Moving from Lightroom 6 to Lightroom Classic subscription on a new MacBookPro

[M.Chapman]

22 minutes ago, MDM said:

 

Text too small -  I think the only way to increase the system font size is to use a scaled display preference which tends to make other things look pretty weird - check out System Prefs - Display.

Yes, that's the way to fix it. I don't see anything weird. It used to be the case, but now most apps are high DPI aware. Only thing I had to watch out for is the image display scaling in PS/LR isn't quite what might be expected. Mmm.... maybe that is a bit weird after all.

 

Mark

[MDM]

37 minutes ago, NYCat said:

 

Thank you. I had found that on Google and I've gone one step up with the size and will see how it goes. Bit by bit right now. I hope I have finally satisfied Google and won't get more messages about my password. I have a tip about Monterey but don't know where they are trying to lead me. Anyway, I'll get along ... I do love the thing.

 

Don't forget the macOS help itself which is generally excellent. It is always my first port of call for general stuff about the Mac.

[StokeCreative]

1 hour ago, MDM said:

 

Yes to the MacBook Pro but I would not go for one of these displays when one could get a top of the range Eizo 27" for a similar price or a similar BenQ and have plenty of spare change. They are not even HDR monitors (unlike the new MacBook Pro Mini LED displays) or the vastly more expensive XDR displays. The monitors seem to fall in between as they are not ideal for photography and lack features of advanced video editing. 

 

I'm disappointed by the lack of integrated 27" iMac. I need to replace my old one, but I want a screen at least as good as the iMac but can't justify the Apple one. Are BenQs a safe bet MDM? I've looked through so many specs, I'm going blind. 

 I'll be buying the lower of the M series Studio Macs I think (I have a 16" MacBook Pro from work, but I like to keep that separate from photo stuff)

Any screen advice welcomed! Thanks Hugh

[Cal]

On 14/01/2022 at 17:45, MDM said:

 

Without reading up the latest and very complicated explanations I think it is safe to say that bootable clones no longer work unfortunately since at least Big Sur (I think you use Carbon Copy Cloner).

 

I don't know about CCC, but bootable backups work fine with SuperSuper! on Monterey. Source: I have one that I smart update and test regularly and it works fine. The product has been compatible with M1 Macs since April last year, I imagine CCC offers similar.

 

On 14/01/2022 at 17:56, M.Chapman said:

MDM is right. Bootable Clones are more problematic now. The OS and your data will be split between 2 drives. You can still clone your data, but the OS is "sealed" by Apple so isn't as straightforward to restore from a clone. Booting from an external drive is also not as easy.

 

It is true that the OS drive and the data portion are split into a read-only "Macintosh HD" and then a "Macintosh HD - Data" but in all practical sense this makes no difference to how things operate. Bootable clones are still very much possible and will work in the same way when needed. Pretty much the only thing that has changed with SuperDuper! is when using "Smart Update" to update your backup, while it still updates all of your files and settings, it won't update the OS version on the backup disk. To do that, you need to run an erase then copy (a full backup).

 

 

 

 

 

[MDM]

26 minutes ago, StokeCreative said:

I'm disappointed by the lack of integrated 27" iMac. I need to replace my old one, but I want a screen at least as good as the iMac but can't justify the Apple one. Are BenQs a safe bet MDM? I've looked through so many specs, I'm going blind. 

 I'll be buying the lower of the M series Studio Macs I think (I have a 16" MacBook Pro from work, but I like to keep that separate from photo stuff)

Any screen advice welcomed! Thanks Hugh

 

Basically BenQ has a great reputation and they are improving all the time. Eizo is even better if you can afford it.. The best resource for info about monitors is this website in Australia. What the guy does not know about monitors is not worth knowing. He sells monitors and the info there is up to date. He is not a Mac guy but the advice applies across the board. 

