GreenReaper

Need help. I will be picking up my new Mac Mini tomorrow. I plan using it strictly for photo imaging, both still and video.

How do I move move my catalog
From the laptop to the Mini? I currently have all my images and videos on two separate external drives, the volume names will remain unchanged. Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Start with:

1, Does the LR Classic software install and run on a Mac Mini?? As a subscriber, you can open a technical support chat with Adobe and ask. Don't be surprised with answer "no".

2, Assuming others on the internet saying the answer will be "yes", you can install the LR Classic software and create a new & empty LRCAT "catalog". Open the newly installed software and confirm it starts and the catalog is empty. Then continue below.

2a, Once the s/w is installed, just copy your existing LRCAT file overtop of the empty file on the mini. (actually, you want the entire folder and subfolders where your LRCAT file resides on the old computer. This brings the image preview too.)

2b, When you open LR Classic, with the copied LRCAT file, then confirm the image files are found on the connected drives. With the drive names and folders unchanged, this should work "auto magically".

Take example: \\my-HD-One\Pictures\IMAGE001.JPG.

As long as the mini sees that same drive name (\\my-HD-One) and folder (\Pictures), then IMAGE001.JPG will be available and ready to go inside LR.

2c, If needed, just update the drive / folders inside the LRCAT as has been copied to the Mini. On a Windows box, people might see a problem with the drive letter assignment, like "G" is now "H". One just has to open LR, go to the Folders view of the Library, find the highest level folder such as \Pictures in the example above. Right-click \Pictures and select menu option "Update folder location". Just navigate to the attached drive and confirm the new location. This update cascades through the catalog.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

I've recently moved my Lightroom from one Windows machine to another. I followed the precise instructions from Victoria Brampton, the "Lightroom Queen". Check her website.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

A couple of notes, Paul, actually for the OP:

Lightroom 6.14 MAY run under Rosetta 2 Intel emulation on Apple Silicon Macs, provided you can successfully migrate an EXISTING 64-bit installation via Apple Migration Assistant from an older Mac. The installers for the old standalone Lightroom 6.14 are NOT 64-bit compatible, so you cannot install a fresh copy of 6.14 on ANY version of the pure 64-bit MacOS (Intel OR Apple Silicon).

Lightroom CLASSIC 12.1 (LrC) is the current version of the SUBSCRIPTION desktop application. It is 100% compatible with Apple Silicon. If you have Intel 64-bit plug-ins, you can boot LrC in Rosetta 2, install the plug-ins, then go back and run LrC in native mode. MOST Intel plug-ins will then still work. I run Negative Lab Pro this way. It’s an Intel plug-in that runs through Rosetta 2 inside the Native version of LrC. (There is a checkbox in the Get Info dialog of the LrC application (and all universal Intel/Apple Silicon apps) that allows it to boot under Rosetta 2 emulation as if it were an Intel native app.)

Lightroom is now a subscription application that is also fully compatible in native mode with Apple Silicon and Intel, and also runs in Intel Rosetta 2 emulation on Apple Silicon. It is an all-new app with more in common with the old Lightroom Mobile than the old version 6.14. (I know, naming confusion, right?)

Mac paths use forward slashes, not back slashes, because Macs are running BSD UNIX underneath the Apple Mac user interface.

So long as the Mac mini has the specifications listed on the Adobe website listed below, LrC and Lr subscription applications will download and install.

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/system-requirements.html

You will need to install the Creative Cloud application on your new Mini FIRST. Then in Creative Cloud, sign into your Adobe account, and download the apps you are eligible to use.

Lightroom Classic 12.1 runs FAST on an M1 or M2 MacBook Air, 13" M1 or M2 MacBook Pro, 24" M1 iMac, or M1 or M2 Mac mini WHEN you have 16GB memory and at least 512GB SSD storage on it. I would not buy an M1 or M2 Mac with less than those specs. Bump the storage up to at least 1TB on M2 Pro and M2 Max Macs, for fastest input and output from the internal SSD.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

I assumed the OP is a subscriber as LR6 can't be installed onto new(er) Mac equipment now for 2+ years, probably longer. They would have hit this LR6 problem in the past, if it was lurking in their situation.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Probably a good assumption that he's a subscriber, but I've run into a number of folks here who haven't updated their systems in 7-10 years. A few of them get a real shock when they learn what is involved with a new setup:

"You mean I have to get a new computer to go to the latest OS?"

"Why can't it run 32-bit code written in the dark ages?"

"What, they changed processors, and architectures completely — and the transition actually went smoothly?"

"Memory is shared and swapped and it's not slow? How???"

"Subscription service??? WHAT the...??? Why???"

"So I need a new computer and the new OS won't run my other old software?"

"This thing doesn't have FireWire or USB-A or E-Sata or serial ports? What do I do?"

"Thunderbolt uses USB-C connectors but it isn't compatible with all USB-C cables? (Don't even get me started!)

"USB-C Power Delivery cables don't transmit data?" (As my wife discovered, rather awkwardly.)

"What's Rosetta 2, and how can it be so fast?"

For some folks, there is a lot of mystery surrounding the new Macs and how they work with various software.

I had a college friend ask me a lot of similar questions last summer. His 2012 15" MacBook Pro was getting long in the tooth. He got a new, fairly loaded 14" M1 MacBook Pro, but that led to new drives, a new printer, a 14-port hub and new cables, two new monitors, and a new inkjet photo printer. At least all his old drives can be connected to the hub with various cables and adapters. But he's about to update all of them and consolidate data on two sets of backup RAID arrays.

He moved away from Lightroom 6.14 and Microsoft 0ffice 2010 and subscribed to the Adobe Photography Plan and Microsoft 365. He added Da Vinci Resolve 18 for video editing. He can afford it all (He's a retired doctor with two Canons, six lenses, and a Fujifilm GFX-100 with three lenses), but it was a bit of a shock that the new computer gear was so different that almost everything had to be replaced.

Six months later, he's happy he made the upgrades. Mostly, he's just stunned at the speed of it all, the battery life, and the near total integration with his iPhone.

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

LrC runs on all the new Apple CPUs.

jsh

Simply open LR in your Mac. At the top left click "File" and select "Open Catalog" and provide the path to your existing catalog. If you want to import the catalog to your Mac, "File" also has an "Import" selection along with a few other options for catalog management.

BTW... I"m new here. Hi.

Jeff
Fresno, CA