Catalog Backup

[Carola200]

I have been trying to run a full catalog backup of my Photoshop Elements 14 photos. The program says my catalog is 245 GB. However, when I try to back it up to a hard drive that has 2.6 TB of free space, Photoshop tells me there isn't room for the backup and I need to delete some files. Why? Seems like there's plenty of space, but I can't get past this. It has happened with two different hard drives that both have adequate space.

[MichelBParis]

A 'catalog backup' in Elements saves not only the catalog (the database and associated files), but also all your media files (the library).

Size of the catalog: menu Help >> System Info

Size of the space needed for backup (including media files): Start the backup process. Just after you have selected the destination drive and master folder, you get the info about the necessary space for the backup. You can abort the process here if it's only to know the size.

[jaakkok95206094]

Just realized that this really is the case. So if I really want to backup my catalog, I need to do it "manually".

How hard it can be to code this properly. Catalog backup means catalog backup. And backup everything means it includes the media files. There should be separate options for these.

[MichelBParis]

My suggestion (I am just another PSE user like you) is to browse this forum from time to time to realize the kind of problems typical users encounter when they try to understand  words like 'backup'. 

How hard it can be to code this properly.

More than fifteen years ago, the organizer product managers had decided that a 'backup' should be able to restore everything after a crash or when moving to another computer.

Then came Adobe Lightroom, and they decided that only the catalog should be backed up, leaving the task of backing up the media files library to the end user himself.

You are right, coding has never been a problem.

The problem is twofold:

- there is one word 'backup'  and two ways to understand it

- there are mostly two kinds of users: newbies and advanced. Each program offers the tools for its own targeted audience.

So, since online or pdf help can't be perfect to answer such questions, it's a good idea to browse the forums and/or ask directly the question to other users as you have done. I can't say how many times I have posted the fact that you can move or copy the catalog folder anywhere.

[Greg_S.]

The problem you are facing may also be that the backup requires some temporary storage of files on your system drive.  So, the error message may be related to insufficient temporary storage room on your C drive. However, as Michel says, it is a simple matter to backup/copy your catalog folder to another drive.  You can look in Help>Sys Info to determine where your current catalog folder is located.

[meg576]

You might look at this post because I found this solution worked for me.

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-elements/pourquoi-la-sauvegarde-du-catalogue-de-pse-2019-es...