How to delete images in Capture One Pro 7

February 7, 2013 by 3 Comments

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Often, one of the first tasks to do after importing images into Capture One Pro 7 is to delete those images that you don’t want to keep.  Doing so early in the workflow makes it easy to focus on the good images.

Capture One has always offered an easy and convenient trash concept when organizing images in a Session. When you delete an image from a Session, the image will be moved to the Session Trash folder.  You can always look in the Trash folder and move files back if you regret your deletion. You only delete the files for good if you use the option “Empty Session Trash”.

When organizing your images in a Catalog, Capture One Pro 7 has a similar concept for deleting images but it works a little different and is dependent on whether the original files are stored inside the Catalog or on an external location.

Deletion of images stored inside the Catalog

When working with images stored inside the Catalog, Capture One Pro 7 also provides an easy method of handling trashed images.  When you delete an image, it will be removed from the Catalog and added to the Trash Collection.

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As with a Session, you can look in the trash collection and move the files back into any other user collection or into the All Images Collection, if you regret your deletion. If you want to delete the images permanently from the Trash Collection, you can right click on the Catalog Trash and select the “Empty Catalog Trash”.

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When you delete an image, for instance from your Recent Imports Collection, you will get a warning telling you that the image will be removed from the Catalog and put into the Catalog Trash (as shown above).

Deletion of images stored outside the Catalog

When your original files are stored outside the Catalog, you will typically have organized the files into a structured folders system – e.g. by using year, month and event name in the folder names.  One of the benefits of using images stored outside the Catalog is that you don’t need to have access to your images in order to work and search within the Catalog (check out this previous post to learn more about storing your images outside the Catalog) This allows you to bring a smaller Catalog with you on the road more easily. Another benefit of using images stored externally, is that you can have different Catalogs referring to the same original file, while you have total freedom to adjust the image in different ways in different Catalogs.  For instance, you could create a Black and White Catalog, as well as a Catalog for Color versions of the same raw files.

When deleting an image that’s stored outside the Catalog, Capture One Pro 7 does not use the Catalog Trash but gives you 2 options.  You can either remove the image from the Catalog but leave it at its location or you can remove it from the Catalog and into the OS System Trash.  The first option makes sense if you have another Catalog that uses the same image folder.

Tip709-Img6Warning dialog when deleting a file where the raw image is stored outside of the Catalog

Deleting multiple images

Right after import, I typically browse through the Recent Import folder and delete all those images, I for sure don’t want to keep.  If I delete the files as I browse through them, I need to choose the deletion option for each image. To avoid this, I simply use the shortcut for tagging the images I don’t like with the Red color Tag (short cut “-“).  After sorting, I use the filter to show only the Red Tagged images. I quickly double-check that all the Red tagged images should be deleted before I select and delete them at once.

Tip709-Img7Red color tag has been used to tag images for deletion. The Filter tool is used to show the images with a red tag.

Removing from a Catalog Album

If you have organized your images into albums, and you decide that a specific image should not be part of that album later, you can remove the image.  When doing so, you do not remove it from the Catalog but just from the selected album. The file is still part of the Catalog and you won’t get a warning.

If you want to remove the file totally from the Catalog, you need to locate the file in the “All Images” Collection and delete it from there.

All the best,

Niels

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Preview Sizes and Offline Editing in Capture One Pro 7

January 31, 2013 by 2 Comments

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One of the great benefits of working with Catalogs in Capture One Pro 7 is the ability to work on your images – even when they are ‘offline’.

When you work with a Catalog in Capture One Pro 7, you can choose to store your original images inside the Catalog itself or you can store them at their existing location, for example on external hard drives.

The Catalog contains a preview image of every raw file in the Catalog, so even if you don’t have access to your storage media, you can still work with your image Catalog, edit metadata, organise it and even make visual adjustments.

Why do we use Previews in Capture One?

Every time an image is imported into a Catalog, Capture One Pro 7 creates an exact preview of the raw file and stores it within the Catalog.  Most operations in Capture One Pro 7 actually work with the preview, as it is much faster to use the smaller preview file than constantly having to read the much larger raw file.

