Terry,
Good question to ask. The tag information is kept in the Organizer Catalog
On my Windows XP Home system the default Catalog name and location are
Filename of My Catalog.psa in folder
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Adobe\Catalogs
It is probably the same on yours but you should of course verify that with Windows Explorer. If you have given your catalog a different name but not explicitly change the folder, then it should be in the same folder location.
This is within a Windows "Hidden Folder" so you must enable Viewing and Searching of Hidden Folders to find it. Do NOT use any files under "Program Files" – they are merely models and don’t have your data.
This catalog is the single most important file (other than your photo files of course) to back up.
Additionally, if you are tracking any photos that are resident on a CD or DVD disc (instead of being on your hard drive), then you should also back up the proxies. Post back again if you need more info.
Barb O
I have multiple catalogs. I would like to duplicate the tags from one catalog to another catalog. Is there an easier way to do this instead of keying the tags in again?
Gordon
This is really a new topic …
First off, can I question why you have multiple catalogs? This is generally a very bad idea, unless you know exactly what you’re doing.
To answer your question:
In the Tags pane, click on the "New" button on the top left. This has options for saving and loading tags. After importing, you need to do a little rearranging, but that will be obvious. Read the help entry – that gives more details.
Colin –
Thank you for the prompt reply. To answer your question…. After 16,000 photos, the initial catalog began to bog down and start very slowly (about 2 minutes). I’ve started a second catalog to cope with this issue. I realize PSA is supposed to handle up to 50,000 photos, but something about my setup causes me to hit the wall much earlier. I have a 1700 MHz motherboard with 1 gb RDRAM.
Colin –
I just finished trying your solution and I am having difficulty. I click on the Tags/New and only get the choice of "New Tag", "New Sub-Category" or "New Category". I don’t see the options for saving and loading tags.
Gordon
Which version of the software are you using?
BTW, 16,000 is a long way from the capacity of the program. So, I am surprised at this issue. Did you try catalog recover and thumbnail cache clean-up?
Colin –
I am using PSA V 2.0.1. Is there a later version?
I have tried a catalog recover, but not thumbnail cache clean-up. I haven’t been able to find any reference to thumbnail cache clean-up. Please give me some direction on how to do this.
I am using PSA V 2.0.1. Is there a later version?
You are posting on the PSE forum, so I assumed you were using PSE 3, which includes Organizer, which is an updated PSA. This explains why you are not seeing this functionality. Maybe consolidating catalogs is a way forward …
I have tried a catalog recover, but not thumbnail cache clean-up. I haven’t been able to find any reference to thumbnail cache clean-up. Please give me some direction on how to do this.
To sort th ethumbnails, you need to find the tn.4.cache file(s), which will be near the catalogs, and delete them. PSA will then rebuild them [which might take a while, as you scroll thru the thumbnails].
OK, now I understand why I was confused. In addition to having Photoshop Album V2.0.1, I also have Photoshop Elements v2.0 and Photoshop CS2 on my computer. I’ll have to look more closely at Adobe Bridge to see if it will work better for me than Album. Do you have any thoughts on the relative merits of these products for cataloging photos? So far, I have been cataloging my photos on duplicate CD’s but I have been considering using a large external hard drive instead (250GB+). I need a way to find specific photos out of 22,000+ (and growing) photos using tags or keywords.
I would strongly encourage you to go down the big HD route. Much more convenient than CDs.
I don’t know anything about Bridge. I’d comment that PSE 3 [Organizer] integrates well with PS CS.
I agree, the big HD is more convenient than CD’s. However, I’ll still need one set of CD’s as backup or invest in a second big HD ($$$$).
