already in catalog

Report · Dec 30, 2023

I have the following problem. I have LR classic, one catalog for all my photo's. I have an external harddrive for all my photo's and as the base for the LR catalog - I will call this my main drive) and another external hard drive for back-up of my original photo's. In one directory ( I have for every session a different driectory by date/session in this cae in january 2020), the original RAW and JPG files were missing on the main harddrive, but I still had them on the backup; only the tif files of the photo's I had edited in Photoshop and the jpg's that I sent to the client were still on the main drive in the right directory and present in the LR catalog. So I copied the original photos from the backup to the first drive (in the explorer) and wanted to import them in LR. It shows the copied photo's in LR but makes them grey and tells me that they are already imported. If I click on those pictures in LR, and ask to show them in the explorer, it tells me that they are on the main drive in the right directory. But they still do not show in LR. It looks like I had already imported them jan 2020 and for some reason accidently moved them instead of copying them in explorer and now made the mistake of copying them with the explorer instead of in LR. But I do not know how to make them accessible in LR again. How can I solve this problem?

I have the latest versions of LR and PS, and Windows 10.

Report · Dec 30, 2023

So I copied the original photos from the backup to the first drive (in the explorer) and wanted to import them in LR.

There is no importing here. Just use your operating system to copy the photos from the backup drive to the proper folder on the main drive.

Report · Dec 30, 2023

This is what I did, but I do nopt think I should have used the explorer, but I have should have tried to copy them in LR. But because LR said they were already imported, LR did not allow them to be copied.

Report · Dec 31, 2023

This is what I did, but I do nopt think I should have used the explorer, but I have should have tried to copy them in LR. But because LR said they were already imported, LR did not allow them to be copied.

By @Johanneke757

Okay, now I'm confused about what you actually did. Do you mean you tried to copy from the Import screen in Lightroom Classic? Or some other copy?

Importing is not the solution. This is so important, I am going to say it again.

Importing is not the solution.

Lightroom Classic will not let you import because these photos already exist in the catalog. In order to move forward, you need to find the photos in the LrC Library Module. Please follow all four of these steps in order:

1. In the Lightroom Classic Library Module, on the left, under Catalog, click on All Photographs
2. Turn off all filters (Ctrl-L once or twice)
3. Turn off all stacking (Photo->Stacking->Expand All Stacks)
4. Search for at least one of these photos by file name using the Lightroom Classic Filter Bar

Let us know what you find from the above four step procedure

Report · Dec 30, 2023

If the folder and photos are in your LrC catalog but missing the photos, there will be a ? or ! . I believe if you right-click the folder/photo you will be given the option to locate the folder/photo. Go to the highest level folder with a ? or !, and and locate that filder. LrC will find the other folders/photos that are in sub-filders.

You can also go the the Library module, then pull down the Library menu and select "Find All Missing Photos".

Do not re-import them since you will lose the edits you have already done.

Report · Dec 30, 2023

The photo's do not show in the catalog, only when trying to import them, but I cannot import them, because LR says they are already imported. So there is no ? or !. They are not missing, but LR refuses to import them.

Report · Dec 30, 2023

Two questions:

1. If you use Windows Explorer to view the contents of the folder on your main drive, do you see the RAW file, the JPEG file and the TIF file?

2. Go to the folder in the Library Module in LrC, pull down the "Photo" menu, then "Stacking", then "Expand All Stacks". Do you now see the TIF, JPEG and RAW file?

Report · Dec 31, 2023

1. If you use Windows Explorer to view the contents of the folder on your main drive, do you see the RAW file, the JPEG file and the TIF file?

Yes. It's all there.

2. Go to the folder in the Library Module in LrC, pull down the "Photo" menu, then "Stacking", then "Expand All Stacks". Do you now see the TIF, JPEG and RAW file?

No, it does not make any difference. Only the TiF files from JPEG for the client are still there, but not the original RAW or JPEG files.

Report · Dec 31, 2023

I have given you instructions above on what the next step is.

Report · Dec 31, 2023

This seems to establish that the files are in the folder and not hidden in a stack in the folder. If LrC will not allow Import because it already has the file(s) in the LrC database, the question is where does LrC have the file(s) listed in the database.

Earlier I had suggested that you use "Find All Missing Photos". Did you try that? If so, and they did not show up, that implies the photo files are duplicated in another folder someplace and those duplicate photos are in the LrC database. If there are duplicate files, you can use the Windows Explorer to find them both. In the search bar at the bottom ("Type here to search"), search for the file name, and it should find more than one instance. If you look in LrC in the folder where the duplicate is located you should find it.

If you did not try "Find All Missing Photos", you should.

The advice given by dj_paige and richardplondon should work to find where the files are listed in the LrC database. The only thing I would add is a search for all the files that were imported on 21-1-2020, since if in the process of moving the files you also renamed them, you should still be able to find them.

dj_paige and I have both stated that you should not re-import the RAW file unless you are OK with losing all the edits. If you are OK with losing the edits, why are you doing all this??

