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Lightroom, etc on Mac
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Sep 25, 2018 19:28:45   #
Homesinaz4u
 
I have a question about Lightroom and other programs. Is it possible to hook up an external hard drive and download the photo editing programs on there or do they have to be installed on the laptops internal hard drive to work? The external hard drive would always be connected but not sure if that would work. I just don't have enough memory to save all of the photo's and the programs too. I have been using an HP w/windows 10 for photo editing programs and files but would like to just use the Mac only. I use my laptop for my real estate business but would like to edit photos in the field when I have to get a listing up asap. Hope I explained my question correctly. As always, thanks in advance for any help or advice.

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Sep 25, 2018 19:32:41   #
Jbat Loc: Charleston, SC
 
I suggest that most people have the editing program, Lightroom or whatever, on the Mac and put the photos on an external hard drive. That is the way I have done it for years. The photos are the major users of hard drive space and keeping Lightroom on the computer allows it to run faster.

Joel

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Sep 25, 2018 19:34:47   #
petercbrandt Loc: New York City, Manhattan
 
I use my MBP laptop as the workstation with programs and then extn. h.drives as the catalog of images, plus 2 backup h.d's over that catalog. I don't see the logic in putting the program on the hard drive.

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Sep 25, 2018 20:21:41   #
Homesinaz4u
 
Thanks Peter. The logic I guess is that the files for the programs are rather large and I was just trying to save space. I have downloaded photo files to the external as a back up. My question I guess is can it be done and work? If not, I guess I will just by another computer just for photography.

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Sep 25, 2018 20:31:52   #
rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA
 
Homesinaz4u wrote:
I have a question about Lightroom and other programs. Is it possible to hook up an external hard drive and download the photo editing programs on there or do they have to be installed on the laptops internal hard drive to work? The external hard drive would always be connected but not sure if that would work. I just don't have enough memory to save all of the photo's and the programs too. I have been using an HP w/windows 10 for photo editing programs and files but would like to just use the Mac only. I use my laptop for my real estate business but would like to edit photos in the field when I have to get a listing up asap. Hope I explained my question correctly. As always, thanks in advance for any help or advice.
I have a question about Lightroom and other progra... (show quote)


No, Adobe software has to be installed on the system (internal) drive. You can certainly move the catalogs and photographs to an external drive, but not the App itself.

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Sep 25, 2018 20:33:59   #
A. JEAN
 
I just bought a refurb macbook that now has a one tet hard drive and eight gig ram, they can take a bit of memory increase. Lyle

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Sep 25, 2018 20:53:27   #
Homesinaz4u
 
Ok, thanks. That was all I needed to know.

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Sep 25, 2018 21:03:25   #
blackest Loc: Ireland
 
Homesinaz4u wrote:
I have a question about Lightroom and other programs. Is it possible to hook up an external hard drive and download the photo editing programs on there or do they have to be installed on the laptops internal hard drive to work? The external hard drive would always be connected but not sure if that would work. I just don't have enough memory to save all of the photo's and the programs too. I have been using an HP w/windows 10 for photo editing programs and files but would like to just use the Mac only. I use my laptop for my real estate business but would like to edit photos in the field when I have to get a listing up asap. Hope I explained my question correctly. As always, thanks in advance for any help or advice.
I have a question about Lightroom and other progra... (show quote)


Kinda , a mac can boot off any drive, e.g i have high sierra on a 128GB thumb drive for day to day use I have yosemite on the internal drive. so if you boot of an external drive then install the programs to that drive are all in the right place. I have found that if I use a program installed on the internal when booted from the external they tend to need activating for the second OS. You can even use a Mac as a boot drive, e.g i booted an imac from my macbook pro. I essentially had my macbook pro with a bigger screen and less ram.

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Sep 26, 2018 08:34:05   #
LA Loc: Little Rock, AR
 
You will be much happier with LR on the Mac and your photos on the external drive. LR will run faster this way. But you really need a second or even third external drive for your backups if the photos are important to you. You cannot rely on a single HD not to crash. I have three backups because I don't like the feeling of relying on only one drive for my photos if my primary drive fails (which it has). I also worry about other unforeseen issues, like ransomware that could infect more than one drive before I realize it. (I know some people are like Leo Durocher when asked by a reporter - when his team was ahead near the end of the season - whether he thought they would win the pennant "barring the unforeseen." He replied, "There ain't gonna be no unforeseen.")

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Sep 26, 2018 08:34:36   #
mizzee Loc: Boston,Ma
 
I put photos on the external and LR on my laptop. I’ve been doing this for several years and it works great!

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Sep 26, 2018 09:06:18   #
Homesinaz4u
 
Thanks to everyone for your suggestions, I really appreciate it.

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Sep 26, 2018 09:23:17   #
morkie1891
 
While in the field, You might import photos to the internal drive and edit there and move them to external drive when back in office

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Sep 26, 2018 10:10:22   #
burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC
 
rgrenaderphoto wrote:
No, Adobe software has to be installed on the system (internal) drive. You can certainly move the catalogs and photographs to an external drive, but not the App itself.


Not quite correct... Lr must be on the STARTUP drive, which can be internal, external, or a network device (which would be too slow for Lr).

I use five external startup drives. Each runs a different version of Mac OS X or Mac OS. Lr is installed on one of them.

On a Mac, holding down the OPTION key all the way through startup reveals a menu of all your startup drives, including Windows drives or partitions enabled via Apple BootCamp.

All that said, having an SSD or Fusion internal drive for just the operating system and applications will be fastest, when you Store all documents on a fast external drive connected via USB 3.0 or USB-C or Thunderbolt.

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Sep 26, 2018 10:39:40   #
via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP
 

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Sep 27, 2018 00:58:12   #
GrandmaG Loc: Flat Rock, MI
 
Homesinaz4u wrote:
I have a question about Lightroom and other programs. Is it possible to hook up an external hard drive and download the photo editing programs on there or do they have to be installed on the laptops internal hard drive to work? The external hard drive would always be connected but not sure if that would work. I just don't have enough memory to save all of the photo's and the programs too. I have been using an HP w/windows 10 for photo editing programs and files but would like to just use the Mac only. I use my laptop for my real estate business but would like to edit photos in the field when I have to get a listing up asap. Hope I explained my question correctly. As always, thanks in advance for any help or advice.
I have a question about Lightroom and other progra... (show quote)


I have my Lightroom catalog and my photos on an external drive. This way, I can take my catalog and photos with my notebook for travel. I think the actual program has to be on the computer's hard drive. You can install it on two computers. Hope this helps.

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