Therefore, the images you see in the Browser and Viewer are the preview images. Capture One Pro 7 only needs to access the full raw file in order to show the image in the viewer if you need to view the image at 100% or if you work on a monitor with an extremely high resolution.  Capture One Pro 7 also does some smart caching, by reading images before and after the currently selected image thus making the shift to the next or previous image faster.

The preview will of course visually match the output image based on the adjustments made in Capture One Pro 7.

Preview Sizes in the Capture One Catalog

The size of the preview inside the Catalog file can be controlled by the Preferences Dialogue under the Image Tab.

prefs

By default, the preview size is set at 2560 pixels in Capture One Pro 7 while the preview size was only 1024 pixels in version 6. Because Capture One Pro 7 now uses a much smarter method for compressing the preview files, the new default preview at 2560 pixels takes up roughly the same space as the old preview at 1024 pixels in Capture One 6.

The new high resolution default preview in Capture One Pro 7 really gives you great benefits when you work with offline files. The 2560 pixels give such a high resolution that you may not notice that you are working with offline images. Typically, you can even zoom into the images to about 50% without missing details in the images.

If you are working a lot with your images offline, it makes sense to use a larger preview size. A large preview will increase loading times for previews in the application, but on more powerful computers this will be less noticeable. Larger preview image sizes will also increase the general size of the Catalog.

Catalog Size Comparison

The following table shows the Catalog size for different number of images and preview sizes for Canon 5D Mark III raw files placed outside the Catalog.

Nr. of images

1000

5000

10000

25000

%
RAW size( Gbyte)

28

140

280

700

100%
preview size = 2560 (default)

1.62

8.12

16.24

40.6

5.8%
preview size = 1440

0.53

2.63

5.26

13.15

1.9%
preview size = 1024

0.28

1.41

2.82

7.05

1.0%
preview size = 640

0.15

0.76

1.52

3.8

0.5%

From the table, you can see that using the default preview size at 2560 pixels only takes up 5.8% more space than the original raw files but you get such a nice and large preview file for working with offline files.  On the other hand, the Catalog will take up 40.6 Gbyte if you have added 25000 images.  So, if you find that the “offline” preview quality is good enough with 1440 or 1024 pixels, then your catalog can actually be considerably smaller.

Changing Preview Sizes

To change the preview size, simply select a new value in the pull down menu.

Any changes made here will only affect images imported after the change has been made.  The previews of existing images will have the size set in the preferences at the time of import.

If necessary, you can update existing images with a smaller or larger size preview by :

1. Choose the new preview size

  1. Select the images in the Catalog to be updated
  2. Go to File>Regenerate Previews.  The Activity Monitor will show the progress of the preview generation.

Existing previews will be replaced with the new preview size.  Subsequent imports will also be made with the new size.

This may be useful to do if you have in the past chosen a smaller preview size and would like the benefit of a larger preview size.

All the best,

Niels

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Adding Keywords in a Session or Catalog

January 24, 2013 by 41 Comments

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Keywords are a popular way to add metadata to images to aid in searching for relevant material at a later date.  Normally keywords describe the image itself, certain content or perhaps an emotion it conveys.

Keywords in any collection of images (a collection could be an Album or Smart Album, for example) are displayed in the Filters tool. The only keywords that are displayed are the ones that belong to that particular collection.  For example in this Album, we can see that 28 have no keywords at all, five images have the keyword Ice and 23 have the keyword Landscape.

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Keywords are added in the Metadata tool which can be found in the metadata tool tab. Keywords that already exist in a collection can easily be added to further images, simply with a drag-and-drop action.

Adding Keywords

To add multiple keywords to an image or collection of images, the easiest place to do this is in the Metadata tool.  Any image has the possibility to store a great deal of metadata, which can either be generated automatically, in the case of Camera EXIF data, or can be added by the user at a later date, following the metadata IPTC standard.

Keywords are added in the last section of the tool.

metadata

To add a keyword to a currently selected image simply click on the plus icon and enter the keyword into the text box.

meta data enter

To continue adding keywords to the same image on a Mac, hit Enter after each keyword to immediately add a new one.  Hit Tab to finish the keyword entry for a particular image. On Windows, you need to click the plus icon for each new keyword you want to add and use Tab to finish the keyword entry for a particular image.

