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Drew531
Participant
December 25, 2017
Question

LR 6.13 on Win 10 - Library folders gone!

  • December 25, 2017
  • 1 reply
  • 443 views

Has anyone else experienced a problem on Win 10 Pro wherein folders imported from the system "Pictures" directory start

disappearing from the Library list after import?

I read somewhere online that LR does not like having its' Catalog folders in the computers' "Pictures" directory

(which is where it automatically installed with the 6.13 upgrade!). 

I moved the LR app files to a separate directory on the C:/ drive, but this made matters worse - newly imported photo

folders/files then disappeared from the Library list after a single close/reopen of LR.   All photos are now "conglomerated"

together in the "All Photographs" Catalog folder.  Another issue on import - sub-folder titles from the system Pictures parent directory

are not imported - LR is simply labeling every new import folder as "2017", but with a correctly labelled sub-folder (?).    It seems as though

LR 6.13 wants to re-arrange the directory structure that my files are already organized in?

I have not tried deleting the LR 6.13 and re-installing, and I would like to avoid doing so if possible. At this point I'm not confident

that this would solve the problems.  System is Intel core i7, 16 GB RAM,  64 bit, Intel HD Graphics.  Only started experiencing these

issues with LR 6.13 upgrade from LR 6 LS11, initial upgrade from LR 5.

Any help here would be appreciated.  If there is a good thread with a solution already identifed, please direct me to same.

thanks, SD

This topic has been closed for replies.

1 reply

dj_paige
dj_paige
Legend
December 25, 2017

I read somewhere online that LR does not like having its' Catalog folders in the computers' "Pictures" directory

(which is where it automatically installed with the 6.13 upgrade!). 

Nonsense!

I moved the LR app files to a separate directory on the C:/ drive, but this made matters worse - newly imported photo

folders/files then disappeared from the Library list after a single close/reopen of LR.   All photos are now "conglomerated"

together in the "All Photographs" Catalog folder.

It is possible that each time you launch LR, you are opening a new catalog/different catalog file.

Use the Windows search feature to find all files whose names end with .LRCAT on all disks to find your catalogs. Double-click on each one to see what has been imported. I'm sure you will find the photos imported into one of these catalogs.

Another issue on import - sub-folder titles from the system Pictures parent directory are not imported - LR is simply labeling every new import folder as "2017", but with a correctly labelled sub-folder (?). It seems as though LR 6.13 wants to re-arrange the directory structure that my files are already organized in?

Again, Lightroom doesn't do this on its own. It may be because you are importing using the COPY option instead of the ADD option. If you see something like this happen, it is because you have selected the wrong options at import and I suggest you carefully examine your import options and make sure that they are doing what you want.

    D
    Drew531Author
    Participant
    December 25, 2017

    thanks for your response, dj

    As to your feedback:

         "It is possible that each time you launch LR, you are opening a new catalog/different catalog file.

          Use the Windows search feature to find all files whose names end with .LRCAT on all disks to find your catalogs. Double-click on each one to see what has been imported. I'm sure you will find the photos imported into one of these catalogs."

    Yes, there were two LR 6.13 .lrcat files - one in a top-level folder (C:/Lightroom), another contained within a subfolder C:/Lightroom/Lightroom).  (There are no other duplicate files in these folders.)  One .lrcat contained all of my prior imports, including those I added last night (again, all together in the "All Photographs" folder).   I deleted the duplicate .lrcat in the subfolder that referenced only the files imported last night, about 300 files.

    "Again, Lightroom doesn't do this on its own. It may be because you are importing using the COPY option instead of the ADD option. If you see something like this happen, it is because you have selected the wrong options at import and I suggest you carefully examine your import options and make sure that they are doing what you want."

    Unfortunately, I think that Lightroom has indeed done this on its own, or somehow in conjunction with Win 10 and/or its recent updates.  FYI, I use "Add" to import new RAW files, "Copy" when I added older file folders that held only .JPEG files that I want to view or put into a Slideshow.   Anyway, can't see how this would result with all files being moved into "All Photographs".

    Again, thanks for your feedback, all good.  I'll keep working on this until I can get it fixed, or until I have to throw in the towel on LR.

    If anyone else is seeing these behaviors, would still appreciate hearing from you.

    Hal P Anderson
    Hal P Anderson
    Inspiring
    December 25, 2017

    "All Photographs" isn't a folder, it's a special collection that does indeed contain all the photos that ;you've imported. This is entirely normal behaviour. The folders where your images live, still contain them.

    Hal

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