Categories are empty after catalog converted from PSE10 to 2019

Report · Dec 21, 2018

I have just converted my PSE 10 catalog to PSE 2019. The categories and subcategories have been imported, but they are all empty, i.e. there are 0 items in each category and subcategory. I expected that after conversion, I would have a new catalog with all the information that was in the old catalog. This is not the case, and without that information, the PSE 19 organizer is useless to me. I have over 37,000 photos in the old catalog, all organized using categories and subcategories (with a few also in albums).

Can anyone suggest how I can import the category/subcategory information for all the photos in the old catalog into the new one?

The catalog system in PSE 10 was powerful, flexible, and a delight to use. The catalog in PSE 2019 is frustrating, and seems to be missing key features that were in PSE 10. . Am I missing something?

Thanks for any help or advice.

Report · Dec 21, 2018

All of your tags should have transferred over as part of the conversion. Is this not the case? Are you in the Details view. If not, hit Ctrl+D. Do you now see the tags in the grid view?

Because of the changes in the catalog since version 10, it is possible that People tags may have come over as keyword tags.

Report · Dec 21, 2018

Hi Greg, thanks for the reply. I am in details view.

In PSE 10 "Albums" and "Keyword Tags" were two separate ways of organising photos. Under Keyword tags, you could create either "Keyword tags" or "Categories and Sub-categories".

The Category/Sub-category list could be nested or expanded, categories could be edited, and sub-categories could be moved, or promoted or demoted within a category, by dragging. You could also convert Keyword tags to Categories, and vice versa.

I used Categories and Sub-categories for organising my 37,000 photos. I can't find any of this functionality in PSE 2019.

I put a few photos into Albums in PSE 10. The albums have been imported, with their photos. A list of Album Categories and Sub-categories is shown in the New Album panel. However, I can't find any sign of the Categories and Sub-categories that I used in PSE 10.

I am hoping there is some way to import the links to the photos that I created using Categories and Sub-categories in the PSE 10 catalog.

Or have the Keyword tag/Categories/Sub-categories functions been completely removed from the Catalog in PSE 2019?

Thanks again for your help.

Richard

Report · Dec 21, 2018

Everything you describe should be there in Elements 2019. Are you not seeing the panel on the right side of the screen? Click the keyword/info toggle button in the lower right corner:

Report · Dec 21, 2018

Greg, thanks, once again. I am beginning to understand the PSE 2019 Organiser a bit better.

I am now seeing Keywords, People Tags, Places Tags, and Events Tags in the panel on the right. I am not seeing Categories or Sub-categories.

In PSE 10 I created top level categories such as Living Things, Home, Vehicles, etc., with sub-categories in each. I preferred using Sub-categories to Keyword tags, because I found the display of the Keyword tag icons in the list to be unsightly and obtrusive. All the items in the PSE 10 list below are Categories or Sub-categories, except for Test 2 and Test tag, which are Keyword tags. With Categories and Sub-categories the icon with the selected image does not appear in the list, as shown. As a result, the list is neater and more compact.

The list you have shown does look a lot neater, so maybe I can live with Keyword tags, and without Categories and Sub-categories.

This still leaves me with the problem of importing the Categories and Sub-categories from my PSE 10 catalog, with the information on the tagged photos in each, into the PSE 2019 catalog. Do you know if there is a way to do that?

Richard

Report · Dec 21, 2018

Richard, everything is the same with 2019. Your categories and sub-categories should all be there:

You need to click on the arrows to expand the hierarchy:

Report · Dec 21, 2018

Hi Greg, thanks for your patience. I really appreciate your help.

The catalog does seem to have imported everything from the PSE 10 catalog.

Richard