Copy collections between catalogs

If you keep more than one catalog, you can copy or move a collection or a collection set from one to another. The photos’ files are not copied. The other catalog just points at the same files.

Copy or move a collection

1. Open the other catalog too (File › Open Catalog…), so both are open.
2. In the Collections section of the left panel, right-click the collection or set.
3. Choose Copy to Catalog or Move to Catalog, then pick the target catalog.

With no other catalog open, both entries are gray and say “Open another catalog first”.

Move to Catalog asks first. It copies the collection to the other catalog, then deletes the collection from this one. The photos themselves stay in this catalog.

The status bar reports what was added.

What arrives

• The collection keeps its name, its order and, for a set, its nesting. If the target already has one with that name, the new one is named with “ (2)” added.
• A photo the target already has (the same file path) is linked as it is: the target’s own rating, label and edits win.
• A photo new to the target is added with its rating, flag, color label, caption, keywords and edits. The latest edits travel, even those not yet saved.
• A virtual copy attaches to the target’s photo of the same file, or becomes a photo of its own if there isn’t one.
• Stacks and the Quick Collection do not travel.

An AI-prepared RAW (denoise) is prepared again in the target when you open it there.

Technical details: matching by path

Each catalog is a separate database, and photos have different ids in each. A transfer matches photos by file path.