Transfer from Catalogue A to Catalogue B, How to?

[douvidl]

I have folder in an older catalogue that wants to go to another catalogue.  How can I do this without going mad?
Thanks
David

[Schewe]

Target the folder you wish to move and select Export as Catalog from the File menu. Close the first catalog and open the second catalog and chose Import from Catalog, again in the file menu. When you export you'll need to decide if you want to Export negatives (not needed if you aren't moving them around) and whether or not to include available previews which you may as well use.

[douvidl]

Schewe.
I have done as you suggested.  But in between open the old catalogue and selecting the folder to export as catalogue, a screen comes up asking that I select
AM I missing something.?
David

[Schewe]

I just tested and if the folder is selected but no images and I export as a catalog I only get the initial dlog to name the new catalog and whether or not to include previews. So, I'm not sure of your exact steps...

[douvidl]

Perhaps I am at fault.  I want to move the folder from an existing catalogue  to another existing catalogue.  So, what do I name the export.?
David

[Schewe]

So, what do I name the export.?

Whatever you want...the catalog will only be useful for the purpose of moving the images from one catalog to the next. Once done you can trash it...

[john beardsworth]

Now you've an answer about how to move folders from one catalogue's control to another, maybe reflect on whether it's really a good idea to fragment control of your pictures across multiple catalogues? You've already found it awkward to do what you're doing, but now how are you going to ensure pictures don't have two separate sets of adjustments and how will you know which is correct? These are just  tiny examples of how messy multi-catalogue workflows easily become. Use metadata to categorise and divide up your pictures, not folders or catalogues.

[douvidl]

I am, as you can surmise, not an expert on workflow.  Perhaps you would elaborate on your latest message.  Mayhaps there is a solution for me.
Happy New Year!
David

[john beardsworth]

Let me throw it back to you - why are you asking the original question? What's behind it? Lightroom can handle many, many thousands of pictures in a single catalogue and is best used that way - one catalogue controlling all your work. When you need to group certain images, you have metadata like keywords and collections, and tools like smart collections to allow you to find pictures.

[howardm]

I think there is a reasonable case to be made for better multiple catalog handling in LR (yea, I'll wait for that along w/ softproofing )
in certain cases but for the vast majority of users, fewer (like 1 or 2) is better than lots of them.  Many users have a very hard time wrapping their heads around a database/metadata based system vs. the classic PC-ish file/folder system.

[douvidl]

I organize my library via catalogues, basically one for each year, one for vacations and one for super/prime/excellent work.  So far it has worked very well for me.  What prompted this dialogue was an error I made in download a shoot into the wrong catalogue, a first for me.  And I've not yet been unable to find an image, and I have well over 3k library.
Happy new Year!!

David

[john beardsworth]

OK, well just remember that you're not getting the best out of Lightroom - in the time it takes you to open another catalogue, someone using a single 300k catalogue can find pictures and be using them. Generally, it's not a good idea to fragment control of your picture collection.

[douvidl]

I don't understand "fragment control...". 

[john beardsworth]

As in "break up" or "split".

[douvidl]

This discussion has be become very Talmudic.  I have to keep reminding myself that my primary goal is to create good art.  That includes capture, post capture processing and printing. The transfer issue is but a small piece of capture, in my opinion. 

I thank all for their efforts.   Happy New Year to all.

David

[john beardsworth]

No, it hasn't. The problem you had is simply one way having multiple catalogues wastes time and causes confusion.

[douvidl]

Enough, enough

[wolfnowl]

For those who are interested, from Julieanne Kost:

LR - Working with Multiple Catalogs (2009)
Single or Multiple Catalogs in LR3? (2010)

Mike.