# Default Catalog



## yorkiemom (Apr 1, 2012)

Hi, I'm Norma and new to the forum. I had LR3 for about 3 weeks before LR4 came out (played with the beta before it came out officially). Love LR4...and knock on wood, I never seemed to have any of the problems that were associated with 4.

My question is I was changing some preferences and noticed under Default Catalog, it is looking to the LR3 catalog photos. I deleted LR3 so I want to change to the LR4 catalog. But...I notice there are 2. One says LR4 beta catalog.lrcat and the other says LR4 beta catalog-2.lrcat. Which should I be using...and why does it still say beta?


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## b_gossweiler (Apr 1, 2012)

Welcome to the forum, Norma 

Lightroom has a kind of unique way to name upgraded catalogs, by adding a "-2" to the end of the catalog name, no matter what it was called.

Please do the following:


In LR4 with your current catalog open, go to Edit -> Catalog Settings -> General Tab
Post a screen shot of the dialog here

Beat


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## yorkiemom (Apr 1, 2012)

Thanks for the welcome! Here's the screen shot.


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## yorkiemom (Apr 1, 2012)

Well, I posted a screen shot...but guess I have to wait for a moderator to view it first?


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## clee01l (Apr 1, 2012)

Well actually, you need at least 10 posts to remove the SPAM/Bozo limitation that prevents you from posting images and links. Beat like the rest of us sometimes forgets that imposition on new users.


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## yorkiemom (Apr 1, 2012)

Oh! LOL! That's okay.


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## b_gossweiler (Apr 1, 2012)

Norma,

Your screen shot shows that your neiter using "LR4 beta catalog.lrcat" nor "LR4 beta catalog-2.lrcat", but "G:\LR3 Catalog photos\LR3 Catalog photos-2.lrcat". This is the catalog you want to be working with, right?

So if you want LR always to open this catalog when being launched (which is what I assume when you're refering to "..under Default Catalog"), you'd have to enter "G:\LR3 Catalog photos\LR3 Catalog photos-2.lrcat" under "When starting up use this catalog".

Now since the naming here has become a little confusing (the catalog is no longer an LR3 catalog, you could also rename it to a better understandable name, if you wanted to. If you want to do that and need help doing so, please post a screen shot of the content of folder "G:\LR3 Catalog photos\" using explorer.

Beat


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## yorkiemom (Apr 2, 2012)

Actually I want it to say LR4 Catalog photos because I'm using LR4. Can I just rename it in LR or not?


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## b_gossweiler (Apr 2, 2012)

Norma,

I would suggest a more neutral name like "Lightroom Catalog", whithout a release number in the name (what when LR5 will come along?). You can achieve that as follows:



Edit menu -> Catalog settings -> General tab
Click "Show", an explorer window with the folder "G:\LR3 Catalog photos" highlighted will open
Open folder "G:\LR3 Catalog photos" by double clicking it
*Close Lightroom*
Rename the *file *"_LR3 Catalog photos-2.lrcat_" to "_Lightroom Catalog.lrcat_"
(please note that the extention reads "LRCAT" in lower case, not IRCAT)
Rename the *folder *"_LR3 Catalog photos-2 Previews.lrdata_" to "_Lightroom Catalog Previews.lrdata_"
(please note that the extention reads "LRDATA" in lower case, not IRDATA)
Launch LR by double clicking the file "_Lightroom Catalog.lrcat_"

Before renaming the containing folder ("LR3 Catalog photos"), I'd like to know whether this folder also contains original images, or only the catalog itself (hence the screenshot I requested).

Beat


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## yorkiemom (Apr 2, 2012)

Beat, is this what you are looking for?


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## b_gossweiler (Apr 2, 2012)

Yes, that's what I was looking for.

So I suggest you rename (while LR is closed)

The *file *"LR 3 Catalog photos-2" to "Lightroom Catalog"
The *folder *"LR3 Catalog photos-2 Previews.lrdata" to "Lightroom Catalog Previews.lrdata"
Then start LR by double clicking the file "Lightroom Catalog".

