ajpch Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 I store all my pictures on a seperate hard drive and have problems locating thecorrect catalogue for lightroom on it. It seems each time I import photos a newcatalogue is created. I have lightroom set up so that it always opens from thesame destination. However on the odd occasion I change this each time I try tonavigate back to the correct catalogue there are so many catalogues to choosefrom and I never know which one. Why does this happen and can I stop it. Ialways simply choose the largest folder and this is usually ok. Hope you can help. Regards Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godfrey Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 Lightroom only creates a new catalog file if you tell it to. Learn to name your catalog file directory sensibly. I use a two catalog approach ... my default catalog is in a directory named "LR-Default" and my completed-work catalog is in a directory named "LR-Completed_Work". Other catalogs are typically in directories named "LR-[event name]_[YYYYMMDD]". The catalog files themselves are always named the same thing inside the directory you create so you have to go by the directory enclosing them. Godfrey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajpch Posted October 23, 2007 Author Share Posted October 23, 2007 Thank you for your reply. Without sounding very dozy - how do I know if I am telling it to? When I import I choose the option to keep in the same location. No further options regarding catalogues appear to be offered? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark_sirota1 Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 Can you tell us exactly what makes you think "each time I import photos a new catalogue is created"? My guess is that you're misunderstanding the term, but perhaps not. We need more information to be able to help you better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajpch Posted October 23, 2007 Author Share Posted October 23, 2007 Thank you for your time with this. On my external hard drive there is a min folder titile lightroom. Within that folder I have two other folders, one titled backups and one lightroom 2. Each of these folders has several sub-folders each with dated folders (example 2007-09-30-2318) within that dated folder there is then a catalogue to be chosen. These appear to be related to the various times I have imported photos which is why I think it is creating a catalogue each time I import. The largest catalogue is 45mb and it is located within one of the back up folders. This allows me to see all my pictures in lightroom but not develop them (all the folders in lightroom are red). Each catalgue varies in size from 18mb to the largest at 45mb. Thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godfrey Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 That's something of my point. When importing files "in their current location", Lightroom is not creating a new catalog. It is adding that directory to the current catalog. It sounds to me that you're just having a little trouble understanding how to import and understand where things are using the Folder panel. <br><br> You need to know where your files are and have directories organized sensibly so that you can find them easily, either in Lightroom or not. On my system, my photo files are in a directory tree like this: <br><br> 2007<br> - - ready<br> - - - - YYYYMMDD-tag1<br> - - - - YYYYMMDD-tag2<br> - - - - YYYYMMDD-tagN<br> - - completed<br> - - - - YYXXX-project1<br> - - - - YYXXX-project2<br> - - - - YYXXX-projectN<br> <br> I import in place the 2007 directory tree. As I add new files, they go into sub-directories of 'ready'. Using the default, working catalog, I tell Lightroom to import new directories in place and it sorts them in the same organization in the Folders panel. As I finish sets of images, I export them into subdirectories of 'completed'. Then I restart Lightroom with the completed work catalog and import the new, finished work from 2007/completed/... <br><br> Lightroom only creates new catalogs when you explicitly tell it to, either from the "File- >New Catalog..." command or from the catalog management dialog box. <br><br> Godfrey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajpch Posted October 23, 2007 Author Share Posted October 23, 2007 Actually I have managed by right clicking on the red folder and following the (choose folder location option) to re-direct lightroom to the right location. However I still have the 'many catalogues' issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark_sirota1 Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 <i>... within that dated folder there is then a catalogue to be chosen.</i> <p> What are the names of these catalogs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajpch Posted October 23, 2007 Author Share Posted October 23, 2007 They all have the same title 'Lightroom Database.Ircat'. I have about 20 folders each titled with a date such as 2008-09-30-3218'. Within that folder is 'Lightroom database.ircat'. All vary in size as I mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark_sirota1 Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 Thanks. I think those are your catalog backups. You probably have it set to back up the catalog every time (Preferences, Catalog Settings, General tab). You can safely ignore these (and delete the older ones periodically so they don't fill your disk). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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