How do I avoid making duplicates when I re-load to a new version of elements.

Question

I have a limited technological capability and have learned my IT skill merely through repetition. Consequently, I have tunnel vision on the workings of Photoshop Elements and computers in general. My problem is that I had Elements 8 and have used it for years, during which I have saved 64,000 images to an external hard-drive. They were all stored in 40+ folders. Everything worked fine but my old PC eventually started to run extremely slowly and crash. I then bought a new pc and now have to buy a newer version of elements (Elements 18). In order to create and populate the new file management system I believe that I will have to re-import all 64000 images from their hard-drive folders, relocating them back on to the external hard-drive and thereby duplicating all the images. Is there a simple way to establish the links from the PC to the original images on the external drive without re-importing and duplicating them?

richardw60457852 · Accepted Answer

richardw60457852 wroteI am very grateful for this comprehensive reply but unfortunately this is not the situation. I probably did not make myself clear but the original computer with PSE8 is no longer working, I now only have an external hard-drive with the original 64000 images on it.I’m sorry if I confused things but I appreciate your attempt to help.Best regards Richard Sent from my iPhoneThen you can't recover the original catalog, unless you have a backup created from the organizer, which does not seem your situation.You'll have to 'import' files in the new empty pse2018 catalog. That does not create duplicates since importing from files and folders only means registering and indexing your files in the catalog. The catalog entries will point to the external drive, that's all.If you want to 'move' your image folder tree from the external drive to your new computer, there are two ways.1 - using the 'drag and drop' method in the folders panel on the left. You click on the the master folder on external drive and drag it somewhere in your new computer. That moves the files while keeping the links updated in the catalog. Be patient, you may have to wait for a couple of hours without a progress bar. You can move parts of the folder tree selectively.2 - use the backup and restore process described above. You backup your library on the external drive and restore it to your new computer. That's the recommended and safest method, but it takes time.Edit:Just a suggestion: even if your old computer does not work, that does not mean necessarily that your internal drive is out of order. If you can get help to recover that drive and install it on an affordable external USB drive enclosure, you might be able to recover your files and/or your catalog folder. Your old drive would be considered just like another external drive. Then we might try to recover more of your work.Thank you very much for your assistance. I was under the impression that when I imported a file from a folder on the external hard-drive that it would create and save a duplicate in the new folder location of my choice, creating a link to the new image as it did so, in the same way that it does when it gets an image from my camera. I said in my original entry that I was a technophobe and this proves it. Maybe I should not predict problems and try to solve them where they do not exist. Thank you again for your help, it is really appreciated. Best regards Richard

MichelBParis · Answer

If I understand well, your old computer is still working with your PSE8. You want to move (or rather copy) the files folder tree to another computer in which you want to install a newer version of Elements. This is a very common situation. The process is described here:

Move Elements Organizer catalog

This will do what you want.

- you create a full backup on an external drive. With such an important project, this is an obvious safety measure. Note that the backup folder on the external drive is not a simple copy. It is a package of all the files needed to restore from the catalog manager. You can't use its contents yourself.

- You install the recent Elements version on the new computer.

- With the external drive plugged in on the new computer, you use the 'restore' function of the organizer.

- Your pictures folder tree is recreated where you want in the new computer.

- then the catalog folder in pse8 is recreated on the new computer

- lastly, the organizer restore process converts the pse8 catalog into a pse2018 format.

As a result:

- You still have anything on the old computer, original folder and catalog.

- You have a useful backup folder

- You have everything working in the new computer in the new catalog format.

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