One Catalog -- Two Versions of Elements (9 and 13)

[Sepiana]

Nov 3, 2017 17:56:35 GMT Paul Whiting said:

I'm also running 13. Is there a way 9 can use the same catalog as 13?

MODERATOR'S NOTE:  This topic was moved from another thread.

[michelb]

Nov 4, 2017 20:45:28 GMT Sepiana said:

Nov 3, 2017 17:56:35 GMT Paul Whiting said:

I'm also running 13. Is there a way 9 can use the same catalog as 13?

MODERATOR'S NOTE:  This topic was moved from another thread.

No, each Elements version has its own catalog format.
Newer versions can 'convert' older versions to the new format, not the other way round (no 'backward' compatibility).
The conversion means a new catalog is created from the data in the old catalog.
The old catalog is renamed with a -1 suffix and is still available and linked with the old version.
You convert again the old catalog if you want.

So, the best you can do to make use of the data in a newer catalog is to 'write metadata to files' from the new version, and to re-import all your image files in the old version.
If you go this route, you can start with saving your keyword hierarchy in a text file and recreate that (empty) hierarchy by restoring the text file. That way, the imported files will recover tags, captions, notes and ratings and the tags hierarchy will be recovered.

[Paul Whiting]

Thanks, Michel,

I'm afraid that's pretty deep water for me... ! How about this workaround:

Suppose I edit a file in 9 and then save it to some neutral folder somewhere. I close 9, open 13, and once in 13 I run the "Get" command and pull that file up into my 13 Organizer? I wouldn't be doing this very often, but it should work for the few times I might be creating a file in 9. Guess I'm a bit lazy!

Regards,

Paul

[michelb]

Yes, that woud work.
Note that if you do your tagging in the older version, you can always convert it again to the newer version, something you can't do if you do your tagging in the new version;