 

If thinking BenQ, you probably want to be looking at one specifically for stills photography rather than video. I am an advocate of the 2560x1440 27" monitor for photography as higher res makes things look too sharp but others such as Mark Chapman don't mind higher res. These BenQ and Eizo monitors are professional quality and more amenable to proper calibration than the iMac monitors but I think the new Apple monitors ones come pre-calibrated with various presets as with the latest M1 Mac BookPros. 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 9, 2022 by MDM

[StokeCreative]

1 hour ago, MDM said:

 

Basically BenQ has a great reputation and they are improving all the time. Eizo is even better if you can afford it.. The best resource for info about monitors is this website in Australia. What the guy does not know about monitors is not worth knowing. He sells monitors and the info there is up to date. He is not a Mac guy but the advice applies across the board. 

 

If thinking BenQ, you probably want to be looking at one specifically for stills photography rather than video. I am an advocate of the 2560x1440 27" monitor for photography as higher res makes things look too sharp but others such as Mark Chapman don't mind higher res. These BenQ and Eizo monitors are professional quality and more amenable to proper calibration than the iMac monitors but I think the new Apple monitors ones come pre-calibrated with various presets as with the latest M1 Mac BookPros. 

 

 

 

 

Thanks MDM, I'm a bit of a monitor virgin having always had iMacs and MBPs!

[Marianne]

On 15/01/2022 at 06:32, Allan Bell said:

 

Hi Mick, Not Wishing to divert the thread from Paulette but am interested in what you said about storage drives in your last post. I am using two WD Duo hard disc drives for storage and backup which I purchased when I bought the late 2013 27" iMac I am still using now. There is nothing wrong and I am not having problems with the machine so I intend continuing to use it. The intermittent problem I do have is with one or both of the WD storage drives is that after closing the computer down they keep power on and I have to force the computer to close and even then the drives continue to spin. Usually when I power down the computer the drives power down too.

 

I have been investigating alternatives as I cannot find a supplier who carries the WD duo drives for replacement of the faulty ones.  As you say the G-tech are the same company and I could investigate those but I am interested also in your thoughts on SSD's.  I have concerns that the existing WD Duo's I am running may fail completely in the near future so need to replace sooner than later.

 

Just to clarify the two existing Duo drives are daisy chained with the computer so I am always working from duo 1. When Carbon Copy Cloner kicks in it is set to backup from Duo 1 to Duo 2. They are both 4 Tb drives but I would be looking at larger capacity drives to future-proof.

 

I am asking this here as others might be interested but if you wish you could email me direct.

 

Thank you for being a really helpful friend to all on the forums.

 

Allan

 

I've had issues with WD drives on my late 2018 MacBook Pro not being recognized, having to force eject, and one that has become completely unreadable, so I switched to G-tech and Sandisk - even the G-Tech HDD drives are super fast - including a 6TB Thunderbolt 2 that I use with a T-3 adapter. I have a couple of 4TB portable G-Tech HDD drives that I use with  Carbon Copy Cloner backups. I also bought a tiny 1TB Sandisk SSD for travel that's super fast. I recommend both brands. 

 

 

Edited March 9, 2022 by Marianne

[M.Chapman]

2 hours ago, MDM said:

photography as higher res makes things look too sharp

That's probably not the way I'd describe it. Because the pixels on a retina display are typically 1/2 the width and height, an image with a fixed number of pixels will typically appear 1/2 the size on a retina display, a bit like holding a print twice as far away from your eyes. So, to have a comparable 100% viewing experience, the image on the retina display has to be viewed at 200% magnification (or from 1/2 the distance). Where the retina display does look sharper is when displaying an image with twice as many real pixels (linear dimension) at 100%, versus a regular image at 100% on a non-retina display. The retina displays also render text beautifully with no "pixelation" visible.

 

NB Applying anything other than the default scaling (=2:1) in System Display Settings will alter the ratios somewhat. I made a post about how things work on a 27" iMac here. https://discussion.alamy.com/topic/15285-in-qc-limbo/?do=findComment&comment=309735

 

 

 

Mark

Edited March 9, 2022 by M.Chapman

[MDM]

48 minutes ago, StokeCreative said:

Thanks MDM, I'm a bit of a monitor virgin having always had iMacs and MBPs!

