photodoc16

Los Hogos,
I am new to LR but have made organizational progress. I have begun to wonder if I can move an image that is in Elements into LR or directly into PS for further editing and printing.
Muchas gracias,
Photodoc16

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Inside LR, go to the File menu and select import / migrate (depends on version) from the PS Element Catalog. This transfers the pointers to the image file locations into LR.

The LR catalog should become your 'master' catalog and digital management tool. Import your ongoing (new) images into LR and then use PS (or PSE) only for editing as external editors from LR. LR is your first step to all image actions, exiting images before LR and from this point onward.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Elements and Lightroom have separate catalogs. To use an image in Lightroom which was already imported into the Elements database you will have to import it again using a transfer as per CHG_CANON. Just to be certain, do you understand that images, whether imported into Elements or Lightroom, are not in the program itself? The Elements and Lightroom databases just contains pointers to the current location of your images. Since image files don't need to be imported to use Photoshop you can open any of them directly in it.

Cany143 Loc: SE Utah

At the risk of sounding....... whatever......... the sooner that new-ish users learn that an image is not 'in' Lr or Ps or PsE or whatever other editing application they might be using, the better. The image (however it may be graphically expressed [raw, dng, jpg, tif, etc.]), it is in whatever folder or on whatever drive it has been placed.

That image (or file, or folder) can be imported into Lr (and thus into a Lr Catalog, etc), but it still resides where ever it has been placed.

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

Hi. Most often the LrC (Lightroom Classic) catalog is the main software and workspace used and Elements or PS or any other software programs are secondary and are accessed through LrC. Here is how I use LrC and other software programs. I "download" from a card into LrC, which actually only links up the images to LrC but does place the images on my external hard drive where I have directed LrC to place them. I choose an image, process that image to the extent I am happy with in LrC, and then from LrC I use, most often, PS to further process the image. I do this by choosing the image, hitting the (mac) Command + E keys which opens up a new copy of the file in PS (or the program of my choice, i.e., Topaz, Nik, etc.). I process the image further in that software, continuing with the example of using PS, and hit the Command + S key to save the image, then the Command + W key to return the completed image to LrC. Everything starts and ends with LrC. There are many ways to work with all of these programs but I always look for the easiest way to do things. You might consider reading up on LrC by accessing the Help Manual at the Adobe website.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Lightroom is a catalog-based system. If you wish to view and edit an image that is on your computer or a camera/memory card, you'll need to import it into the catalog before Lightroom will recognize it.

Lightroom has a catalog import tool with 4 different actions. Copy, which will make a copy of a file on another storage device or in another location on your computer to a new location that you specify, and leaves the original file where it is. Move, which moves the file from one place to another, deleting it at the original location, Add, which adds the file to the catalog without moving it or copying it, and Copy as DNG, which copies the image to a new location and converts it to dng, leaving the source file in its original location.

Elements has a catalog as well, but I am not familiar with it's operation. I suspect it is not as thorough a solution as Lightroom's catalog.

If you have Lightroom, you'll save a lot of time down the road if you learn how to use it.

photodoc16

Thank you one and all,
I have spent a lot of time reading many sources about LR and how it functions. I do know that images are on my hard drive and that any catalog just represents what is on the drive. However, the practicalities of moving an image or group of images into PS from Elements does have me a bit confused and I have not read any info about just how to do it. I get the impression that I could migrate the entire Elements catalog into LR which I do not think I want to do since there are so few images I would want to reprocess in PS.
I will continue to read and ask questions and, hopefully soon, will be conversant with the LR/PS world.
Photodoc16