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Upon opening catalog obtained from different folder than to which it is saved

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tonto

tonto

New Member
Joined
Apr 29, 2009
Messages
12
Location
California
Lightroom Experience
Intermediate
Lightroom Version Number
Lightroom CC 8.2.1
Operating System
  1. Windows 10
I am in the process of migrating software and files to a new computer and have found a curious problem with respect to Lightroom that has caused me much aggravation until I figured out what is happening. When Lightroom opens it gets the catalog from C:>Lighroom. When I close Lightroom the catalog is saved (and backed up, as I do a backup at each closure) to C>User>[user name}>Pictures>Lightroom. Because of this, when Lightroom opens it is using an obsolete catalog unless I manually copy the current catalog over. I am sure this is a simple problem to solve, but I haven't quite figured it out yet. Any guidance would be appreciated.
 
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tonto said:
I am in the process of migrating software and files to a new computer and have found a curious problem with respect to Lightroom that has caused me much aggravation until I figured out what is happening. When Lightroom opens it gets the catalog from C:>Lighroom. When I close Lightroom the catalog is saved (and backed up, as I do a backup at each closure) to C>User>[user name}>Pictures>Lightroom. Because of this, when Lightroom opens it is using an obsolete catalog unless I manually copy the current catalog over. I am sure this is a simple problem to solve, but I haven't quite figured it out yet. Any guidance would be appreciated.
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Tonto (great name, from someone old enough to remember the Long Ranger television show),

Can you put the old and the new computers on the same network? If so, just do a drag and drop of the relevant files from the old to the new computer. Be sure to keep the directory names the same. Do a COPY, not a MOVE, so you preserve the original environment before you try out the LR on the new computer.

If you can't put these systems on a network, then just use a USB thumb drive. Less convenient, but that will still get the job done.

Phil Burton
 
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Phil: Thank you for your reply, but I already have all files, etc. on the new computer. The problem is that Lightroom gets it's catalog from one folder, but saves it to a different folder.
 
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Hi tonto, if you go to Preferences > General tab, which catalog is set to open when Lightroom does?
 
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Victoria: Yes, that was my problem. It was very obvious, but I had missed it when doing my troubleshooting. Thank you!
 
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tonto said:
The problem is that Lightroom gets it's catalog from one folder, but saves it to a different folder.
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Actually Lightroom opens the master catalog file and continuously saves back to that open catalog file. When you exit Lightroom, It does not "Save" the work that you did because it has already done so in the background. When you exit, based upon your preferences, Lightroom makes a backup copy to the backup folder location that you have indicated. This is a back up (now zipped) of the master catalog that was opened.
 
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tonto said:
When I close Lightroom the catalog is saved (and backed up, as I do a backup at each closure) to C>User>[user name}>Pictures>Lightroom. Because of this, when Lightroom opens it is using an obsolete catalog unless I manually copy the current catalog over. I am sure this is a simple problem to solve, but I haven't quite figured it out yet. Any guidance would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
There is no problem to solve. You just misunderstood how Lightroom works (it can be confusing at first as it does not work in the same way as an image editor like Photoshop). Put simply Lightroom is not opening an obsolete catalog.

When you do any work in LR it is automatically saved to the current catalog you have open, as you work. When you shut down LR, any outstanding work is automatically saved to the current catalog and that catalog will open next time you open LR and will be fully up to date. There is no need for you to initiate any sort of Save.

The Backup you are doing is completely separate. It is a backup of the current catalog . It is not a more up to date version of the catalog, it does not contain work that the current catalog does not. It is just a copy of the existing catalog zipped and saved as a backup in case your current catalog should become damaged. There is no need for you to manually copy this backup catalog or open it to get access to your latest work. It is a backup for use in emergencies. Just launch LR and it will automatically open the last used catalog, which is the one with all your latest work.
 
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