# How do I access another catalog in my copy of Lightroom



## Fibrelady (Sep 15, 2017)

We were in the process of amalgamating all our files onto one computer (new Mac) when I had problems with my husband's user ID disappearing.  Apple Core weren't able to help me but all of my husband's files are still on this computer.  I'm running Lightroom under my CC subscription.  What I need to do is to print off some of my husband's photos so that I can frame them and bring them into his Hospice room for him to enjoy the memories of roads travelled and photos taken. Can I access his library through my copy of Lightroom?  I'm probably not making a lot of sense - sorry.  I've looked in our copy of "the book" but this part of it is "geek" to me.


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## Cerianthus (Sep 15, 2017)

File: Open Catalog


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## Fibrelady (Sep 15, 2017)

Thank you for your help, Cerianthus.  After a lot of trying to change the permissions on what I thought were the necessary files - I now have brought what I thought was the right catalog into my copy of Lightroom.  However, I see all his folders under Navigator and all his carefully logged keywords, etc. but I can't see the photos.


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## Johan Elzenga (Sep 15, 2017)

How are you accessing his catalog? Did you copy it, or did you connect to his computer over a network? The Lightroom catalog folder consists of a catalog file and a preview cache. You need both. And the catalog only references the actual images, which are stored elsewhere on his computer. You need them too.


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## Fibrelady (Sep 15, 2017)

Both our catalogs are on the same computer.  Originally set up under two users, however his user ID crashed and there was no way to get it back - according to Apple.  He was using his purchased version and I had set up CC when I started moving my files to this new computer.  All his files are on this computer.

I'm heading to Hospice now and will have to try to solve this when I get home.  I really want to have access to his photos so we can also set up a slideshow for him on his TV.


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## Johan Elzenga (Sep 15, 2017)

Fibrelady said:


> Both our catalogs are on the same computer.  Originally set up under two users, however his user ID crashed and there was no way to get it back - according to Apple.  He was using his purchased version and I had set up CC when I started moving my files to this new computer.  All his files are on this computer.



Sorry, I don't understand. You say that all his files are on his computer, but his user ID has crashed. So how did you get access to his catalog if his user ID has crashed and is not retrievable? And where are those catalogs now? You talk about 'this new computer', so I assume that is a different one. So I repeat my original question: did you only copy his catalog file to this new computer?


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## Fibrelady (Sep 15, 2017)

All his files are in a folder under his name on this computer.  I know it's confusing but originally we were going to both replace our computers and we bought this one for him.  It was set up for him and working beautifully with all his photos in his version of Lightroom.  He became bedridden and couldn't access his computer.  It no longer made sense to buy two computers so I set myself up as another user - we each were users and admins on this computer and I just switched back and forth.  One day his user access disappeared and there was no way to bring it back, even with Apple Care's help. We moved all his filed into a folder under his name and I've set up a matching folder for me with my files.  I've changed permissions on his files so that I can read and write to his files and therefore, hopefully, have access.  One computer, two sets of Lightroom catalogs.  Mine are on an external hard drive and don't actually "live" on the computer.  He's our computer guru and I'm struggling to work things out.  He can't deal with all the complexities of life and computers any more but loves seeing his photos and seeing the memories of our travels.  We were in the Netherlands two months before his diagnosis and really treasure our time there.


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## Johan Elzenga (Sep 15, 2017)

I need to know if you have a catalog *folder* with not only his catalog file, but also a file called '<catalog name> previews.lrdata'. That file may be the cause of your problem, because it is not really a file. It's a so-called 'package', which is a folder that looks like a file. If you changed permissions on this package, the contents may still have the wrong permissions.


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## Fibrelady (Sep 15, 2017)

Thanks Johan - I'm at the Hospice now so will check that when I get home again.  I really appreciate your patience and help.


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## Johan Elzenga (Sep 15, 2017)

Fibrelady said:


> Thanks Johan - I'm at the Hospice now so will check that when I get home again.  I really appreciate your patience and help.



No hurry. It's almost midnight here, so I'll go to bed first and check in again tomorrow.


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## Fibrelady (Sep 16, 2017)

Good morning Johan - it's close to bedtime here   I've taken a screen shot of the folder that Lightroom is in. Doug's photos are in the main folder Pictures.  Hopefully you will be able to help once you see this.


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## Johan Elzenga (Sep 16, 2017)

OK, the previews cache is present, so I think that permissions are the problem here. I also assume that there will be a second problem: because the images were moved, Lightroom probably doesn't know anymore where they are. Both problems are easy to solve, and the best way is to solve the second problem first.

Start Lightroom and take a look at the folders panel. Do the folders have a question mark in front of their names and are the names in italics? If not, then you can go to the next paragraph. If so, you have to tell Lightroom what the current location of the folders is. Lightroom can 'reconnect' an entire folder hierarchy at once, so right-click on the top most folder of the hierarchy and choose 'Find Missing Folder'. You'll get a standard MacOS 'Open' dialog. Navigate to the new location of this folder and select it. That should solve the missing folder problem. You may have to do this more than once if you have more than a single hierarchy. A way to speed this up is first choose 'Show Parent Folder'. Lightroom will then show the parent folder, and by doing this a few times you can see the entire folder hierarchy if that was hidden. Then you can reconnect the single top folder of the hierarchy.

Maybe reconnecting the folders will also solve the problem of the thumbnails not showing, but I don't expect that. I think they still have a permissions problem. The easiest way to solve this is to simply let Lightroom rebuild all of them. Quit Lightroom. Move the 'Lightroom Catalog Previews.lrdata' file to the trash. Start Lightroom again. Lightroom will now recreate this file with the correct permissions, and you should see the thumbnails appear one by one.


