Hundreds of folders

[barbev]

I can get photos from my camera card reader in PSE 5 and preform a “quick edit” and do the caption, pretty well. I then “save as” and the “save as” window comes up with the number of the picture in the Save In box. I change the number by using the drop down menu to get to “My Pictures”. I set up folders there for the various subjects or places and put the pictures in. Should be O.K. right ? No, a file folder is also created with a date from the camera. Now I have TWO folders. I use the same card in camera and add more pictures at a different time. I have a 256 MB xD-Picture Card so I don’t remove the previous pictures yet. Take more pictures on another day. Go through the same procedure as above, except when I go to My Pictures again, I’ve got another folder created with the same pictures unedited that I didn’t create with a number. I again put the new pictures into the proper folder (ex: my family) and inside are copies of the unedited pictures and sometime the edited pictures as well. This goes on every time I get new photos and save them until I now have rows and rows of folders, doubles and sometimes triple folders created with a different end date numeral! Some folders show the only two pictures I edited that day on the outside but no pictures are inside. My named folders are not in one place and I have to go through the rows and rows to find them. Is there something I can unclick to stop this nonsense? I may find my edited pictures, but only by going through each individual folder and not necessarily in the named folder where I put them. Help, I’m drowning in folders.

[Juergen D]

I then “save as” and the “save as” window comes up with the number of the picture in the Save In box. I change the number by using the drop down menu to get to “My Pictures”.
I'm not quite clear about your workflow. Changing the name of the image to get to My Pictures does not sound right. Can you explain?

Juergen

[AngelicKim]

Hi Barbev and welcome.

Juergen, I think what barbev is saying is that when doing a save as, she gives it a name instead of a number and then saves it in My Pictures.

[Juergen D]

Thanks, Kim. Maybe the folder in My Pictures is already there and a new one is created when the Save as is done??

Juergen

[genevh]

Save As should not be creating new folders unless she is telling it to. I'm going to take a wild stab here, but it sounds like the PSE downloader (I'm assuming that's how she's getting her pictures) is set to create a subfolder based on a date - either shot date (in various forms) or Today's Date (which I assume is the date she imports them). These subfolders are what you are finding, and when you are adding more pictures to a memory card that already has pictures on it, you are re-downloading the same pictures over and over again. My bet is the downloader is set to create subfolders using "Today's Date" as the option.

If the downloader starts up automatically, in the Organizer go into Edit -> Preferences and then Camera or Card Reader. It looks like the "Save Files In" is set to "My Pictures" - OK here. In the next set of boxes are several choices. When to begin the download, Create Subfolder, and then your delete options. I'm willing to bet the Create Subfolder option is set to Today's Date. You may want to change that to "Shot Date", and then check the "Copy New files only (Ignore already imported files) box. This should stop all the duplicates your seeing.

Changing to "Shot Date" will help you keep your pictures organized by when they were shot, not by when you downloaded them. Especially if you have several days' worth of pictures on your camera at the time.

The auto option bothered the heck out of me when I first started using it, so I turned it off and then used the manual option. I could see the pics I was downloading before I started and could select/deselect them. I also browsed to where I wanted them to go, rather than have PSE create a folder based on a date, and turned off the subfolder option.

If you're creating your folders before you start your download, you will probably want to turn off the autodownloader and download them manually, and browse to the particular folder you want the pictures to go to. And check or uncheck the pictures in the window as you desire.

Hope this helps and I'm not totally off the wall here! :D

[AngelicKim]

Gene that was my thinking too, I just really didn't know how to put it into words. I am not the best at explaining things sometimes and tend to let others like you handle the more technical questions on the forum.:D

[genevh]

And I'm no artist so you'll rarely hear me comment on the artistic side of things! :D:)

[barbev]

Thank you so much for all the help. Kim you have it right, that is exactly what I am doing. Gene, your explanation is great, now all I have to do is to print it out then try to figure out how to apply it. Being a person who does not always think in pure logic as a computer, I have been trying to go the trial and error route. PSE is so advanced in what it can do, you can’t always do that. I click on something, then try something else and can’t get back what I clicked on originally to undo what I’ve done, then have worse problems. I really appreciate the step by step instruction you gave and will get at it this afternoon. The sub folders explanation sounds right. I was afraid to delete them in case I lost pictures I already deleted from my camera. Another reason I am afraid to get rid of the folders is I can’t even find the screen that I set up with Categories column that appears on the right side of the screen to drag the photos into and so go right to My Pictures. If I have a category in PSE for example: Sebastian Inlet, and also have a folder in My Pictures with the same name, do I have two different areas on the computer that I have to go into to download the pictures onto my iPod or DVD? Conversely don’t the pictures saved in the PSE category screen automatically go into that same named folder in My Pictures automatically? Sorry to get so confusing but it is the way I think. Thanks again for the quick replies any help is GREATLY appreciated.

