Question on File Syncing Software

[Mickey]

I've never used file syncing software before but copying my lightroom folder (mostly catalog and selected smart previews and a bit more) to an external drive and then copying to my laptop when I travel and plan on working on photos is getting way to time consuming. I'm hoping file syncing software will be quicker.

I'm looking at ViceVersa based on Victoria's recommendation, but is the Plus version enough for the bidirectional syncing, or do I need the Pro version. I definitely don't need the server support.

I've seen in other posts that some folks use FreeFileSync, is that really as good as ViceVersa?

Mickey

 

[clee01l]

I don't think this is practical or prudent. You have two catalogs and image files of the same images. YOU have to maintain discipline to manage to work with only the latest catalog and keep up with which is the one with the latest changes and that there are not any changes in the catalog file that is not the latest that is not also in the "latest" catalog file. If you are confused by that sentence, you will be just as confused sorting out two catalogs of the same data.
Adobe has developed the concept of merging catalogs using the "Import from another catalog" function and "Export as a catalog" function. You can export ONLY those images that you plan to work on while using the laptop and this cuts down on the size of files and folders necessary to transfer to the laptop. You can even add new photos to the laptop catalog and then when you return to your master catalog use the "Import from another catalog" function to merge the travel catalog back to the master catalog. If you transfer the Smart Previews for the images that you want to work on while traveling, then you don't even need to take the original master image copies and you can still develop from the Smart Previews.

I have a travel laptop and a desktop. The master resides on the desktop and I keep a travel catalog on the laptop. Sometimes it starts on a trip as an empty catalog because I don't plane to work on anything but new images that I acquire on my trip. I just returned from such a trip to the Texas Panhandle. Tonight, I'll merge that travel catalog into my master catalog on my Desktop using the procedure that I just outlined.

 

[Mickey]

I'm not sure I explained myself very well. I never use Lightroom on both computers at the same time. I will use the laptop when traveling and my desktop when home. I just want to keep the files on both in sync without needing to copy everything back, only those that changed and obviously my catalog.

I have used vacation catalogs in the past and employed the export as catalog and import as catalog method as well. It just seemed more efficient and practical to just copy my catalog over when I needed it. I am also assuming that there are other files that also would need to be moved but I'm not sure what they all are so I thought syncing my Lightroom folder would be simpler. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding something?

 

[PhilBurton]

I'm not sure I explained myself very well. I never use Lightroom on both computers at the same time. I will use the laptop when traveling and my desktop when home. I just want to keep the files on both in sync without needing to copy everything back, only those that changed and obviously my catalog.

I have used vacation catalogs in the past and employed the export as catalog and import as catalog method as well. It just seemed more efficient and practical to just copy my catalog over when I needed it. I am also assuming that there are other files that also would need to be moved but I'm not sure what they all are so I thought syncing my Lightroom folder would be simpler. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding something?

I have both a desktop and a laptop, and I also use only one at a time. I use FreeFileSync to synchronize files. It's important that you synchronize all the file that taken together, constitute your Lightroom environment. That includes all the files that you backup, including the Lightroom files in C:\users\user\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Lightroom, plus all your plug-ins, presets, Lightroom catalog, etc. I also sync the previews files, which does add to the time required.

Phil

 

[clee01l]

I'm not sure I explained myself very well. I never use Lightroom on both computers at the same time...

Then, you haven't fully comprehended what I said. If you use the file sync method, you end up with 2 or even 3 catalog file copies. It does not take much to confuse yourself as to which is the latest. And once you have opened the wrong catalog and have new data on each of them that is not on the other, then you have to find and correct those differences.
You have two problems. One is updating the master catalog copy with the travel catalog copy. The "Import from another catalog" function solves this problem. If the latest changes made to the master copy image are found on the travel copy, then these changes are simply transferred to the master copy image develop history. If the two develop histories are divergent, then LR will know this and create a virtual copy so that both develop histories are maintained in the master catalog.
Your second problem is "copying to my laptop ... is getting way to time consuming". By exporting a smaller subset of your master catalog using the "Export as a catalog" function, you take a lot less time than copying all of the data files for the whole master catalog. If I include the master image file copies on my desktop along with ma master catalog, I have close to a TB of data that belongs only to LR. My laptop has a primary disk that is only 500GB. You may reach this same dilemma someday yourself.

