Can Elements 15 backups be restored into Elements 19?

Report · Nov 24, 2018

I have 9 catalogs that I am using in Elements 15. I am thinking about buying Elements 19, and I would like to know if my Elements 15 catalog backups can be restored into Elements 19 if I install Elements 19 onto a new computer. Or would I be better off installing Elements 19 onto my current computer and converting the catalogs before I get a new computer? I am almost out of space on my C drive on my current computer, so I would prefer to wait until I get a new computer; but I can't do that if my catalog backups can't be restored into Elements 19.

Report · Nov 24, 2018

Yes, the backup folders made from older versions are recognized by the restore process of your current (or future) version and the media files in the catalog are restored in their original state. Your new PSE version lets you convert the catalogs in older formats to the current one, via the menu 'manage catalogs', convert button.

Since you have 9 catalogs (it's highly recommended to have a single catalog) you'll have to do the restore for each of your catalogs. When you do a restore from the new PSE version, the media files are restored with their old catalog and the new PSE restore ends with a proposal to convert the catalog to the present version (the old catalog is kept with a -1 suffix, and a new one is created).

You'll have to start a new restore for each of your 9 catalogs backups.

Splitting or merging catalogs is hardly possible with the organizer, so, having multiple catalogs makes backups and management horribly complicated, without any advantage.

For other users: note that the conversion of PSE version up to PSE5 is a bit more complicated since the database engine has been changed in version PSE6.

I recommend backing up all your catalogs in PSE15 as soon as possible on an external drive, with clear different names for the backup folders.

So, when your PSE 2019 is installed, you can restore your catalogs one by one on the new computer from the external drive. After a restore and conversion is complete and tested, you can delete the original media files in the old computer, but beware that you may have some of your photos in several catalogs. If you have made all the backups before, you won't lose anything on the new computer.

Report · Nov 25, 2018

Michel,

Thank you very much for this answer. The reason I have so many catalogs is that the size of these catalogs ranges from 161 GB (before I started shooting in RAW) to as much as 600GB (my last several catalogs). I have a total of about 3 1/2 TB of photos. I would love to have kept everything in one catalog, but backups then would take forever. I have backups of all my catalogs on 8 different external hard drives, which I keep in 4 different locations, and I back up my current catalog on all those external drives monthly. So as long as those backups can be restored on Elements 19, I should be OK.

Report · Nov 26, 2018

That's impressive!

I understand your choice. I imagine most usere of the organizer have much smaller libraries (mine is 67 000 items and 540 GB). For them, splitting catalogs does not solve possible slowness issues.