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Can't repair catalog in elements 13 organizer

New Here ,
Dec 07, 2017 Dec 07, 2017

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Sorry, I am relatively new to photoshop, so I don't know much about it. I am trying to repair my catalog in adobe elements 13 organizer and it is telling me it is unable to repair it. Unfortunately, I don't have a backup of my catalog, so if I create a new catalog does this mean I will lose all my photos?

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Community Expert ,
Dec 07, 2017 Dec 07, 2017

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m_duncan  wrote

Sorry, I am relatively new to photoshop, so I don't know much about it. I am trying to repair my catalog in adobe elements 13 organizer and it is telling me it is unable to repair it. Unfortunately, I don't have a backup of my catalog, so if I create a new catalog does this mean I will lose all my photos?

The photo files are NOT in the catalog, they are on your disk. The catalog only contains links, so your photos are safe.

Can you tell more about what is wrong when you try to open the catalog? Do you get a specific message?

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New Here ,
Dec 08, 2017 Dec 08, 2017

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I was trying to move pictures from one album to another and I got this message: "The requested change could not be completed because the current catalog is corrupt. You can attempt a repair in the file -> catalog...." So, I attempted a repair and this is the message I received: "Errors were found. Would you like to repair the catalog?" I clicked "yes" and then received this message: "The catalog could not be repaired. If you have a recent catalog backup, you should restore it."

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Community Expert ,
Dec 08, 2017 Dec 08, 2017

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m_duncan  wrote

I was trying to move pictures from one album to another and I got this message: "The requested change could not be completed because the current catalog is corrupt. You can attempt a repair in the file -> catalog...."

I have never seen that message but it may be really mean a corrupt catalog.

However, you can't move a file from an album to another. That has no sense because albums are only distinct lists of files which can include links to the same physical file on your computer. You add the same image to any other album, you can delete from the original one to get the same effect as moving. It's not the same as moving a file from folder to folder.

Back to the corrupt catalog. Can you do other actions in the organizer without getting the same message?

If you create a new catalog, you will recover your files. Before doing that, try to select all images and use the menu File >> Write metadata to files. That will confirm if the catalog is totally corrupted or not and if it is not, you'll recover your tags by reimporting the files.

There may be a chance to recover your catalog with tags, captions, notes, albums, stacks and version sets... but not face recognition and some other data.

- locate your catalog (menu Help >> system Information). That location is hidden in the Explorer, you have to enable 'show hidden files and folders' from the Explorer options.

- copy the file 'catalog.pse13db' from that catalog folder into a new folder elsewhere on your computer.

- start the organizer by double clicking on that file. Try a repair.

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New Here ,
Dec 08, 2017 Dec 08, 2017

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I will try this and let you know how it goes. Thanks!

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New Here ,
Dec 09, 2017 Dec 09, 2017

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There may be a chance to recover your catalog with tags, captions, notes, albums, stacks and version sets... but not face recognition and some other data.

- locate your catalog (menu Help >> system Information). That location is hidden in the Explorer, you have to enable 'show hidden files and folders' from the Explorer options.

- copy the file 'catalog.pse13db' from that catalog folder into a new folder elsewhere on your computer.

- start the organizer by double clicking on that file. Try a repair.

tried

I tried this and this is the message I received after trying to start organizer by clicking on the copied file: "There is no application set to open the document 'catalog.pse13db' Search the App Store for an application that can open this document, or choose an existing application on your computer." So, I selected 'choose application' and went to click on adobe elements and it was grayed out, so I was unable to select it. I have apple by the way, not windows, if that makes a difference. I will try your other suggestion of writing metadata to files to see if that works.

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Community Expert ,
Dec 09, 2017 Dec 09, 2017

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m_duncan  wrote

I have apple by the way, not windows, if that makes a difference. I will try your other suggestion of writing metadata to files to see if that works.

Sorry, I don't know how it works on Macs... but what I have described is a shortcut.

When you have created the new folder into which you have copied the 'catalog.pse13db' file, you have given a name to that folder, say 'myCatalogCopy'.

From the catalog manager (it seems to open ok) you click on the radio button to change from the current catalog to the radio button for 'custom' location. The 'browse' button on the bottom right of the list will let you browse to that 'myCatalogCopy' folder. There you should be able to select that newly created catalog. Everything missing should be automatically recreated around the catalog.pse13db database.

If that works like this, try a repair, even if you get the message 'no errors found'.

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