 

😀 No worries. It's never too late to learn something new.  

[MDM]

13 minutes ago, Marianne said:

 

I've had issues with WD drives on my late 2018 MacBook Pro not being recognized, having to force eject, and one that has become completely unreadable, so I switched to G-tech and Sandisk - even the G-Tech HDD drives are super fast - including a 6TB Thunderbolt 2 that I use with a T-3 adapter. I have a couple of 2TB portable G-Tech HDD drives that I use with  Carbon Copy Cloner backups. I also bought a tiny 1TB Sandisk SSD for travel that's super fast. I recommend both brands. 

 

 

 

I am a big G-Technology fan. Never had one fail or even falter so far. SanDisk are the same company and the branding is all going from G-Technology to SanDisk now. Soon G-Technology will be no more it seems but the drives are the same. Western Digital are also part of the same company but they are not in the same ballpark for reliability. I've had several fail or start to run really slowly so I am no longer buying them.

Edited March 9, 2022 by MDM

[Marianne]

Paulette, if I'm not too late

 

I recently had to wipe my hard drive to send my laptop to Apple for repair. It came back with Monterey and the upgraded Apple Apps - (I had been running Mojave so I could use some legacy 32-bit apps which I now need to run on my old slow 2009 MacBook) - Using Migration Assistant with Carbon Copy Cloner I could pick and choose what I transferred back to my computer when it was fixed since I had a few apps I wanted such as the Nik extensions - and my keychain, some LR catalogs, docs etc. The only issue was Apple's Photos App - I have over 6,000 images going back to my iPhone 4S and they didn't transfer from the backup - it took about a week for them all to show in Photos on my Mac as they downloaded intermittently from iCloud. 

 

Before sending off the computer, I archived various older LR catalogs, photos, documents, etc on a hard drive and in Sync on the cloud. 

 

Whenever you upgrade to a new version of LR, it automatically upgrades your catalogs as you open them. The newest version of LR Classic, which I hadn't been able to use with Mojave, is a huge jump from last year so the jump from LR 6 to LR Classic will astound you!  

 

I've been getting the CC subscription for free the past couple of years due to a bonus program for making the requisite number of sales on their stock site, but the cost of the subscription works out to less than what it used to cost me to upgrade every three years, and with CC you get upgrades several times a year. Check out all the neural filters - they're really fun - but the best part is excellent cloning and RAW processing right in LR Classic.  I rarely have to open PS these days. 

 

You'll love the speed of your new computer - mine is from 2018 and having had to use my 2009 laptop while it was away, I can promise you you'll be really happy both with your new machine and the CC subscription. 

 

If you want to keep more of your photos online, you can buy more than the 20GB from Adobe. I considered that before sending off my MBP, but when I spoke to Adobe, they said they really recommended it more for users of LR (LR is now the mobile cloud version - LR Classic is akin to the old LR6 and used on your computer - the pro version with much better options and what you'll be using).

 

If you have an iPhone or iPad, you'll also get the enhanced version of LR Mobile, PS Mobile, and the PS camera on you iPhone and iPad. Really awesome programs. 

 

Enjoy!

[MDM]

9 minutes ago, M.Chapman said:

That's probably not the way I'd describe it. Because the pixels on a retina display are typically 1/2 the width and height, an image with a fixed number of pixels will typically appear 1/2 the size on a retina display, a bit like holding a print twice as far away from your eyes. So, to have a comparable 100% viewing experience, the image on the retina display has to be viewed at 200% magnification (or from 1/2 the distance). Where the retina display does look sharper is when displaying an image with twice as many real pixels (linear dimension) at 100%, versus a regular image at 100% on a non-retina display. The retina displays also render text beautifully with no "pixelation" visible.

