Moving Catalogue from PSE 11 to PSE 2021

Report · Oct 01, 2023

I had an iMac on Sierra and used Organizer 11. I also had PSE 15 and never converted the Organizer catalogue to PSE 15. I backed up the catalogue and photos to a hard drive and then micgrated to another iMac which is now on Mojave. Organizer 11 now displays only half of the screen so I suppose it doesn't work with the new OS. I have another MacBook Pro M1 with PSE 2021 and I tried to restore the Catalogue but it didn't recognize the backup file (catalog.buc?). I have copied the picture folder over to the M1 separately but, is there anyway to just copy the catalogue separately without the photos?

Thanks for any help.

Report · Oct 01, 2023

Hi @Jeffh

I don't know anything about Macs, but I can give an explanation about what is a "catalog.buc" file.

In a catalog folder, the main component is the sqlite database, named "catalog.pse15db" for Elements 15.

When you create a backup, a backup folder is created. That folder contains renamed copies of all the assets in the original catalog folder. The "catalog.pse15db" file is renamed "catalog.buc" and can be renamed back if necessary provided you know which PSE version it comes from.

So, a catalog.buc does not contain any other information from the original catalog than what is in the catalog.pse15db.

You can't restore the whole original catalog folder from only that catalog.buc.

However, if you can rename it back, it's still possible to create a new reduced catalog folder (the name of that folder will be the new catalog name) in which you store the renamed copy. That new reduced catalog can be opened by double clicking on the catalog.pse15db.

You'll lose several kinds of catalog info like face recognition, but you'll keep all your tagging, albums, stacks and version sets.

Report · Oct 01, 2023

Thank you . I will try to do what you have suggested.

Report · Oct 02, 2023

I tried what you suggested and while it did recognize the catalog.pse11db, it gave the error attached. This is a new Apple Chip, the M1 and the old one was Intel, but not sure why it had a problem with the hard drive and is it the M1 hard drive or the external drive I am restoring from. I'm not sure you will be able to answer this as you are not familiar with MACs, but maybe someone else will.