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Photosbyme
Known Participant
February 1, 2023
Question

Deleting photos used in projects - Organizer 21

  • February 1, 2023
  • 4 replies
  • 763 views

When you use a photo in a project, does it stay in your project even if you later delete that photo?

This topic has been closed for replies.

4 replies

Greg_S.
Community Expert
Greg_S.Community Expert
Community Expert
February 3, 2023

That doesn't tell us what kind of project you are talking about.  As far as the Organizer is concerned, a project is a file with a .pse file extension.  I just looked at a photo collage with a .pse extension.  Deleting the photos in the file from the catalog had no effect on the collage because that was essentially saved as a .psd file with multiple layers. 

 

However, if you have a video project created in Premiere Elements, it will have a .prel file extension.  If you delete a file from your computer that is contained within the video project, the file will be considered as missing and will no longer be visible in the project.

 

So, I have to ask you:  If the file was important enough to be within one of your projects, why do you want to delete it?

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PhotosbymeAuthor
Known Participant
February 3, 2023

A few weeks ago, I discovered a big problem when adding photos to PSE Organizer. I was adding them in List View. I was told to add them in Tree view, which did solve the problem. Then I discovered in Tree View, I have a ton of duplicate folders, although the photos are only listed in one. I think the problem started when I bought this PC a few years ago and backed-up PhotoShop to it (Win 11).

In Explorer, I add and edit all my photos in a folder I call 1 Drive Pics so everything is backed up to One Drive. That folder remained the same after backing up PS. However, it also added an Adobe folder in Documents (not in One Drive and I don't ever work in it) where PS also seems to store some of the photos. I was aware of that but didn't realize it caused a problem.I just ingored that folder on my PC.

Current problem: I want PS to "store" all photos for one year in the same place in PSE Organizer Tree View. I am now in the process (a long one) of adding several thousand new photos. Since I work in 1 Drive, I wanted everything in 1Drive Pics in the Organizer. In the early years (of photos), I only had a few photos for each year in Docs > Adobe. When I added that year in the 1Drive folder in the Organizer, it added everything from that year to the year in 1Drive Pics. So, I thought I would just delete the photos in Docs > Adobe, thereby eliminating the folder. I was hoping to get rid of the Docs > Adobe folder, both in Organizer and on my PC. Guess not.

I'm only missing 1 photo in the video so far, but the problem would have gotten worse. So, thanks for saving me.

All photos are on my hard drive and saved in OneDrive, so I haven't lost any photos.

Any suggestions? See Tree View in screenshots below.

MichelBParis
MichelBParis
Legend
February 3, 2023

Hi @Photosbyme ,

As I see it, you have two ways to download and organize your picture files.

- You can choose to upload from the Explorer and create freely your folders hierarchy independently from the organizer. Then you can "get files from files and folders" to register/index your files into the catalog. You can decide to upload your files into the special OneDrive system folder which is synced with the OneDrive Cloud storage. You should not be surprised to get a ton of apparently duplicate subfolder names. It's perfectly allowed in Explorer to get many "January" subfolders if you decide to create them in different years parent folders. The logic and the rules of the Explorer do apply there. Remember that the system "OneDrive" folder is recognized by the organizer as just a normal folder. Its syncing capacity with the OneDrive cloud storage is ignored by the organizer.

 

- You can use the recommended organizer downloading and organizing functions. Those functions have to work in accordance with the Explorer rules. Most of those functions from the organizer are managed via orders to the Explorer. The most obvious difference when you use the organizer downloader is that you should not be bothered to specify where to store the downloaded files. First, Adobe follows the Windows choices to separate programs from documents, pictures etc. Then the organizer lets you import your files into your favorite master folder, for instance in OneDrive system folder. The preferences even let you create date based subfolders automatically with options like "YYYY MM DD" depending on the real date taken. You can always skip those preferences and assign a new location if needed.

From you original post, I did suspect that you might have noticed a very special exception with creations. Adobe needs to store a number of special types of files in specific folders. Greg has given some hints about creations, which may be stored in the catalog folders (the location of catalog folders is another matter...)

 

Your suggestion about past restores seems to explain the differences between the folder hierarchies of past organizations compared with the current one. This is particularly critical if you don't use the recommended backup and restore processes offered by the organizer. I can't be very helpful within a single post, but I would advise other discussions about two topics:

- Use of OneDrive as a sharing system (good) and as a backup one (many traps if you are not aware of its limitations about catalogs) - additional use of periodic full backups from the organizer.

- Optimization of your folder organization via your preferences from within the organizer instead of via the Explorer; better use of the advanced options of the downloader.

 

 

 

 

 

    Greg_S.
    Community Expert
    Greg_S.Community Expert
    Community Expert
    February 2, 2023

    What kind of project are you talking about?

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    PhotosbymeAuthor
    Known Participant
    February 2, 2023

    I answered this but must not have clicked something.

     

    Don't know, but I mostly do cards or upload to website. Do this from Explorer. Did one video where I worked from PSE Organizer. Below is a screenshot with the message.

    davescm
    Community Expert
    davescmCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    February 1, 2023

    Hi, from your title it sounds like you are using Photoshop Elements. I've moved your post from the Photoshop forum to the Photoshop Elements forum where you are more likely to get help with your issue.

    Dave

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      PhotosbymeAuthor
      Known Participant
      February 1, 2023

      I am. Thanks.

      Kevin Stohlmeyer
      Community Expert
      Kevin StohlmeyerCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      February 1, 2023

      What do you mean by "Project" if you mean Photoshop - if the layer is an embedded Smart Object then you will be fine - the image is contained in the parent document. If your layer is a linked Smart Object, then it will require the original source to make any further edits to that layer. It will continue to show a full-resolution preview but will ask for the updated link each time.

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      PhotosbymeAuthor
      Known Participant
      February 1, 2023

      That's what I anted to know. Not planning to do any changes.

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