PSE 2020 still not seeing my iPhone 12 photos

[flame1]

Based on suggestions I saw in other posts, I installed the HEIC and HEVC extensions, and I changed my iPhone setting to most compatible, which I believe will only affect future photos.  I also removed the folders and files under Adobe Common.

I am trying to import photos from my iPhone 12 into PSE 2020 using Get Photos & Videos from Camera or Card Reader.  It is only finding 5 recent JPGs.  (I don't know why it is even seeing these since I didn't change any settings until tonight.)  There are about 400 images on the phone that I'm trying to upload.  

Did I miss a step?  Thanks in advance!

Carol

[Greg_S.]

When you say you changed the settings on your phone to most compatible, do you mean the format for shooting, or the format for transfering to PC.  They are different.

Are you sure that the other photos have not been transferred already to your catalog?

Have you rebooted since adding the Microsoft extensions?

Added: And were the photos possibly taken in the ProRaw format?

[flame1 · Accepted solution]

Hello, Greg!

I changed the format for future shooting to Most Compatible. The "Transfer to Mac or PC" setting was already set to automatic. I got the iPhone 12 in mid-May of last year, and all the images taken since then are only on the phone, not in the catalog. The most recent image in the catalog is from 5/14/21, the day I got the phone.

I did some cleanup on iCloud last night and removed a bunch of images that I really didn't need, so now I have about 225 photos to be imported from the new phone. To be honest, I don't know whether I had rebooted my laptop at the time I wrote the above message.
Here's where it stands now:

- Installed the HEIF and HEVC extensions

- Changed the camera capture to Most Compatible

- Checked the Photos / Transfer to Mac or PC and it is set to automatic

- I just now closed PSE 2020 and once again removed all the folders and files under Appdata\Adobe\Common

- Rebooted the computer and reopened PSE, and it still only sees the 5 files.

- Oh, and I assume all the photos are regular jpgs.  I didn't change any camera settings on the phone when I got it, and I don't see the file extension listed on either my iPhone photo information or on iCloud.

[Greg_S. · Accepted solution]

My final suggestions are:

•  Try resetting the preferences file. Go to Edit>Preferences>General tab and click the Reset Preferences on next launch button. 
• If that doesn't work, uninstall and reinstall the program.
• If those suggestions don't work, contact Adobe Support.  You can start a chat session by clicking on the blue Contact Us button under the Support menu at Adobe.com. Or you can contact Support by telephone using the numbers listed here: https://helpx.adobe.com/contact/phone.html.

[flame1]

I'll give your suggestions a try.  Thanks for your help, Greg!

[Greg_S.]

@flame1 can you let us know which specific solution worked for you.   Thanks.

[flame1]

Hi Greg!  I'll be happy to, but it isn't resolved yet.  Resetting the preferences didn't solve it, so I uninstalled and reinstalled.  Unfortunately, it wiped out my catalog, so I contacted support.  To make a long story short, I didn't have a current catalog backup.  I do have one from PSE 15, that support said I could use, but in the meantime, I had a family emergency and haven't been able to work on this for the last week.  I will update as soon as I can if this discussion isn't closed before then.

[Greg_S.]

@flame1, sorry, but somebody marked my response as correct.  I thought it was you.  Since your problem is not resolved, I am unmarking my reply.

As for the uninstall/reinstall wiping out your catalog, that should not happen under any circumstances.  Let us know if you need help getting to the bottom of that problem when you are able.

[flame1]

Hello, Greg!  I'm so sorry for the extended delay, but I'm finally back to working on this.  As a reminder, I originally started this thread after unsuccessfully trying to import photos from my iPhone12 into PSE 2020.  Long story short, nothing seemed to be working, so it was suggested that I reinstall PSE.  I did, and it appeared my catalog had been wiped out, but I had a family emergency and other issues that have kept me away until now, so here's an update. 

I thought I had lost my catalog during reinstall, but apparently, at some point in the past, I moved it from ProgramData to Username\Pictures\Default Catalog.  So I do still have it!  Whew!  I haven't really done anything with PSE in the last couple of years, so I didn't remember I had moved it.  (The only reason I can think of is some of the online backup services only want to back up what is in your User folder.)  The reinstall built a new catalog in ProgramData, so when I opened the file, it appeared I had lost my original catalog.  Is there a benefit to moving it back to ProgramData (other than I wouldn't have to remember that I moved it out of the default location) or can it go anywhere?

I have a second catalog for my genealogy records that was never moved from my old computer to my new one.  I have a copy of both the catalog.pse18db file and a backup.  The file structure is different on my old and new computers in that the Username on the old one is Carol, but on the new one, it is Flame.  Will that cause me any problems during the restore?  Also, I already have all the genealogy files on the new computer, so I don't really need it to restore them.  I just need the catalog information.  Suggestions on how should I handle this?

After I have the catalogs straightened out, I'll go back to my original issue, which was not being able to transfer the HEIF photos from my iPhone12.  In the meantime, I got an iPhone13, and I think I read somewhere that transferring the photos wasn't as big a deal on that phone.  Do you know if that's true?

