Why does my history not show?

[bdyomtov]

I created a virtual copy of an image I was editing, and the history on the original stopped showing.

I know it's there. I have the XMP file and, as I read it, it shows the changes I made. They just don't show up in the history panel. I have tried reimporting to   new folder with the XMP. No luck.

How do I get this back?

Thank you.

[dj_paige]

History is not recorded in xmp.

The only way to transfer edit history is to use the catalog, and not use xmp.

[bdyomtov]

Thanks. Where is it then?

How do I do that?

I have a backup from a week ago, but don't want to restore everything, just this photograph and its history. And why did it disappear anyway?

[dj_paige]

The history didn't disappear, it was never in xmp. History doesn't get written to xmp.

Open the backup catalog, select the one photo, then File->Export as Catalog.

Open the current catalog, select File->Import from Another Catalog, select the catalog you just created.

[bdyomtov]

Yes. I understand. I meant it disappeared from the history panel.

I did as you said. Opened the backup catalog and exported the photo. Then tried to import from catalog. I had to remove the existing version from the catalog before it let me, but then it did. But the history was still missing.

[dj_paige]

I did as you said. Opened the backup catalog and exported the photo.

Not what I said. There is no exporting of a photo in this process.

You need to export a catalog containing the one photo. I gave instructions above.

[bdyomtov]

Yes. That's what I did.

I selected the photo, hit "Export as catalog," and checked "selected photos only." Sorry to be unclear.

[bdyomtov]

Appreciate your help, but I think it will be easier for me just to recreate the history. I have the original image. Still don't understand how I lost it.

[dj_paige]

Re-importing never preserves edit history. Strongly advise you to never re-import photos.

[bdyomtov]

Then why did you tell me to do it, since recovering the edit history was the whole point?

[bhousto90]

To recover the history steps:

Find/select the photos in a backup catalog and then "export as catalog" from File menu.

(check Export selected photos only...the existing previews/smart previews and negatives should not be needed for this type of use of the catalog export)

In the Current master catalog use Import from another catalog for the selected photos choose the Replace option "metadata and develop settings only" (this will allow you to replace existing development settings with those from backup catalog including any history)

Note: it does not merge the settings, if you also wish to retain any existing development settings choose "the preserve old settings in a virtual copy" option

This works as long as the backup catalog you choose has the missing history/development settings.

If the backup/alternate catalog contains the same info as the current catalog it will say everything is up to date.

(It looks like you had this problem for your first attempt?)

You will have to try an older backup to get those history steps. If you have no other backups then you are out of luck.

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Re: Why the history may have gone missing in the first place:

In the top right corner of the History panel there is an X

You only have to click on it to delete the history, there are no warnings or 'are you sure' button etc.

There is also a menu option "Clear History" under Develop, again there is no warning unless you have multiple photos selected it asks if you want to clear history for the current or all selected photos.

So a simple miss-click while editing can result in the loss of the history.

If you notice it immediately you can use Undo (Ctrl+Z)

[bdyomtov]

Thanks.