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## Fibrelady (Sep 16, 2017)

Thanks Johan - I'll work on this when I'm at home over the weekend and reach out if I have a problem.  

Am I missing something in keywords on the Library page?  Sorry to be such a dunce!


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## Johan Elzenga (Sep 16, 2017)

Fibrelady said:


> Am I missing something in keywords on the Library page?



Yes, what you are missing is the 'Keywording' block, where you actually enter keywords. Right-click in the empty space before 'Keyword list'. That will bring up a contextual menu with the option to hide or reveal the blocks.


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## Fibrelady (Sep 16, 2017)

Whew!  You are a genius plus a guru!  It looks like it's mostly working - including the keywords that Doug had carefully put in.  Any suggestions about what I can do with this message - will being patient help???


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## Fibrelady (Sep 16, 2017)

I just figured out that the missing pictures might be jpegs taken with our little Canon G12.  I guess Lightroom is only showing the RAW photos taken with Doug's main camera.


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## Fibrelady (Sep 16, 2017)

Sorry - another question 

Just tried to do the Lightroom back-up for his photos and this message popped up:


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## Cerianthus (Sep 16, 2017)

Sorry for the short initial answer but I thought that was all that was needed. The error does seem to be an indication that the permissions Johan mentioned might be the culprit. LR often mentions there is not enough space or it can't read when the actual problem is that it can't write somewhere. 

LR should be able to view and edit jpg s.


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## Johan Elzenga (Sep 16, 2017)

As far as the backup dialog is concerned: just click the button to choose another folder.

As to the error dialog you posted in message #15: this may still be a permissions thing. When you copied/moved the images folder and changed its permissions, did you click the little wheel icon to apply the changes to all its contents? If not, some subfolders or files may still have the wrong permissions.


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## Fibrelady (Sep 16, 2017)

Thanks!  I'm at Hospice now - will try your suggestions when I get home later.


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## Fibrelady (Sep 17, 2017)

After a few tries, I was able to create a back-up folder Lightroom accepted!  

Unfortunately you are correct about the permissions on selected folders.  I have no idea why some of them work and others do not.  It isn't just the RAW versus JPEG situation I thought it was.  I'll need to go individually through each annual folder and change the individual folders one at a time.  My sweet husband creates a folder for every day he takes photos.  Some of the years that involve the permissions needing to be changed involve loooong road trips in our Westfalia 

I just did a year of permissions - luckily before retirement, so not a long road trip year.  The photos are all JPEGs and are not showing in Lightroom, even after changing the permissions!  It was an old camera - is it possible that Lightroom doesn't recognize a Cannon A70?


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## Johan Elzenga (Sep 17, 2017)

No, Lightroom should recognize jpegs from any source, because there is no difference. A jpeg is a joeg. Raw files are different for each camera, but jpeg is a universal standard. Can you try to open such a joeg in Preview, by double clicking on it? Perhaps that will tell us more if an error comes up.


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## Fibrelady (Sep 17, 2017)

Thanks Johan - I think I'm totally in the ball park of an Apple problem.  I don't have permission to even preview a single photo prior to 2009. It's rather bizarre that I can open up any photos after that!  However, if I go into an individual photo and change the permissions, it comes into Lightroom.  I think I have a minimum of 6000 photos to individually change.  I'll call Apple Care tomorrow to see if there is anything else they can do.  Thanks for your help, at least I think I know what I need to do


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## Johan Elzenga (Sep 17, 2017)

Have you tried the following: Select the folder of those images and choose 'Get Info' from the Finder. Click the lock to be able to change the permissions and set every user you see in there to 'Read & Write'. Then click on the wheel icon and choose 'Apply to enclosed items'.


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## Fibrelady (Sep 17, 2017)

Yes - that's what I've been doing .......  However, when I get into the folder, every single photo is locked and I get the message saying that I do not have permission to open document "300D-20040403-1910.JPG" and I can change the permission on the single photo.  Other photos taken the same day are .dng files, which is very bizarre.  If I look at the preview and then click on "close" rather than escape, it creates a Plain Text file.  I'm beginning to think this new computer is possessed


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## Fibrelady (Sep 15, 2017)

We were in the process of amalgamating all our files onto one computer (new Mac) when I had problems with my husband's user ID disappearing.  Apple Core weren't able to help me but all of my husband's files are still on this computer.  I'm running Lightroom under my CC subscription.  What I need to do is to print off some of my husband's photos so that I can frame them and bring them into his Hospice room for him to enjoy the memories of roads travelled and photos taken. Can I access his library through my copy of Lightroom?  I'm probably not making a lot of sense - sorry.  I've looked in our copy of "the book" but this part of it is "geek" to me.


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## Johan Elzenga (Sep 17, 2017)

Do you mean that XMP file? That is probably because the original is locked. Maybe you can use a special utility to batch unlock these images. 'FileBuddy' comes to mind. It's not free, and it seems no longer updated, but it should still work and perhaps you can use the demo. File Buddy: The most powerful high-level file utility available for for the Mac


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## Fibrelady (Sep 17, 2017)

Thanks, Johan!  I'll give it a try later today.  If it works it will certainly be easier than going through them one by one.

I've managed to print about a dozen recent photos for Doug - I'll get him to choose a group and we can put them up on his wall to make his room in Hospice more personal.

I really appreciate your help - you've been fabulously patient with an person half a world away!


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## Fibrelady (Sep 18, 2017)

Apple Care was able to go through a back door and change the permissions on all Doug's photos!!  I finally have full choice of his photos to print and take in to him.

Thanks for being there when I needed help, Johan - even on the weekend.


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## Johan Elzenga (Sep 18, 2017)

Good to hear! Wish him all the best.


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