Can't convert my organizer catalog from 2018 to 2019 versions

[g8rav8r28]

I have tried going into the 2018 organizer and I have repaired and optimized the catalog. I have backed up and restored the catalog. The 2019 organizer still won't convert my catalog. I refuse to go back in and tag over 50,000 pictures. I feel like my next step is to return the software and stick with the 2018 version.

Below is the most common description I get in the pse conversion log.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

This is the Photoshop Forum, what organizer are you talking about?

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Just noticed

Below is the most common description I get in the pse conversion log.

that you mention PSE so you might want to check out the Photoshop Elements Forum:

http://forums.adobe.com/community/photoshop_elements

[g8rav8r28]

Thanks for pointing me to the right forum.

[g8rav8r28]

Thank you for the move. I was too frustrated to notice the difference in the forums.

[Guest]

Moving to Photoshop Elements from Photoshop

[Greg_S.]

This problem is way beyond my pay grade to solve.  I shall attempt to notify someone on Adobe staff to help you out.  It may take a couple of days for a response.

@michelbparis, an ACP who knows way more than I do about the catalog's database structure may also have some suggestions.  I'll ring his bell too.

[g8rav8r28]

Thank you very much!

[MichelBParis]

I don't have an idea about the real issue in this conversion, but it may be interesting to compare with a similar discussion:

PSE14 Catalog conversion fails - Conversion Log says older version open but it is not...? 

The conversion log seems to be complete there, so we may suspect the conversion step stopped when converting flash galleries or similar projects. I don't see any creation type of PSE2018 which may no longer be supported in PSE2019.

I have never seen an internal sql error message like this. As a matter of fact, never any internal sql errors, the database engine is very strong.

What I would do:

I would copy the whole catalog folder outside of the default location for the following steps.

I would first run the usual steps, check for missing files, repair (even if no errors), optimize.

Then try the conversion and compare the log to see if there is the same report.

From there, I can suggest:

- creating a new 'minimal' catalog elsewhere, a new folder with only the 'catalog.pse16db' file. In the best case, you'll recover your tags, captions and albums as well as stacks, version sets, but not face recognition and other features.

- Creating catalog copies without suspected features, like videos, face recognition/automatic features.

(after each try, repair and check the log).

In the worst case, you can still use import instead of convert your catalog in PSE2019. You write metadata to files, you save as text your keyword hierarchy, you copy that hierarchy in the PSE2019 catalog before importing. That's what you can do to move from Elements to another software.