TechNote

Common catalog issues when you upgrade to Photoshop Elements 6.0

What's covered

Convert your catalogs
Manage your catalogs
Creations from earlier versions may not appear in the catalog
Changes that occur during catalog conversion
Changes made to the catalog location and format
Use your catalog with an earlier version of Photoshop Elements

This document explains catalog-related issues that you many encounter when you upgrade to Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 from an earlier version of Photoshop Elements or Photoshop Album. Substantial changes were made in Photoshop Elements 6 to the format and behavior of catalogs. This document will inform you about the changes and can help you solve problems that occur when you use your catalog in Photoshop Elements 6.

Convert your catalogs

When you start the Organizer in Photoshop Elements 6 for the first time, it may not automatically open the catalog you used in an earlier version of Photoshop Elements or Photoshop Album.

Follow the steps below to convert a catalog that was created in an earlier version of Photoshop Elements.

In the Organizer, choose File > Catalog.
Click the Convert button.
Select the catalog that you wish to use from the list. Select "My Catalog" if you used the default catalog in the earlier version of Photoshop Elements. See the note below if you do not see the catalog you want to convert in the list.
Click the Convert button.
After the conversion process completes, click Done.
In the Catalogs box of the Catalog Manager window, select the name of your catalog (for example, "My Catalog").
Click the Open button.

Note: If you saved your catalog in a folder other than the default location, it will not appear in the Convert Catalog window automatically. Click the Find More Catalogs Button, then select the folder where your catalog is located. Catalogs located in that folder will be added to the list of catalogs that can be converted. This step is necessary because Photoshop Elements 6 only looks for catalogs in the default locations used by earlier versions:

Photoshop Elements 3.0, 4.0, 5.0 and Photoshop Album Starter Edition 3.0:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Adobe\Catalogs
Photoshop Album and Photoshop Album Starter Edition 1.0 and 2.0 :
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Adobe\Photoshop Album\Catalogs

Enable the Show Previously Converted Catalogs option to show catalogs that have previously been converted or that were backed up by an earlier version of Photoshop Elements or Photoshop Album. The Catalog Converted window does not show these catalogs by default. (For example: If you upgraded from Photoshop Elements 4.0 to Photoshop Elements 5.0, a backup copy of My Catalog.psa was created and named My Catalog-1.psa. The My Catalog-1.psa file will not be visible in the Convert Catalog window unless the Show Previously Converted Catalogs option is enabled.)

After you convert a catalog with Photoshop Elements 6, you cannot use the converted catalog with earlier versions of Photoshop Elements or Photoshop Album. However, when the catalog is converted, it copies the data into a new catalog file; the original catalog file is not changed. You can continue to use the original catalog in the earlier version of Photoshop Elements or Photoshop Album. Keep in mind that changes you make to the converted catalog in Photoshop Elements 6 do not affect the original catalog.

Manage your catalogs

Photoshop Elements 6 provides new options to manage where your catalog files are stored and which users have access to them. Choose File > Catalog to open the Catalog Manager window.

Create a new catalog

To create a new catalog, click the New button.

Convert a catalog

To convert a catalog from an earlier version of Photoshop Elements, click the Convert button. (See the "Convert your catalogs" section above for more information.)

Manage catalog files

The Catalogs box in the Catalog Manager window determine which catalogs display in the field at the bottom, and where new and converted catalogs are created. There are three options:

Catalogs Accessible By All Users is the default option. It displays catalogs from and saves new and converted catalogs in:
- Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\Catalogs
- Windows Vista: C:\Program Data\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\Catalogs
Catalogs Accesible By The Current User displays catalogs from and saves new and converted catalogs in:
- Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<user name>\Application Data\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\Catalogs
- Windows Vista: C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\Catalogs
Custom Location allows you to select any folder to display catalogs from and to save new and converted catalogs. Click the Browse button to select a folder.

Open a catalog

To open a different catalog, select the option (All Users, Current User, or Custom Location) where the catalog is stored, then select the catalog in the bottom field and click Open.

Move a catalog

You can move a catalog between being accessible to all users and being accessible to the current users. You can also move a catalog between those locations and a custom location.

Note: You cannot move a catalog directly between two custom locations. However, you can accomplish the same results indirectly. First move a catalog from the custom location to the All Users location, and then move the catalog to the new custom location.

To move a catalog to the All Users or Current User locations:

Select the current location of the catalog (All Users, Current Users, or Custom Location).
Select the catalog from the field at the bottom of the Catalogs box.
Click the Move button.
Select the destination location of the catalog: All Users or Current User.
Click OK.

To move a catalog from the All Users or Current User location to a Custom Location:

Select Custom Location.
Click the Browse button and select the destination location for the catalog, then click OK.
Select the current location of the catalog: All Users or Current Users.
Click the Move button.
Select Custom Location.
Click OK.

Rename a catalog

To rename a catalog:

Select the location of the catalog (All Users, Current Users, or Custom Location).
Select the catalog from the field at the bottom of the Catalogs box.
Click the Rename button.
Type the new name for the catalog.
Click OK.

