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Question

Convert Catalog from PSE9 to PSE 2022

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
April 3, 2022
8 replies
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I upgraded from PSE9 to PSE 2022. I'd like to convert my PSE9 catalog, but the catalog manager can't find the catalog file. I'm sure the catalog.pse9db is on my system (see attached screen shot). What am I doing wrong?

Thanks,

Jon.

Organizer

This topic has been closed for replies.

Greg_S.

Community Expert

Your latest catalog screenshot indicates that your "Elements 9" catalog is just a new catalog created in that version without any media in it besides the default music files. Your screenshot also suggests that you are in a filtered view. So click on the All Media arrow to see if it makes any difference.

Your real Elements 9 catalog was presumably not empty. Did you have a custom name for your Elements 9 catalog or was it simply the My Catalog default name? It is possible that the real Elements 9 catalog did in fact go through the conversion process when you first opened Elements 2022. If that were the case, your old EO 9 catalog would have been renamed with a numeric suffix, such as My Catalog 1.

So, at this point, search your computer via Windows File Explorer or other utility for files named catalog.pse9db and make a note of which folder(s) contain it (or them). Double-click on each one and see if it is the correct catalog.

As for the runtime error in Elements 9, go to the Microsoft site and install the latest version for your OS.

A

Arndt JonAuthor

Known Participant

Greg_S.,

I searched for the file catalog.pse9db as you suggested - interesting result.

I found three instances of the file catalog.pse9db - see attached screen shot. The instance on the F: drive is the catalog I'd like to convert - the file date is correct and the size seems right - 108 Mb. The file on the I: drive is a copy of the F: drive file. The instance on the C: drive (C:\ProgramData\Adobe\Elements Organizer\Catalogs\My Catalog 1) is what was converted, according to the the PSE 2022 Catalog Manager - the size, date & time stamp, and the number of items match the catalog PSE 2022 shows (see screen shot).

I had less luck installing the latest Visual C++ Redistributable. PSE9 throws the same error as in my previous response. A screen shot with the version I installed is included.

Thanks for your help,

Jon

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Arndt JonAuthor

Known Participant

Greg_S.,

I ended up restoring a backed up PSE9 catalog. I lost some work, but not too much.

My original PSE9 catalog had errors, but was unrepairable.

Thanks for you help getting me to this point.

Jon.

Greg_S.

Community Expert

. . . or it may just be easier to create a new hierarchy with the existing flat Imported keyword tags. Let us know if you need help with that.

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Arndt JonAuthor

Known Participant

Greg_S.

Thanks for your suggestions. I deleted the converted catalog. I was able to convert the PSE9 catalog to PSE 2022. However, it shows only .mp3 files. PSE9 has stopped working. The error message is attached. After downloading PSE9, I was able to open it once. I was prompted to install a Windows component (not sure of details, didn't think to screen shot the message).

Let me know if you need additional information to troubleshoot the PSE9 error. I'd love to figure out what's wrong.

Thanks,

Jon

Greg_S.

Community Expert

You can always delete files from your catalog and perhaps that is what you want to do. You can also delete the catalog and start again with the Elements 9 catalog. I thought the point of the thread is getting your PSE 9 catalog into Elements 2022. 😉 So fixing Elements 9 may be required for that to happen. Here are some additional thoughts about how to get your keyword tagged images into Elements 2022 with your old keyword tag hierarchy rather than the flat tags (which have presumably been placed into the Imported Tags category).

Do you have any Elements 9 catalog backups - even if they are slightly out of date? If so, try to restore them, using Elements 2022.

If you have saved all/most of your keyword tags to metadata, AND you are able to open an Elements 9 catalog with your keyword tag hierarchy, it is possible to transfer that hierarchy to Elements 2022, and then do a fresh import of the files into Elements 2022, and map the tags to the old hierarchy rather than the flat Imported keywords category. To do this:

In Elements 9, click on the tiny dropdown arrow next to the green plus sign at the top of the Keyword Tags panel and select Save Keyword Tags to File. The following is a screenshot from Elements 10 which is the oldest version I have on my computer, but it should be very similar in Elements 9.