Adding Keywords to Multiple Images

To add the same group of keywords to more than one image, use the Copy Settings button (indicated by the top circle) in the Metadata toolbar.

copy

For this particular image we can see that Rating and the Keywords will be copied when we click on the Copy button.

Next, select the other images that you would like to add the Keywords to, click the Copy Settings button once more.  If we don’t want to copy the Rating across to other images, we can simply uncheck it…

uncheck

Finally, click on Apply.

TIP – To avoid entering the Adjustments Clipboard dialogue, hold down the Option key (OS X) or Alt key (Win) to copy immediately or select the image with the master metadata and the images which you want to apply that too, and then Shift click the Copy Settings button.  The changes will be applied immediately!

Adding Keywords with Drag and Drop

To add a single keyword to one or more images really quickly, simply drag and drop those images onto the keyword in the Keyword section of the filters tool…

drag

You can use the No Keywords filter to help you see which images in a collection still need Keywords applied.

All the best,

Niels

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Powerful Gradient Masks with the Local Adjustments Tool

January 17, 2013 by 9 Comments

Gradient Masks 1

Capture One has had a Local Adjustments Tool since version 6, and in Capture One Pro 7, a number of improvements and new features have been added to make it even better.

One of these improvements is the new Gradient Mask cursor tool. By using this tool, you can easily create a Gradient Mask in an adjustment layer.

To create a Gradient Mask, you simply click in the image and drag the cursor in the direction of the desired mask:
-          The mask is at full intensity where you start
-          The mask is a 0 intensity where you let go

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The image to the left is straight out of the camera. It has been exposed to preserve detail in the sky, which has resulted in a very dark foreground. The image is a typical example of a shot where we, traditionally, would have used an optical gradient filter to create a better balance between the bright sky and the foreground.

If you shoot with a low noise camera, you can actually achieve even better results by using a Gradient Mask in a Local Adjustments layer. The image to the right shows the effect of correcting the image with the Local Adjustments tool by using the new Gradient Mask option.

I have created two adjustment layers for the image in this example. One for the foreground and one for the sky.

Choose-gradient

In the Local Adjustment tool tab and in the Local Adjustments layers tool you find the selector for the options: Draw Mask, Erase Mask but also the new Gradient Mask cursor tool.

Start by adding a new Adjustments layer by pressing the “+” button and choosing the Gradient Mask option in the selection drop down menu.

Drawing the foreground Gradient Mask

gradient-buttom

For the foreground mask I want a short gradient across the horizon.  This creates a mask that selects the foreground and smoothly fades out into the sky.  I draw the gradient mask by clicking with the mouse at the point in the image where I want the mask to be at full intensity. I then draw the mask with the mouse button kept down and let go at the point in the image where I want the mask to be at 0 intensity. Above in the image to the left, you can see the starting point and the end point for the foreground gradient mask. You can see the final foreground mask on the image to the right.

Applying corrections to the foreground mask

Gradient1-DONE

I now open up the dark foreground by adding exposure compensation to the mask.

Drawing the mask for the sky:

gradient-top

For the sky I want a gradient mask that creates a long smooth gradient all the way from the top of the sky down to the foreground. First, I add another Adjustments Layer named “Sky”. With the Gradient Mask hand tool I then draw the mask from the top of the image to a point a little below the horizon.

Applying adjustments to the mask for the sky

Gradient-final

I want to bring back detail and create a bit of drama in the sky. To accomplish that, I simply apply negative exposure compensation to the mask.

Just by using two simple masks with the new Gradient Mask tool, I was able to bring back a good balance between the sky and the foreground – thereby creating a much more interesting image. To add the finishing touches, I also added some minor adjustments to the basic layer of the image with the Exposure tool and the Clarity tool.

I hope this post has inspired you to play around with the new Gradient Mask tool.

All the best,

Niels

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Search and Filtering in a Session or Catalog

January 10, 2013 by 12 Comments

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Capture One Pro 7 introduced a much improved toolset for searching and filtering your images – not only in a Catalog but also in a Session.

By default, the Filters tool is placed in the Library tool tab, containing the basic filters of Rating, Color Tag, Date and Keywords.

