LR4 vs. PSE

[lshoe]

It sounds like you have a well-thought-out plan, Sue. Perhaps you will find it useful to also tune into part of my free creativeLIVE workshop this week:

http://laurashoe.com/2012/03/26/comi...room-workshop/

Even with 3 days, I still won't be able to cover everything you can do, but it could give you more of the depth you are looking for. There is a tentative outline on the creativeLIVE site that can give you a general idea of when to tune in for what.

Laura

[Sue]

I have worked my way through the Library module of my borrowed book, downloaded LR4, tried to import one of my PSE catalogs and came to a grinding halt.

I keep all my pictures and catalogs on and EHD but I don't see where I can point LR to my EHD and find the catalog I want to import. LR allows me to put my LR catalog on the EHD but not convert the Elements Catalog from an EHD.

How do I do this???

[dj_paige]

I never tried to upgrade a PSE catalog that was on an external HD, so I don't really know why you can't locate it.

You could copy the PSE catalog file to your internal HD and see if that works.

[Sue]

This is what I did. I searched my "C" drive and found a few random catalogs that somehow got there. I deleted them. LR now finds my catalogs on the "F" drive but doesn't give me a choice as to which one I want to convert.

How do I control which catalog LR will convert? If it doesn't give me a list, how can I control that all the catalogs are converted?

I also created a folder called "Catalog" on my "C" drive, copied a catalog from "F" to "C" and LR does not recognize that catalog, still finds a catalog on the "F" drive.

0454 AM:

OK. I just churned my way through a lightroom forum and found a glimmer of hope. LR opens the last catalog that PSE used. I tested it and it worked. So for each catalog I need to go to PSE, open it, then go the LR and convert it. Not very convenient or user friendly............

Off I go to convert the catalog I want converted.

[JulieM]

Hi Sue,

I'm glad you've gotten out of the starting blocks now. Thanks for posting your discovery about multiple PSE catalogs and conversion.

[Sue]

Onwards with my testing:

I converted my test catalog and got disappointing results. My heirarchy from PSE was there but in addition I had many keywords that were part of the heirarchy that showed up as keywords. I also had keywords that were not in the test catalog to the best of my knowledge.

I thought about this and decided maybe there were some tags on the files from some past error on my part. I went in and deleted all the tags. Verified that all the tags were gone. I then created a new LR catalog and imported my files. Magically keywords appeared.

Where do LR get keywords from? Ideally I would like to maintain the hierarchy I created in my PSE catalog. I would have thought if I imported files there would be no tags associated with them. I've read and searched and haven't found any answer to this.

I'll keep playing with this and let you know if I find a solution. If anyone know the answer I would appreciate it.

[Sue]

I have managed to determine that LR is importing not just the categories etc. but the captions and who knows what else as keywords. I use a lot of captions so removing them is not a solution. I will need to see if LR has an option to not import captions as keywords.

End of my time for playing around with LR. Tomorrow will be another adventure.

[dj_paige]

Originally Posted by Sue

I converted my test catalog and got disappointing results. My heirarchy from PSE was there but in addition I had many keywords that were part of the heirarchy that showed up as keywords. I also had keywords that were not in the test catalog to the best of my knowledge.

So, in LR, just move these keywords back to the proper hierarchy. Problem gone. Upgrading the PSE catalog to LR may require some "cleanup" of your keywords, one time only.

Originally Posted by Sue

I thought about this and decided maybe there were some tags on the files from some past error on my part. I went in and deleted all the tags. Verified that all the tags were gone. I then created a new LR catalog and imported my files. Magically keywords appeared.

Importing the photos is not the best way to go. Use the upgrade option. By the way, nothing magic about it.

Originally Posted by Sue

Where do LR get keywords from? Ideally I would like to maintain the hierarchy I created in my PSE catalog. I would have thought if I imported files there would be no tags associated with them. I've read and searched and haven't found any answer to this.

Yes, if the hierarchy isn't maintained, then just move the keywords in LR to where they belong. If keywords are stored with the photos, then when you import them into LR, the keywords appeared.

[dj_paige]

Originally Posted by Sue

I have managed to determine that LR is importing not just the categories etc. but the captions and who knows what else as keywords. I use a lot of captions so removing them is not a solution. I will need to see if LR has an option to not import captions as keywords.

I don't understand. Why are captions a problem? Why are you considering removing them, and why is this not a solution (and what is the problem that "solution" is referring to)?

[Sue]

Paige, I deleted note 26 just after I posted it but it didn't go away. Don't know why.

When I convert a catalog now my hierarchy comes in fine but LR also converts any captions I have on my pictures to keywords. I don't want this and I am a heavy user of captions. I cannot remove the captions so I need to find the option not to import the captions as keywords. To manually go through and determine which keyword came from a caption and which came from the PSE hierarchy is way too time consuming.

My initial attempt took a hierarchy of 20 categories and due to the captions I ended up with several hundred keywords and this was my test catalog!!!