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Forum Discussion
Smart sync on multiple computers
Hi, I upgraded my account to start using Smart sync. I have two deskop computers at home and my laptop to travel around. I started with moving all my finished project 'online only' to free up space...
That’s great, thanks for the reply.
A couple more questions since you’re using it that way, if I may?
- can you set sync settings at a folder or file level? So, e.g., I could have a current documents folder I’m actually working with on the Mac synced locally, but all other folders online only on the Mac and local on the PC? Or is this at an account level, so that all the folders on the Mac have to be online only, and all of them local on the PC?
- what’s the best way to do the initial upload? I’m guessing I set the account/folder on the Mac (depending on the answer to the above) to online and just copy the files over to the PC?
- if I’m editing photos on the Mac (which I will since it’s the faster machine) how intelligent is the local-on-demand feature? E.g., if Lightroom tries to access a file, will Dropbox download the file? Or would I have to do this manually each time before editing?
Thanks!
A couple more questions since you’re using it that way, if I may?
- can you set sync settings at a folder or file level? So, e.g., I could have a current documents folder I’m actually working with on the Mac synced locally, but all other folders online only on the Mac and local on the PC? Or is this at an account level, so that all the folders on the Mac have to be online only, and all of them local on the PC?
- what’s the best way to do the initial upload? I’m guessing I set the account/folder on the Mac (depending on the answer to the above) to online and just copy the files over to the PC?
- if I’m editing photos on the Mac (which I will since it’s the faster machine) how intelligent is the local-on-demand feature? E.g., if Lightroom tries to access a file, will Dropbox download the file? Or would I have to do this manually each time before editing?
Thanks!
Rich
Super User II
Super User II
ScreenMachine wrote:
- can you set sync settings at a folder or file level?
Smart Sync is set at the file and folder level, per computer. You can set any file or folder as Online-only or Local, on each computer independently.
- what’s the best way to do the initial upload? I’m guessing I set the account/folder on the Mac (depending on the answer to the above) to online and just copy the files over to the PC?
If you don't want the files on the Mac at all, then yes, set the folder as Online-only on the Mac, then add the files to the folder on the PC. They'll sync to the Mac as Online-only, but will be Local on the PC.
if Lightroom tries to access a file, will Dropbox download the file? Or would I have to do this manually each time before editing?
Dropbox will download a file and mark is as Local when ANY process attempts to access a file. This could be from virus scans, backups, thumbnail or preview generation, etc. If something tries to access a file, Dropbox will download it. When you're done with the file, you'll need to mark it as Online-only again.
- Jane
Dropbox Staff
- Rich
ScreenMachine wrote:
... I don't know whether Lightroom will try to download the entire photo library as preview, or only do it on-demand when I actually try to edit a file as opposed to just viewing the film-strip.
If Lightroom generates thumbnails and previews on the fly, and doesn't store them itself after generation, then it would need access to the file every time. In such a scenario, Dropbox would be forced to download any files that you try to preview within the application.
Thanks, that's really useful.
OK so my only concern with using Dropbox this way is that I don't know whether Lightroom will try to download the entire photo library as preview, or only do it on-demand when I actually try to edit a file as opposed to just viewing the film-strip.
I might try doing a test on a small library, with a small amount of files to try and find out.
- Yes I would also expect that behaviour.
I’m investigating smart previews in Lightroom, etc., to see if it will provide a solution to this. If so, this would be a great way of achieving what I want to do with Dropbox.
