Moving Files from MacBook laptop to IMAC (Desktop)

[jeffreyn1959]

Have Lightroom Classic installed on my Laptop and Desktop Mac computers. Want to download files from camera into laptop and edit in the field, once back home want to move edited images into primary computer (IMAC) for permanent storage. What is the best way to do this, do I put everything in a collection and copy the collection to the IMAC?, I assume this is possible.

[dj_paige · Accepted solution]

On the laptop, in Lightroom, select the desired photos then File->Export as catalog (make sure to check "Include negatives"); move all files created to the desktop. Then in Lightroom on the desktop, use File->Import from Another Catalog and select the catalog you created on the laptop (which has been moved to the desktop).

[JP Hess]

Procedure is for a previous version, but is the same in Lightroom Classic CC.

Lightroom 5: How to Use Lightroom 5 On Location - YouTube

[richardplondon]

That's a really good video.

Just one thing to add: where she talks about taking into the cloud / manually copying over, the "Lightroom" folder with all the various LR presets etc inside:

it is IMO worth also including the "CameraRaw" folder which sits alongside that.

This contains user customisations as well as any downloaded or user generated resources, for:

• per-camera default processing;
• lens correction;
• camera calibration.

This way whatever processing you have got set to happen on the desktop whenever a new image is imported, can happen just the same way in the portable setup too. These matters are held in common between LR and Adobe Camera Raw, which is why they are stored in a separate location than the LR specific stuff.