ACDSee will then restart, using the database on the external drive. And then, when I start ACDSee on either computer (while it is connected to the external drive, of course) I simply have to IMMEDIATELY go to File>Database>Open and point to the database file on the external drive. The initial work-around I found was to save my Database files (6 (version 9.0).mediaDatabase) (6 (version 9.0).mediaDatabase-shm) and (6 (version 9.0).mediaDatabase-wal) in a folder on my external drive. To dig deeper into this I did some testing and found the following: So embedding the information does not really help in my situation. However, that only saves the information (sort of like a backup) but as I understand it, ACDSee still works with the actual database. I am aware of the "Embedding Database Information" process. As a result I no longer have all my keywords, Ratings, etc. As soon as the external drive is connected to the laptop and I fire up ACDSee the app works with a different database. This is where ACDSee seems to be challenged. However, from time to time I like to take my external disk to the living room so that I can view and organize new pictures while the external drive is connected to my MacBook Air laptop. So most of the time I work on it when I work with my pictures. It is connected to an older iMac with a big screen located in my "office". I have all my pictures on a fast, external drive. At least the Help Text never talks about it. Problem: ACDSee does not seem to support that scenario.
except I would far prefer to be able to work on ONE Database from multiple computers. Even the help text shows "Creating and Switching Between multiple Databases" and talks about "Possible use cases for multiple databases". ACDSee Photo Studio for Mac (both version 5 and version 6) can work from one computer with multiple databases.