PSE 8 Catalog Size?

Can anyone tell me if there is an optimal catalog size in PSE 8? I just started using the software and I've imported my 26,000 images (20% raw / 80 % jpeg) and I'm wondering if I should break that up to get better performance on my PC.

Thanks,
I did not import (upload) so many images to PSE8 in organizer yet. I did de-activate the auto-analynizer, optimized and repair the cataloque as you mentioned. However the organizer just shut down or react so slow or even jam, don´t work. So I have to close the organizer. Somehow I found it is not a easy organizer to use. Too many functions that I do not need and some I need, but not provided. I like my thumbnail showed as my ordered filename. And it ordered them by date (oldest or newest). I would prefer a simple organizer instead of such useless monster.

Similar Messages

Are there practical limits on elements organizer catalog size?

I have 90K items in my PSE11 organizer catalog. I'm running Win8 and I'm getting nervious that catalog size will become an issue. Backing up the catalog is cumbersome since it is 337G. If I need to break it up into smaller pieces, what is the best way to do this? Is there a bridge or link between catalogs? Thanks

See:
http://www.johnrellis.com/psedbtool/photoshop-elements-faq.htm#_Limits_on_the
and:
http://www.johnrellis.com/psedbtool/photoshop-elements-faq.htm#_Splitting_and_rearranging
and:
http://www.johnrellis.com/psedbtool/photoshop-elements-faq.htm#_Merging_Catalogs
The only real problem with big catalogs is what you have found : it's long and tedious to do backups. From the above links you can see that it's a bad idea to split catalogs, unless there is nothing common within them. Contrary to Lightroom, the organizer offers no satisfactory solution to merge catalogs. And the size of the catalog has no real impact on the speed of your organizing.
My suggestion would be to think about alternative backup procedures : anyway, if you want to upgrade to Lightroom, you'll have to choose your own backup system for picture files. LR only offers backups for the catalogs (database).
- Once you know where your big catalog is stored (menu help / system info) it's easy to create a desktop shortcut so that you can save the catalog itself. That's very quick compared to the backup of all your files (several hours).
- Consider using PSE incremental backups. I am not fond of them, but they are acceptable if you master the process : they save the database fully each time and let you restore to a given backup sesssion. Many users rely on incremental backups without understanding the process and are unable to do a complete restore in case of a big problem.
- Consider using external backup tools (as if you were with Lightroom). They can be easier and they offer automatic and periodic backup workflows. I am using Synctoy with Win7 and do periodic clones of my drives with Acronis
- Continue to use the integrated backup procedure when you have to change OS, computer, drives... and migrate all your pictures and catalog.

Moving my photos and PSE catalog to a new machine... and upgrading

H
I am seeking advice on the best way to do the following:
- move my photos from my current laptop to a new laptop
- recreate my current PSE catalog on the new machine
- do both of the above while also upgrading to PSE 11 on the new machine.
The last time I did this sort of action -- moved my photos to a new machine -- it was sheer bedlum. Hoping to avoid the pain this time.
Do I first need to move my photos to the new laptop -- recreating the exact smae file structure that I have today -- amd them export and import the PSE catalog? I want to repeserve the album structure and tagging that I have created.....
Any help/pointers appreciated.

The recommended way to move to another computer with a new OS or PSE version is to use the built-in backup and restore function in PSE.
- Start with a clean catalog : reconnect missing files, repair, optimize. That's good practice even if it is not strictly necessary.
- Do a full backup on an external media (external USB drives are safe and affordable). If you have several catalogs, do as many backups. Warning ! each separate backup must be in its own separate folder.
- Now, you have installed your PSE version (possibly a newer version) on the new computer, you can do a restore from each catalog backup. That will restore the catalog and the picture files ; if you have checked the option to keep the folder tree structure, it will be kept.
The smart thing about this process is that not only everything is restored, but if you have upgraded to a newer PSE version, the catalog will be automatically converted to the newer version ; furthermore, you have a backup!
http://www.johnrellis.com/psedbtool/photoshop-elements-faq.htm#_Move_your_photos_1
http://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop-elements/kb/common-catalog-issues-upgrade-elements.html
Edit:
This shows why a backup from the organizer is often a better solution than external backup solutions. Suppose your old computer crashes, you can restore to a new computer and newer PSE version easily. It's also a good way to update a secondary computer (a laptop for instance) to the same 'sync' than the master computer.