 

[Victoria Bampton]

You understood it correctly Mickey. As Clee says, you do have to be aware of which version is the latest - or synchronize every time you use LR so that both locations have the most up to date copy. Some software - Vice Versa I think - can be triggered to sync automatically on a schedule or when something changes (e.g. a drive is plugged in).

If you have fast internet, the other option is a paid Dropbox account. That does the syncing between machines automatically, although you still have to be sure it's fully synced up/down before you switch computers.

 

[Mickey]

Phil: Thanks for the reminder on what files to keep in sync. I keep forgetting about the few things I have in the User directory.

Victoria: I have thought about a paid Dropbox account as I've been using the free one for a long time. But my internet connection at home is not very good which is why I've been considering the file sync option. I'm still not sure if I need the Plus version or the Pro version. Maybe I'll experiment with the free trial and just see how it goes when I have time to actually do some testing. Since I have other backup plans in place, I would likely manually sync the files only when I needed to.

Cletus - I do appreciate your comments and I think I understand what you're saying. I can certainly continue with the export as catalog and import as catalog options and may do that to be safe on the trip I'm taking in a few days. But I don't take previews or even smart previews of my whole collection. I already have smart previews of what I want on the laptop. I've probably added a few additional smart previews to my desktop, and also probably deleted some photos that formerly had smart previews, and now I want to move them to my laptop to take on my trip. Recopying the whole folder just takes a long time (laptop is only USB 2).

I'll hold off for now and may actually take some timings during my testing of different methods and then decide.

Thanks, everyone.

 

[Victoria Bampton]

I'm still not sure if I need the Plus version or the Pro version.

I've just had a quick look at the Features / PRO vs. PLUS page. Plus is missing the scheduling, and the ability to sync multiple different locations in the same sync document, the preview so you can check what will actually be synced, and the ability to track conflicts (where files changed in both locations), so I'd go with the pro version.

 

[rob211]

Look at Mylio. It's a super photo-specific synching application (don't confuse it with cloud storage, although it can do that). You can sync from say a desktop to NAS, laptop, phone, thumbdrive, etc. Free for x amount of JPEGs and I think 3 devices. You can choose to synch previews, thumbnails, or whole pictures, in order to save space.

And it works really well with Lr. Adjustments you do in Mylio can appear in Lr (like say a crop, or exposure change, or caption). And vice versa. My beefs with it are that it's expensive if you wanna do raw (although of course it depends on how much you need the synching; I don't much), its support of DNG is meh, and it still doesn't do hierarchical keywords. Unless stuff has changed lately. And note that I use to work with Lr, not in lieu of Lr, although that is possible.

 

[Dan Marchant]

Just one thing to be aware of when syncing. If the system you use has real time syncing (automatically syncs a file every time it changes) this can be bad because every edit you make in Lightroom will change the catalog, so your system will be continually syncing and resyncing. Either pause the real time syncing while editing or else just set up a schedule for the night time.

 

[clee01l]

Just one thing to be aware of when syncing. If the system you use has real time syncing (automatically syncs a file every time it changes) this can be bad because every edit you make in Lightroom will change the catalog, so your system will be continually syncing and resyncing. Either pause the real time syncing while editing or else just set up a schedule for the night time.

Many of us do not backup the master LR catalog file. If it is open when backup occurs, an unstable catalog file might be backed up. Instead, use the LR backup of exit to make a stable zipped copy of the catalog. The zipped copy can then become the source for the backup system. You can also exclude the Previews folders from backup since these are in constant change too and LR will generate new Previews from the LR catalog contents and the master original copies.

 

[Mickey]

Dan - good reminder on pausing the syncing. I use free Dropbox for various things, not all in Lightroom, and I'm already in the habit of pausing dropbox and then syncing when I'm done with whatever I'm doing.

Cletus - also a good reminder on handling Lightroom a little differently than a normal backup plan. I do backup Lightroom every time I exist, and also use the plug-in to zip up those backups. My regular backup strategy excludes the Lightroom catalog and backups, but does include the plug-in zipped backups.

 

[Roelof Moorlag]

I do backup Lightroom every time I exist, and also use the plug-in to zip up those backups

Why do you zip them with an plug-in? On your profile i see you are working with 6.6 / CC2015.6, this version does zip the backup files already.