Create and manage catalogs

When you launch Lightroom and import photos, a catalog file (Lightroom Catalog.lrcat) is automatically created for you. You don’t have to create it yourself. The catalog keeps track of the photos and their information, but it doesn't contain the actual photo files themselves. Most people want to keep all their photos in one catalog, which can have thousands of photos. You might want to create separate catalogs for different purposes, such as home photos and business photos. You can import photos into different catalogs.

Keep in mind that you can create collections to organize your photos within a catalog.

For a video on using catalogs to manage your photos, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_lr_video_catexport.

Create a new catalog

When you create a catalog, you create a name for the folder, such as “Wedding Photos,” that includes a catalog file (such as “Wedding Photos.lrcat”). This catalog file stores catalog settings. When you import photos, a new subfolder (such as “Wedding Photos Previews.lrdata”) is created to store the JPEG preview images.

Choose File > New Catalog.
Specify the name and location of the new catalog folder, and then choose Save.

Lightroom is reset and the Library module is empty, ready for you to import photos.

Create a new catalog from existing photos

When you create a new catalog from selected photos, the settings in the photos are exported to the new catalog.

Select the photos you want to add to the new catalog.
Choose File > Export As Catalog.
Specify the name and location of the catalog.
Indicate whether you want to export the negative files and previews, and then click Save.
“Negative files” refers to the original files that were imported into Lightroom.

A new catalog is created that contains the selected photos and their information. You must open the new catalog to view it.

Open a different catalog

When you open a different catalog, Lightroom closes the current catalog and relaunches.

Choose File > Open Catalog.
In the Open Catalog dialog box, specify the catalog file, and then click Open.
You can also choose a catalog from the File > Open Recent menu.
If prompted, click OK to close the current catalog and relaunch Lightroom.

You can also change General preferences to specify which catalog is opened when Lightroom is started.

Delete a catalog folder

When you delete a catalog folder, you erase all the work you’ve done in Lightroom that isn’t saved in the photo files. While the previews are deleted, the original photos being linked to are not deleted.

Using Windows Explorer or Mac OS Finder, locate the catalog folder you created and drag it to the trash.

Change the default catalog

By default, Lightroom opens the most current catalog at startup. This behavior can be changed to opening a different catalog or to always prompt you to choose a catalog.

In the General preferences, choose one of the following from the When Starting Up Use This Catalog menu:

The file path of a specific library: Opens the catalog found at a specific file path location.
Load Most Recent Catalog: Opens the most recent catalog you’ve been working with.
Prompt Me When Starting Lightroom: Opens the Select Catalog dialog box at startup.

Note: You can also click Other, navigate to a specific catalog file (.lrcat) or Lightroom 1.0 database file (.lrdb), and select it as the default library to open at startup.

Comments

Park Terrell said on Oct 4, 2007 at 4:02 AM :

Now that my Lightroom Catalog has become very large, I would like to
"move" the master files to an External HD as "referenced" files. This would
make more room on the HD of the computer. Aperture has this feature.
Lightroom is a superior product. Is there a simple way to accomplish this
procedure?

Anita Dennis said on Oct 4, 2007 at 9:41 AM :

Of course: Export the catalog. See the instructions above for "Create a new catalog from existing photos."

No screen name said on Nov 3, 2007 at 8:16 AM :

When I have deleted a raw file from a library, or even from the disk, I find it impossible to re-import because invariably the message is that the file is already in the catalog. Is there a way to clean up the catalog so that I can re-import a file?

Anita Dennis said on Nov 3, 2007 at 7:14 PM :

You could try choosing File > Catalog Settings, and clicking Relaunch and Optimize.

No screen name said on Nov 5, 2007 at 3:19 AM :

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried it twice and it did not resolve the problem. So instead I created new catalogs and imported these into my standard catalog. That worked.

No screen name said on Feb 7, 2008 at 3:41 PM :

I am attempting to export my entire catalog. I checked the export negative files but do not export available previews.
After working its magic for a couple of hours, I saw that a 63.3 GB file had been created but I received the following warning message from LR -- "Lightroom was unable to export the catalog's previews and negatives."
I clicked OK, LR said it was finishing the export and when it had finished it deleted the export file it had created.
I am unable to create a catalog export of my entire catalog.
I can export images in individual folders.

Pwscott said on Mar 9, 2008 at 6:30 AM :

I am seeing the same thing here in latest version under Windows Vista Home Premium. I bought a Drobo USB disk and selected all my files and export preview and negatives under Export as Catalog. 40K images, I let it run overnight, checked a few times and it was copying previews,34% done, then copying negatives, etc. This AM there is a message Lightroom was unable to complete exportingto catalog. Progress says 97% and when you say OK it deletes everything it exported- there's just an empty folder. As far as I can tell my original catalog is fine bu what gives?

I figured I'd do a selective startup and turn off Norton, AdAware other stuff and try it again.
Any thoughts appreciated.

Bob Rickert said on Mar 11, 2008 at 5:42 AM :

I continue to have problems with the catalog export function. The problem may be a catalog size issue. I have in excess of 8,000 images in my catalog and have not been able to export a complete catalog with negatives and previews. I have been able to export a complete catalog with just previews (no negative files).

I have been able to export individual catalogs with negatives and previews for folders up to 1,700 image files. The folders have multiple folders with images. I guess at some number of files in a catalog between 1,700 and 8,000 the size limitation comes into play.

I would love to use the full catalog export as a means of backing up my full database and images. For now I am exporting and backing up individual smaller folders.

I am running Vista on a new Dell with e MB of memory. As commented earlier, this may be an issue with Vista or my machine.

punchandjudy said on May 4, 2008 at 3:21 PM :

i have the same issues re exporting catalog - i am exporting from desktop to laptop via an external hard drive and then vice versa so i always have both synched - i have searched everywhere but still not seen an answer to this problem - anyone got any clues

punchandjudy said on May 5, 2008 at 10:00 AM :

it appears that if you click on all photos then export catalog you have the unable to export previews or negatives and the export effectivly cancels itself

after trial and error i appear to have found the solution

if you click on the root folder in folders eg my pictures - then export catalog it will work fine - why this isnt made clear by adobe i dont know

i have over 10,000 raw images and the above works

cheers

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