Searching for duplicates in PSE catalog?

I am experiencing numerous duplicate photo images in my PSE catalog. I woud like to do a search of the catalog and bulk remove the duplicates. Is there a way to do this?

See that faq by John R Ellis:
http://www.johnrellis.com/psedbtool/photoshop-elements-faq.htm#_Find_and_delete
That works with PSE6.
Once you have selected a number of files, you can either:
- right click, choose stack and automatically suggest photo stacks
- or the find menu, 'by visual similarity'

I can't stack photos (previously in version sets) imported via "Upgrade PSE Catalog". Why not?

I am currently using LR 3.6 on a Windows 7 OS/ HP laptop. Previously, I organized my photos using PSE 9 Organizer. When I switched to LR 3, I selected the option to upgrade my PSE Catalog to bring my photos into LR. LR imported all the photos and keywords/ratings but not my version sets or smart albums. I understand LR doesn't have version sets so I was willing to manually restack my photos but now LR is not giving me that option. Any pictures that were previously in a PSE version set are showing as unstackable (all the stack options are grayed out) even if they are located in the same folder on my hard drive. I'm having trouble finding anything on the web that addresses this issue. Any help/direction would be much appreciated as my catalog is rather cumbersome at the moment.
Thank you,
Sierra

If dj_paige's suggestions don't help, check to make sure that Lightroom thinks both photos are in the same folder. When I converted from PSE 8, I had some photos in version sets in the same actual folder that LR thought were in different folders whose name differed only by case (e.g. "MyFolder" and "myfolder"). Thus, LR refused to stack the photos upon catalog conversion.
You can check this by selecting each of the suspsect photos in turn, right-clicking, and selecting Go To Folder In Library.

Using PSE catalog/organizer with CS5

I have been using PSE 7 for a while and have just transitioned to Photoshop CS5.
I would like to use the catalog from PSE for organizing photos, and PS CS5 for editing.
In the PSE preferences I have tried to notify PSE that I want to use PS CS5 as the supplementary editor. All I get is a message that says I do not need to choose PS as the other editor as PSE already supports using PS from the edit menu and edit toolbar (which I can`t see how that would happen).
It is my guess that PSE catalog/organizer and PS CS5 do not interact, and that I can use both but independently.
Is my guess correct?

Thanks, MTSTUNER. I now see that option in PSE Edit menu. However, when I select it there is a message that Thumbnails are being updated, and a copy of the photo is made in the organizer. PS does not launch, and if I launch PS first, the photo still does does not appear in PS.

Is there a practical limit to catalog size?

I get frequent enough requests to use old photos so I keep everything in one catalog, and all raw files on disk in directories by year\day. Currently there are several hundred thousand files (about half unedited), and the catalog size at last check is over 4gb. I just keep adding adding primary and backup disk drives when needed because they are relatively cheap (IBM has announced the first exabyte array so that trend should continue). The only problem I've seen is the catalog is slow to backup but nothing that cant be worked around. The access to photosm search, or editing has not seemed to have slowed at all.
My question is: Has anyone run into a problem with this approach?

What worked for me was to turn off the auto normalise preference in Garageband.
See this thread -
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1403099&tstart=0
Hope it works for you