[AngelicKim]

If I have a category in PSE for example: Sebastian Inlet, and also have a folder in My Pictures with the same name, do I have two different areas on the computer that I have to go into to download the pictures onto my iPod or DVD? Conversely don’t the pictures saved in the PSE category screen automatically go into that same named folder in My Pictures automatically? Sorry to get so confusing but it is the way I think. Thanks again for the quick replies any help is GREATLY appreciated.

Barbev, your photos are in both folders on your harddrive so you only need to use one of the folders to burn a CD or transfer to your iPod. As for the pictures automatically going into the same named folder in My Pictures, typically no. That is another thing that could be set up in your preferences for the way you upload and save. If I am wrong here I am sure Gene or someone will correct me.

[genevh]

Just check your folders and files carefully to make sure that is what is going on. Would suck to end up deleting something you don't mean to. But then it can be rescued from the wastebasket (just don't empty it 'till your sure you've got it right).

If this isn't what is going on, then post back...... :D

[barbev]

I just plugged in my camera again, and a box opened up asking me if I wanted to use Microsoft or a bunch of other selections to make a CD etc. I clicked on Adobe Elements 5.0 selection and got 52 new pictures up on the screen. Some of these pictures I already saved and edited or deleted from the catalogs and now they came again. My Preferences in the organizer box is to Save in My Pictures...Auto fix red eye checked...Profile Name box has Generic Device Show APD Dialog Standard..Auto Launch is checked (should I deselect it?) Shot Date mmddyyyy...Delete option: After Copying Do Not Delete Original...Did I just dump those pictures into another elements folder even though I only had about two new pictures to add since last download? I really am getting frustrated. I can’t seem to find that nice window that appeared on the right side where I dragged and dropped the edited pictures right into after selecting them from the left side. One thing I sure learned is how to word how to find what I want in help. I got the My Camera.PSA up without the camera being connected and got a great window with all 1200 plus pictures in it. Some were doubles and triples and even six each of the same picture. Deleted all the extras but think some originals were deleted but I kept the edited copies. Did I do something bad? I went to Photo Browser arrangement and changed from Import Batch to Today’s Date to Folders and finally noticed the different views and there were the deleted pictures back in again. I also have the Details box checked. I think I shall have to stop bothering you nice people with these long dissertations, then come back with smaller questions. Your patience must be running out and I think this forum is for only shorter questions right? Blah, as Charlie Brown would say.

[AngelicKim]

Barbev, there is no such thing as a question being to long if it helps us to help you. Unfortunately, everything you said technically went over my head. But don't let that chase you away, its nothing new. :D I am sure someone else, like Gene or Nick or several others will be along and can help with what you are describing.

Something that may be helpful to others is if you could let us know what camera you use, the software that goes to it for uploading and what operating system you use (obviously Windows since you are using v5 but is it 2000, XP, ME or what.

[genevh]

Hi Barb:

Sorry this isn't working out to be as simple as you'd hoped. There are a couple of things you can do here to simplify the process, though.

It looks like Windows is set up to automatically recognize when you plug in a device and is offering you choices on what you want to do, depending on what the device is you plug in. In the case of your camera, when you plug it into one of your USB ports, it is being recognized essentially as another drive. Keep that thought in mind.

You are clicking to have the files on the camera handled by PSE, and it sounds like the photo downloader is opening when you do. If you look at the pictures that show up in that window, there should be little check boxes for each one. As long as those boxes are checked, the downloader is going to try and download each picture. Also, as long as the pictures you have already downloaded are still on the camera's memory card, they are going to keep showing up in that window until you actually delete those pictures off the card.

If you're not seeing the window with all the pictures on your camera, hit the Advanced dialog button in the downloader. This will open a window that shows all your pictures, and controls for all the same items in your preferences. This can be handy.

