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Hi,
I’m having problems with my library, or libraries I should say. I thought I'd call Adobe here in the Netherlands and problem solved. But that isn't possible. I’m Dutch, and I have to explain this complicated problem in English. So I waited a couple of months thinking that I’m not that special, that other people will have the same problem and that Adobe would fix it with an update…..
What’s the problem? For some reason LrC seems to find two libraries. Needless to say there is only one. It’s on de F-part of my hard disk and called FOTOARCHIEF and has subfolders called FOTOS (photos) en FOTOS GEZIN (photos family) and also something not important OEFENBESTANDEN (for practice). The subfolders FOTO’S and FOTO’S GEZIN each have subfolders of their own for each year. And – no surprise – each of these year-folders have subfolders again for the month (if I took pictures during that month).
However, when I open LRC there are two libraries, and unfortunately neither of them are completely good. One start with F and shows then the folder FOTOARCHIEF and thereafter the subfolders FOTO’S and FOTO’S GEZIN. The other library shows FOTOARCHIEF right away (so without mentioning the F-part first).
Both of the libraries in LCR give the same amount of pictures 19839 in the folder FOTOARCHIEF. That looks reassuring but it isn’t. When in LrC I click on 2018 (folder F/FOTOARCHIEF/FOTO’S GEZIN) I find 201908 and 201909. When I click on 2018 but now the path FOTOARCHIEF/FOTO’S GEZIN) I find 201903, 201906, 201907 and 201908. As you can see in Explorer I have 201903, 201906, 201907, 201908 and 201909. That’s rather strange, isn’t it?
When I click on a picture and ask LcR to show it to me in Explorer it leads me perfectly to the right place, to the folder LrC doesn’t seem to know.
I have not synchronized either of the libraries, because I’m afraid I’ll do something stupid and irreversible. I really don’t know exactly when it occurred. Perhaps with the last real update.
There is also something wrong with my tags; I cann’t find all of them but well the most important ones were there. I’m not sure it has something to do with the libraries but for the sake of completeness I thought I’d better mention it.
What I want is not two but just one library with all the subfolders. I really am afraid it’s something so difficult to repair that I’ll have to tag and edit pictures again. Please please have some - not too labor intensive creative solution 😉
with kind regards, maria
Yes, that will be fine. You'll find a link to my email address in the left sidebar of my website.
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Looks like you are the victim of the infamous 'Capitalisation problem', but in this case caused by the fact that there is a fanthom 'F:' folder shown at the root of the drive.
Basically, what happens is that you have two different folders, one called ‘XXXX’ and the other one called ‘xxxx’. In other words, the names are the same, except for the capitalisation. Because MacOS and Windows are case-insensitive, your OS sees those two folders as one and the same folder and so it deals with this without you even being aware of it. You will only see one version. But Lightroom is case-sensitive, so Lightroom does see two different folders. In your case, I suspect that Lightroom sees the second 'Fotoarchief' folder inside a (not shown) 'f:' folder.
Here's how to fix the problem:
1. Backup your catalog.
2. Create a folder directly on the root of your internal hard drive, call it whatever you want, say "Capitals Fix". Note: do this in Windows Explorer, not in Lightroom.
3. Right-click on the first “Fotoarchief” folder in the Lightroom Folders Panel and select "Update Folder Location". In the file browser that then opens, browse to and select the "Capitals Fix" folder.
4. Don't be alarmed as the ‘Fotoarchief’ folder will disappear from the Folders Panel, "Capitals Fix" will appear but all the sub-folders that were listed under ‘Fotoarchief’ will now have "?" marks.
5. Now right-click on "Capitals Fix" in the Folders Panel, and again choose “Update Folder Location". This time browse to and select the “Fotoarchief” folder on the drive. You may get a "Merge" dialog box, select "Merge" and everything should resolve itself.
6. If this does not work, then try the same with the second 'Fotoarchief' folder.
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thank you very much, Johan,
Before I'm going to try things I have a few questions. First of all: how did that occur? I never ever had a f in stead of a F directory? Why did LcR see a non-capital? Secondly, I'm sorry but I don't know how to create a folder DIRECTLY on the root of my internal hard drive. When I bought this laptop someone helped me and created three parts: C (for programs e.g.), D (for recovery, just small) and F (for data). Further, creating a backup for my catalog is just the same as when I close LcR, isn't it? I do that all the time.
Last but not least: your name rang a bell, so I googled. Over the years I have seen many of your beautiful pictures. At first I thought you were an Adobe-employer but now I found out that Adobe Community Professionals are very kind people who help others. May I be so bold to ask if I may contact you in Dutch through your internetpage if you are willing to help me further? That would be a lot easier for me ;-). I didn't want to switch to Dutch in this community, that wouldn't be polite.
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Yes, that will be fine. You'll find a link to my email address in the left sidebar of my website.
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thanks, done right away 😉
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What a lucky person I am!!! It took Johan (and myself) more than 30 emails to solve the problem. And ofcourse hours and hours. He is extremely good in LcR. He had several ways to try to solve the problem. And reassured me that I didn't need to worry: everything would be fine. And he was right. I have to admit that his patience was put to the test as well as his skills 😉
Thank you once again!