Problems Moving from LR6 to LR Classic

[jays21668036]

I haven't been able to open my LR6 (standalone version) and finally figured it out:  I had been running it on my iMac with Catalina operating system, but recently got a new iMac, and apparently (there's an older locked thread on this) LR6 can run on Catalina if you already have LR6 and then upgrade to Catalina (which I had done), but you can't install LR6 on Catalina.  Therefore after I got my new iMac, LR6 no longer opens.

Okay, I've moved past that frustration and accept that it's time to get LR Classic (I want to continue to keep my photos on my hard drive).  So I purchased LR Classic.  I think.

I now have two issues:

1.  How do it link my new LR Classic to my old catalogue?  I hope I havent lost all my edits and collections and keywords, etc!

2.  Do I have LR Classic?  The icon in my dock says "Lr" not "LrC."  I purchased it by going to Creative Cloud, then clicking "buy" under LrC, which took me to a page where I selected "Lr Ps Photography (20GB)" which says "Lightroom, Photoshop, Lightroom Classic, and 20GB of cloud storage . . ." $9.99/mo.

Now that it's installed, I go to "About Lightroom" in my apple menu and it says "Adobe Photoshop Lightroom v 3.4"

So I'm very confused - appreciate any advice! 

[GoldingD]

So, a Photography Plan. Good

Now that includes  PS. LR, and LrC, and a few others

Two flavors of Lightroom

Blame  Adobe  for product naming confusion.

What is now called Lightroom (LR), runs on your computer, stores images on the cloud, uses an Album on the Cloud. Less capable than Lightroom Classic (LrC)

Lightroom Classic (LrC) runs on your computer, you store images typically on your computer, and uses a Catalog on your computer. LrC is what you are used to from your LR 6.

[GoldingD]

So, bring up your copy of the Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop App, and install LrC.

[jays21668036]

I see Creative Cloud as a web page, not an app (https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/plans.html?photo_plan=lightroom_1tb&trackingid=LZ32T2G5&mv=in-pr...)    Is that the same thing?  I don't see an app in my app store.

I understand the difference bwteen LR and LrC but as I explained I followed the links for LrC and got what I got.  

If I simply uninstall LR will it automatically terminate my billing etc so I can start over and get the correct product?  

[GoldingD]

If you have subscribed to a plan, then you should download and install the Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop App

https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/desktop-app.html

Use that app to install the programs

[GoldingD]

When you open your old catalog with the new LrC, it will make a new copy of your catalog, a copy that is updated to work with LrC. The database engine is changed enough that a new catalog needs to be created to work with it. The new catalog will be named similar to the old, adding a suffix to the file name. The old catalog will still exist.

[jays21668036]

Thanks for all your help David, everything seems good now.  Can I delete the old catalogue?  Are there actually two copies of each photo, one in each catalogue?

[GoldingD]

Now that it's installed, I go to "About Lightroom" in my apple menu and it says "Adobe Photoshop Lightroom v 3.4"

that is the LR product, the cloudy flavor.

Tou want LrC

[GoldingD]

A few things to know about Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop App

It is used to:

Sign in to the Cloud

Authenticate your subscription

Install the applications

Activate the applications

Deactivate the applications

Update/upgrade the applications

Be aware that if you sign out, the applications get deactivated, so do not sign out. If you are signed in and loose internet, no biggie, but if you sign out, you will need the internet to sign back in to reactivate the applications.

[GoldingD]

see https://www.lightroomqueen.com/whats-new-lightroom-classic-since-version-6/

[GoldingD]

A bit dated, but

https://photographylife.com/lightroom-classic-vs-lightroom-cc