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Very difficult to create a new catalog - How do I create a catalog?

Contributor ,
Oct 05, 2018 Oct 05, 2018

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I am having enormous difficulty creating a new catalog. I clicked on the "New Catalog" button in the file menu, but the software would not create an lrcat catalog. I actually had to type in a name for the file and type in lrcat as the extension. You really need to redesign this, as currently it is terrible. I should be able to import photos and then click "Save As" and then click "Catalog", typing in the name of the catalog and it saves the catalog with the lrcat extension. Right now, it is horrid. Some of the most difficult to use software I have ever had. Almost not worth the trouble.

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correct answers 1 Correct answer

Adobe Employee , Oct 05, 2018 Oct 05, 2018

Even if it says "All files' in the Save as type, it will save the file as a .lrcat file.

All files in Save as type means you can see the all file types in that folder where you are saving that file.

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Adobe Employee ,
Oct 05, 2018 Oct 05, 2018

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Hi there,

Could you please let us know which exact version of Lightroom you're working on and which operating system are you using?

I just tried replicating this at my end, I was able to create the lrcat file without adding .lrcat at the end of the catalog name.

I believe after clicking on File > New Catalog, you don't need to add .lrcat at the end of the file name.

Regards,
Sahil

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Contributor ,
Oct 05, 2018 Oct 05, 2018

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I am using Lightroom Classic CC 2018 and Windows 7. I end up going around in circles with no creation of the lrcat file except by accident and I cannot recreate the accident. After "New Catalog" it only offers "File Name" and "Save". I have to manually type in a file name and type lrcat as the extension. You need to modify the program so that, after importing a set of photos for which you want to have as a catalog, the menu should offer "Save As", then "New Catalog", then go to the directory you want, and type in whatever file name you want, then click "OK" and the lrcat file with the file name you typed in is created, with the photos that you imported onto the Lightroom desktop workspace.

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Adobe Employee ,
Oct 05, 2018 Oct 05, 2018

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Could you please share the screenshot of the File > New catalog Dialog with us?

It looks like this at my end :-


Screenshot_2.png

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Contributor ,
Oct 05, 2018 Oct 05, 2018

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My menu looks like your screen shot. The problem is that it says, "Save as type" "All Files (*.*)". It should say, "Lrcat"

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Contributor ,
Oct 05, 2018 Oct 05, 2018

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By the way, I downloaded ON1. It is even worse. It crashed and I had to go to "Start Task Manager" and click "End Task". So, don't waste your time with ON1. Doesn't anyone make easy to use software?

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Adobe Employee ,
Oct 05, 2018 Oct 05, 2018

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Even if it says "All files' in the Save as type, it will save the file as a .lrcat file.

All files in Save as type means you can see the all file types in that folder where you are saving that file.

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Contributor ,
Oct 05, 2018 Oct 05, 2018

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Alright, well I guess that solves the problem. But, it is very, very confusing to have it say "All Files". That really should be changed to say, "Lrcat".

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Adobe Employee ,
Oct 05, 2018 Oct 05, 2018

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I appreciate the feedback, I'll be sure to pass this on to the concerned team.

You can also share this here: Photoshop Family Customer Community as this forum is monitored by our engineering team.

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Contributor ,
Oct 05, 2018 Oct 05, 2018

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OK, thanks.

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LEGEND ,
Oct 05, 2018 Oct 05, 2018

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I will agree with you that the New Catalog dialog is totally unintuitive and could use a rewrite.  On the MAC if you chose WHERE you can't actually navigate to a location but can only chose from the list.  You have to use the arrow next to SAVE AS to open a new dialog and pick a location from there.  It seems like a poor design to me.

Screen Shot 2018-10-05 at 11.35.21 AM.jpg

That being said I have only 3 catalogs, my main catalog, test catalog and a catalog for editing a friends photos so I haven't used this dialog too often

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Community Expert ,
Oct 05, 2018 Oct 05, 2018

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Bhttps://forums.adobe.com/people/Bob+Somrak  wrote

I will agree with you that the New Catalog dialog is totally unintuitive and could use a rewrite.  On the MAC if you chose WHERE you can't actually navigate to a location but can only chose from the list.  You have to use the arrow next to SAVE AS to open a new dialog and pick a location from there.  It seems like a poor design to me.

Screen Shot 2018-10-05 at 11.35.21 AM.jpg

That being said I have only 3 catalogs, my main catalog, test catalog and a catalog for editing a friends photos so I haven't used this dialog too often

That dialog is a system dialog, not a Lightroom specific dialog. It’s the standard MacOS X ‘save as’ dialog and you can expand it so you can navigate with it. Click on the downward pointing arrow behind the file name. Nothing to do with Lightroom design.

-- Johan W. Elzenga

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LEGEND ,
Oct 05, 2018 Oct 05, 2018

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Thanks JohanEl54​

I see that now. My BAD

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Contributor ,
Oct 06, 2018 Oct 06, 2018

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Another issue is adding more photos to an existing catalog. I could not get this to happen. i had to delete the entire lrcat directory and re-import all the old photos with the new ones and create a new catalog with the same name as before. This is a procedure that desperately needs revision. Once a catalog is open, there needs to be a new menu item in the file menu. It should offer, "Import new photos to the open catalog". Then you go to the directory where your new photos are located, click on them, then click "Add" and the new photos are added to the catalog that is open on the Lightroom desktop workspace. I am surprised that after so many years, Lightroom is still massively defective in the user friendliness and intuitiveness area.

