Sync library and photos between Mac and Windows

Software darktable
1

Hi everyone,

I just started using darktable to replace Lightroom. So far I really like darktable, and I think I will never look back. I do struggle with how to set up my workflow. I have two computers:

  • Windows desktop
  • Macbook Pro

Files between the two are synced using OneDrive. Onedrive is also the location that holds all my pictures. I’ve started using darktable on Windows, and added command line options to store the library.db, settings and cache in C:\Users\<username>\OneDrive\Darktable. My images are located at C:\Users\<username>\OneDrive\PhotoLibrary

Now when I open darktable on my Macbook, pointing to the darktable directory in OneDrive containing settings and library, etc, it will not find any pictures. Darktable states that it cannot find C:\Users<username>\OneDrive\PhotoLibrary` or any of its’ contents. This makes sense ofcourse, as this folder will not be available on MacOS.

I wonder if any of you has experience syncing between different computers with different operating systems. Any ideas to get this working? Or is it not feasible?

1 Like
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I wouldn’t sync the databases between the two computers, but just the photos and xmp files. There is an option to look for updated xmp files on startup. Use that option.

1 Like
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Thanks Mica for your quick reply. I have enabled the option in the settings. I will test it tonight on my Macbook. I still have one question. Does enabling this option also mean that it will detect when I move or delete photos/folders in darktable on one pc? Otherwise I would have to import the library again on the other PC to keep them in sync, which does not seem like an optimal solution.

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You need to import the images on both machines, yes.

5

Hi,

my 2 Cent:

I would not work on one set of images/ database from 2 computers. My past experience (especially with the also from you mentioned move/deletions) tell, that this is quite a safe way into confusion.

I would rather determine what is the “leading” installation for normal edits and only occasionally move out images when I want to edit them on a different machine and then re-import back into the main database.

Not sure, but with darktable here also the “local copy” feature might be of use?
→ “Local copies” in the darktable usermanual

You should also keep in mind that editing on two different screens with potentially different color calibrations might bring issues when finalizing images for print/display.

6

Hey guys,

Thanks for your answers! I will not pursue one database strategy. The laptop will be more of a secondary machine for picture work. So I will look into the workflow of @DerMartin to make this work.

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I think there was a Lua script that automatically added images on start, but for me that’s a big and useless overhead in starting, so I kind of ignored it. Relying on xmps is safer and works really nice. What you can do is syncing the data database that contains some of the program settings, I use it often although I haven’t tried it with different OS’s.