Mac/PC photo organizer with NAS support and watched folders
Asked 3/4/2012
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2 answers
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We store our photos on a NAS so both a MacBook Pro and a Windows PC can access the same image library. On Windows, Picasa works well because it can watch folders and automatically add new photos to the library, but the Mac version has been unreliable for us. Lightroom and Aperture are fine for more serious editing, but I’m looking for a simpler app for browsing, basic edits, and sharing that works well with a NAS-based workflow. Is there a good Mac-friendly option with watched folders, or another practical way to make this setup work across both systems?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
2 Answers
5
Instead of hunting down perfect solution with bunch of different software
Why don't you:
- Install Lightroom on both systems (call Adobe about PC/MAC user licensing, not exactly sure if they will let you use your license on different OS, download trial versions for each OS and use your serial number on both, see if that works, if not call and complain)
- Create Lightroom catalog for all your images
- Store that catalog somewhere on the NAS device
- Then just load the catalog from each computer
And take some time and show your wife how to use Lightroom.
Originally by user8684. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user8684
14y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
A practical answer from the community is that there isn’t a perfect cross-platform photo app for this exact NAS workflow.
Two workable approaches were suggested:
-
Use Lightroom on both computers for a shared workflow. However, based on later experience in the thread, Lightroom catalogs should be kept on a local drive, not on the NAS. Lightroom can reference image files stored on a NAS, but the catalog itself needs to stay local.
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If your main need is automatic importing on the Mac, use macOS folder-watching tools instead of relying on the photo app itself. Automator, Folder Actions, or apps like Hazel can watch NAS folders and trigger imports into iPhoto or Aperture.
So the most realistic setup is: keep photos on the NAS, use local catalogs/libraries where required, and add folder-watching on the Mac with Automator/Folder Actions/Hazel if automatic import is the key feature you want.
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