Whenever you browse to a collection of images, the search filters show a corresponding number to the right, which represents how many images match those criteria. For example, in this collection we can see that twenty images are rated at five stars and ten images are tagged with Green.

IQP_SearchFiltering01

To filter the Browser view to a certain criteria, simply click on the button next to the value.  In this case, we have selected to show only the five star rated images.  The browser view will be instantly filtered.

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Combining Search Criteria

To activate more than one filter simultaneously, simply click on the filters you want to activate whilst holding the Option key (Mac) or the CTRL key (Win).  This will filter the results in the browser based on all the selected filters.

IQP_SearchFiltering03

So consequently, only images with a Green tag and a Five star rating will be shown in the Browser.

Using the ‘Date’ Filter

The Date Filter acts as a very useful timeline on a collection of images.  It is split into Year/Month/Day so it is very easy to locate images shot in a particular period.

IQP_SearchFiltering05

Here we have selected to view the seven images that were captures on the 17th March, 2012 – with just one click.

Adding Other Filters

Besides from the default set, a whole host of other filters can be used to search an image collection.  Click on the arrow in the Filters tool bar and choose Show / Hide Filters.

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This will show the complete list of available Metadata filters.

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Simply check any of the boxes to make them available in the Filters tool.

Saving Searches as Albums

It is very simple to save a search using the filters as an Album or Smart Album.  Whenever there is an active filter, the Advanced Search option in the Filters tool search input bar is colored orange.  Clicking this will show the currently selected search criteria in the Advanced Search window.

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To save this as an Album (of the filtered images) or a Smart Album (of the current criteria) use one of the options in the window. The Album or Smart Album will then appear in the User Collections as shown below:

smartalbum

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Exporting Original Files from Catalogs in Capture One Pro 7

December 13, 2012 by 9 Comments

w50-IQP-main_crIn some situations you may wish to export a raw image file that have been adjusted from a Catalog.

This could be to:
-  Import the image into another Catalog database
-  To continue working on the file on another computer
-  To send the raw file to another person for further adjustments

When working within a Catalog in Capture One Pro 7, adjustments for each image are stored within the Catalog database and not in image sidecar files. To get the original image file with it’s adjustments, you therefore need to use the Export Originals option.

A raw file with adjustments can then be imported normally via the Import Images menu.

Step 1: Exporting the raw file with adjustments

When you have finished your adjustments on one or more images in Capture One Pro 7, choose File>Export>Originals.

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The following Export dialogue will then appear:

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Simply choose a location under Store Files and make sure the Include Adjustments box is checked.

When the export has completed, the raw file will be exported alongside an additional folder called CaptureOne.  The Settings70 folder contains all the necessary information for Capture One to apply the adjustments made to the file before the export.

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Step 2: Importing the raw file with adjustments

When you are ready to import the image again, open the Import Dialogue, choose the location of your exported originals and make sure the Include Existing Adjustments box is checked as shown below.

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When the import process has completed, the raw file will show in Capture One Pro with the adjustments.

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Remember, you can also do this with batches of multiple images to speed up your workflow.

All the best,

Niels

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Capture One Pro 7’s Improved Local Adjustments Tool

December 6, 2012 by Leave a comment

Tip704 Img1 full

The Local Adjustments tool in Capture One Pro 7 has been improved on a number of parameters giving you better corrections and more precise control.

These improvements cover:

  • Additional adjustment layers (a total of 10)
  • Greatly improved brush drawing speed
  • Brush opacity setting
  • Support for tablet pen pressure
  • Gradient masks
  • Auto masks
  • A new layout for simulating the brush size and hardness of the cursor tool

Tip704 Img2 675The image to the left is without any adjustments. Even though the sun strikes the yellow leaf, it is a kind of diffused sunlight and the scene looks quite flat. The image on the right was edited in Capture One Pro 7 using the improved Local Adjustments Tool. The tool was used to emphasize the stroke of sunlight, to draw attention to the contrast between the yellow leaf and the surrounding brown leaves.

New brush cursor tool

Tip704-img3-full_circles

The new brush now has two rings for easier indication of the size and hardness. The inner ring indicates where the brush is at 50% of its maximum intensity. The outer ring indicates where the brush intensity is less than 2%. In the example above, you will notice that all three strokes have been done with the same size brush and only the hardness of has been changed. You will also notice that the inner ring is the same size for all 3.

