Combining LR catalogs with different Folder Structures

[korichter]

Lightroom Version

LRCC latest version

Operating System

1. macOS 13 Ventura

Hi. Directions on combining multiple LR catalogs exist and easily followed to combine multiple catalogs of identical structure. However, none mention the Combining of Catalogs with Different Folder Structures. is this easily somehow seamlessly possible, and if not, does anyone know and give specific directions for a work around? Unfortunately, I have not consistently maintained my the same Date Format in Destination Structure when importing and wondering if I select the catalogs with the structure I don't want can be replaced to seamlessly fit into my main catalog of all images that I do want? Also, what happens to key-wording that differs between identical images but on different catalogs?

 

[clee01l]

Folder structures exists in the file system as a file path. Lightroom Classic stores this path in the catalog . When you merge catalogs, the file path referenced by either catalog is copied to the master catalog file system and stored in the catalog file. If you end up with a jumble of folder structures in the master computer, Yo can use drag and drop in the folder panel to move folders to where you wish.


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[korichter]

Folder structures exists in the file system as a file path. Lightroom Classic stores this path in the catalog . When you merge catalogs, the file path referenced by either catalog is copied to the master catalog file system and stored in the catalog file. If you end up with a jumble of folder structures in the master computer, Yo can use drag and drop in the folder panel to move folders to where you wish.


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Thanks. I was hoping the folder structure not wanted would be translated into the format of the final catalog structure wanted automatically rather than chose and drop them individually.

 

[Califdan]

There are two situaitons in doing this. The first is where images are not duplicated between the two catalogs and the second is where they are.

The first case is the easier of the two. The folder structure shown in Catalog A will be merged into Catalog B (assuming you are in catalog B and do an "Import from another Catalog". In this case some people will first open catalog A and using the Folders Panel will move/rename folders so they are the same file strucure as Catalog B, then do the import. Other people fined easier to do the catalog merge first, then clean up the folder structure.

The second case is a bit trickier. If LrC detects the duplicates it will not merge in the duplicate from Catalog A to Catalog B. This may be OK however if Catalog A had been used to do the editing on the image and Catalog B either has no edits or different edits this may not be the desired outcome. So, if that is your situation, let us know and someone here will provide some guidance.

 

[korichter]

There are two situaitons in doing this. The first is where images are not duplicated between the two catalogs and the second is where they are.

The first case is the easier of the two. The folder structure shown in Catalog A will be merged into Catalog B (assuming you are in catalog B and do an "Import from another Catalog". In this case some people will first open catalog A and using the Folders Panel will move/rename folders so they are the same file strucure as Catalog B, then do the import. Other people fined easier to do the catalog merge first, then clean up the folder structure.

The second case is a bit trickier. If LrC detects the duplicates it will not merge in the duplicate from Catalog A to Catalog B. This may be OK however if Catalog A had been used to do the editing on the image and Catalog B either has no edits or different edits this may not be the desired outcome. So, if that is your situation, let us know and someone here will provide some guidance.

Thanks for your reply. I’m dealing with both cases with multiple catalogs. Resoving the first case is doable and i have started to apply. I would however like explicit directions on how to meld identical images that have different edits and even same and different keywords. Is that even possible automatically or need to do individually and manually?

 

[clee01l]

Thanks for your reply. I’m dealing with both cases with multiple catalogs. Resoving the first case is doable and i have started to apply. I would however like explicit directions on how to meld identical images that have different edits and even same and different keywords. Is that even possible automatically or need to do individually and manually?

If you have images that are in both master and imported catalog, Lightroom will create a Virtual Copy when it finds a difference in edit histories. It will not import the master image if it already exists in the master catalog.
Lightroom is smart enough to use one and only one master image file and create a edit history copies (Virtual Copies) when ever it need to preserve different edit paths.


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[Califdan]

As Clee said, in the case of the same image in both catalogs, after the merge the one form the catalog which was imported will become a VC with the edits from that catalog. There is no way that I know of to blend the edits an any automated fashion. If you are able to choose one over the other then just keep the one you like best. If the better one is the master then remove the VC. If the better one is the VC (from the imported Catalog), first make it the master which will make the other one the VC, and then remove the VC.

However, if you really want to merge the two sets of edits, that is a manual process. You can copy selected metadata from one to the other, including keywords in varous ways. And you can copy selected edit settings from one to the other. but this is a pair by pair manual operation and any metadata or edit setting you copy replaces that metadata or setting on the target image. You can't for example tell to to append the title from one of the images to the end of the title of the other without using a plugin that supports that operation. Same thing with edits. If one image has contrast at +10 and the other has contrast of -5 you have to pick one. You can't tell it to average the two settings.

If you need step by step, let us know the situation and what you want the result to be.