from catalog and then directing it to the vacation one. Is that correct? And can you confirm the vacation photos aren't already IN the main catalog? If that's all correct but the photos have already been imported into the main catalog, then it sounds about right.

[neilv]

Hi Victoria

I am using LR version 3.6.

LR only found 4 photos on the screen print because as I really wanted to import the photos into LR, I transfered the images from the note book to a hard drive & then uploaded them into the Mac, Then imported them into LR & having lost all the key words, Key worded them again. I would rather have just transfered the images from the the notebook to the Mac with all the keywords attached but it was not working as it had in the past.

The 4 images you are seeing are 4 images I did not want in LR but they made a good way of showing the screen print which Jim asked for. The process was exactly the same just the number of images was different.

That is correct. After creating the lrcat file on the note book & moving it to the Mac I open file/import from catalog & get the screen which I have sent. For all the initial attempts the images were not in the main catalog. For subsequent screen shots all but 4 were & the 4 were what it was asked to import.

Thanks for any help

Neil

[Victoria Bampton]

I'm not entirely sure what was going on there Neil. If I was doing it, I'd copy the photos from the notebook to the Mac, and then go to import from catalog to import them into the main catalog. In that case, it adding them without moving wouldn't be an issue as they'd already be in the right place.

That said, when you did the first import from catalog, I'm confused about why it didn't offer to copy the photos.

Either way you shouldn't really need to re-keyword them. You should be able to import from catalog, updating the photos you've just imported.

[awp]

I do this sort of thing on a weekly basis after I've shot pictures and processed and filed them from the car. When I get back to the office I copy the catalogue from the laptop to the desktop - location doesn't matter. On the laptop I had imported all the pictures to the directory C:\pictures - I have a directory call pictures on the C: of the desktop machine - I copy all the pictures from the laptop to there. I then open LR and import from catalogue - it imports the pictures with processing and keywords to my main catalogue - but still in the directory 'pictures' - from within LR I then move the pictures to where I want them on a permanent basis. Took longer to type this than it takes to do it! HTH