R: does not correctly identify photo aspect ratios after catalog import

i looked at the original catalog (on the original pc) and there the orientation of the pictures is correct. it may not be relevant, but the lightroom on the old pc was setup in english and the new pc is using a dutch version

i exported a catalog (export as catalog) and imported it on another pc, i have the same problem, all my images are landscape regardless of the real orientation

Ben, one problem with the workaround of using a normal import (after having saved Metadata to the files) is that edit histories won't be available.

I personally like to have access to edit histories in case I want to understand how I achieved some effect/look sometime later.

I made a feature request regarding retaining edit histories a while ago.

Hi Lee,

I've been able to reproduce this problem myself. The issue is written up in our bug database, and we hope to fix it. Unfortunately, my genius idea for a workaround didn't work, as soon as you undo the sync, the smart collection reverts to not having the photos it should. So far I haven't been able to come up with a workaround that actually works.

A normal import (as opposed to import from catalog) does not cause this problem. You could always open the old catalogs, Save Metadata to Files, then import the photos into the new catalog via a normal import. This should bring all metadata and develop settings with them, and avoid the problem of the missing orientation info.

Thanks,
Ben

Thanks for your quick reply, Ben. I'll try that as a workaround...that should save me a lot of time. I am using Windows Vista SP2 (32-bit) on an Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 @ 2.8GHz with 4GB RAM.

I think Lightroom has some wonkiness in handling of orientation.

There's been a few threads about different flavors of it...

Hi Lee,

Maybe. Here's what I would try:

1. Select all photos.
2. Switch to the Develop module.
3. With all photos selected, click the "Sync" button at the bottom of the right hand panels.
4. In the "Synchronize Settings" dialog box, uncheck everything except for "Aspect Ratio" (the last option).
5. Click the "Synchronize" button.
6. This will set all of your photos to exactly the same aspect ratio. Obviously this isn't what you want. So now, go to Edit>Undo Synchronize Settings.

That will return all of your photos to whatever aspect ratio they were at before the sync, but you will have "touched" the cropping of every photo, and that might fix the problem for you.

In the meantime, I'd like to try reproducing this problem myself. Can you tell me what operating system you're using?

Thanks,
Ben