You can back up your Elements Organizer catalog to another hard drive or burn it to CD/DVD (Windows only). Use this backup to prevent loss of files due to circumstances that are beyond your control, or for moving them to another computer.
The Elements Organizer can convert catalogs from Photoshop Album and previous versions of the Elements Organizer so they're compatible with the newer Elements Organizer. For example, you can convert an Elements 6 Organizer catalog to the format Elements 8 Organizer uses.
Note: The Elements 9 Organizer on Mac OS does not convert catalogs from previous versions.
While a catalog conversion can upgrade from any previous version, there are a number of known limitations when upgrading across multiple versions. For example, there are issues converting a catalog from Elements 3 Organizer to Elements 9 Organizer. For more information on these limitations, see Common catalog upgrade issues | Organizer| Elements 6 or later.
Sometimes the catalog backup or conversion fails. There could be a number of reasons for this issue and solutions are presented below. Some of these solutions involve features that are only available in more recent versions of Elements Organizer. When the information presented applies to a specific version of Photoshop Elements, the version number is noted in parentheses.
Note: Perform all solutions in the previous version of Elements Organizer before attempting to convert the catalog in the latest version.
Missing files can cause data errors in catalogs. Make sure that your catalog has the latest information about the location of your files. For more information, see Reconnect missing files | Photoshop Elements | Windows.
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Select your catalog from the list under the Catalogs section.
Click Repair. If no errors were found, click Repair Anyway.
Once the Repair is complete, click Optimize.
Retry converting catalog in latest version of Elements Organizer.
The files used to create the thumbnail images you see in Elements Organizer could be corrupt. You can re-create these thumbnails to help your catalog convert.
Navigate to your catalog folder. You can find the catalog folder by going to Help > System Info and checking Catalog Location under Current Catalog.
Rename the file thumb.5.cache to thumb.5.old.
Rename the file face.thumb.9.cache to face.thumb.9.old.
Retry converting catalog in latest version of Elements Organizer.
Go to Edit > Preferences > Backup/Synchronization.
Deselect Backup/Sync is On.
Verify that ElementsOrganizerSyncAgent.exe is not running in Task Manager.
Retry converting catalog in latest version of Elements Organizer.
Go to Edit > Preferences > Auto-Analyzer Options.
Deselect Analyze All Media in Catalog Automatically.
Right-click the taskbar and select Task Manager. Select the Processes tab and verify that ElementsAutoAnalyzer.exe is not running. If it is, select the process and click End Process.
Retry converting catalog in latest version of Elements Organizer.
Go to Edit > Preferences > Auto-Analyzer Options.
Deselect Recognize People Automatically.
Retry converting catalog in latest version of Elements Organizer.
Verify that previous versions of Elements Organizer are not currently running. Even if the program window is closed, the application could be running in the background. Check Task Manager for PhotoshopElementsOrganizer.exe. If the application is running, it could be accessing and locking the catalog file.
If iTunes was used to synchronize images or albums from Elements Organizer, it could be using or locking files required for converting your catalog.
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Right-click the taskbar and select Task Manager. Select the Processes tab and verify that iTunes.exe and iTunesHelper.exe are not running. If they are, select each process and click End Process.
Retry converting catalog in latest version of Elements Organizer.
The user account you are currently logged in as must have sufficient permission to read and write files and folders present inside the catalog folder. You can find the catalog folder by going to Help > System Info and checking Catalog Location under Current Catalog.
Logs can provide additional information on what is causing the process to fail. Opening the log and checking the last few lines can provide a vital clue. Sometimes, Technical Support requests the logs to aid troubleshooting.
When converting a catalog, a log is created in the temp directory (%temp%) with the name pse-conversion-log_[Catalog Name].txt.
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Type in "%temp%" (without quotes) and click OK.
Open pse-conversion-log_[Catalog Name].txt.
Keywords:
catalog, organizer, elements, convert, upgrade, backup; cpsid_91690
