Roger S
Junior Forum Member
Posts: 59 
Open to constructive criticism of photos: Yes
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Post by Roger S on Jan 15, 2022 22:28:21 GMT
My current situation: Desktop internal drive has pse2021 and photos. I got for Christmas new version PSE 2022, new 5 tb external drive, new laptop
Where I'd like to go if possible:
I would like to store all my photos on an external drive and be able to run PSE2022 on either / both desktop and laptop, using the external. (for example, download pics to the external, then plug in external to either computer and run PSE 2022 with catalogs being current on both laptop and desktop regardless of computer used.)
Can I install PSE to the external, where the pics, catalog and program would reside?
Thanks
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Post by Sepiana on Jan 15, 2022 22:58:01 GMT
Hi Roger, glad to see you back here. Happy New Year! I also have PSE 2022 (on two computers) -- program + photos on internal drive, backed up to external drive. So, no much help from me. As you are a "heavy" user of the Organizer, I'm sending a PM to michelb . He has dealt with this scenario before and is better qualified to help you. Hang in there! Help is on the way. |
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Post by michelb on Jan 16, 2022 8:03:28 GMT
This is indeed a frequent use situation to share your photo library with the catalog on an external drive, and that's what I am doing myself. The only difference with your proposal is that you simply install the same PSE version on the two computers. You are allowed two 'activations', which means two physical computers authorized to use the PSE license; you don't need to buy a second license. The activation process (registering to the license servers) is managed from the menu 'Help >> Sign 'in process.
You simply install PSE twice with your license number. If you want to change one of the computers with a third one, you'll have to 'sign out' of the replaced computer same (menu Help) and sign in (enter the license key) from the same menu in the new computer. Anyway, you can't install the program itself on an external drive.
Once you have installed PSE twice, do a full backup and restore of your photo files library and catalog. Ideally, use a different external drive for the backup folder, but that would work with the same destination external drive provided you have twice the necessary backup space available.
Edit: Go to the Photoshop Elements Organizer 'resources' in this forum and scroll down to
Move Elements Organizer catalog.
As a result, you get a working copy (it's not reall a 'move', the original catalog folder and photos are still there and working) of your catalog and photos accessible to each computer immediately. The catalog folder is also restored on the same external drive. Just take care in Windows to assign the same drive letter to the external drive for both computers.
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Post by Sepiana on Jan 17, 2022 22:13:36 GMT
This is indeed a frequent use situation to share your photo library with the catalog on an external drive, and that's what I am doing myself. Michel, thanks for coming to the rescue of Roger S! Your prompt response to my PM is truly appreciated. I have PSE 2022 installed on two computers; I also have an external disk drive. I was thinking about a similar setup to the one you have. After reading this, I will pursue this route. Thanks! |
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Roger S
Junior Forum Member
Posts: 59
Open to constructive criticism of photos: Yes
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Post by Roger S on Jan 19, 2022 2:07:31 GMT
Michel, thanks so much for taking the time to help. Sorry, I'm a bit dense, trying to wrap my head around this. Please let me know if this is correct and if I'm missing any steps:
desktop computer:
desktop already has pse21 installed and 80k pics in catalog
Install pse22 to desktop computer
convert pse21 catalog using pse22
full backup using pse22 to external drive
do a restore using desktop pse22 to external drive
point pse22 desktop to external catalog
desktop done
Laptop:
install pse22 on laptop
point pse22 to external drive for catalog to use?
laptop done
Be sure both computers have the same drive letter assigned to the external?
Am I missing anything or misunderstanding the steps?
Getting ready to do this, last minute checkup.
Thanks again.
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Post by michelb on Jan 19, 2022 8:35:59 GMT
Two different and independent actions:
- moving the catalog and media files to the destination external drive via backup and restore - Installing PSE2022 on the desktop
You can start with any of them.
What about the catalog conversion?
If you first install PSE2022 on your desktop, at the end of the installation, you get a prompt to convert your current catalog and you are ready to work with the converted catalog from the desktop. Then you transfer (backup and restore) your updated catalog and media files to the destination external drive:
Details of the transfer: Use PSE2022 on the desktop to create a full backup folder on the external drive 'X'. Plug in both the 'X' backup drive and the destination external drive to the laptop Use PSE2022 in the laptop to 'restore' both the catalog and the media files from 'X' to the destination external drive.
The catalog is already converted and useable from either the desktop or laptop as soon as the destination external drive is plugged in.
If you start directly with the transfer from the desktop, the 'moved' catalog is not yet converted. The PSE2022 organizer still uses its empty catalog created when you installed PSE2022 on the laptop. So you have to use the 'convert' option of the catalog manager to convert the moved PSE2021 catalog folder to the new format. That converted catalog is then available to either the laptop or the desktop.
Tips: - In the restore step, you'll be asked to specify the external drive destination: don't restore on the root drive, create your own 'master' folder ('My Images' for instance) just under the root drive.
- if you miss the prompt to convert, you can start the conversion manually - In the organizer, the new catalog is shown under 'custom' location; you may have to navigate to the external drive to display it in the catalog list.
- In Windows, don't forget to check if the destination USB drive has the same drive letter. Better use Windows to assign a letter at the end of the alphabet to be protected against a letter changed by Windows itself. You won't be bothered by the installation of another device 'stealing' the letter...
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Roger S
Junior Forum Member
Posts: 59
Open to constructive criticism of photos: Yes
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Post by Roger S on Jan 22, 2022 1:34:33 GMT
Perfect Michelb, thank you very much.
Cheers,
Roger
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