# Can I export a book into an other catalog?



## drmaxx (Jun 3, 2012)

I try to move my books (layout) from the laptop to my main computer. Can I do that?


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## Victoria Bampton (Jun 7, 2012)

Hi drmaxx, sorry we missed your thread.  Right-click on the book in the Collections panel and choose Export Collection as Catalog.  Then when you get to the main computer, File menu > Import from Catalog.


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## drmaxx (Jun 9, 2012)

Thanks Victoria for the reply.

 I somehow can not manage to transfer a book completely into an other catalog. E.g. by choosing to export the book with pictures and then import it in the new catalog with pictures. The pictures are imported correctly, but the book only contains some or none of the pictures. Any picture in the collection that is part of the book has a little note attached that complains "Error writing metadata".  

Any other combination, e.g. by importing the pictures first and then the book either with or without pictures produces the same results. 

I am not quite sure if this is a bug or if I am doing something wrong. 
(LR4.1, Laptop with Win7, 64bit; Desktop with Vista, 32bit).


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## Victoria Bampton (Jun 9, 2012)

That sounds very odd drmaxx.  I'd expect exporting the catalog with originals  to work correctly.

Ok, an interim step - what happens if you open the exported catalog, before importing into your main catalog.  Does everything look right there?


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## drmaxx (Jun 10, 2012)

I tried a few things but the end result is the same: I can not import the book correctly into my catalog.

If I open the exported book-catalog separately then everything is o.k. - Independent whether I have the export done with or without pictures. 

If I import the exported book with pictures then the picture import is correct, the collection is there with all the correct pictures - but the book is empty.

If I import the pictures first and then import the collection with the book then every picture in the book/collection is gets this little sticker with the metadata error -- and the book is empty or only partially filled. 

Any idea what I could try to resolve that?


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## Victoria Bampton (Jun 11, 2012)

I'm stumped drmaxx.  Best I can suggest is to report it on the Official Feature Request/Bug Report Forum so that the engineering team are aware of it.


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## drmaxx (Jun 12, 2012)

Just tested it with an other (large) catalog on a external drive hooked up to the laptop. Again, the same import behaviour. It definitely is not a Win7/Vista or 64/32 bit issue.


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## Victoria Bampton (Jun 12, 2012)

But it's all the same book each time?  I'll flag it up the engineers and see if they have any bright ideas.


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## drmaxx (Jun 12, 2012)

No, I tried it with two different books.


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## Victoria Bampton (Jun 14, 2012)

Matt Dawson just came up with another idea.  He said:



> Saw this comment in the thread:
> > If I import the pictures first and then import the collection with  the book then every picture in the book/collection is gets this little  sticker with the metadata error -- and the book is empty or only  partially filled.
> 
> Did he try doing this with a photo less export as well as an export with the photos? My guess is not.
> ...



Any luck with that?


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## drmaxx (Jun 15, 2012)

Based on the suggestion, I did the following:
1. Optimised the target catalog
2. Exported the pictures (A) (right click on the directory and export this folder as catalog)
3. Exported the book collection (B) without negatives and without previews
4. Transferred them over the network on the other computers HD
5. Imported the pictures (A) (Files -> Import from other catalog)
6. Imported the book without previews (B) (Files -> Import from other catalog)

-> Same result: The collection was imported correctly (pictures are there and there is the little book sign). The layout of the book is correct. But there are no pictures in the book. 

And some (! 7 out of 21) of the pictures in the catalog have this little sticker (like a memo card with an exclamation mark on it). 
Clicking on the little sticker brings up the following message: The metadata for this photo has been changed by both Lightroom and another application. Should Lightroom import settigs from disk or overwrite disk settings with those from the catalog?


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## Victoria Bampton (Jun 16, 2012)

And that metadata warning's not there before you import, on either catalog?


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## drmaxx (Jun 16, 2012)

That is correct. They appear after importing the book.


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## Victoria Bampton (Jun 19, 2012)

I still can't reproduce it here, but if you're not completely sick of it yet, I'd be interested to take a look at the main and travel catalog to see if I can reproduce it using your catalogs.  I'd only need the .lrcat files, so no previews, and they zip up well.  You could drop them on my server (www.vbftp.net, username webupload, password 123).


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## drmaxx (Jun 19, 2012)

I am very grateful for this kind of support. Not what I expected. I am happy to upload the files, but this needs to wait till the weekend when I am back home and have access to my desktop.


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## Victoria Bampton (Jun 19, 2012)

My pleasure drmaxx, you know where I am when you have time.


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## Silvertrace (Jan 12, 2013)

Hi - I am having the same problem as drmaxx, from what I can ascertain. I 'selected all' with my book selected in the collections in the book module and exported as catalog, exporting the negative files as well as previews. On my laptop, when importing from catalog, I get the rather complex layout maintained in the book module, and all the images represented in the filmstrip, but with no images populating the book in the content area. It's disappointingly empty. I'd hate to have to start from scratch when working from home with a deadline. Am I doing something wrong? Many thanks!


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## Victoria Bampton (Jan 13, 2013)

Hi Silvertrace, welcome to the forum!

This is a long shot, but rather than selecting all, what happens if you do the right-click on the book in the Collections panel and do the export as catalog from that context-sensitive menu.

Oh, and if you just open the exported catalog, rather than importing it into the other catalog, does that work correctly?


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## phill adams (Feb 15, 2013)

*On the right tracks!*



Silvertrace said:


> Hi - I am having the same problem as drmaxx, from what I can ascertain. I 'selected all' with my book selected in the collections in the book module and exported as catalog, exporting the negative files as well as previews. On my laptop, when importing from catalog, I get the rather complex layout maintained in the book module, and all the images represented in the filmstrip, but with no images populating the book in the content area. It's disappointingly empty. I'd hate to have to start from scratch when working from home with a deadline. Am I doing something wrong? Many thanks!




I arrived at this point just a moment ago and have just found the solution, although i didn't have any images in the filmstrip. In my case i had made a separate collection for the book images which i imported from my other catalogue. The contents of this collection I selected and dragged to the book collection. The blank template then populated itself with the correct images automatically! Good luck, I hope that it works for you too!


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## tbailey (Aug 11, 2013)

I found this thread looking for a solution to this same problem. I tried what Phill Adams recommended, but nothing works. No matter how I do it, when I import the catalogue on the other computer everything is there including the book layout, but there are no pictures in the book. The pictures are in the film strip.

Does anyone have any suggestions?


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## Rima Berzin (Mar 25, 2020)

Oh my goodness.  Here it is 2020 and I'm having the same problem.  I exported a book as a catalog (from the book icon in the collection module) so I could send it in dropbox.  When I got home and tried opening, directly from the Book catalog, only some of the associated images appeared.  I had previously built smart previews for all of lthe images.  I can't see the missing images - even in the develop or library module let alone the Book Module? 

At a loss.


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## Victoria Bampton (Mar 28, 2020)

If you open the book catalog on the original computer, do they all show up? I suspect that not all of the previews had been built before the export, so it didn't include them.


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