You should see at the bottom of that window two buttons, one for uncheck all photos, and another to select all photos. When the downloader initially opens, only the uncheck all button will be active. Depending on how many photos you actually want to download, you may want to hit the uncheck all button, and then click the little check box only by the pictures you actually want to download. Only the pictures with that box checked will actually download. If you have photos already downloaded still on the card, you will want to select only those you actually want to download. There are options here also to browse to where you want those photos to go, giving you complete control over this process. The options you see in the left side of the window are the same ones you saw when you set up your preferences. Changes made here will override your preference settings for the download. Once you've made all your selections and told those pictures where to go :twisted: , hit the Get Pictures button and they will be downloaded.

Now, remember at the start of this when I said the PC sees your camera as another hard drive when you connect it? You can also manipulate the files on the camera just as you would the files on your PC. When that box comes up that automatically opens when you attach the camera, simply close/cancel it out.

Now, open up your Windows Explorer (not your browser, but the program that lets you see all the files on your hard drive). First, navigate to the folder on your camera that contains your pictures. You should find it through the My Computer -> (Your camera name) -> (camera's folder structure). In my case, my camera shows up as the E drive, identified as a Nikon D70s.

Once you've drilled down to the pictures on your camera (they will show up in the right hand window), now in the left hand column that shows all your folders, navigate to your My Documents -> My Pictures -> (etc., the folder you want the pictures to go to). You can now drag and drop the pictures from your camera into the appropriate folder. Use the 'Date Modified' column in the right window pane to select your photos by the date they were shot. If you have older pictures still on the camera that have already been downloaded, simply do not select them. If you have a series of pictures you want to download, select the first one and while holding down your shift key, select the last one in the set. This will highlight all from the first down to the last one selected, and you can just drag them to the folder you want them to go in. Left clicking will just copy the files over. Right clicking will give you the option to copy, move, or delete the files. Move does just that - moves them off the camera to the folder you specify.

My preference there is to just copy the pictures over until you can verify that they copied properly and none were missed. Once you are satisfied you have them all, they can then be deleted off the camera if you choose to. I also generally just reformat the memory card in the camera, and don't delete them via Windows.

As for the pictures you deleted, they may still be on your PC, just living right now in the recycle bin. They will stay there until deleted or the recycle bin over writes them as new garbage goes in and replaces the old, once the bin is full. To restore your deleted originals that you want, right click the recycle bin on your desktop and open it. If they are jpeg's, you can set the folder view to thumbnails so you can actually see the pictures. If you want them to go back where they came from, simply right click and hit restore. They will go back to where they originated from.

May I offer a couple more suggestions here?

Once you have safely downloaded the pictures off your memory card and backed them up, delete them off the card. Unless you have a specific reason for not doing so, all they are going to do is eventually fill up your card anyway. This will also keep you from re-downloading them several times by mistake.

Also, did you check the 'Copy New Files Only' box in your preferences?

And lastly, I don't like my computer auto-doing anything unless I tell it to. Putting in a program CD that a program I have already installed requires, only to have that CD's auto-install routine fire up, just drives me bonkers. If you want to learn how to turn that stuff off, let me know and I can give you instructions for that.

When I was using the Organizer, I set my downloader to manual. But that's just me.

Hope this helps and that I'm not confusing you further. And please forgive my providing step-by-step instructions for stuff you may already know. I'm not trying to be offensive, its just my way of being thorough. :)

Dang, my posts can be long sometimes........

[barbev]

Gene, I hope you type faster than I do. Wow! THANK YOU for that step by step. I finally came across a great tutorial area you may want to let someone as confused as me go to. http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/adobereg/pse5/?sdid=IIFW&uid=dbac2eba98e73f52282aa40ec7b2f4fe Took me a while to find it, I kept getting people in Google trying to sell me videos. I knew help was out there, I just had to find it. I have to view the tutorials a couple of times to get it all but it puts your reply in prospective. One of the problems I have now is explained. Yes, my camera an Olympus Camedia 6.1 is attached to an external USB port. We are working with Microsoft XP (which I sometimes hate) and have an external backup system. I have Camedia and Olympus Master that came with the camera also on my computer but they didn’t always work right. My daughter suggested Elements. My Lovey of 48 yrs, (he’s my Friend when he is on my ;) list), can help me do all you now suggest.

Kim thank you to for all those kind words. I sometimes get “elected” to explain these things to my Senior Citizens Computer Club becaues of my patience when I have to explain several times.

I’ll try to get to all these things I have to do in the coming days. I want to get these pictures OFF my camera and onto a jump drive or CD pretty soon. We got the direct hit from Frances and Jean but fortunately came away with very little damage (not so our neighbors), so I’m pretty antsy until October, the end of the hurricane season. Do not feature loading all my big picture albums in the car again.