How to cancel a catalog I just started by giving it a title.

[Mark_D_S]

Greetings,

I am using Elements 14.  I noticed the catalog options and started to create one by adding a title when I decided I didn't want to do this at this time.  Now I can't cancel the process.  Elements wants to import photo information and will not allow me to do anything else.  As always I appreciate your help as I muck around Elements for the first time.

Thanks

Mark

[Little_Pale_Face]

Hi Mark,

There should be a Skip or Cancel button.

Can you post a screenshot so that I can see where you are at - see following

FAQ: How do I capture and post a screen shot or video?

I assume that you already have a catalog, why do you want to create another. Multiple catalogs can be a pain sometimes.

Brian

[Mark_D_S]

I clicked on the cancel button but thing happened.

I haven't created a catalog before.

When I open Organizer it wants me to import photos into the catalog I

started to create.

I have a capture utility that didn't copy the screen very well but it reads

"No media available. Click 'Import' to add media.

Should I add then remove the catalog?

Thanks!

Mark

On Wed, Mar 21, 2018 at 10:51 AM, Little_Pale_Face <forums_noreply@adobe.com

[Little_Pale_Face]

Hi Mark,

In Windows, you can hold the Alt key down and press PrtScn key to take a screenshot.

The message you see just means you have an empty catalog (or have some filters applied)

You should be able to just close the organizer.

It will just open that empty catalog next time you load the organizer.

Brian

[Mark_D_S]

Brian,

Every time I close and reopen Elements, Organizer comes back to the same

screen. So maybe I should give in and Import something?

Mark

On Wed, Mar 21, 2018 at 1:39 PM, Little_Pale_Face <forums_noreply@adobe.com>

[Little_Pale_Face]

Hi Mark,

Well you do have to import something to do anything with the organizer

Sorry, I might have misunderstand what you were trying to do. What else were you expecting to happen?

Brian

[Mark_D_S]

I have photos in the Organizer and I have been working with Editor. I was

just "looking around" and saw the Catalog option under File. ( I think it

was File. Organizer won't let me click on File at the moment.) I started

to set up a catalog and wanted to stop because I didn't know what it would

do. Now I am stuck here.

Mark

On Wed, Mar 21, 2018 at 3:22 PM, Little_Pale_Face <forums_noreply@adobe.com>

[Little_Pale_Face]

Hi Mark,

I see from you other posts that you have had problems with missing files. You may know this already but I think it is worth saying again.

The catalog is a folder which contains a number of files which hold the important information relating to your images. Details of the tags, albums and location of each image file are stored there. Copies of you images, apart from thumbnails are not stored there.

PSE does NOT take copies of your images and put them in a special store. The only time it will create a copy (where you specify) is when you get files from camera or card reader or scanner.

The Golden rule is do NOT delete, rename or move a file outside of PSE - you can do all that using PSE and it keeps track of the changes. If you do change things without using PSE, then you will end up with missing files.

Hope that helps

Brian

[Mark_D_S]

Yes, I understand. I have learned by messing things up that I should not

delete etc. outside of Elements. That is why I stopped and wanted to back

out of setting up a catalog. I didn't want to make things worse. So I

guess my only option now is to allow Elements to set up a catalog since I

can't seem to get it to do anything else, yes?

On Wed, Mar 21, 2018 at 3:46 PM, Little_Pale_Face <forums_noreply@adobe.com>

[Little_Pale_Face]

Hi Mark,

You now have a blank catalog - you can decide how you want it filled

You can set up your images where you want. Personally I don't use the Pictures folder, I have created an Images folder and I have a folder structure under that containing all my images.

You can use File -> Get Photos and Videos -> From Files or Folders to point too where your images are and import them (import is a bad word - I like index)

In the organizer, the panel on the left can show just folder names or the full tree structure - toggled by the little icon top right of that panel

Brian

[Mark_D_S]

Yes, I see now that somehow I managed to remove all of the thumbnails that

I had pulled into organizer. I really appreciate your suggestion of

creating a separate Image folder. Can I now safely reorganize the folders

I currently have under Pictures and create a new Images folder with new

subfolders, then use File -> Get Photos and Videos -> From Files or Folders

to pull them all back into Organizer or would that mess things up even

more? If it would mess things up even more, is there another way to 'start

over'?

On Wed, Mar 21, 2018 at 4:13 PM, Little_Pale_Face <forums_noreply@adobe.com>

[Little_Pale_Face]

Hi Mark,

I think that you now have two catalogs

A. The new empty one that you have just created

B. The original one that has lots of missing files because you moved things around

You have two (at least) ways to go.

1 - If you want to use Catalog A then you can use windows file explorer to move files around and then import them all into the organizer. All the thumbnails will be regenerated. After you do the import remember the golden rule!

2 - If you want to revert to catalog B you could do but then you have to deal with missing files. When you load catalog B, it may go through the re-connection phase automatically. You can trying to force it to check by going to the File menu and selecting Reconnect -> All Missing Files. That will attempt to connect the thumbnails to the images but may want a little assistance from you.

I think it really depends on if you did any tagging or creating albums then that will be lost if you go for catalog A

Brian

[Mark_D_S · Accepted solution]

Brian,

Thanks for walking me through this. I will give it a try and see what

happens. I will mark this string as answered and correct but since you

know my story would you mind me coming back to you if I have more questions

in the near future?

Mark

On Thu, Mar 22, 2018 at 4:09 AM, Little_Pale_Face <forums_noreply@adobe.com>

[Little_Pale_Face]

Hi Mark,

I'm willing to  try and answer your queries - you have 3 options

1) Add a reply to this thread - I should get a email to wake me up but others will see it and could reply

2) You can send a personal message (PM) by hovering over my name and a box should open with a Message option - only I will see that

3) Start a new thread if I don't get back to quick enough (I might be away) - someone else may be able to help

Good luck

Brian

[ankitd]

Hi,

You can open catalog manager by pressing (Ctrl + Shift + C) on Windows or (Cmd+ Shift+ C) on Mac. Other method to open catalog manager is Open File Menu and click on Manage Catalog. Once catalog manager is open it will list the catalogs in the bottom left corner. Since you have stated that you have never created a catalog, there would be only two catalogs listed in the catalog manager, one the default created by elements and other created by you. The current catalog will have [Current] written next to its name. Double click on the other catalog name to open your old catalog. Let us know if this solves your issue.

Thanks

[Mark_D_S]

Thanks!