Report · Dec 31, 2023

There's an apparent contradiction here, that needs to be reconciled - my own comments are indicated [thus]:

"It shows the copied photo's in LR [I assume, in the import screen] but makes them grey and tells me that they are already imported. If I click on those pictures in LR [which means they are visible inside the Catalog], and ask to show them in the explorer, it tells me that they are on the main drive in the right directory. But they still do not show in LR [you have just stated you were able to click on them though]. "

One explanation that would resolve that apparent contradiction, would be if edited images are appearing in the Catalog OK (for example, findable by a search or continuing to have membership in a Collection) but are not showing up when you go to their expected location within the Folders panel.

There are two important tools for troubleshooting this kind of situation, accessed by right-clicking on a given image thumbnail that (as above), is findable inside LrC. The first you have already tried: "Show in Explorer" / "Show in Finder". The other informative test is: "Go to Folder in Library". Since the images are not showing up where expected, this has to take you somewhere unexpected - by definition. It must take you somewhere since that's what being imported in the Catalog means.

That 'somewhere' might correspond to a currently available drive and folder path, or it might not. Just as, when we try calling a 'wrong' phone number, that might ring an unexpected person, or we might just get "number unavailable".

Either way, this is fixed by "re-addressing" the Catalog's knowledge of where these images live - correcting the 'wrong' phone number to a 'right' phone number. Sometimes this is a situation dependent mistake, and a common example is that the Catalog and the Operating System treat variation in capital / lowercase letters within folder names, differently behind the scenes. The "Go to Folder in Library" tool troubleshoots what the actual situation is, and will direct what resolution is needed, which may sometimes be non-obvious on the face of it.

Under the same analogy, a person's phone number may incude the international country prefix or it may not. When you call that person from within their own country, either option will work equally well. When you call that person from overseas, only one of these two options will succeed.

That resolution will never involve removing edited images from the Catalog, and it will never involve re-importing images. However if you did succeed in re-importing images again as unedited duplicates, that would block a resolution until this doubled importation had been undone.

When LrC greys out images and stops you from importing them, that is generally it being actively helpful - not obstructive. There are some rare instances where spurious matches do occur however - where LrC is in fact wrong that particular images are already present. This may be due to corrupted preferences, a corrupted Catalog database, or some externality. Whether that warning was spurious OR correct, ignoring it and forcing the images to import regardless would be to still leave unresolved whatever was the cause. It can then be expected to happen again at some future point.

Report · Dec 31, 2023

Thanks for your comprehensive answer, but I think the problem is somewhat different. I'll try to give a detailed description of what is happening: I have copied the missing original files (RAW and JPEG) from the backup drive to the right directoriy in explorer. After opening LrC and trying to import those files in the catalog, the copied photo's are greyed out; if I click on them LrC notifies me that it looks like this is an already imported file 3 years ago (actually 21-1-2020). If I ask LrC to show me the location of the file in explorer, it highlights the same raw/JPEG in the right directory. SO it looks like I imported the files 3 years ago (I always do that after a session) and somehow/sometime those files were deleted there, but are still listed in the catalog as the original files. I did not change anything in the name of the files. So LrC knows where the files are, and prevents me from importing duplicates, but does not show the files in the libraryview in LrC. I could maybe unmark "no double pictures when importing" (I do not know if this is the right description - I work in a Dutch version of LrC, but I guess you understand it), but I would like a neater approach.

Report · Dec 31, 2023

Every image that is imported is accounted for somewhere in the Library Folders panel. Maybe showing inside a different drive volume than you expect. Maybe showing inside a different folder than you expect. It's just a matter of finding that.

So: what happens when you try "Go to Folder in Library"? .

I agree with you that it's better - if possible - NOT to permit 'duplicated' instances when importing.

Report · Jan 02, 2024

I did try to find the photo's by using this command in the "import"phase by clicking on the pictures that are greyed out. And then it shows the place of the pictures in the right folder on the main drive. But in the "normal" library view they do not show.

Report · Jan 02, 2024

I did try to find the photo's by using this command in the "import"phase by clicking on the pictures that are greyed out. And then it shows the place of the pictures in the right folder on the main drive. But in the "normal" library view they do not show.

By @Johanneke757

In the Library module, did you turn off filters? In the Library Module, did you turn off stacking? Did you search in the Library Module under "All Photographs", searching by file name?

Report · Jan 03, 2024

There is something blocking your (re-)import. LrC is reporting that the images are already imported.

The fact that LrC's Folders panel (in Library module) does not show these images in the expected folder, does not mean they are not in the Catalog at all. Regardless of what particular drive and folder they actually live in, regardless of where else the Catalog may wrongly suppose them to live, they must show up in a whole-Catalog search - e.g. in the All Photographs view - provided they are not prevented from appearing by a view filter.