Editorial photos just serve as an illustration to a story in a paper or magazine. For example, a news story in a paper or magazine about a fashion show with pictures from the fashion show.
Catalogue is high volume, studio shooting with very stringent constraints including subject to image ratios, lighting ratios and about six to ten different poses, assigned to each model/clothing combination by the catalogues art director.
Editorial is based upon some kind of theme and must be shot to capture the eye and imagination of the eventual viewer … the buyer of the magazine. By its nature, it is much more creative and requires the photographer to be very experienced … it is not unusual to find editorial fashion photographers with fifteen to twenty years experience.
The photographers who shoot editorial (fashion or other), usually have many years of field assignment experience and indeed may have never shot any catalogue work.
Catalogue work does not require long experience as a photographer and is in fact one of the areas of photography a new photographer may find themselves working when they first graduate from photo school. This kind of work can become mind numbing after about six months.
Editorial photos just serve as an illustration to a story in a paper or magazine. For example, a news story in a paper or magazine about a fashion show with pictures from the fashion show.
Catalogue photos are aimed at selling something.