In the dialog that opens, save the (.xml?) file to your desktop (and remember where you put it).
In Elements 2022, click on the same Tags panel dropdown arrow and select Import Keyword Tags from File:

Navigate to the saved file and select it. You should now have your old keyword tag hiearchy in place (as well as the default categories which appear for a new catalog. You can delete any duplicate categories.

Do a Bulk Import of your media files or do it piecemeal, using Import from Files and Folders. During the import process, you should be given the opportunity to import all of the (saved) keyword tags. Open the Advanced dialog to give you more control over where the files' keyword tags are placed in the new catalog.

As for getting Elements 9 to work, try using the Shift key when launching the program. This should open the catalog manager where you can create a new catalog. If you are able to do this, you can then try a repair and optimize on the existing catalog.

Greg_S.

Community Expert

One other possibility that I don't think has been suggested yet: Do you still have Elements 9 installed? If so, does it read the catalog? If not, reinstall it and give it a try. If the catalog opens OK in Elements 9, do a full backup of the catalog. Next, open Elements 2022 and restore the backup from there. In theory, the catalog will be converted during the restore process and should then open in the new version.

A

Arndt JonAuthor

Known Participant

MichelBParis,

I didn't have a chance to try your suggestion about deleting the files.

Greg_S.,

I'm re-installing PSE9, but I won't have a chance to test it tonight.

Thanks,

Jon.

A

Arndt JonAuthor

Known Participant

Greg_S., MichelBParis,

I have (mostly) good news to report.

I started by downloading & re-installing PSE9 (Thanks Greg_S.!). I was able to find the current catalog (on my F: drive) with PSE9. When I tried to open the catalog, PSE9 appeared to stop working. I won't go into more details on PSE9 at this time, since it's not the point of this thread.

PSE 2022 found the catalog and I was able to convert it. However, when I opened the catalog all it showed was .mp3 files. I navigated using the tree view of the file structure and foolishly imported all my images (MichelBParis - you advised against doing so; I thought PSE would give me an option to stop before the importing began - very poor choice on my part).

The current state: I imported the catalog and all of my images.

Is it possible to un-import images and keywords? I had an extensive hierarchy of keyword tags, but it imported as a flat list

Greg_S.

Community Expert

I'm grabbing at straws here, but I'm wondering whether the Elements 9 database has already been converted. If it has, then it is not going to show up in the Convert catalog dialog. It should show up in the main Catalog Manager dialog, but you will have to select the Custom Location button before it will be found.

A

Arndt JonAuthor

Known Participant

I'll try these suggestions tonight. One point - I haven't imported my images into PSE 2022 - should I do that first, then try to convert the catalog?

Thanks,

Jon.

MichelBParis

Legend

I'll try these suggestions tonight. One point - I haven't imported my images into PSE 2022 - should I do that first, then try to convert the catalog?

Thanks,

Jon.

By @Arndt Jon

No,

Reimporting is only a last resort solution. It's much slower and unless you have 'written metadata to files' from PSE9 before, you'll lose all your tagging, except keywords and captions. Albums, stacks, version sets and face recognition will be lost.

Greg_S.

Community Expert

Michel is absolutely correct about changing the file associations. Whether you try to associate the db file with a new installation (via Open With) or via Windows default program file association, it seems to me that the result is that the db will not open in the new program. The Organizer is only looking for media files to import, and when I try to open an old (unconverted) db file in a newer version, I get the incorrect file format message:

So, sorry for offering that bad information. But we all live and learn around here. 🙂

Michel, I also conducted some tests with Windows Settings for file associations. I got different options for each version of Elements on my computer (10 to 2022). Here are some samples:

I think Windows will offer options for any program where a previous attempt to open that file in the option program has been made. I think that is why Elements 2022 shows up as an option for the version 12 db file - I had previously attempted to open a version 12 db file (unsuccessfully) using the Open With command.

A

Arndt JonAuthor

Known Participant

I was able to un-associate PSE 2022 from the file catalog.pse9db. I copied the entire directory to a new location and attempted to display any hidden files or folders.

