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Elements 9 Organizer only imports one folder at a time

Forum|Forum|15 years ago
December 25, 2010
22 replies
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Well I purchased Elements 9 after not being happy with the products included with my camera's.

System is an i950 processor, Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit, 12 GB RAM, 120GB SSD and a 1 TB hard drive. Basically a system that gives me no trouble with any other software, for the most part, crash free.

I have a home server that runs on a gigabit network.

Pictures folder has about 25000 pictures.

My biggest problem from the beginning was importing my pictures.

I would do an import on the mapped drive for Photos and not all would be imported when I checked back later.

Then the issues increased when I would go in and actually try to import more than one folder at a time. All that would happen would be that the first folders contents would get imported but the second folder would get ignored.

If I highlighted 10 folders, only the first one would import.

Big big pain in the behind when you have things organized properly.

Also, must say that the organizer portion is buggy. Crashes a lot, and on a system like mine it shouldn't be slow to react which it is.

Haven't even got to the editor portion yet. Hope it isn't worse.

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Message title was edited by: Brett N

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer Brett N

Hello all,

First off, I would like to thank RDNelson for his very insightful remarks about the importance of settings when working with networks. More than just the physical capabilities of the hardware must be taken into consideration. I am not trying to say that you cannot use a network with PSE, just that it is not recommended. When you start to encounter issues it is best to go back to the basics to find out where the issue arises. Taking a network out of the equation will help tremendously. As Greg14 brought up, KISS.

Second, sometimes it is a good idea to disable features such as the Auto-Analyzer. This is not to say that everyone should do so, but for some people it would be best. Everyone's library of images and videos is going to be unique. I will admit that some images and video have a hard time being classified by the algorhythms and it can become stuck in a loop of reanalyzing the same assets again and again, or just not getting past certain items. Again, my thanks to RDNelson for his excellent suggestion. If you find that you are having issues with the Auto-Analyzer, try his workaround of manually analyzing in groups (new import batches, by album, by keyword, by folder, etc). Then, if a particular batch cannot be analyzed, those assets can be further examined to determine if an issue is arising from them. Such issues can arise from invisible sources, such as metadata in the file that was added by the device that created the file (such as camera Exif data or from a scanner).

To Mark "Crash Conrad", John Rellis has a Batphone to our engineering team. He has provided very helpful information to both our developers and our customers.

A note on the issue of selecting multiple folders but only one folder is imported. This seems to be an issue with Windows Explorer on Vista/7 machines. This same issue does not happen on the Mac version of Organizer. Nor does it happen with the exact same version of the software on Windows XP.

In order to get to the bottom of any of the issues listed on this forum, we need to get very explicit information on when and how the issue occurs. If a network is the source of the issue, we will need to know everything about that network in order to engineer a solution. All software has issues, but some issues only appear under very specific circumstances that did not happen while in the "lab". To find a fix, we must be able to reproduce the environment to find the root cause and deal with it. All the information that you can provide, so that anyone reading this forum could reproduce the same behaviors, would be of the utmost help.

-Brett

Show previous replies

Brett N

Adobe Employee

Hello Everyone!

We here at Adobe would love to give some help here, but unfortunately, this forum post has grown to include at least a dozen different issues, many of which are completely unrelated to each other. Some of these issues can be caused by the image files, by the catalog files, or by system conflicts. Others don't provide enough information to make a diagnosis. So I'm not really sure where to begin as this forum has bloated into a catch-all complaint depot.

To simplify things, I'll start with the original post and stay on subject with that, as a forum should.

So, Shadrackcas,

You mention your images are stored in a mapped drive. Are the two hard drives you mention connected to this computer via network and not directly? What kinds of network protocols and security are you working with? We definitely don't recommend storing your files on a network location, especially if you are running into an issue. Have you tried working with files that are stored locally?

As for importing more than one folder at a time, this appears to be a limitation of the interaction between the Windows OS and the dialog box for import. What I would recommend is importing the parent folder that contains these 10 folders, verifying that you are importing the sub-folders as well. If your parent folder includes images you don't want to import, you may move them temporarily before importing or remove them after importing. If there are a large number of loose images or folders that fall into this category, then perhaps I don't understand by what you mean "organized properly". Also, if you are running into performance issues, it may be best to just get each of the 10 folders one at a time. This can be especially important for finding the source of an issue. Perhaps there is something going on with the files in a specific folder, and the issues only appear after grabbing files from that location.

As to the Organizer being "buggy", can you describe some exact behaviors? What are you attempting to do when it crashes? Does it happen every time you try to follow these same steps? Remember, a bug is something that is the result of a fault of the application, can be reproduced, and thus can be fixed by something like an update. Random crashes are rarely the result of a bug, but are more likely caused by system conflicts or corrupt files.