 

NB Applying anything other than the default scaling (=2:1) in System Display Settings will alter the ratios somewhat.

 

Mark

 

OK Mark. I'll take your word for it.

[NYCat]

31 minutes ago, Marianne said:

Paulette, if I'm not too late

 

I recently had to wipe my hard drive to send my laptop to Apple for repair. It came back with Monterey and the upgraded Apple Apps - (I had been running Mojave so I could use some legacy 32-bit apps which I now need to run on my old slow 2009 MacBook) - Using Migration Assistant with Carbon Copy Cloner I could pick and choose what I transferred back to my computer when it was fixed since I had a few apps I wanted such as the Nik extensions - and my keychain, some LR catalogs, docs etc. The only issue was Apple's Photos App - I have over 6,000 images going back to my iPhone 4S and they didn't transfer from the backup - it took about a week for them all to show in Photos on my Mac as they downloaded intermittently from iCloud. 

 

Before sending off the computer, I archived various older LR catalogs, photos, documents, etc on a hard drive and in Sync on the cloud. 

 

Whenever you upgrade to a new version of LR, it automatically upgrades your catalogs as you open them. The newest version of LR Classic, which I hadn't been able to use with Mojave, is a huge jump from last year so the jump from LR 6 to LR Classic will astound you!  

 

I've been getting the CC subscription for free the past couple of years due to a bonus program for making the requisite number of sales on their stock site, but the cost of the subscription works out to less than what it used to cost me to upgrade every three years, and with CC you get upgrades several times a year. Check out all the neural filters - they're really fun - but the best part is excellent cloning and RAW processing right in LR Classic.  I rarely have to open PS these days. 

 

You'll love the speed of your new computer - mine is from 2018 and having had to use my 2009 laptop while it was away, I can promise you you'll be really happy both with your new machine and the CC subscription. 

 

If you want to keep more of your photos online, you can buy more than the 20GB from Adobe. I considered that before sending off my MBP, but when I spoke to Adobe, they said they really recommended it more for users of LR (LR is now the mobile cloud version - LR Classic is akin to the old LR6 and used on your computer - the pro version with much better options and what you'll be using).

 

If you have an iPhone or iPad, you'll also get the enhanced version of LR Mobile, PS Mobile, and the PS camera on you iPhone and iPad. Really awesome programs. 

 

Enjoy!

 

Thank you for your input, Marianne. I had such an old MacBook Pro (2009) that it seemed unwise to use Migration Assistant. I have some things I put on an external hard drive that I will move over to the new one. I don't use the Photos app much (just for some personal photos) and I let what I had go into the Cloud where I am paying a small amount for more storage. I will eventually remove them from the Cloud, I think, but it enabled me to bring them easily to the new laptop. I have very few applications beyond what comes with the machine so I'm hoping I will get to where I want to be. I just need to go slowly since I never had much experience with computers... I came to them very late and wasn't working in an office where I might have people to help me learn. My images are on external hard drives and exist in several copies so I'm not afraid of losing them. My emails and forum contributions are mostly done on my AIR because it is a laptop that is comfortable on my lap.. unlike the big MacBook Pros.

 

Paulette

[Allan Bell]

12 hours ago, M.Chapman said:

Because the pixels on a retina display are typically 1/2 the width and height,

 

Mark I know you know more than I do about computers, but the above statement makes the pixels on a Retina screen 75% smaller than the "Standard" pixel.

 

Half the width AND half the height of any square is 25% of the original area.

 

Am I missing something?

 

Allan

 

[M.Chapman]

22 hours ago, Allan Bell said:

 

Mark I know you know more than I do about computers, but the above statement makes the pixels on a Retina screen 75% smaller than the "Standard" pixel.

 

Half the width AND half the height of any square is 25% of the original area.

 

Am I missing something?