Fixed Video CreationDate Sorting After Converting PSE Catalog

My experience with the problems of sorting videos properly by creating date nearly caused me to give up and go back to PSE Organizer...but I dug in, hacked out a solution, and now I'm sharing it in case it helps anyone else. This worked for me...but please realize that I could have destroyed my own catalogs if things weren't all as expected. My Python script below is a down & dirty, no frills way to convert and push all the "CORRECT" timestamps in my old PSE10 catalog to the horribly handled and mis-dated VIDEO files in LR4. Here's the script for all those who dare to take the life of their catalogs into their own hands.
# WARNING: Use at your own risk. This worked for me, but could completely    #
#           DESTROY your catalogs for both Lightroom (LR) and Photoshop        #
#           Express (PSE). Copy the {YourFilename}.lrcat from LR and the      #
#           catalog.pse??db from PSE to your local python directory and make   #
#           BACKUP copies of those files before you try to move the modified   #
#           ones back to their proper locations.                               #
# Auth...erm, Hacker: Sam Birch                                                #
# Purpose: Fix Adobe's repeated inability to apply proper dates to video      #
#           files when importing a PSE catalog. This script gets the list of #
#           all video files in a Lightroom 4.0 catalog (have not verified this #
#           for any other version), looks for the correct creation date/time   #
#           for those files in the PSE catalog, converts the PSE UTC stamp to #
#           MY LR local timezone (US/Central), properly formats the output for #
#           LR's captureTime, and saves them in the LR catalog.                #
#    Notes: 1) I moved from PSE 10 to LR 4. Those are all I wrote this for,   #
#              so do not expect this to work for anything else.                #
#           2) I am in the US/Central timezone, so anyone not in that timezone #
#              will need to edit the script to make it work properly for you. #
#           3) This is a Python script, and I used 2.7.2 on Windows. I also   #
#              needed to add the pytz package to handle the timezone           #
#              conversion properly.                                            #
#           4) I am not a Python expert. I wanted to learn Python, and it let #
#              me accomplish what I wanted. I would appreciate any construct- #
#              ive criticism with proposed improved code, but please don't ask #
#              for modifications or customizations from me. I don't have the #
#              time or knowledge to do so...sorry. As this was simply about   #
#              taking the least time to get LR functional for me, all config   #
#              items are hard-coded and require modification of the script... #
#           5) ALL my video files had unique names. If this is not the case   #
#              for you, THIS WILL NOT WORK RIGHT FOR YOU!!!!                   #
import sqlite3 as lite
import sys
import os, time
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
from pytz import timezone
import pytz
# Your Lightroom catalog (COPIED to the local dir)
lrcon = lite.connect('./test-fresh.lrcat')
# Your Photoshop Express Organizer catalog (COPIED to the local dir)
psecon = lite.connect('./catalog.pse10db')
# Get all the video files in the LR catalog...
lrcur = lrcon.cursor()
lrcur.execute("SELECT Adobe_images.CaptureTime, AgLibraryRootFolder.absolutePath, AgLibraryFolder.pathFromRoot, AgLibraryFile.idx_filename, Adobe_images.id_local FROM Adobe_images, AgLibraryFile, AgLibraryFolder,AgLibraryRootFolder WHERE (Adobe_images.fileFormat=\"VIDEO\") AND (Adobe_images.rootFile=AgLibraryFile.id_local) AND (AgLibraryFile.folder=AgLibraryFolder.id_local) AND (AgLibraryFolder.rootFolder=AgLibraryRootFolder.id_local);")
psecur = psecon.cursor()
rows = lrcur.fetchall()
# Variable setup for stats and timezone conversion...
failcount = 0
successcount = 0
utc=pytz.utc
central=timezone('US/Central')
fmt = "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S" #LR captureTime format string
for row in rows:
    # Attempt to fix through local modified time...but useless since I used
    # PSE backup/restore a few years ago, and that wiped out all original
    # timestamp information. If you are in Windows and your modified timestamp
    # on the file is correct, this should work...since it worked (but didnt' fix
    # my problem due to PSE's terrible version of backup/restor), I thought I
    # would leave the code as inspiration for others it still may work for...
    #myroot = row[1].encode('utf8')
    #mypath = row[2].encode('utf8')
    #myfile = row[3].encode('utf8')
    #myidx = row[4]
    #photo = myroot+mypath+myfile
    #mytimeLR = time.strftime("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M",time.localtime(os.path.getmtime(photo)))
    #print photo," last modified: ",mytimeLR
    #updateTmp = (mytimeLR,myidx)
    #lrcur.execute('UPDATE Adobe_images SET captureTime=? WHERE id_local=?',updateTmp)
    #lrcon.commit()
    # Get the filename (ALL MY VIDEOS HAD UNIQUE FILENAMES, SO THIS LEVEL OF MATCHING SUFFICED FOR MY PURPOSES)
    myfile = row[3].encode('utf8')
    # Set up the parameter for the query to the PSE catalog
    matchParm = []
    matchParm.append(myfile)
    # Get the UTC timestamp and file name from the PSE catalog
    psecur.execute('SELECT search_date_begin, filepath_search_index FROM media_table WHERE lower(filename_search_index)=lower(?)',matchParm)
    pserow = psecur.fetchone() # I could do this because I KNOW all my video files have unique names
    if pserow != None:
        # Go through the hassle of decoding and converting the UTC time to US/Central...as well
        # as from the PSE format to LR format similar but different enought to be annoying...
        psedate = pserow[0].encode('utf8')
        pseUTC = datetime(int(psedate[0:4]),int(psedate[4:6]),int(psedate[6:8]),int(psedate[9:11]),int(pse date[11:13]),int(psedate[13:15]),0,tzinfo=utc)
        lrLocal = pseUTC.astimezone(central)
        lrDate = lrLocal.strftime(fmt)
        # I like seeing progress...
        print myfile, ": ", pserow[0]," -> ", lrDate
        # push the corrected time back into the LR catalog...the only WRITE activity so far...
        updateParm = (lrDate,myidx)
        lrcur.execute('UPDATE Adobe_images SET captureTime=? WHERE id_local=?',updateParm)
        lrcon.commit()
        successcount += 1
    else:
        # I got here because I added some video files to LR after I imported, but before
        # I hacked out this script...
        failcount += 1
print "SUMMARY: success count = ", successcount, " - fail count = ", failcount
if lrcon:
    lrcon.close()
if psecon:
    psecon.close()
Sam

