Import photos from Photoshop Elements

Lightroom detects if your computer has a Photoshop Elements catalog and can import photos and data from the PSE catalog into a new Lightroom catalog. Lightroom imports photos and data from Photoshop Elements 6 through Elements 9 on Windows. Lightroom imports photos and data from Photoshop Elements 9 on Mac OS.

See Going from Photoshop Elements to Lightroom on Adobe TV for tutorials on transitioning from PSE to Lightroom and understanding the differences between the applications.

Note: See the Adobe Support article Lightroom 3 cannot upgrade Photoshop Elements catalogs (cpsid_85517) for help troubleshooting errors or problems when importing PSE catalogs into Lightroom. Lightroom 3.x does not import PSE 10 catalogs.
  1. In the Library module, choose File > Upgrade Photoshop Elements Catalog.

    The Upgrade Photoshop Elements Catalog dialog box displays the most recently opened Photoshop Elements 6 (PSE6), Photoshop Elements 7 (PSE7), or Photoshop Elements 8 (PSE8), or Photoshop Elements 9 (PSE9) catalog.

  2. To choose a different PSE catalog, click the Photoshop Elements drop-down menu.
  3. To change the destination of the new Lightroom catalog, click Change and navigate to a different folder.
  4. Click Upgrade to import the PSE catalog into a new Lightroom catalog.
Note: For a tutorial on importing from an iPhoto® library, see Getting your iPhoto images to Adobe Photoshop Lightroom by David Marx or Moving from iPhoto to Lightroom 3 by Matt Kloskowski.