How can I start over

[javallone]

I am a beginner Photoshop Elements user, and after using it for about a month, I installed a second harddrive to hold all photo images. Without properly researching the process, I deleted all photos out of Photoshop Elements and then reloaded them into Elements from the new harddrive location. Unfortunately it screwed up PS Elements. Now some images have a stacked simbol, yet are not stacked with any other images. Other images can only be displayed if I search for them by going to Find - untagged photos. Is there a quick fix or a way to wipe the memory clean of this incorrect data. Thanks.

[jlwilm]

Are you running Windows XP, Windows Vista or MAC?

It makes a difference on who can help and what to say.

[javallone]

I am running XP. Thanks.

[jlwilm]

O.K.

I am a little busy today - installing a Garage Door Opener - not my first, but by myself :D

One question I forgot to ask is how did you move your pictures from (presumably c: to your new drive?

In the ideal world, I would recommend you do the following to move over - not only your My Pictures, but all of my Documents.

Right click on the My Documents Icon or from Start (depending on how you have WIndows configured) and click on Properties (at the bottom). You will get a dialog box giving you the chance to Move your My documents to the New drive amd have WIndows copy over all of your files and folders from My Documents on the new drive. This is a good option (in my opinion) because it frees up your C: drive for software and keeps your disk for other stuff - of which pictures is or will be the biggest chunk.

Having done that step - or if you have allready moved over your pictures to the new drive and don't want to bother, the next step is a little more fuzzy. If you have been tagging jpeg files and have not invested heavily in version sets and stacks I would vote for a scorched earth policy - create a new Catalog from Organiser and locate it on the nerw drive also. So from Organizer File, Catalog, New and navigate to your new drive and install it and give it a name. I would be inclined to put it in its own folder of whatever name you want - then say OK.

When Organizer opes up, you will have an empty catalog. Next, in Organizer go to File, Get Photos, From Files and Folders and navigate to the new drive and the folder where you put your pictures, click OK.

Elements will re-import your images from the new drive. Hopefully, any tags that you set up before will be recognized - tags only (if jpeg).

Let me know, I am back to the garage door!

[javallone]

John, Thanks a lot for your suggestion. I did already move my files to the new drive. I moved all folders as they originally on the old drive to the new drive (named folders by date -2007.07 etc). I am going to try to create a new catalog and go about it that way. Thanks again for your advise and will let you know how it goes. Good luck with the garage door. I also have installed them and the second goes a lot easier and quicker than the first.

[javallone]

John,

Thanks again for your advise. I am now able to see all the pictures that have been loaded without having to do special searches. Thanks again and hope your garage doors are complete.

Thanks,
Joe

[jlwilm]

Joe,

Got it done and working right!

[dj_paige]

If you have been tagging jpeg files and have not invested heavily in version sets and stacks I would vote for a scorched earth policy - create a new Catalog from Organiser and locate it on the nerw drive also. So from Organizer File, Catalog, New and navigate to your new drive and install it and give it a name. I would be inclined to put it in its own folder of whatever name you want - then say OK.

When Organizer opes up, you will have an empty catalog. Next, in Organizer go to File, Get Photos, From Files and Folders and navigate to the new drive and the folder where you put your pictures, click OK.

So what would you recommend in a similar situation if your catalog has many version sets, stacks, categories, sub-categories, etc.?

I am having problems with an existing catalog, and Adobe Tech Support says that the problem seems limited to one catalog and there is corruption in that catalog that cannot be recovered. So I would like to "start from scratch" and re-create this catalog, but I am afraid I am going to lose my version sets, stacks, etc.

--
Paige

[jlwilm]

A hammer, a big one! :)

Seriously, don't know what to suggest.

Over to the Forum!

[dj_paige]

Since I make regular backups once a week :twisted:, I could restore the catalog from about 2 weeks ago before the problem began, and then re-create the version sets and stacks that I have created since that time. That seems like the easiest way for me to go right now.

But how do you take an edited copy of a photo a re-link it to the version set?

The alternative is for me to limp along with the catalog the way it is and recover the catalog every 10 edits or so. I guess I should decide which method will be more time consuming and less aggravating. :(

[jlwilm]

Hi Paige,

I was going to suggest the backup route, but most of the time, there insn't one and it becomes an object lesson at why you should.

It may depend on how you have done the backup as to how to do the recovery.

So, how was the backup done, Adobe, Windows, other?

[mom to 4]

I have not read this thread thoroughly, but I have a lot of experience moving files and moving files the wrong way as well.

I just want to let EVERYONE who wants to move their PSE files on a PC that you MUST, I repeat MUST move them through the organizer if you want to keep everything straight.

You should move them to your external drive by the drag and drop method in the organizer while in folder location view. It is EXTREMELY easy to do if you do it slowly and correctly. You should not have any disconnected files if you do it this way.

If anyone needs help doing it, I am MORE THAN HAPPY TO HELP YOU.

OK, now I guess I should go back and read the thread more carefully. I just get very nervous when someone starts talking about moving files!!!!:o

[dj_paige]

I back up many files including My Catalog.psa via Windows tools weekly. :cool:

I also back up the catalog and photos via Adobe PSE5 roughly once every month. :p

The most recent backup is the one I stored using Windows tools. It is relatively trivial for me to replace the existing My Catalog.psa with the catalog file from 2 weeks ago and import all photos taken in the last 2 weeks back into PSE5. But then I lose my edits on those photos, or more precisely, I lose the connection via "version set" from original to edited.

I am not aware of any easy ways to "re-connect" the original and edited via version set, although I can think of complicated and time consuming ways to do this. I can also see that instead of version sets, simply stacking the original and edited photos would be much easier to do.