Despite the awesome power of your computer, Photoshop Elements is still a 32-bit application. So it will not take advantage of 64-bit processing power nor will it use all of your RAM. So you can put too much information into this application so that it will bog down the system.

-Brett

Anonymous

Finally, thanks Brett for replying.

Now I don't think this is just one person having the issue, in fact I would check on Amazon as there are a few reviews that state the same type of problems.

Editing seems to be great, it is the organizer that is the issue.

I do feel that Adobe took their time responding on here as you can see from some of the comments.

Being a director for a company that does managed services and network support for customers, I do understand the need for responses in a reasonable amount of time.

I am running off a home server in response to your question.

I have a C: drive that is a 120 GB SSD with 60 GB free.

I have a D drive that is a 1TB drive with over 700 GB free.

1 Gb wired network connection to 1 Gb switches. As I said, I manage an IT company, plus I have 2 degrees in computer science and have been working with PC's since DOS 5, and computers since 1979. I have checked the obvious, and also run Pinnacle Media Studio 14 on the same system and have no issues with anything, and that is video.

If you don't recommend working with files off a network, then this should be stated up front, not as a response to a problem.

Again, no problem with Microsofts built in applications getting pictures, tagging them, and doing face recognition on the same files and folders.

Tried what you suggested.

Have a family folder that has 7 subfolders relating to different people.

Tried to import the family folder....it did, with nothing in it. Had to import the subfolders individually.

Are you being smart with your "awesome" comment?

If you aren't, you may want to rethink how you respond to customers.

Again, this coming from someone who manages service people in this industry.

At the end of all of this, many people are having similar problems due to this slowing down, running things in the background, etc.

If you want to be in a state of blaming the individuals or the network protocols, or what we shouldn't do, then continue and customers will speak with their dollars and their voices on other forums as they are doing right now.

I think Adobe would be much further ahead if they accepted that there are issues and let us buyers know that they are working on it and will fix it.

We will see how the responses you get from others pan out.

As of now, I am using the live gallery that you can download with Windows Live Essentials to organize and it does a great job so far.

Imported all my pictures from my mapped drive, subfolders intact, in fact, I just told it where my picture folders were and it did the rest on it's own.

Just would have been nice having one program to do it all.

rdnelson

Participating Frequently

Shadrackcas,

I am using PrE 8 and PrE 9 with a network without any issue. My catalog has contains almost 20,000 media items. I store both my catalog and the media items on the same server. Performance was a major concern because I do video editing. I have installed a gigabit network as well but I also had to ensure my server was able to keep up with the client requests. Some NAS devices are actually quite poor with performance even with a gigabit network.

So what I did was installed a Samba server running Ubuntu. I had to tweak both the Samba settings and the Windows registry settings to ensure performance -- mainly for the video editing to ensure the following:

1) Packets were large enough to send over as much of the video content as possible (enable Jumbo frames and larger payload sizes)

2) Prevent Vista from throttling down the network reqeusts when it was playing media (I can't remember the registry settings but there is a setting that will actually prevent huge network requests to ensure audio playback does not get interrupted)

Please note that I do not see the multiple folder selection issue with Windows XP but have seen this in Vista. This is what I saw...

1) File/Get Photos and Videos/From Files and Folders

2) Navigate to a directory containing subfolders containing media items

3) Select multiple subfolders

4) Click Get Media

On Vista, only one of the folders seems to be imported. On XP, all folders are imported. Please note that I need to be a little more thourough in my tests and attempt to do this with the same media items. The Vista problem was seen a couple weeks ago. I just tried to reproduce this in XP without issue. I need to try this again on Vista but don't have the time at the moment.

alina474

Participant

I wish I had read this before purchasing the software! Adobe should take it out of the market. I did get all photos imported after hours and hours where i thought my pc hanged. But when i tried to open to edit them it said "editor busy". So i have to access my photos from outside elements and so far editing is fine. But the minute i open the organiser my pc start to hang again. And i thought i needed more RAM when i already have 4GB.

geneaker

Participating Frequently

Interesting to hear. exactly my experience, as well as others. Adobe should

create a fix. I doubt they will. They have our money.

themorleyfour

Participant

Holy Cow I have the same problems. Glad (but sad) that it is just not me. Thought the Organizer would work wonderful, but alas, it does not. Any other ideas for a good organizer out there?

Avoworld

Participating Frequently

Please take a look at this http://forums.adobe.com/thread/748720?tstart=0

And then please submit a report/request here www.adobe.com/go/wish

I'm told that the more they receive the more they take notice.

geneaker

Participating Frequently

I have the same problems as everyone---PSE9 organizer crashes. What a piece of crap! I used the version 5 organizer--no problems. Ever.