Also, since my camera does not create sidecar files and the video format does not allow for metadata directly...I have problems with date sorting. LR likes the "Creation Date"; while I understand that Windows' NTFS is one of the few operating systems that actually store a "Modified Date", I cannot understand why Adobe would choose to use a data that changes with every copy (Creation Date), rather than the original capture date (Modified Date) when it is clearly available.
My solution is to move my videos to their final destination outside of LR, run the below PowerShell script to set Creation and Accessed dates both to the Modified date for the file, and then import with LR. This is a blatant waste of time, but it seems the least of evils I'm aware of (up to the LR 4.0 I'm currently running). If anyone knows of a better solution, please point me that direction. Otherwise, I'm hoping this may help others in my boat.
If you ask "Why PowerShell when your last script was Python?"...it boiled down to being able to do the most work with the least amount of coding since Powershell has all that's necessary.
Just create the below as FixDates.ps1, then use command.exe in the root of the directory (and sub directories, since this works recursively) you want to do this for. I use this on the directory for the batch I just imported.
OH, AND OF COURSE...USE FOR INSPIRATION/UTILITY AT YOUR OWN RISK. IT WORKS FOR ME, BUT I GUARANTEE NOTHING...
$Videos = Get-ChildItem . -Recurse | where{$_.Extension -match "avi|mov|3gs"}
foreach ($Video in $Videos) {
    Write-Host $Video.fullname
    $Video.CreationTime = $Video.LastWriteTime
    $Video.LastAccessTime = $Video.LastWriteTime
Sam

Lightroom won't upgrade second PSE catalog

I have successfully upgraded my main Photoshop Elements 11 catalog into Lightroom 5.6.
I have a second PSE catalog I'd also like to upgrade, but not import into the main Lightroom catalog (keeping it as a standalone catalog). According to the user manual, there should be a dropdown available from File > Upgrade Photoshop Elements Catalog that will allow me to select this second PSE catalog. However, the dropdown only expands the Catalog info without giving me access to any other catalog. Is there a workaround (or am I doing this wrong)?
For what it's worth, the PSE catalogs are on a separate drive from Lightroom, are in different folder from each other, and the location is not the default location the PSE 11 would have put them. Nevertheless, Lightroom found the first PSE catalog without difficulty.

Per the user's guide, from the Library Module I: File > Upgrade Photoshop Elements Catalog
This brings up a dialog box that shows the most recently upgraded PSE catalog. Then, to quote the user's guide, "To choose a different PSE catalog, click the Elements drop-down menu."
There is no "Elements drop-down menu" within the dialog box to click on. The closest thing is an expand triangle opposite "Catalog info," but when clicked, that only displays more detail about the source PSE catalog I have already upgraded. There doesn't seem to be any way to browse to or select a second PSE catalog — which is what I'm trying to do.

