Import New folder imported not visible

[JB1970]

Operating System:MAC OS High Sierra 10.13.1
Exact Lightroom Version (Help menu > System Info): CC2015.12

Hi

Having a bit of a problem. I import my photos in the following hierarchy Places > Country Name > City then they are in year and month folders. I've just completed an import (copy) and completed it in usual manner, selecting the existing country folder for location "Spain", ticking the box to create new subfolder "Ibiza", checked the panel to see that they were heading to the correct location. Import was successful in that the photos have been copied to the correct location on my hard drive and are visible in finder. However the newly created subfolder will not show in the library. Any ideas?

I did put a new disk in my Mac some time ago but put all of the photos, library etc back in identical locations. Not sure whether this was before or after my last import. All of my previous photos are available as before in LR but I'm not sure if that's because I'm just seeing a preview file or not.

Any help appreciated.

Kind regards

John

 

[Johan Elzenga]

Your new disk has nothing to do with this. Do any of the imported photos show in Lightroom? Select the 'Previous Import' collection and check if those are the Ibiza photos. If so, select one and choose 'Photo - Go to Folder in Library'.

 

[JB1970]

Your new disk has nothing to do with this. Do any of the imported photos show in Lightroom? Select the 'Previous Import' collection and check if those are the Ibiza photos. If so, select one and choose 'Photo - Go to Folder in Library'.

Johan

Yes I could see the photos visible in previous import. It’s just that the folder is missing in the left hand folder panel

 

[Jim Wilde]

So what happens when you do as Johan suggested and "Go to Folder in Library"? What folder is then highlighted in the Folders Panel?

 

[JB1970]

So what happens when you do as Johan suggested and "Go to Folder in Library"? What folder is then highlighted in the Folders Panel?

I’m out at the moment but will check when I get home and report result

 

[Johan Elzenga]

Johan

Yes I could see the photos visible in previous import. It’s just that the folder is missing in the left hand folder panel

Then the folder is in your folder panel, period. What has probably happened is that it's hidden because its parent folder is shown collapsed. The 'Go to folder in Library' menu will expand the parent folder(s) and highlight the folder of the images.

 

[JB1970]

OK

I'd tried another import since so couldn't see my Ibiza photos in "previous import"

I've deleted the imported photos in finder and then re imported them and this is what I've found.

After selecting import I always use the right hand panel and (in this instance) select the Spain folder as the destination, click "put in subfolder" and type Ibiza. They show correctly in that right hand panel. After import they are in the correct location in finder, however in the library's folder view my choices have been ignored and there is a top level folder "2017" with "09" inside. This "2017" folder should be nested beneath Macintosh SSD/Pictures/PLACES/Spain/Ibiza

After deleting everything again I right clicked on the Spain in the folder view and selected "import to this location", then clicked the subfolder option in the right hand panel and typed Ibiza. Voila - the photos are imported to the correct folder in finder and also the Ibiza folder is in the correct place nested inside Spain.

Not sure what has caused this - I've always imported in the same way and never had such issues before. I've checked all my folder permissions and I have read/write access to all. I'm sure it must be something to do with the change of disk as although the structure is identical the new disk is named "Macintosh SSD" as opposed to "Macintosh HD"

 

[JB1970]

Then the folder is in your folder panel, period. What has probably happened is that it's hidden because its parent folder is shown collapsed. The 'Go to folder in Library' menu will expand the parent folder(s) and highlight the folder of the images.

Then the folder is in your folder panel, period. What has probably happened is that it's hidden because its parent folder is shown collapsed. The 'Go to folder in Library' menu will expand the parent folder(s) and highlight the folder of the images.

Parent folder was certainly expanded not collapsed - I tried switching modules and closing/reopening LR to no avail.

 

[Johan Elzenga]

Not sure what has caused this - I've always imported in the same way and never had such issues before. I've checked all my folder permissions and I have read/write access to all. I'm sure it must be something to do with the change of disk as although the structure is identical the new disk is named "Macintosh SSD" as opposed to "Macintosh HD"

Can you show a screendump of the folder panel and indicate where the imported pictures were found initially? A change of disk does not make Lightroom ignore folder selections, but there is a possibility that you have encountered another problem, known as the 'capitalization problem'.

 

[JB1970]

Can you show a screendump of the folder panel and indicate where the imported pictures were found initially? A change of disk does not make Lightroom ignore folder selections, but there is a possibility that you have encountered another problem, known as the 'capitalization problem'.