You can delete the files "Temporary Import Data" and "Temporary Import Data-2" btw.

It looks like you also have image files stored in the folder ""G:\LR3 Catalog photos" (subfolders "Events" and "2012"). Is that correct? If so, before renaming this folder, I'd like to see a screen shot of your folder in Lightroom panel please.

Beat


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## yorkiemom (Apr 2, 2012)

Here you go...


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## b_gossweiler (Apr 2, 2012)

That's exactly what I needed to see, Norma, and it's looking good 

I would advice you to do the following:

While LR is closed,

Rename the folder "G:\LR3 Catalog photos" to "G:\Lightroom" 
Rename the *file *"LR 3 Catalog photos-2" to "Lightroom Catalog", if not done so already 
Rename the *folder *"LR3 Catalog photos-2 Previews.lrdata" to "Lightroom Catalog Previews.lrdata" if not done so already 
Start LR by double clicking the file "Lightroom Catalog" 

After doing so, all your folders will show with a "?" next to them:


 In the LR folder panel, right click the folder "LR 3 Catalog photos", 
Choose "Find missing Folder ..." 
Point to the folder G:\Lightroom and click OK 
This will reconnect all your folders 

Then you can setup your default catalog to be launched (in Preferences) to "G:\Lightroom\Lightroom Catalog". When your first catalog backup is performed, please make sure you select "G:\Lightroom\Backups" as Backup Folder.

Come back here if anything does not look right or you're stuck with something.

Beat


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## yorkiemom (Apr 2, 2012)

I'll get back to you after I make the changes. Thanks!


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## yorkiemom (Apr 3, 2012)

It worked!! Thank you so much for all the help! It was no problem to fix.


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## b_gossweiler (Apr 3, 2012)

Glad to hear it worked out for you, Norma, now you're set with a good naming scheme for the future.

If you're completely satisfied (i.e. if you're sure there's nothing missing) with the content of your current catalog (the "Lightroom Catalog.lrcat", which you should now see as active in Catalog Settings), you could also go ahead and delete the catalogs "LR4 beta catalog.lrcat" and "LR4 beta catalog-2.lrcat" along with their *.lrdata folders, as these seem to be leftovers from Beta trials. If you want to do it defensively, just move them to a temporary folder somewhere else for a while, then delete that temporary folder later on.

Beat


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## yorkiemom (Apr 4, 2012)

Ok! Thanks again for all the help!


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## yorkiemom (Apr 4, 2012)

I have another question regarding catalog...I keep hearing you shouldn't have both the actual photos and the catalog on an external drive. I'm not sure why unless it's because of all the read/write. I'm have mine both on an external and it's working fine so...


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## Jim Wilde (Apr 4, 2012)

There's no technical reason why they can't be on the same external drive (in fact there are users here who do that as it provides the simplest way of moving between two computers). However, there's potential for a performance impact, especially if the external drive is connected using a slower interface such as USB2. That may or may not be an issue for you.


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## b_gossweiler (Apr 4, 2012)

As Jim sais, if you're satisfied with the performance of your LR catalog, don't worry about it being on the same drive as the originals.

But one thing I'd like to mention:

I've noticed in our prior exchange of screen shots that the backup directory, where you back up your catalog upon exit of LR into, also resides on drive G: ("G:\Lightroom\Backups"). I wasn't aware at that point of time that this is an external drive.

I would advice you to specify a directory on a local drive for catalog backups taken at exit. You can do so in the dialog that comes up when the backup is about to be performed.

Beat


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## Victoria Bampton (Apr 4, 2012)

And the only other down side is that external drives are slightly more likely to get detached at the wrong moment, potentially corrupting the catalog.  Backup regularly and that's not a major issue though.


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## yorkiemom (Apr 4, 2012)

Thanks Beat. I'll make sure to backup on the C drive. Other than that, my external is fast so I'm not having any problems yet. Thanks for the replies. All I keep reading over at my other site, is DO NOT HAVE YOUR CATALOG AND PHOTOS ON AN EXTERNAL! So I was wondering what all the hoopla was about.