Tip704-img4-full_circles

Capture One Pro 7 now also comes with an extra control option that makes switching between working in an adjustments layer in the Adjustments Tool Tab and working in the background layer in any of the other Tool Tabs easier.

In the screen dump above we see that the “Adjust Selected Layer” option is selected for the Exposure Tool in the Local Adjustments Tool Tab. We also see a small brush icon next to the tool label, which indicates that this option is turned on. All tools in the Local Adjustments Tool Tab will have this option turned on by default, and all tools in other tool tabs will have this turned off by default.

This way you can easily switch from the Local Adjustments Tool Tab to any other tool tab and ensure that the adjustments you do there only affects the background layer.

All the best,

Niels

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Amazing Highlight Recovery with Capture One Pro 7

November 29, 2012 by 3 Comments

In Capture One Pro 7, we have introduced a new processing engine improving the image quality on a number of different parameters such as the way the software now deals with extreme highlights and data close to being clipped.

These aspects have been dramatically improved and now have:

  • Larger range for how much overexposure that can be recovered
  • Color precision is greatly improved in recovered areas
  • Much smoother transition to clipped data
  • More detail in the highlight areas

JPG                                                                Capture One Pro 6                                Capture One Pro 7

The image above shows three different versions of the same shot. The left side image is the JPG that was generated in the camera. The center image is the result of recovering highlights in the raw file using Capture One Pro 6. The image to the right is the same raw file but now processed in Capture One Pro 7.

Using Capture One Pro 7 it was possible to recover almost all the detail and color tones in the overexposed areas of the swan by using only the Highlight slider in the High Dynamic Range tool.

Visit the blog to see more examples of the improved ability to recover highlights

Below is another example of the new and improved processing engine’s ability to recover color and detail by using Capture One Pro 7 on a raw landscape image.

JPG                                                                Capture One Pro 6                                 Capture One Pro 7

With the JPG file, it is not possible to recover any color and detail in the sky. By processing the raw file in Capture One Pro 6, you can recover most of the sky, but the color information is wrong and the missing color information will show with hard transitions. With Capture One Pro 7 however, it is possible to recover both the detail in the clouds and the color of the blue sky in a natural and pleasing way.

For both raw files, the High Dynamic Range tool was used to recover the highlight detail. Some global saturation was also added.

When shooting landscape images using natural light, it can sometimes be quite challenging to control the highlights as you cannot control the light source. And even when you can control the light, you may still need the ability to recover highlights.

Many of us have tried shooting a portrait in the studio only to misadjust the flash just as the expression was just perfect, like in the example below.

Raw file – way overexposed                                                     Capture One Pro 6 recovery

This image is totally overexposed due to a human error with the flash and even though Capture One Pro 6 can recover a majority of the image, it will still require many hours of retouching to save it.

However, with Capture One Pro 7 it is possible to recover all the highlight detail.  The image above has only been adjusted by using the Exposure tool globally as well as the Exposure tool in a Local Adjustments mask in Capture One Pro 7.

All the best,

Niels

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Catalogs – Working with Managed or Referenced Image Files

November 22, 2012 by 9 Comments

In last week’s tip, I talked about the different ways of storing images in Capture One Pro 7 with either Sessions or Catalogs and the advantages of both.

This week, I will concentrate fully on Catalogs and the two different methods of storing images. These are:

  • Fully Managed Image Files (inside Catalog)
  • Referenced Image Files (current location)

Managed files are images that are stored inside the Catalog file. Referenced image files are those which exist outside of the Catalog file.

When you create a new and empty Catalog in Capture One Pro 7, regardless of whether you choose to have Managed or Referenced images, a Catalog file must be created.

Choosing ‘New Catalog’ in the file menu of Capture One Pro 7 will open this dialogue:

Here, you can choose a name for the Catalog and where it should be stored. By default, it is placed in the ‘Pictures’ folder on a Mac and in the ‘My Pictures’ folder on a PC, but you can specify any location.