Thank you!  Carol

[meg576]

Here's how to convert HEIC to JPG on Mac using Preview:

1. Open any HEIC image in Preview.
2. Click File ➙ Export in the menu bar.
3. Select JPG in the format dropdown and adjust other settings as needed.
4. Choose Save.

[flame1]

Hi meg576.  Actually, I don't have a Mac.  I will be trying to import the photos into PSE 2020 after I finish getting my catalogs straightened out.  Thank you.

[Greg_S. · Accepted solution]

It shouldn't really matter where your catalog folder is stored.  The only advantage to having it in the default location is that you don't have to go search for it if/when something goes wrong. 

As for whether it would be better to restore your genealogy backup or use the files currently on your new computer, I believe it would be best/easier to restore the backup to your new computer and once everthing is restored and tested, delete the current copies from your new computer.  The backup can be restored to any location on your new computer and you can maintain the current folder structure, although obviously if you use that option, the older name folder will be used.

And just to be clear, the catalog consists of a folder in which the catalog.pse18db file is found.

[flame1]

Thanks for the reply, Greg!

When I said I have just the catalog, I did mean just the catalog.pse18db file.  I was under the impression that PSE would rebuild the structure from there.

I will try restoring from the backup that I have.  Since I don't really want the old username, once everything is restored and looking good, should I be okay to move the genealogy files from the old Carol username to the flame username and then just reconnect the files?  

Carol

[Greg_S.]

. . .  and I haven't heard anything about the latest iPhones being any easier to transfer files to your computer.

[flame1]

Rats!  But thank you!

[Greg_S.]

@flame1 said: When I said I have just the catalog, I did mean just the catalog.pse18db file. I was under the impression that PSE would rebuild the structure from there.

Yes, it will rebuild most of the contents of the folder.  BUT, you will lose all face recognition which I assumed might be important in your genealogy catalog. 

[flame1 · Accepted solution]

Hi Greg!  I think I finally have everything fixed.  My catalogs are both back (and backed up) so I switched back to my original issue, which was that I couldn't get my HEIC photos to import to PSE2020.  That seems to be resolved now too.

I had already installed the extensions for HEIF and HEVC and set my iPhone13 to Download and Keep Originals, as well as changing the other setting to "most compatible" for future photos.  Rather than trying to import again, I found an article that said to connect the phone to the computer and look in the internal storage folders.  Every file in there was listed as a JPG, even a few that I verified are HEIF on my phone.  So I dragged them all to an "iphone13" folder and then imported them into PSE2020 without any problems, at least that I can see.

I am, however, having one problem.  I realize I haven't really used the program in a long time, but you'd think I could figure this out.  I was trying to transfer photos from the "iphone13" folder in PSE to the appropriate year folders that already exist.  I realized I didn't have a Year 2019 folder or a Year 2020 folder, so I created them, but they disappeared.  They exist on the computer, but I can't find them in the catalog, and I can't recreate them because it says they are already there.  I tried closing and reopening PSE but they still don't show, even though they are in the correct place on my computer.  Is there a way to search for a folder in PSE?  

[flame1]

I managed to get around the problem, but don't think it was the proper way.  I had the file named IMG_5004 in the iPhone13 folder, which I imported into PSE2020.  Since it is a 2019 photo, I wanted to move it to the Year 2019 folder but couldn't because I can't see the folder.  I thought maybe it didn't show because it was an empty folder, so I moved the photo, outside of PSE, from the iPhone13 folder to the Year 2019 folder.  I then closed and reopened PSE, the folder does now appear, and the photo has been moved into it. 

So it looks like everything is working, but I also have photos that need to go into the Year 2020 folder, which also doesn't show in PSE.  Is there a way to make it appear, or should I do the same thing - move one photo outside of PSE to make it appear?  

[Greg_S.]

For the missing folders that have not yet been imported into your catalog, you need to go to the parent folder (or Drive) in the Folder panel, right-click on it and choose Show All Sub-folders from the context menu.  The new folders will then appear and you can click and drag files to them.

[flame1]

That did it!  Thank you so much for your patience.  This ticket has been open a long time, but I think I'm good now so it can be closed!  

[flame1]

I think I'm going to be asked to pick which specific solution worked for me, and I don't think there is one.  I had already read a number of other posts about things to do before I asked my question.  Then I had a catalog mess that had nothing to do with my original question, I got a different phone, and I transferred the photos from my phone to a folder and then imported from there rather than straight from the phone, so I'm not sure what to mark.  I think it was a combination of your suggestions on other posts as well as this one that got me set up for it to finally work.  

[Greg_S.]

I'm not sure about this, but I think as the Original Poster, you can mark several answers as correct. 

[flame1]

Haha... you're right.  I ended up marking four, two of which were mine because I was restating what I had read elsewhere.  I think it was the combination of all of them.  Thank you again!