Adobe should immediately issue a fix---not a workaround. Every photo browser--works better---even the free ones!

Joyce_M_Rivera

Participant

I replied to this thread way up the line but just want to give an update. After spending well over an hour on the phone with Adobe, 3 different times, my problem still persists - which is 1) not all my photos will import into Organizer (even though they are there when I go to Finder; I have also tried re-connecting several different times, 2) Organizer goes into 'think' mode all the time and 3) I tried un-installing and re-installing 3 different times, repaired & optimized also. What's up Adobe? I should have never spent the money to upgrade from PSE 8 but what I did do, was re-install PSE 8 and I am using Bridge instead of the Organizer in PSE 9. It's a shame that the product is advertised with such great expectations only to disappoint and that it's customers are the ones who have to try and figure out a work around because Organizer doesn't work on a MAC.

greg14

Inspiring

I wish I could use PSE 8, I put it back but PSE 8 does not recognize my new Nikon Camera,

Which was the reason I upgraded because i called adobe and they acknowledged that the D7000 DLSR

needed PSE 9.

And I have a MAC.

Talk about a double whammy !

Greg

greg14

Inspiring

I gave up using it.

I use Nikon View NX2 and then drag into PSE9.

I am done fooling around with Bridge and Organizer, they have totally messed it up.

Hopefully they will correct it and notify us.

Otherwise i am sure PSE10 will be the $70.00 fix it later this year.

I still believe that issuing a PC and mac version together may have something to do with it.

Greg

Anonymous

I agree.

Funny how nobody from Adobe has jumped in here. Maybe because they don't have any answers and have to admit that the organizer is buggy.

As a bonus, after installing Photoshop Elements, my Windows 7 media center is screwed up. All of my videos and photos have been removed from the media center interface and nothing I can do to get it back.

My music is ok because Adobe doesn't touch the music references in the registry.

I confirmed this by using my home server to go back to before I installed Elements and everything is fine. Install elements and media center gets screwed up. I am so upset I spent money on this software because I wanted to do more photo editing and thought that organizer would help out.

Ridiculous.

Come on Adobe, help us out here.

Anonymous

I am so upset that I bought this software.

First, it sucks that I had to buy both Photoshop and Premiere at release 9 to use the organizer. I was happy with Premiere 8.

Second, it says you can import catalogs, but I was not able, after hours and hours of attempts to get my PSE 6 catalog in without crashing and disappearing categories.

I rebuilt the entire catalog with more hours and hours of work.

Then the stupid organizer crashes all the time.

I decide to "repair" the catalog and it says there are no errors, but now all my categories are GONE!!!

This is total crap software. You can't even get the welcome screen to go away that wants you to log into an Adobe account.

It is obvious they only are using this software as a teaser to get you to upgrade or buy on-line storage.

It would be nice if Adobe did some product testing first so all my hours of organizing are not lost forever.

Why do you make catalogs that are so flaky that the delete themselves?

Why can't I save the catalog database file instead of having to back up all the pictures with it as well?

The organizer is such a great concept, but you have done a terrible job of implementing it.

It just got my hopes up, wasted my time, and left me with nothing.

I hate your software and hope that you fix it.

readams112

Participant

Amen! I agree with you. I completely avoid using PSE9 Organizer now, and use PSE6's Bridge product. I am not impressed with PSE9 Organizer, nor the skills of those who designed and implemented it. In my opinion, Organizer is just garbage, and it reflects very poorly on Adobe Corporation's professional image. I have used Adobe products for years, and have always been pleased with their performance, stability, functionality, human interface, ease of use, etc. PSE9 Organizer misses the mark in all those categories. I use an iMac, Mac OS X 10.5.8, 4 GB memory, 1 TB internal hard drive.

Adobe, you would do well to listen to the complaints of your customers regarding this product.

Sincerely,

Richard Adams

Email: radams@iglide.net

DickSj

Participating Frequently

Oh how I agree!

I bypass Organizer and just open files directly from PSE 9 with "open."

I desperately want Adobe to bring back Bridge for Macs for PSE9 -- which they seem to be unwilling to do.

Shame on Adobe. it could be done for $1.99 in programing cost -- just port over Bridge from CS4 and update the Adobe Camera Raw files ... what a shame.

Dick

Phil Atk

Participating Frequently

In answer to the original question, I found this article on how to rebuild the Catalogue, which is supposed to sort out corrupted databases. I haven't tried it yet!!

Troubleshoot catalog issues | Elements 6, 7, 8, or 9 Organizer

The Elements Organizer stores information about your photos and other media files in catalog files. When you use the Elements Organizer, the application accesses your catalog file. It also accesses the catalog when you save files from Adobe Premiere Elements or the Photoshop Elements Editor with the Include In The Organizer option selected. Use the steps below to help resolve errors and other issues that occur if your catalog file or one of its support files is damaged.