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Community Expert ,
Oct 06, 2018 Oct 06, 2018

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https://forums.adobe.com/people/No+Friggin+Screen+Name  wrote

Another issue is adding more photos to an existing catalog. I could not get this to happen. i had to delete the entire lrcat directory and re-import all the old photos with the new ones and create a new catalog with the same name as before. This is a procedure that desperately needs revision. Once a catalog is open, there needs to be a new menu item in the file menu. It should offer, "Import new photos to the open catalog". Then you go to the directory where your new photos are located, click on them, then click "Add" and the new photos are added to the catalog that is open on the Lightroom desktop workspace. I am surprised that after so many years, Lightroom is still massively defective in the user friendliness and intuitiveness area.

I honestly do not understand what you are saying. Of course you can add new photos to a catalog! If Lightroom is running, a catalog will be opened (Lightroom does not run without a catalog). To import new photos into this catalog, press the 'Import' button in the lower left corner (only visible when you are in the Library module), or choose 'File - Import Photos and Video'. Everything you described, including the choice to 'Add' photos without copying them, is already there.

I once again suggest that you get a book about Lightroom, or start by exploring the 'Help' menu.

-- Johan W. Elzenga

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Contributor ,
Oct 06, 2018 Oct 06, 2018

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I can't understand why you can't understand what I am saying. I tried to add new photos to an open catalog, but it did not work. The procedure needs to be made more user friendly. Lightroom is very powerful, but is catastrophically difficult to use. One goes around in circles trying to execute functions that should be simple, but are not. If I need to download a book to use Lightroom, that is clear evidence that the software is horribly difficult.

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Community Expert ,
Oct 06, 2018 Oct 06, 2018

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https://forums.adobe.com/people/No+Friggin+Screen+Name  wrote

I can't understand why you can't understand what I am saying. I tried to add new photos to an open catalog, but it did not work.

So describe what you tried and what 'did not work'.

-- Johan W. Elzenga

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Contributor ,
Oct 06, 2018 Oct 06, 2018

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I opened a catalog. Dozens of photos were were now displayed on the Lightroom desktop workspace. I clicked "Import Photos and Video". I browsed to the directory where the photos that I wanted to add to the catalog were located. All the photos in that directory were now shown on the Lightroom desktop workspace. I unticked the photos that I did not want to add, leaving just one photo that was still ticked. I clicked "Import". All the photos in the catalog now were not on the desktop. They had disappeared. Only the one photo that I imported was shown. So, now, I only could work on that one new photo. I no longer had access to the other photos in that catalog. So, terrible, terrible user friendliness. If I could find another software program that was not so pathetically difficult to use, I would be long gone. But the other programs are at least as bad, or worse. If another company can find someone with intelligence, who can design software with truly user friendliness and intuitiveness, Adobe will be toast. But I am not holding my breath.

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Community Expert ,
Oct 06, 2018 Oct 06, 2018

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The explanation is simple, and so is the solution. When you import new images, Lightroom can (you set that in the preferences) switch to a special collection that only shows these new images. That collection is called 'Current Import' when the import is still going on, and changes to 'Previous Import' when the import has finished (2). Many people like that, but you can turn off this auto-switch if you don't. You don't have to turn it off however. All you need to do to see the other images is select their folder, or select the 'All Photographs' collection (1).

Lightroom.jpg

-- Johan W. Elzenga

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Contributor ,
Oct 07, 2018 Oct 07, 2018

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Still confusing. No, I don't like the special collection nonsense. It's not special. What I want to see is my open catalog of photos. Then I want to add more photos to that open catalog. I want to see my open catalog of photos AND the new ones added to that catalog, all on one desktop workspace. I will then make adjustments on the new photos. The catalog with the new photos will save when I close the program. How do I do that? Step by step, please. Do not leave out any steps. The current setup does not work. All I see is the new photos, and they seem to be a new catalog that Lightroom has created when I imported them, not part of the previously open catalog. I am on the edge of giving up and cancelling my Adobe subscription. Taking money out of your cash register is apparently the only way to get your attention. Photoshop has a "Save As" function. Lightroom should also have that. It doesn't at this point. Lightroom is very powerful, but it is extremely, and I mean extremely difficult to use.

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LEGEND ,
Oct 07, 2018 Oct 07, 2018

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There are plenty of YouTube videos and learning videos on the Adobe website that thoroughly and simply explains all of this.  

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Contributor ,
Oct 07, 2018 Oct 07, 2018

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LATEST

Not an answer to my question. I can't find the particular videos on YouTube to get the instructions. So, I am cancelling my subscription to Adobe software. I will use other software, and help them make their programs user friendly. Here, was a failure of the Adobe forum. I will let Adobe know why I am cancelling the subscription, as they are sure to ask, since it means money disappearing from their cash register. Adios.

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Community Expert ,
Oct 06, 2018 Oct 06, 2018

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So you tell it to import one photo, it then shows one photo. What's so hard about that? See those panels with names like Folders - what do you think is in those?

Lightroom has been pretty successful for over 10 years, but it's not for everyone. Maybe read this https://www.lightroomqueen.com/quickstart/​ . If that doesn't make sense, give up.

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Contributor ,
Oct 05, 2018 Oct 05, 2018

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Luminar is not worth a crap either. It only works on photos one at a time, rather than having a set of photos to work on, saved as a catalog. So, I guess Lightroom is the least of all evils and will stay as my standard photo software. Sorry for the trouble I caused, but really, you need to work on making Lightroom more intuitive.

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Community Expert ,
Oct 05, 2018 Oct 05, 2018

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First of all, you don't need to add the extension. Just type the name of the catalog you want to create. Secondly, it does not make much sense to import images and then use 'Save as' to create a new catalog. All your images can be in one single catalog, and you already have that catalog open It sounds like you do not fully understand how Lightroom works. I advise you to get the free booklet from https://www.lightroomqueen.com/

-- Johan W. Elzenga

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