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How to switch catalog from an internal to an external HD

Jay Pegg
I have inadvertently imported my images to a catolog on my internal HD instead of my external HD. I used the finder to drag the catalog from the internal to external HD. The images are still referenced to the internal drive. How do I reference them to the external HD. I haven't deleted the catalog on the internal HD. Cheers, jp
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Comments

6 comments

Date Votes
  • Ario
    Moving the catalog does not move the referenced files which you have to move independently, preferably using the CO folder management so that the catalog will be aware of the change.
    Alternatively you can move the original files using the OS tools but in this case you have to instruct CO to reconnect to the files in the new location.
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  • andreasbentzen
    While it's true that you have to relocate referenced files if you move them (unlike Aperture, CO does not automatically link to the new location if you drag a file somewhere else), you don't need to re-locate every single file. As long as you keep your folder structure intact, you only have to re-locate the top folder in the hierarchy.

    Go to the Folders panel and right click. Make sure you have "Show Folders Hierarchy" (which, confusingly, means you should see "Hide Folders Hierarchy" when you right click). Then, go to the top level of your image hierarchy and right click again. Select "Locate.." and navigate to the new location. All files under this folder and its subfolders should then be automatically referenced to the new location.

    Cheers,
    Andreas
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  • Jay Pegg
    Thank you Ario and Andreas.
    There do not seem to be any folders in the Folders Panel. I right-clicked on the Folders Panel and it shows "Hide Folders Hierarchy." I'm not sure of your reference to "image hierarchy." I have "All Images" and "Recent Imports" at the top of my Side Bar. If I right-click on either of these the "locate" option is greyed out

    Your advice seems simple enough . Here is my situation explained in more detail. I have been on location and processed my images using CO7 on my lap top. I then saved each day's images to a folder on an external HD. When I got back home I transferred the images from the HD to my iMac. I opened a new catalog and imported the images from the external HD, filing each day's folder as an Album under User Collections. This worked out very well except in a couple of imports where I had the location in the import panel set to the internal HD rather than my external HD. I keep all my images on an external drive.

    Cheers,
    Peter
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  • andreasbentzen
    That's a typo on my part, I meant "folder hierarchy", not "image hierarchy".

    If you have no folders under "Folders" it's sound like your working with the files organized inside the catalog? Sorry, not sure I understand then. As far as I understand, if you import the files to somewhere other than the catalog, you should be able to browse the location under the "Folder" section as mentioned in my other post.

    Cheers,
    Andreas
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  • sizzlingbadger
    Just copy the catalog to the external drive and then double click on it to open it.

    It doesn't matter if you are using referenced or internal master files.
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  • andreasbentzen
    I believe OP's issue is inadvertently importing images to the internal HD rather than his preferred external HD, and how to move these.

    Cheers,
    Andreas
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