Before you begin

To benefit most from this information, perform the tasks below in the order they are listed. After you complete each task, try to re-create the problem.

The tasks below require you to open the Elements Organizer Catalog Manager. To do so, use one of the following methods:

Open the Elements Organizer, and then choose File > Catalog.
Hold down the Shift key on your keyboard as you launch the Elements Organizer. Release the Shift key when the Catalog Manager window appears.

Optimize your catalog and rebuild its thumbnail cache

To reduce the amount of space that your catalog uses and improve its performance, use the Optimize function of the Catalog Manager.Optimizing also corrects problems with the way thumbnails appear in the Organizer.

Make sure that Premiere Elements and the Photoshop Elements Editor are closed.
Open the Catalog Manager.
In the Catalog Manager, select the catalog that you want to optimize.
Click Optimize.

This process takes time, especially if you have a large catalog. A dialog notifies you when your catalog and its thumbnail cache are optimized. Click OK to close this dialog.

Repair your catalog

Sometimes, such as after a power failure, your catalog file becomes damaged. To repair this damage, use the Repair function of the Catalog Manager.

Make sure that Premiere Elements and the Photoshop Elements Editor are closed.
Open the Catalog Manager.
In the Catalog Manager, select the catalog that you want to repair.
Click Repair.
When the Elements Organizer finishes checking your catalog for errors, select Re-index Visual Similarity Data and then click Repair or Repair Anyway.

This process takes time, especially if you have a large catalog. A dialog notifies you when your catalog is successfully repaired. Click OK to close this dialog.

Restore the most recent backup of your catalog, or create a catalog

Occasionally, a catalog becomes damaged in such a way that the Optimize and Repair functions cannot correct the problem.

If you have created a backup of your catalog, restore the most recent backup of your catalog. For instructions, see "Restore a catalog to a previously saved version" in the Elements Organizer Help.

If you do not have a backup, create a catalog and reimport your photos and other media files.

To create a catalog:

Make sure that Premiere Elements and the Photoshop Elements Editor are closed.
Open the Catalog Manager.
In the Catalog Manager, click New.
Type a name for this new catalog and then click OK. The Organizer opens with this new, blank catalog.

DennyJetTone

Participating Frequently

Hate to merely chime in with, Me-Too, but ...

I'm novice enough at both computers AND photo editing that I'm not even sure what the problem is that I've got.

Installed PSE9 last week -- have been using very-quick and not-too-terribly-dirty Picasa for a few years -- spoiled by the blazinlgly fast path to basic, decent editing, but I need more horsepower. When first installed, PSE9 grabbed the five- or six-hundred images that were on a camera. I played around with a few editing features -- going back and forth between the organizer and the editor, just trying to get a feel for the new territory.

Wanting to experiment with some of my older pictures, I brought everything in my picture folder (several thousand) into PSE9 just now. Organizer is overwhelmed.

The "Elements Backup/Synchronization Agent" is spinning away fulltime.

I'm told that I have exceeded the 2GB capacity of my on-line storage, but the program is locked up so I can't "Manage" that account. (This feature was meaningless to me, anyway.)

I'm unable to do ANYTHING in Organizer or I would try to remove the bulk of the photos that seem to have caused the problem.

Any way to remove photos from the Organizer while the organizer is constipated?

Will and uninstall/install do it?

Thanks --

Avoworld

Participating Frequently

Do you realise that PSE9 organizer in Folder View mode is now only able to display one folder at a time? Ypu have to select each folder in turn to see their contents.

DennyJetTone

Participating Frequently

Thanks,

Yes -- I can see the contents -- it's that Organizer is frozen in the screen that's displaying the folder.

Anonymous

i have same proplem

Phil Atk

Participating Frequently

Well, regarding not being able to display the thumbnails in Organiser despite it claiming that the file is already there when reimporting. I tried moving the files around to different folders and they still wouldn't present thumbnails.

So I opened Photoshop Elements 9 and opened the 'difficult' jpg files individually without problem and then resaved them with an extra '1' in the filename.

Guess what? Organiser now recognises them and I now have the thumbnails for the new files. The old files are still not recognised.

That's all fine if you know which thumbnails are not being shown, but that could be a lot of effort. So what is peculiar about the original files because I can't tell?

Can anyone from Adobe explain what the problem is??

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Troubleshoot catalog issues | Elements 6, 7, 8, or 9 Organizer

Before you begin

Optimize your catalog and rebuild its thumbnail cache

Repair your catalog

Restore the most recent backup of your catalog, or create a catalog

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