Optimize and repair catalogs

You can optimize and repair any catalog without opening it first. Select the catalog, then click the Optimize or Repair button.

Optimize re-builds the catalog and thumbnail data in to be as efficient as possible. It is similar to defragmenting a hard drive. Use the Optimize command to increase the performance of a large catalog or to solve problems with photo thumbnails in your catalog.
Repair looks for errors in the catalog structure and corrects them. It also gives you an option to rebuild the visual search data for the catalog (the data used to identify similar photos during searches or photo stack suggestions). Use the Repair command if you experience problems with your catalog in the Organizer, such as incorrect behavior, or a freeze or crash.

Creations from earlier versions may not appear in the catalog

When you convert a catalog that was started in Photoshop Elements 3.0 or 4.0, or Photoshop Album, some or all of the photo creations in the original album will be missing. (ie., Slideshows, greeting cards, album pages, etc.) Photoshop Elements 6 does not support the data formats used for most creation types used in those earlier versions of catalogs.

Photoshop Elements 6 allows you to view and edit the following creations in earlier versions of catalogs:

Photoshop Elements 5.0: All creations
Photoshop Elements 4.0: Slideshow creations only
Photoshop Elements 3.0: No creations
Photoshop Album (any version): No creations

Keep in mind that creations must have been started in the earlier versions listed above in order for Photoshop Elements 6 to view or edit them. Even if you upgraded your catalog through multiple versions of Photoshop Elements, creations remain in the format used by the version that created them. (For example: If you made a greeting card creation in Photoshop Elements 3.0, then upgraded to Photoshop Elements 5.0, the creation would still be visible in the catalog. If you now convert that catalog to the Photoshop Elements 6 catalog format, the greeting card creation will not be included in the converted catalog.)

If you have creations started in earlier versions of Photoshop Elements that you want to edit in the future, do not uninstall the earlier version or delete the original catalog. Use the earlier version to edit the creation. Alternatively, you can re-create the creation in Photoshop Elements 6.

Note: You can save many creation types as a PDF file from earlier versions of Photoshop Elements and Photoshop Album. You can add the PDF version of the creation to your catalog in Photoshop Elements 6. You can then print or share the PDF file; however, you will not be able to edit the creation.

Changes that occur during catalog conversion

When you convert a catalog from an earlier version of Photoshop Elements or Photoshop Album, the following changes occur:

Photos tagged with the numbered Favorites tags (1 star, 2 star, etc.) will have the equivalent star rating applied to them. Photos tagged with the unnumbered Favorites tag will have the 5-star rating applied to them.
If the catalog was created in Photoshop Elements 3.0 or any version of Photoshop Album (and was not converted with Photoshop Elements 4.0 or 5.0), the photo thumbnails are not converted. Photoshop Elements 6 will automatically rebuild the thumbnails after the conversion is complete. Rebuilding the thumbnails may take a long time for large catalogs. During this time you can still work in the Organizer, but peformance may be slow and thumbnails will not be visible for all photos until they have been rebuilt.
Visual search data is lost during conversion, but will be rebuilt automatically. Visual search data is used by the Organizer to look for similarities in photos when you drag a photo to the search bar, or when you choose Edit > Stack > Automatically Suggest Photo Stacks.
Hard drive references in the catalog's internal database are changed from the name of the drive (for example, "MYDISK") to the serial number of the drive's logical volume. It is possible to have multiple drives connected to your computer with the same serial number. Although this is unlikely, if you keep photos on multiple hard drives and the drives have the same serial number, the converted catalog may not correctly identify the location of some or all of the photos. If this happens, choose File > Reconnect > All Missing Files. Click the Browse button to specify the drive where Photoshop Elements should look for the missing files.

Changes made to the catalog location and format

Substantial changes were made to the catalog files used in Photoshop Elements 6. Advanced users may want to be aware of some of the changes: the location where catalog files are stored, the file extension, and the internal database format.

Location: Earlier versions of Photoshop Elements stored catalog files in the C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Adobe\Catalogs folder by default. Photoshop Elements 6 stores catalog files by default in the following location:

Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\Catalogs
Windows Vista: C:\Program Data\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\Catalogs

The Catalog Manager window (File > Catalog) in Photoshop Elements 6 also provides an option to store catalogs in a user-specific location:

Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<user name>\Application Data\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\Catalogs
Windows Vista: C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\Catalogs

As in earlier versions of Photoshop Elements, you can specify a custom location to store catalog files. See the "Manage your catalogs" section above for more information.

File extension: Catalog files created by Photoshop Elements 6 use the .PSEDB file extension. Earlier versions of Photoshop Elements used the .PSA file extension.

Database format: Catalog files created by Photoshop Elements 6 uses the SQLite database format. Earlier versions of Photoshop Elements and Photoshop Album used the ODBC database format, which can be read by Microsoft Access. Applications that read the SQLite database format are available; however, Adobe does not support or recommend making changes to the database file outside of Photoshop Elements.

Because of the significant change in database format, catalogs created in earlier versions of Photoshop Elements will be converted to the SQLite database format. Large catalogs may require a substantial amount of time to complete this conversion.