Catalogs continued

In the last post on this subject, I mentioned that Lightroom isn't exactly a multi-user program. With that in mind, how do you share information and catalogs? It's actually quite easy.

The Export feature is designed to allow the sharing of catalogs between different computers running the same version of Lightroom. For discovery purposes, we can export images or an entire catalog. Assuming opposing council's expert has the same version of Lightroom, they should be able to import the catalog and see what we've done.

In the Library module (or the Filmstrip), simply select the relevant images and choose File>Export as Catalog. The dialog box will open and you will select a location to save the new catalog (you can't export images into or combine images with an existing catalog using this method). This will export the images along with basic metadata. This is what makes a catalog export different from a normal file export ... you get everything that's associated with the files.

This basic method is fine for everyday use. But for us, we need something more. We want to be able to export the catalog and include the master files as well, in their native state. In the next installment, we'll see just how easy it is.

Until then, enjoy.