Why can't I "Scan to Catalog..."?

[davidgordon]

I want to update my catalogue to reflect my hard drive. There's a new folder of images I want in to see Photo Mechanic +.

So, Scan to Catalog..., make sure the folder is listed in "Folders to Scan". But no, the folder never appears in the Browse tab. I've also tried "Catalog Sync", quick and full. Still no luck.

The catalogue is set to "Add/Modify", so that's not my problem. What is?!

[Kirk Baker]

David,

I want to update my catalogue to reflect my hard drive. There's a new folder of images I want in to see Photo Mechanic +.

So, Scan to Catalog..., make sure the folder is listed in "Folders to Scan". But no, the folder never appears in the Browse tab. I've also tried "Catalog Sync", quick and full. Still no luck.

The catalogue is set to "Add/Modify", so that's not my problem. What is?!

Are the images themselves making it into the catalog?

-Kirk

[davidgordon]

Are the images themselves making it into the catalog?

Eventually! I persisted over the course of the day. Eventually the images I expected to see have appeared. But I did have to try a few times using 'Scan to Catalog' and 'Catalog Sync'. How they eventually appeared I'm not sure. Obviously I need to understand better your thinking and my workflow. I have been reading the relevant pages at https://docs.camerabits.com/support/solutions/48000450977

In my filesystem some images were added, some moved and some removed. I'd like PM+ to reflect that and need a workflow to do so. A 'Full' Catalog Sync takes hours but that appear the only way to identify deleted files.

Having done a Full Catalog Sync I can still see the deleted (from filesystem) folders and images in PM+. I'm used to Lightroom's 'Synchronise' which - on a folder by folder basis - will add and delete files to reflect my hard drive with a single click.

What would be the best way to replicate this workflow in PM+ ?

Thanks!

[davidgordon]

Further to my post above. I've set a Catalog Sync running.  Following to the instructions at https://docs.camerabits.com/support/solutions/articles/48001161171-catalog-sync I have included a single folder I want to update. My reading of this is the sync will update the folder/s in the list. But that's not what's happening. It's been over an hour and as far as I can tell from the sync status and full Full Catalog Sync of every folder is taking place. My experience from yesterday is this will take a few hours and not actually synchronise my catalogue with my filesystem.

I maybe misunderstanding the instructions and PM+ can't easily update a catalogue: perhaps someone can share their own workflow.

[Kirk Baker]

David,

Further to my post above. I've set a Catalog Sync running.  Following to the instructions at https://docs.camerabits.com/support/solutions/articles/48001161171-catalog-sync I have included a single folder I want to update. My reading of this is the sync will update the folder/s in the list. But that's not what's happening. It's been over an hour and as far as I can tell from the sync status and full Full Catalog Sync of every folder is taking place. My experience from yesterday is this will take a few hours and not actually synchronise my catalogue with my filesystem.

In the "Folders to Include in Sync" section, did you click the "Include Existing Paths from Catalog" button?  If so, it's going to scan all of the folders.

Also, if all you're wanting is to find new images in the folders being synchronized, a Quick mode Catalog Sync will do that much faster.

-Kirk

[davidgordon]

In the "Folders to Include in Sync" section, did you click the "Include Existing Paths from Catalog" button?  If so, it's going to scan all of the folders.

No, I had a single folder listed in that window. But that doesn't mean PM+ is only paying attention to that folder, it may only look for new images in the specific folders, but it's looking for missing files and updating metadata for the whole catalogue. My assumption was specifying a folder would limit the sync to that folder.

Also, if all you're wanting is to find new images in the folders being synchronized, a Quick mode Catalog Sync will do that much faster.

Appreciate that but I also want to remove files from the PM+ catalogue which removed from the filesystem and or moved elsewhere.

Thanks again.

[DavidHoffmanuk]

I've often (but randomly) found that adding photographs to the catalog and/or to a collection appears not to work at all. Repeating the action sometimes does the trick but it's not been unusual for the import or the numbers shown for a collection not to finalise until the following day. I have plenty of RAM & disk space.

Activity Monitor (Mac) generally shows around 100% for one of the pm-tasks when this happens and is an indication that PM+ will eventually catch up.

I have a suspicion that repeating the action when it seems not to have started may make things even slower.

David Hoffman

[davidgordon]

Thanks David, I hadn't thought to have a look in Activity Monitor. I've been looking at the Scan to Catalog dialog which stays open while working and reports the percentage of completion.

I think my main moan is that I can't update/add/delete to PM+ in a single step for a single folder as in Lightroom.

[bildbaendiger]

My experience is that it is best to select "Include when scanning to catalog" for the folder that I know contains new images. (even if the folder has already been imported into the catalog). So I can be sure that all new images are imported. If I choose only Quick Sync I have the same problem that new images are not always detected. (I think the problem has improved with the latest versions).
I often forget that deleted pictures (in Finder or Explorer) are not automatically removed from the catalog. I have to do this in another step by selecting them in the Collection (Automatic Collections to Create must be on) and remove them. Perhaps this needs to be displayed more clearly, as many expect automatic removing with the term "Sync".

Greetings
Thomas

[gand]

Hi
When I select "Catalog Sync" for a subfolder, it seems that the entire folder will be scanned, so instead of 3000 images, the entire folder with 65,000 will be scanned. It's going to take a really long time.

Is this by purpose? I only have one folder chosen in "Folders to Include in Sync"

Thanks
Gert

[Kirk Baker]

Gert,

When I select "Catalog Sync" for a subfolder, it seems that the entire folder will be scanned, so instead of 3000 images, the entire folder with 65,000 will be scanned. It's going to take a really long time.

Is this by purpose? I only have one folder chosen in "Folders to Include in Sync"

All scanning is recursive, meaning a folder and its subfolders will be scanned.

If you want to only include the images in a folder and none of its subfolders, then you can open the folder as a Contact Sheet, select all, and then add them to your Catalog directly.

-Kirk

[gand]

Hi Kirk

Thanks for your response.

On last question, if I fill in the "Folders to include in Sync" with a subfolder the main folder will also be included. If I only want the subfolder to be scanned(not the main folder), how do I do that? If the main folder also is scanned, what is the purpose of "Folders to include in Sync" then?

Thanks for your support

Gert

[ahoward]

Hi Kirk

Thanks for your response.

On last question, if I fill in the "Folders to include in Sync" with a subfolder the main folder will also be included. If I only want the subfolder to be scanned(not the main folder), how do I do that? If the main folder also is scanned, what is the purpose of "Folders to include in Sync" then?

Thanks for your support

Gert

I just attempted this and was unable to reproduce. Just to clarify, you are saying that files that are stored in the "My Pictures" folder are ending up in your catalog even though your Sync is set to only scan the 2015 folder?

[Kirk Baker]

Gert,

On last question, if I fill in the "Folders to include in Sync" with a subfolder the main folder will also be included. If I only want the subfolder to be scanned(not the main folder), how do I do that? If the main folder also is scanned, what is the purpose of "Folders to include in Sync" then?

Use Scan to Catalog instead.  It will only scan what you tell it to scan.  Catalog Sync is going to look through all of the folders you've already added to the catalog in addition to the "Folders to include in Sync".

https://docs.camerabits.com/support/solutions/articles/48001157493-scan-to-catalog
https://docs.camerabits.com/support/solutions/articles/48001161171-catalog-sync

-Kirk