Quick summary

Imagen can't read your Lightroom Classic catalog while Lightroom Classic is open or the catalog is locked.

How to fix this

Step 1: Close Lightroom Classic completely

Lightroom Classic has to be fully closed, not just minimized or with its window closed.

• Mac: Click Lightroom Classic in the Dock, and press Cmd+Q. Clicking the red X only closes the window.
• Windows: In Lightroom Classic, go to File › Exit. Clicking the X isn't enough.

Step 2: Make sure Lightroom Classic isn't running in the background

• Mac: Open Activity Monitor, and search for "Lightroom". If it appears, select it, and click Force Quit.
• Windows: Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager. If you see Lightroom, select it, and click End task.

Step 3: Try again

Go back to Imagen, and create the project again.

Still seeing the error?

If Lightroom Classic crashed, it can leave the catalog locked. Try this:

1. Open Lightroom Classic, open your catalog, and then close Lightroom Classic completely (Step 1). This clears most locks. Try again.
2. If the error continues, make sure Lightroom Classic is closed, and open the folder with your catalog (the .lrcat file) in Finder (Mac) or File Explorer (Windows).
3. Delete the file named [catalog name].lrcat.lock. Don't delete files ending in -wal or -shm. They can hold recent changes that Lightroom Classic hasn't saved to the catalog yet.
4. Try again.

For more information, see this Adobe guide. If the error continues, ask our team.