TechNote (Archived)

Common issues when you upgrade from Photoshop Elements 4.0 to Photoshop Elements 5.0 (on Windows)

What's covered

Transfer your catalog

Resolve missing tags or images in a converted catalog

Open Creations from Photoshop Elements 4.0

Use your catalog in Photoshop Elements 4.0

This document will help you with the most common issues you may encounter when you upgrade from Photoshop Elements 4.0 to Photoshop Elements 5.0.

Transfer your catalog

When you start Photoshop Elements 5.0 for the first time and choose View And Organize Photos or Make Photo Creations in the Welcome window, the Organizer opens and then displays the following message:

"The catalog named My catalog.psa was created by a prior version of Photoshop Elements or Photoshop Album and needs to be converted before it can get used. Your old catalog file will be saved as 'My catalog-1.psa.' Depending on the size of your catalog and other factors this process may take several minutes. Please be patient."

Photoshop Elements will then convert your catalog, save it with a new name in the default location, and open it in the Organizer.

Resolve missing tags or images in a converted catalog

If tags or images are missing in a converted catalog, the wrong catalog was converted. To resolve missing tags or images, manually select the catalog you want to convert:

1. In the Photoshop Elements 5.0 Organizer, choose File > Catalog and select Open. You will see the path to the default location for the Catalog file: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Adobe\Catalogs.

2. Select the catalog you wish to convert, or navigate to the folder location of your catalog file if you have saved your 4.0 catalog file to a different location such as the desktop. The name of the default catalog is MyCatalog.psa.

Note: If you can't remember the name of your 4.0 catalog file, exit Photoshop Elements 5.0 and start Photoshop Elements 4.0. Choose File > Catalog, select Save As, and save your catalog file to a new location, for example the desktop. Give it a name that is easy to remember. Exit Photoshop Elements 4.0. Now follow steps 1 and 2 above or double-click on your catalog file in its new location (for example, the desktop) to open it in Photoshop Elements 5.0.

Open creations from Photoshop Elements 4.0

If you open a catalog converted from Photoshop Elements 4.0, you cannot edit all types of creations; only Bound Photo Books and Slideshows remain fully editable. Other creations are available in the catalog for viewing, but the only way you can edit them is to re-create them in version 5.0 in the Organizer or Edit workspace by clicking the Create button.

Note: If you created Wall Calendar creations in Photoshop Elements 3.0, you cannot edit them directly in Photoshop Elements 5.0 because the templates are not available. However, you can save your 3.0 creations as PDF files and import them into version 5.0. See the Photoshop Elements Help files for details on how to create a PDF file from your creations.

Use your catalog in Photoshop Elements4.0

After you convert your catalog in Photoshop Elements 5.0, you can't use this converted catalog in Photoshop Elements 4.0. However, you can continue to use your old catalog in Photoshop Elements 4.0.

When you try to open your catalog in Photoshop Elements 4.0 after you convert it in Photoshop Elements 5.0, Photoshop Elements returns the message "The catalog named 'My Catalog' is NEWER than this version of the application and can't be read." Click OK, and the Open catalog dialog box appears. Select the My Catalog-1.psa file, and then click Open. Photoshop Elements 5.0 created this file to enable you to continue to use your old catalog in version 4.0.

Note: When you import new images to the converted catalog in Photoshop Elements 5.0, these images will not automatically appear in your old Photoshop Elements 3.0 catalog. You must import them into this catalog as well.