I didn't solve the problem, though. I made sure Windows Explorer was set to show hidden files; I turned off the read-only attribute, and I set PSE 2022 to show all files.

Greg_S., MichelBParis, thanks for all your assistance to date.

Thanks,

Jon.

MichelBParis

Legend

I didn't solve the problem, though.

So, I assume that you are still getting the same result as in your second post: no visible components in the catalog folder except the two subfolders. I have never had a similar behavior, so that does not explain why you don't see the catalog.pse9db file and its other companion files.

My next suggestion will be to try the following. In the catalog file you have copied elsewhere, delete everything including the two subfolders except the 'catalog.pse9db' file. Try again the conversion ticking both 'already converted catalogs' and 'find more' catalogs. After navigating to the catalog folder, the catalog name (=same as the catalog name) will be included in the list of found catalogs, select it and click convert. If the conversion works, you should recover most of your organization including not only keywords and captions, but also stacks, version sets and albums.

If that does not work, you may get an error message which could give us a hint of what is going on.

Greg_S.

Community Expert

@MichelBParis - great information!!!

Just a point of clarification. Am I correct in thinking that in the OP's case, he only needs to select the drive in the Find More Catalogs dialog, and the catalog will be listed since his catalog folder is on the root of the drive? Or do you only need to select the root even if the catalogs are buried deeper? Or do you need to select the actual catalog folder if it is buried deeper?

MichelBParis

Legend

@MichelBParis - great information!!!

Just a point of clarification. Am I correct in thinking that in the OP's case, he only needs to select the drive in the Find More Catalogs dialog, and the catalog will be listed since his catalog folder is on the root of the drive? Or do you only need to select the root even if the catalogs are buried deeper? Or do you need to select the actual catalog folder if it is buried deeper?

By @Greg_S.

In my experience, it's enough to select the drive even if the catalog is buried deeper.

Greg_S.

Community Expert

You should have been given the opportunity to convert the catalog when you first launched the Organizer in Elements 2022. But if you missed it, go to File>Manage Catalogs and click the Convert button. This will open another dialog and if your catalog is not listed, click on the Find More Catalogs button. Your Elements 9 catalog is in a custom location. Navigate to and select your F drive and the Elements 9 catalog should be listed.

Alternatively, navigate to your catalog.pse9db file in Windows File Explorer, right-click on it, and use the Open With . . . dialog to select the Elements 2022 Organizer. If it doesn't appear in the Windows program list, navigate to C:\Program Files\Adobe\Elements 2022 Organizer and select the PhotoshopElementsOrganizer.exe file.

I am not sure about this, but you may have to click on the Custom Location button in the Catalog Manager dialog, but that should only be after the file is converted, and I think the converted catalog will actually be copied to the default location.

MichelBParis

Legend

I am not sure about this, but you may have to click on the Custom Location button in the Catalog Manager dialog, but that should only be after the file is converted, and I think the converted catalog will actually be copied to the default location.

By @Greg_S.

Greg,

I had to run a few tests to check that.

I have practically all sorts of organizer version catalogs stored as archives on external drives as well as in the default (hidden) location under C:\\ProgramData.

Your important advice to tick the checkboxes to show already converted catalogs and if needed to search in more locations will bring you in 'custom location' if needed before you start the conversion.

I have chosen to store my catalogs on 'custom' location instead of the 'default' location, so I had to put a few test copies back in that default locations to test where the converted catalogs will be saved at the end of the conversion.

The result is simple.

The result will appear:

- in the default location, if the catalog you are in when you start the conversion is in default location

- in the precise 'custom' location you are in when you start the conversion.

That's independent from where the old catalog to convert is situated.

Whatever the reason of this choice, I like it because at the end of the process, my preferred 'custom' location disk is still selected with the new converted catalog in the available catalogs to open.

One word of caution: I often did include the PSE version number in old catalog names. Now I have several converted catalogs with the added suffix 1. That relates to the original PSE version not to the converted version. I may have to check in the Explorer the name of the 'catalog.pseXXdb' file to be sure. The search for 'more' catalogs to convert requires that you help the search by navigating to the right 'custom' location drive, but it automatically shows the real PSE version of displayed catalogs.

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