Dissappearing captions

[nxf]

I think that this is my first post, its so long since I've been here.
In Adobe Elements 3 (organiser) my captions are being deleted.
This happens if I open a photo with a caption in 'Photo Review' and select 'Show Properties' from the menu. This shows no caption, and when I exit the Review the caption is now missing from the photo. I have tried 3 different ways of applying the caption,
1) using 'Edit>add caption' in photo browser
2) in the 'click here to add caption' box below photo in photo browser
3) in 'Captions' on the 'Properties' toolbar in photo browser
All have same result!

Even if i enter the caption in 'Photo Review', it will show up in the photo browser, but dissappears as soon as the 'Photo Reviwer' is entered again.

Any help will be most appreciated
P.s.
I need the Properties open in Review to compare settings of photos full screen.

[ATR]

nxf,

Just some thoughts,

The images in the Organizer Window are just thumbnails of images stored elsewhere on your hard drive (exception, Creations). I need to do more homework to see if the Organizer gets confused from time to time referring back to photos (maybe if there are more than one version existing).

Be that as it may, just a few ideas for maybe capturing a clue to problem/solution:

(1) Add Captions to six new jpegs thumbnails in Organizer
View/Photo Preview/Action Menu/Properties
When under General...when you click through each photo in the vertical
strip to the right, does the Caption change in the Caption spot in the
Properties dialog and correspond to the correct photo?

Next, still in Properties, under Reveal in Explorer, does the location
given represent the correct hard drive location for the photo then
selected?

(2) Just to cover all bases, when you view your thumbnails with captions
in the Organizer Window, are you taking the slider all the way to the
right for max view? Is Detail checked off?

(3) If all else fails, try taking your photos with caption to Photo Preview
and, when in Properties/General, delete all the captions in the Captions
space. Go back to the Organizer and re-enter the captions and see
what follows.

I will watch for your progress. Good luck.

ATR

[nxf]

Thank you for your detailed reply, I'll answer the best I can

>(1) Add Captions to six new jpegs thumbnails in Organizer
>View/Photo Preview/Action Menu/Properties
>When under General...when you click through each photo in the vertical
>>strip to the right, does the Caption change in the Caption spot in the
>Properties dialog and correspond to the correct photo?

Yes I gave them numbers as captions, 1 to 6 from the bottom of the vertical strip upwards, and they all show the captions, BUT it is only when I leave the Photo Reviewer, select a photo and return to the Reviewer, which ever photo I FIRST select (e.g. Number 3) from the vertical strip to the right (and check for Captions in Properties) will contain no caption, all the others do. When exiting the Photo Reviewer all still have captions EXCEPT for Number 3.
If I repeat and say select Number 2 in the Photo Browser (whichever photo is selected from the Browser seems to make no difference) and enter the Photo Reviewer and select Number 6, this will have no caption (and when click each photo Number 3 is the only other one without a caption of course). When I leave the Reviewer, Numbers 3 & 6 are the ones missing.

>Next, still in Properties, under Reveal in Explorer, does the location
>given represent the correct hard drive location for the photo then
>selected?

Yes they are correct, and I have never played or moved any photos or directories within my simple hard drive storage locations.

>(2) Just to cover all bases, when you view your thumbnails with captions
>in the Organizer Window, are you taking the slider all the way to the
>right for max view? Is Detail checked off?

Yes the captions appear correctly in the Organiser Window (Details is ticked), they only disappear when the FIRST photo I select in the Photo Reviewer. If I open and close the Properties multiple times on multiple photos within a session of the Photo Reviewer being open, it is still JUST the FIRST picture that looses the caption. So if I opened and closed the Reviewer 6 times and each time selected a different photo when the Properties was opened, I would one-by-one loose all the captions.

>(3) If all else fails, try taking your photos with caption to Photo Preview
>and, when in Properties/General, delete all the captions in the Captions
>space. Go back to the Organizer and re-enter the captions and see
>what follows.

I tried, twice, the first time using the Click here to add caption in the organiser, then in the Properties menu in the organiser, both times had the same results, which is I only loose the caption of the photo that is selected when Properties is opened, and only loose one per session.
BTW I have tried using the recommended keyboard short cuts (e.g ALT+enter for properties when in Reviewer) as well as the icons, but no difference! Also this happens on every catalogue I select.
Many thanks,
Nigel.

[ATR]

nxf,

I think I have our answer. What we are calling "missing captions" is what Photoshop Elements considers waiting for your edit.

At first I could not replicate your problem here. Then I found the key.

If you take those six photos in Organizer, go to Photo Review, DO NOT LOOK AT PROPERTIES, just click through photos in strip on right to verify captions. You can go back and forth forever between the Organizer and Photo Review, and the captions stay put.

When you go to Photo Review and decide to look at Properties, say for slide captioned Six, there will be nothing in the caption's line. Elements is waiting for your edit. If you leave it blank, Six will have no caption. Since you are just "looking" not changing, you will need to type Six in the caption's line if you want six to have a caption. After that you can go back and forth between Organizer and Photo Review and captions do not disappear UNLESS you start just looking at Properties.

Test this out and see if you come to the same conclusion. I tried all sorts of variations: slides with and without Tags, slides with mixed Tags, different ways to get to Properties, etc.

Bottom line: Keep away from Properties unless you have a good reason for opening them and, if you do, be prepared to go by what appears to be its guidelines.

I am looking forward to finding out if you confirm my findings.

ATR

[nxf]

Thank you that is exactly what happens, a bit annoying if when in review you can't use any of the properties features (not even to check the camera settings) without loosing one photo caption.
I rate the review part essential in my workflow as it allows full screen viewing, but now I wont be able to have the camera settings (in the floating properties box) at the same time the picture is full size AND keep captions. This is surely an oversight by Adobe......do you or anyone else knows if this is the same in PE4?
As PE4 seems only slightly different to PE3, I was waiting to see if PE5? would be worth waiting for?
Thank you for your detailed comments/answers.

P.s. I now have a painstaking job of checking all my 20,000 photos across multiple catalogues to see which captions I inadvertently deleted when only checking the camera settings!!!!
I hope this posting helps others.

[JonE]

nxf,

I think I have our answer. What we are calling "missing captions" is what Photoshop Elements considers waiting for your edit.

When you go to Photo Review and decide to look at Properties, say for slide captioned Six, there will be nothing in the caption's line. Elements is waiting for your edit. If you leave it blank, Six will have no caption.

I was able to duplicate this error completely. This is not really waiting for your edit. If it was waiting for your edit, it would display the existing caption and wait for you to edit it, and if you make no changes, leave as it. I would call this deleting your caption and asking you to create a new one, but it doesn't tell you that's what it is doing. That is a surprising and unexpected result at this location. If you had a complex caption like "Scene #32 v4.5 w-enhanced lighting" it could be a real problem. For normal captions it's a nuisance bug. It could also wipe out your caption without you knowing it, because it displays as blank and you may not realize at that point that you had a caption that had just been erased. It is a bug that should be fixed.