Major Design Flaw in Photoshop Elements 14

Question

It strikes me that Photoshop Elements has a major design flaw. It is the only program that I use that doesn't automatically backup changed files when the program closes. Instead, the programmers have decided that the user must take action each time a backup is made.

Really stupid oversight. Quite different from other program designs. Thought Adobe was better than that.

I am in the process from recovering a drive failue. I have automated backup routines that capture each changed file, so I have no lost data. But when I get to Photoshop Elements 14 and reinstall the program, there is no easy process to find the index files of all my images. I have spent hours trying to determine where the proper index files are located when the program should be guiding me to them. The rebuilt drive has the exact same file structure as the previous drive, but Photoshop is asking me to find the proper index files. DUMB or what.

As I go through the forum, there are a number of posts on the same, or similar problems. This is not an isolated problem, but one that comes up whenever there is a new machine, or a drive rebuild following a failure.

I had this happen to me a number of years back with Photoshop 6. Then I gave up and just lived with it. Disappointed that the design failure has not been addressed in Photoshop Elements 14.

My only recourse is to search for a different photo management program that has a more thoughtful design in regards to drive recovery.

MichelBParis · Answer

As I go through the forum, there are a number of posts on the same, or similar problems. This is not an isolated problem, but one that comes up whenever there is a new machine, or a drive rebuild following a failure.

Yes, there are a number of posts about the precise situation you are encountering. And I can't remember the number of times I have answered those posts.

You have:

automated backup routines that capture each changed file, so I have no lost data.

That's smart.

But if you think you are smarter than the imperative advice to create backups from the organizer itself, you may end like this:

. I have spent hours trying to determine where the proper index files are located when the program should be guiding me to them. The rebuilt drive has the exact same file structure as the previous drive, but Photoshop is asking me to find the proper index files. DUMB or what.

So, let's get back to basics.

The organizer manages your files via a catalog. A catalog stores the exact location of each media file via two distinct items:

- the path (no problem in your case), the structure is recreated

- the drive identification. There you are wrong. Since it's not enough to recognize a drive with its letter (that can often change depending on the use of other devices), the catalog stores also the drive internal serial number. The drive in which your restored folder tree has a different serial number. Dumb users don't have this problem when they use the organizer backup and restore process.

Back to your situation: you can either:

- use the 'reconnect' option of the organizer: Photoshop Elements (PSE) knowledge base.

- or use an sqlite utility to directly edit the catalog database with the serial number (at your peril...)

Some useful reading from John R Ellis:

psedbtool (Photoshop Elements Database Tool)

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