How to transfer PSE catalog to Bridge

I recently switched from a pc to a mac. How do I transfer my extensive PSE catalog to Bridge, which is included with the new PSE 6 for the mac?
Carol

This might be a question for one of the Elements forums, Carol.

Catalog Size (PE6)

Is there a limit to the size of the catalog in PE6. My Catalog is approaching 178 MB and thumbs cache is nearing 1.5GB.
The Organizer Keyword mapping function is responding very sluggish even after performed a Catalog repair and optimazition.
Any suggestions on a fix?

No, there isn't any limit on catalog size. Depending upon the number of assets in catalog, size of catalog keeps on growing.
Just curious to know following-
- As thumbs cache size is 1.5 GB, how may assets do you have in catalog?
- How come, catalog size is 178 mb and thumbs cache size is 1.5 GB (I guess catalog size you mentioned is for catalog.pse6db file only)?
~Andromeda

Elements 4.0 Organizer - Catalog Size?

Hey all,
I am about to organize a lot of digital scrapbooking files and I am considering doing it in my current pictures catalog. I will put an old date on them and tag them so they will not interfere with my photos. I am approaching 10,000 items in my current catalog. Is there a practical limit on the number of items in a catalog. I can always start another catalog, but I had rather not if I can get away with it.
Thanks in advance,
Rob Hix

There is no firm limit on catalog size. Most likely, it depends on your computer's memory and speed, and your tolerance for the appearance of speed or the appearance of slowness. Catalogs of 65K have been reported running well.

Catalog size and Speed

I have 8GB of Ram. Approximately how big would my catalog have to be in Lightroom 4 before I started seeing slow down?
Thank You for any information,
Sandy

Catalog is not kept in ram, so not much of a factor here...
Most features of Lightroom are not affected by catalog size, since Lightroom is usually reading/writing pre-computed locations on disk... so for most features, there will be no slowdown whatsoever regardless of catalog size
That said, when entire catalog will need an update, or you are viewing consolidated metadata for entire catalog (or searching entire catalog...), then speed will be very much influenced by catalog size (not so much by ram amount). - but it's not a threshold thing: in other words, these things will gradually consume more time the more photos you have...

Cataloge size & location

When I go to System info under help it says that my catalog is 49.6MB & cache Size is 532.9 MB & gives me the location.
I know for a fact that My Pictures file is over 15GB.
Can I assume therefore that the catalog is not kept with the actual pictures & that the catalog size is correct?
Thanks in advance

The Old Fart a écrit:
When I go to System info under help it says that my catalog is 49.6MB & cache Size is 532.9 MB & gives me the location.
I know for a fact that My Pictures file is over 15GB.
Can I assume therefore that the catalog is not kept with the actual pictures & that the catalog size is correct?
You are right. 'My Pictures' is your 'library', it holds all the picture files. The catalog location you found holds the database which is the heart of the catalog, together with other files for the thumbnail cache, face recognition etc. Generally, the thumbnail cache (thumb.5.cache) is the biggest element in the catalog.
By default, the catalog is where you found it. You can move that catalog folder elsewhere, for instance if your picture files are on an external drive in a master folder such as 'F:\My external Pictures', you can move the catalog folder as 'F:\My ext catalog'.
I suppose you have all your picture files in 'My Pictures', so the size of more than 15GB seems right.
For users having their pictures scattered over several drives or subfolders, it may be harder to know the total size of image files.
The way to calculate it is to do the first steps of a 'full backup'. There is a step before the real backup where that size is calculated. You get the size of the 'library' plus the size of the 'catalog', that will be the size of the backup folder which will hold both.

Photoshop Elements 12 Back-up Freezing on Catalog Size Calculation

My Photoshop Elements 12 reminds me that, given number of new images added, catalog should be backed-up. At point in steps where file size being calculated (for both a full or incremental back-up) the percentage reported reaches 56% then stops. System has been left calculating over-night and percentage never passed 56%. Consequently, I am unable to back-up my catalog.

Try to delete Preferences: Try to launch Editor and keep pressing - ‘Ctrl+Alt+Shift’. It will show an option to delete preferences and then try to relaunch again.
If it doesn't work try the suggestions mentioned on the below blog post
http://psekb.blogspot.in/2013/04/pse-editor-is-not-launching-windows.html#more

PSE 8 Catalog Size?

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