The Catalog file is essentially the database for your image collection. It tracks the location of images and holds information about them – for example, metadata and adjustment settings. If you use Fully Managed Image Files then they will also be stored in this Catalog file. Once created it will appear like this:

Opening a Catalog in Capture One Pro 7 is easy – just double-click on it. You can also have several Catalogs open at once, if you wish.

Once you have set up your Catalog, you can now decide whether to use Fully Managed or Referenced images, or perhaps even a combination of both.

Importing into the Catalog.

For your Catalog to recognize an image, it must be imported into it, via the Import dialog. This ensures the database is kept up-to-date and Capture One Pro 7 knows how to locate the files. It is within the Import dialog that you can choose to have Managed or Referenced image files.

In the ‘Import To’ section of the Import dialogue, choosing ‘Inside Catalog’ will copy and place the images directly inside the Catalog file. These are Fully Managed Image Files.

Choosing ‘Current Location’ will leave the image files where they are. These are Referenced Image Files.

The ‘Choose Folder’ option is useful for importing images from a memory card and copying them to another chosen storage area. These would also be Referenced Image Files as they exist outside the Catalog file.

Fully Managed Image Files

A Catalog with Fully Managed Image Files is very simple to organize and maintain as you don’t have to think about where to place or store the images. The Catalog takes care of that!

Even though the original files are stored insidethe Catalog file, they are not inaccessible or completely hidden from view. In the Mac OSX Finder, right-click on the Catalog file and choose ‘Show Package Contents’.

The following secondary window will appear:

This shows that your original files are stored safely in the folder marked ‘Originals’ and organized by year / month and date imported into Capture One Pro 7.

However!  Making any changes into this structure will render the Catalog unreadable or damaged.

A Catalog with Fully Managed Image Files is very easy to backup, as it is simply one file to duplicate and sharing is also quite simple! If multiple users have access to the Catalog then simple mechanisms are in place to prevent damage.

As opening a Catalog in Capture One Pro 7 is like opening a document, you could have different Catalogs for different clients, or even types of photography. Remember though, that any search and filtering would be limited to the currently open Catalog.

Referenced Image Files

If you prefer to store your image files outside of the Catalog file, on any other storage device, then your images will be Referenced Image Files. This way you can also retain an existing folder structure.

Therefore, the images will not be copied and moved inside the Catalog file but remain in their existing location, or another location if you chose to do so in the Import Window.

Using this method means you have no limitation on your storage as you can place the image on very large external devices (for example a RAID or other kind of server) or even across multiple storage devices.

Remember also that the Catalog file and images don’t have to be on the same location. Therefore the Catalog file can be placed on your laptop while the images are on your external storage.

The Catalog file holds a large high-quality Preview of every image in your database so you can still browse your entire Catalog even when you don’t have access to the external storage.

You can even make image adjustments, edit metadata, and change the virtual organization!

Using the Folders area in the Library tool

The location of referenced images is shown in the Folders area of the Library Tool and can be managed here. By default, only the root of the storage and final folder location are shown. To see the complete hierarchy, right click in the Folders area and choose, ‘Show Folders Hierarchy’. This will reveal the complete path from the storage to the imported folder.

Here, you can also add a Folder to the system, by clicking on the ‘+’ icon for the Catalog to recognize. This is not a facility to add images to the catalog (the Import dialogue must always be used for that) but for making a new empty folder to move images too.

Images can easily be dragged and dropped between folders, but make sure you do this within Capture One Pro 7 to keep the Catalog database aware of the changes.

Combining Managed and Referenced Image Files

Your Catalog can also contain a combination of managed and referenced files. If your Catalog is comprised of referenced image files but you would like to go ‘on the road’ with the full raw data then simply drag and drop any images onto the Catalog icon in the Folders area. In the example below, it will move the file from the external storage to the catalog file itself.

Images can also be moved in the same way from the Catalog back to a storage location.

This is another good reason why you might want to add a new folder in the Folders area. For example you can shoot tethered on location into the Catalog file itself and then move these images to your external storage when you are back in the studio or office.

All the best,

Niels

Other Resources

Phase One’s YouTube Channel has plenty of videos on the subject of Catalogs.