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## yorkiemom (Apr 21, 2012)

Well everything was going smoothly except now all of a sudden when I import photos from my card, they are going to my "C" drive instead of where they should be going...my "G" drive. That's my catalog and starts up with that. Now I'm trying to figure out why the imported photos are going to "C". I can't find anything in preferences or whatever to make sure that my imported photos go to G. Or should they be going to C??


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## clee01l (Apr 21, 2012)

yorkiemom said:


> Well everything was going smoothly except now all of a sudden when I import photos from my card, they are going to my "C" drive instead of where they should be going...I can't find anything in preferences or whatever to make sure that my imported photos go to G. Or should they be going to C??


In  the import dialog, there is a section in the right panel labeled "Destination"  One folder will be highlighted. Navigate the folder tree in this section to pick the parent folder to be the target for your imported images. 

Once you have done this, you might want to create an import preset to "preset' this and any other import parameters that you want LR to remember.  While the Import Preset defaults to none in the dialog, you can instantly set all of the target parameters by choosing your saved import preset.


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## yorkiemom (Apr 22, 2012)

I see it! Is this correct? I want the photos importing to "G".


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## yorkiemom (Apr 1, 2012)

Hi, I'm Norma and new to the forum. I had LR3 for about 3 weeks before LR4 came out (played with the beta before it came out officially). Love LR4...and knock on wood, I never seemed to have any of the problems that were associated with 4.

My question is I was changing some preferences and noticed under Default Catalog, it is looking to the LR3 catalog photos. I deleted LR3 so I want to change to the LR4 catalog. But...I notice there are 2. One says LR4 beta catalog.lrcat and the other says LR4 beta catalog-2.lrcat. Which should I be using...and why does it still say beta?


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## clee01l (Apr 22, 2012)

yorkiemom said:


> I see it! Is this correct? I want the photos importing to "G".


What you are showing indicates that you will import into the root folder (/) on drive "G:/". Is this what you want? "G:/2012/2012-04-22"


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## yorkiemom (Apr 23, 2012)

Yes, I want all my photos to be imported to the G drive (an external where all my photos reside). What I'm also curious about is what happens when 2013 comes around. Do I have to make a folder for 2013 or will LR make it automatically when it imports? I think I made the one for 2012...


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## clee01l (Apr 23, 2012)

You don't need to change a thing and LR will create the 2013 folder when the time comes.  You are giving LR this instruction when you set the destination up to Organize by date and use the date format "YYYY/MM-DD"


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## erro (Apr 23, 2012)

Although, it may be a good idea to keep all your year-folders under one top-level folder, perhaps called "photos":
G:\photos\2011
G:\photos\2012
G:\photos\2013

This makes it easier to for example make backups. All your original photos will be under G:\photos so there is only one folder to backup.

By the way: where are your old photos? There doesn't seem to be a 2012-folder on G:. Nor a 2011-folder. And so on. What you are trying to do now will be a new storage structure, from what I can see. Is this what you want?


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## yorkiemom (Apr 23, 2012)

Here's a partial list...


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## erro (Apr 23, 2012)

OK, now you are showing something different. In your last post you have a 2012 folder under "G:\Lightroom\My pictures and other". In your previous post you showed 2012 directly under G:\. Which are you planning on using? I assume all your old photos are in the folders under "My pictures and other"? On the other hand, you have a lot of folder showing a photo count of zero.


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## Jim Wilde (Apr 23, 2012)

Robert, the zero count is likely because "Show Photos in Sub-folders" is unchecked.


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## yorkiemom (Apr 23, 2012)

The zero count is because "subfolders" isn't checked.

They should all be under "my pictures and others" (I need to change that to my pictures) but for some reason back then I don't know why there were showing up under Lightroom/2012. First they were showing up under C, then LR/2012 and now they are okay I believe. I had to change the destination. Maybe that made the difference. I hope so. What do you think?


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