Hi Johan

So to demonstrate I've just imported another photo selecting my UK/London folder as destination. As before the year/month folder is in the correct location in the finder but as you can see in the screenshot of the library folders it's added just the year/date folder at the top as though it's located in the root of Macintosh SSD outside of the Pictures folder

 

[Johan Elzenga]

Yes, it looks like the capitalization problem. Hold the cursor above that '2017’ folder. That should show you the path of this folder. Let us know EXACTLY how it reads. I capitalized 'exactly' because that may be the problem: you may find a folder name that is in ALL CAPS, while that folder on your hard disk is not.

 

[JB1970]

Yes, it looks like the capitalization problem. Hold the cursor above that '2017’ folder. That should show you the path of this folder. Let us know EXACTLY how it reads. I capitalized 'exactly' because that may be the problem: you may find a folder name that is in ALL CAPS, while that folder on your hard disk is not.

It reads /Users/john/Pictures/PLACES/United Kingdom/London/Ibiza/2017

No idea why an Ibiza folder has now been created in the London folder! The PLACES folder is correct as I have that capitalised on my system

 

[Johan Elzenga]

Well, the most obvious explanation is that you still had the option to create a subfolder called 'Ibiza' selected during the import, and you selected the existing folder called 'London' as destination. However, that still does not explain why this '2017’ folder is shown at the level of your 'Pictures' folder, rather than in the correct hierarchy (which is hidden in your screenshot). What is the name of your user folder? Is it 'john' or 'John'?

 

[JB1970]

Well, the most obvious explanation is that you still had the option to create a subfolder called 'Ibiza' selected during the import, and you selected the existing folder called 'London' as destination. However, that still does not explain why this '2017’ folder is shown at the level of your 'Pictures' folder, rather than in the correct hierarchy (which is hidden in your screenshot). What is the name of your user folder? Is it 'john' or 'John'?

Yeah think you're right on your first point - I just imported that one quickly as I couldn't remember exactly where the 2017 folder was showing.

My user folder is "john"

 

[Johan Elzenga]

That 2017 folder should still not show where it does show. Can you make a screenshot that shows the 'United Kingdom' folder and its subfolders in your folder panel?

 

[JB1970]

That 2017 folder should still not show where it does show. Can you make a screenshot that shows the 'United Kingdom' folder and its subfolders in your folder panel?

Screenshot showing where the 2017 folder should've been created

And another showing that it is in correct location on the drive (ignoring the mistake of leaving the "Ibiza" subfolder checked during import

 

[Johan Elzenga]

I just thought of one more thing: can you hover the cursor over the 'Pictures' folder in the folder panel to see its path too? Check the exact name of the user in that path.

 

[JB1970]

I just thought of one more thing: can you hover the cursor over the 'Pictures' folder in the folder panel to see its path too? Check the exact name of the user in that path.

Johan

I think you've nailed the problem and think it is to do with the change of disk. The path to the pictures folder in LR folder view is /Users/John/Pictures however since the disk change the user directory is john not John.

I guess I need to update the folder location for Pictures in LR? If I right click on Pictures "update folder location" and click on john directory I get a message telling me "the selected folder or one of its subfolders is already in Lightroom. Do you want to combine these folders" Merge/Cancel. Is this the way to proceed or is there a better way?

I've clicked on pictures show parent so that this is visible as John. Could I just rename this john within LR or would that cause me more problems?

 

[Johan Elzenga]

No, that is not the way to deal with this. What you need to do is the following:
1: right-click on the 'Pictures' folder in the folder panel and choose 'Show Parent Folder'. That should reveal 'John' as the parent folder.
2: in the Finder, create a new folder called 'temporary' at the root of the hard disk.
3: in Lightroom, right-click on the folder called 'John', choose 'Update Folder Location' and select the 'temporary' folder in the dialog that follows. Don't worry that this means that all your subfolders are now shown as missing.
4: in Lightroom, right-click on the 'temporary' folder and choose 'Update Folder Location'. Navigate to your 'john' user folder and select it. You may get a warning about folders that already exist and the question if you want to merge them. Click 'Merge'.
5: that should do it. If everything is fine, you can delete the 'temporary' folder.

 

[JB1970]

No, that is not the way to deal with this. What you need to do is the following:
1: right-click on the 'Pictures' folder in the folder panel and choose 'Show Parent Folder'. That should reveal 'John' as the parent folder.
2: in the Finder, create a new folder called 'temporary' at the root of the hard disk.
3: in Lightroom, right-click on the folder called 'John', choose 'Update Folder Location' and select the 'temporary' folder in the dialog that follows. Don't worry that this means that all your subfolders are now shown as missing.
4: in Lightroom, right-click on the 'temporary' folder and choose 'Update Folder Location'. Navigate to your 'john' user folder and select it. You may get a warning about folders that already exist and the question if you want to merge them. Click 'Merge'.
5: that should do it. If everything is fine, you can delete the 'temporary' folder.

Johan

I’ll do that. Thanks so much for taking the time to help me on this - I really appreciate your support