Offline Browsing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IgzqVLtuoE

Catalogs In-depth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1uj5ytvklo

Working with Referenced Images
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfJHSizFcyE

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Take control of your image organization with Sessions or Catalogs

November 15, 2012 by 14 Comments

When working in Capture One Pro 7 you now have 2 different methods of organizing your images and image adjustments:

  1. Sessions
  2. Catalogs

In previous generations of Capture One, you have only had the option of using Sessions, but with the introduction of Capture One Pro 7, you now also have the possibility of using Catalogs for organizing your images.

Why the two different methods?

Capture One originally started out as a RAW studio capture and workflow solution where you would always shoot tethered. The Sessions approach to organizing your work is specifically designed to meet the needs of such a workflow.

If you create a new session for each new job, Capture One will automatically create a folder structure to hold all the items for that shoot including RAW files, image adjustments, previews as well as an output folder for the processed images. At the end of a shoot, the Session folder will contain everything and can easily be moved from the computer in the studio to another computer for further editing or more permanent archiving.

Catalogs are the new organizing alternative in Capture One Pro 7. Catalogs have been designed to meet the needs of photography professionals and enthusiasts who shoot a lot of different images and want to easily search among a large number of images.  Catalogs also provide effective tools for organizing images into Projects and Albums based on themes, projects, specific customers etc. or for easier showcasing of for instance, a portfolio.

Catalogs in Capture One Pro 7 are very flexible and they even come with a great feature enabling you to display and edit files saved on file servers or external hard drives that may not be accessible at all times. This unique feature allows you to travel with a large Catalog, view the images and perform adjustments even though the images are archived on a hard drive at your home or your studio.

Below, you will find an overview of the advantages and challenges of using the different methods of organizing your images in Capture One Pro 7.

1)  You create a new Session for each new job / project

Advantages:

  • All inclusive folder structure for easy archiving.
  • All inclusive folder structure that can easily be moved to other computers including all adjustments and previews.
  • Automatic Capture Folder for collecting tethered captures.
  • Automatic Output Folder for the processed images.
  • The Trash Folder and Selects Folder allow you to easily nail down the important images.
  • No risk of mixing images from different shoots or clients.
  • Full search capability among images in a Session.
  • Easily move single images to another computer including adjustments by using the .EIP format.

Limitations:

  • No search capability between images in different Sessions
2) You use the Default Session and just browse to where ever you have placed your raw files

Advantages:

  • You can place your images in whatever file structure that works for you.
  • You can always move your image folders to other locations and they will still contain all adjustments and previews for Capture One.
  • You don’t need to know all the details of how a Session works.

Limitations:

  • No full search capability as only the images in the Session Folders or Session Favorite Folders can be searched and filtered.
  • Capture One generates subfolders in all the folders you are using to hold the adjustments and the previews. This can be confusing when looking through the file system.
  • Processed images will always be added to the default Session Output Folder.
  • You don’t really take advantage of the Sessions concept.
  • Your Session Trash Folder and Output Folder may contain images from different clients.
3) You use Catalogs to organize your images

Advantages:

  • No restrictions on where to place your raw files.
  • Raw files can even be placed on slow network drives with minimum impact on performance as previews and settings are kept inside the Catalog.
  • The Catalog database automatically keeps track of the location of all the images in the Catalog.
  • Full search capability among all the images in a Catalog.
  • Powerful organization possibilities let you organize your images into Projects, Groups and Albums.
  • Use Smart Albums when organizing images according to specific criteria.  These albums are always updated as a result of a filtering process.
  • View and edit files even though they are physically located on an inaccessible or offline device.
  • If placed on a shared drive, a Catalog can be viewed by several people on different computers and only be changed by one person at the same time.
  • The folder for processed images can be placed anywhere.

Limitations:

  • All images have to be imported in order for the Catalog to register the images, the physical location and to generate preview files.
  • Deleting images is not as straightforward as in a Session. If you delete an image in an album, you just remove the reference to that image in that album. Remember that the same image can be referenced in multiple albums.
  • Moving a few images to another computer including their settings requires an Export of the originals which will copy the files to an Export Folder including the settings and previews. This folder can then be moved to the other computer.

In future tips on the blog, I will dig deeper into each of the 3 methods of organizing images.

All the best,

Niels

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Filed under Capture One Tips & Tricks, Capture One Workflow Tagged with , , , , ,

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