 

Allan

 

Yes, retina pixels are typically half the width and height of "standard" pixels and so have 25% of the area. Viewing at 200% in PS or LR doubles the image height and width on the screen so quadruples the area. So the two effects nominally cancel (in terms of image magnification). 

 

Mark

Edited March 11, 2022 by M.Chapman

[NYCat]

Oh boy, oh boy. I have moved the material from the external hard drive on to the Mac and it seems to be in the right places. A few confusions and glitches along the way but I am figuring it out.....

 

Paulette

[NYCat]

I've done it...😃😃 I have Lightroom Classic and Photoshop (and Bridge) on my new MacBook Pro. I was able to move over my Lightroom 6 catalog and am ready to go!!! Thank you for all the help and encouragement.

 

Paulette

[MDM]

3 minutes ago, NYCat said:

I've done it...😃😃 I have Lightroom Classic and Photoshop (and Bridge) on my new MacBook Pro. I was able to move over my Lightroom 6 catalog and am ready to go!!! Thank you for all the help and encouragement.

 

Paulette

 

Great Paulette. You didn't need any help at all really. As I said early on, it is not hard and it is far better not to use the Migration Assistant with all its potential baggage. As a matter of interest, what display setting are you using? 

[NYCat]

I put it on Photography (P3-D65). I have a Spyder that I used on my old Mac but I understand you can't do that on these new ones. I also used the Scaled resolution one step larger than the default.

 

Paulette

[MDM]

1 hour ago, NYCat said:

I put it on Photography (P3-D65). I have a Spyder that I used on my old Mac but I understand you can't do that on these new ones. I also used the Scaled resolution one step larger than the default.

 

Paulette

 

OK that is the correct setting for stills photography but you might find the screen too bright for photography as it is set to 160 NITS whereas normal range is more like 80-120. It is easy to create a custom preset without losing any of the original settings. There are some great tutorials by this guy on youtube explaining how to create custom presets with these screens. I changed the colour manually as well as it didn't match my calibrated monitor.

[NYCat]

Thanks. I'll have to check that out. When I used the Spyder I saw a definite change in the colors and I liked it but I eventually stopped regular checking because nothing ever changed. It kept the settings very well.

 

Paulette

Edited March 12, 2022 by NYCat

[Alex Ramsay]

On 16/01/2022 at 17:44, Ed Rooney said:

Sleep it and shut it down about once a month. It's not important either way.

 

Is your Air a 13" M1? 

 

 

Edo - if I may - a quick question; I'm about to buy an M1 Macbook Air and put LR Classic on it, as I'm going to be living abroad for a while - have you found that 8GB is enough for Lightroom with the M1 chip, or did you go for 16GB? I'm on a very tight budget, unfortunately . . .

Alex

[Ed Rooney]

Hi, Alex!

 

I have the 8GB.

 

In the past year, that's not been an issue. Understand, I'm not a gamer nor do I run a business online. I have the Adobe CC photo system that includes: "Lightroom with 20GB of photo cloud storage, Lightroom Classic, and Photoshop. It's ideal for photographers who want to access their photography anywhere and want the transformative power of Photoshop."

 

You may feel you need 16GB. MDM suggested I do that. He's more tech savvy than me, but I've been happy with this great new MacBook and 8GB. 

 

I'm thinking of taking a couple of short trips in the UK and Europe myself. Traveling alone, I figure a 3-star hotel, transport, and food will run me about £150 a day. I eat just twice a day. What do you think?

 

Edo

[Alex Ramsay]

Thanks, Edo - that's encouraging. I'm not a gamer either (nor do I eat a lot), but on the other hand I do use a D810 and sometimes a D850, and those are big files to process. I just want to be sure that the Air won't slow to a frustrating crawl while processing pics.

£150 a day? In my dreams . . .

 

Alex

[Ed Rooney]

 

Yes, those are big files. When I retired from assignment shooting, I switched over to the smaller more-modest mirrorless Sonys. My Alamy clients seem happy with smaller files. 

 

Good shooting and have fun on the road.

 

Edo