So that leaves me wondering, are there advantages to version sets that I don't get if I simply stack the original and edited copies? I can't think of any, but please let me know if there are advantages to version sets.

That's what I am thinking of doing. Please let me know if you can think of a better way to do this.

And yes, once this is successfully done, I plan to make a complete backup of the catalog and photos via PSE5. :twisted:

[jlwilm]

Based on what I know, the PSE5 backup is the most "complete" in that it should retain all of the stuff like version sets and stacks. I do not use these features (:eek:) and get along well without them.

If you have lots of space on your system (and/or not to many pictures), I would suggest a restore to another location - call it Test My Pixtures and check it out. At the least, this SHOULD do nothing to damage your existing holdings. If it checks out OK, you could continue with it or do a restore again to the existing location and you may pick up the advantage of retaining pictures you have "created" since the backup.

My conclusion is rapidly becoming one where the the best and only backup for Elements/Organizer is the Adobe Backup Catalog routine,

Any comments from other backup gurus out there?

[dj_paige]

Based on what I know, the PSE5 backup is the most "complete" in that it should retain all of the stuff like version sets and stacks. I do not use these features (:eek:) and get along well without them.

Saving the Catalog via Windows tools also retains version sets, stacks, etc.

But if you go back in time to a backup from 2 weeks ago, whether you save the catalog via PSE5 or via Windows methods, you lose the version sets and stacks that you have created from the time you did the backup until today.

My conclusion is rapidly becoming one where the the best and only backup for Elements/Organizer is the Adobe Backup Catalog routine

For storing backups of the totality of your all of your photographs and the catalog, I agree. For simply going to an earlier version of your catalog because your current one is corrupted, I don't see any reason to prefer one backup over the other. A catalog from 2 weeks ago is a catalog from 2 weeks ago, regardless of how you save it.

So I still don't see a reason, nor has anyone explained a reason, why using a catalog backed up from a Windows tool is not usable for my current task.

[Barb O]

So I still don't see a reason, nor has anyone explained a reason, why using a catalog backed up from a Windows tool is not usable for my current task.

I agree with you. A catalog from a backup with a Windows tool should be usable. Did Tech Support give you any guidance on this or did they make any suggestions on what you should do about the files that are under the Catalog Folders folder?

HOWEVER ....Do you have any Offline photos (usually reside on a CD or DVD disc and have a disc icon superimposed on the thumbnail)? If yes that changes the conversation because then you also need the proxy files that would be be in folders under the Catalog Folders structure.)

HOWEVER ... Do you have any RAW format photo files? If you do I am hesitant to draw any conclusions for you because I have no experience with RAW format files.

As a precaution, I would actually make a copy somewhere of the current suspected to be corrupt catalog file AND its associated folder under Catalog Folders. I don't expect that you will ever use these files, so just keep them until you are successfully running again.

Version Sets -
Here is a link to a description on how to remake versions sets that were created since that backup of the catalog - warning it is tedious.

http://photofanatic.com/topics/add_version.php

What do you loose by doing stacks rather than version sets?
I am sure that I will not immediately think of everything. I would wonder about Tag Assignment and Tag Search differences - but don't have the answers. I think that I might try a Stack and then go look at the tags which are assigned to the edited file and its corresponding original file - do the tags appear for the edited file that has been stacked? What happens when you search using one of those tags - is the edited photo in the search?

[dj_paige]

Thanks, Barb O.

I have no offline files. I have only about 10 Raw files, mostly set up as an experiment to see what this "Raw" thing was all about. If I lose these files, no big deal. The files in the folder named Catalog Folder are what is known as the Cache, and Adobe tech support advised me to rebuild the cache to help diagnose the problem. So I can rebuild the cache again if I need to. But yes, I will make copies of the existing catalog and Catalog Folder before I do anything.

Looks more and more like using my 2 week old backup is the way to go. I still haven't decided if I want version sets or stacks.

[NickLewis]

Hi,

You don't lose a whole amount by using stacks instead of version sets, except that the design intent of the two facilities are different. Stacks are intended for keeping similar but distinct photos together, reducing clutter. (e.g. a set of nearly identical portraits from a shoot). Version sets are intended for just what the name implies - keeping together the different versions of an individual image.

Like Barb, I believe there are minor differences in tagging and search behaviour, but whether these outweigh the trouble of recreating lost version sets using the method she pointed you at is a decision only you could make.

As far as whether a PSE or a Windows backup is the route to go, you should indeed be OK with your Windows copy. The principal advantage of a PSE backup is that you automatically have your image files and catalog version synchronised. However, you should be aware that only the PSE Backup is Adobe supported. As far as I know, Adobe have never actually officially confirmed that all necessary Organiser data is captured in an independent copy of the .psa file, and that there is no data stored in other undisclosed locations. (I do know that certain ancillary Organiser data (e.g. email contact lists) are not stored in the .psa file - but I don't know if they are secured in a PSE Backup operation either!

That said, I'm not aware of anyone reporting that they have lost image related data by restoring from a copy of the psa file. (Expect, obviously, information that post-dates the copy, like your version sets.)

Nick

[Juergen D]

But if you go back in time to a backup from 2 weeks ago, whether you save the catalog via PSE5 or via Windows methods, you lose the version sets and stacks that you have created from the time you did the backup until today.
Paige,
This is a shot in the dark, but Elements writes a lot of additional meta data to the edited version of the image file. I wonder if some of those identify the edited image as part of a Version Set.
After you go back to your older catalog, run a >File >Catalog >Recover and see if the Version Sets get reestablished. I think it is worth a try and it would do no harm.

Juergen

Edit: I should have said to reimport the images that were edited after the date of the catalog backup. Then do the >Recover...