Get better organized when using Sessions in Capture One Pro 7

May 16, 2013 by Leave a comment

Tip716 Img1 1600When working in Capture One 7 Pro, you basically have two different methods of organizing your images and image adjustments. You can use either:

Catalogs or Sessions

A session is an easy, straightforward and efficient way of organizing your images, as all files, adjustments and metadata are kept inside the Session folder. This method makes it easy to archive or move your data to another computer, by simply moving the entire Session folder.

Read more about the difference between Catalogs and Sessions as well as the benefits of using each

When creating a new Session, a simple folder structure, including some basic predefined folders, will be created for you:

Capture folder
Selects folder
Trash folder
Output folder

A Session folder will, by default, have a Capture folder, which is the default location for saving files when shooting tethered or when importing from a memory card.

The Selects folder is a default folder ready for holding selected images from the Session. The keyboard shortcut Cmd + J (Mac) or Ctrl + J (PC) will automatically move selected files to the Selects folder.

The Trash folder will hold all deleted images. Whenever you delete an image from the session, the image and its adjustments will simply be moved to the Session Trash folder.  You can always go into the Trash folder and move any deleted files, including their adjustments, back to the original folder with a simple drag and drop. The Output folder is where all the processed image files are saved by default.


Create a Session for each job

It’s generally a good idea to create a new Session for every new job you have.  This way you never mix up images from different jobs or different clients.  You can easily switch between Sessions in Capture One 7 Pro. To do so, simply use the dropdown Session selector on the Library Tool tab or locate the Session you want to open in the Finder and double-click on the “.cosessiondb “ file (located within the Session folder).

The default Session gives you a basic Session workflow, but often you will need to add more Session folders in order to better organize your images.


How to add more folders to a Session

There are different ways to add additional Session folders.

The following method works both on Mac and PC.

Tip716-Img2_cirkle1) In Capture One 7 Pro select the Library Tool tab and create a new Session from the menu item “New Session”, or by clicking the “+” button next to the Session selector. In this example I have created a new Session named “2013 05 – Italy”, the name of the Session is also shown at the top of the Capture One window. I always use the naming convention: Year, Month and then the name of the event. This naming convention makes it easier for me to go back and find older Sessions.

2) Right-click on any of the predefined Session folders Capture, Select, Output or Trash and select “Show in System folders”.  This will locate the selected predefined session folder inside the System Folder tree.

Tip716-Img6_cirkle3) Now go one level up in the System Folder tree and select the folder with the Session name. Right-click and select “new inside”.  You can then select “Folder” and give the new folder a name.

Tip716-Img7_cirkle4) Repeat this procedure for every new folder you would like to add.

Tip716-Img8_cirkle5) Finally you can add these new folders to the Session Favorites by right-clicking on the folders in the “System Folders”  tree  and select “Add to Favorites”

Once you’ve added the new folders to your Session, they will show up in the Session Favorites list and be part of the Session.  The Session database will keep information about all images saved in these folders and you can now use the Search and Filtering functionality in Capture One and for instance create Smart Albums based on specific search criteria.

On the Mac there is another special method that you can use:

1) In Capture One Pro 7 select the Library Tool tab and create a new Session.

2) Right-click on the Session name at the very top of the Capture One window (2013 05 – Italy.cosessiondb) and select the option to open the Session folder in the Finder

Tip716-Img3_cirkleBy right-clicking on the name of the Session on the top of the Capture One window, you can
directly open the Session folder in the Finder.

Tip716-Img4_cirkleFolder selector when right-clicking on the Session name at
the very top of the Capture One window

3) In the Finder create the folders you need, quickly and easily.

4) Select the folders created in Finder and then drag them directly into the Session Favorites area in the Library Tool tab of Capture One.

Tip716-Img5_cirkle5) The newly created folders will now show up in the list of Session Favorites.

You don’t need to use the default predefined “Capture Folder” as capture folder.  Right click on any of your just added folders in the Session Folders list or in the Session Favorite list and select “Set as Capture folder”.  This will set the selected folder as the Capture folder.  In the Session Folders List you will now see a camera icon indicating that this folder is the Capture folder.

In my workflow I always keep the default Capture Folder even if I only import from memory cards.  I will add additional image folders to the session as just explained, but I will still import directly to the Capture Folder. I use the Capture Folder as a “work in progress” folder but once I have finished editing the files, I move them to the different Session folders, I’ve added to the session.

All the best,

Niels

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

Optimize your workflow with Albums

November 24, 2011 by 3 Comments

One of the key organizing elements in a Capture One 6 Session is an Album. It looks like a normal image folder, but it is just a virtual folder with internal references to the real location of the images.

  • You can create as many Albums in a Session as you wish.
  • You add images to an Album simply by drag and drop.
  • An Album can contain images from different locations.
  • Images in an Album can come from any folder location both inside as well as outside the Session folder.
  • When deleting an image in an Album, you only remove it from the Album.  You do not delete it from the original folder.

If you move an image containing multiple variants to an Album, the Album will also show the variants. Variants of an image will always stay together.

An image in an Album will always reflect the current corrections made on the image at the original location. There is only one original, and changing an image in an Album will also change the appearance of the image at the original location.

I typically use Albums to create small collections of images sharing a common theme, which could be something as simple as my Black and White images. I love Black and White so in each new Session, I always create an Album for Black and White images even though I may have gone out shooting without having Black and White shots in mind. I keep all my originals in the Import folders inside my Session folder. When I go through my Import folders, I immediately add files to my Black and White Album when I see images which will work great as Black and White. By adding the files to an Album rather than moving them to a new folder, I still have all my originals in one location, which I like. Browsing through the Import folder again, I continue to have all the images there, and I can make another selection, which I can add to a different Album.

By using Albums, I am able to keep one Album with images for Black and White work and another Album for working on images in full colors. I just need to create Variants: one Variant holding the Black and White version and one Variant holding the color version.

To add an Album you can right click on any Session Album, Favorite or folder and select the “New Album” from the dropdown menu.  You can also add an Album by selecting the Library Tool action menu icon.  The Session above already contains 4 Albums as indicated by the blue circle.

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

Sessions – A great way to organize your work

November 17, 2011 by 10 Comments

Creating a Session in Capture One 6 is an efficient way to organize your image files into folders and virtual albums.

  • Create a new Session for every new event, trip or job. This will help you keep all relevant images, image corrections and processed images within one physical folder.
  • A Session can easily be moved to another computer or another physical disc drive. As all necessary files are saved inside the Session folder by default, you can work on the Session from any computer. This can be a great advantage, as you may have started working on the Session on your laptop while on a trip. Once you get home, you can simply move the Session folder to your stationary computer and continue your work.
  • You can easily switch from one Session to another and when you return to the first Session, you will see all images and all selects the same way as when you left the Session.
  • You can search and filter all images in the Session Favorite folders.

If you use Sessions to organize your work, Capture One will place all your image folders inside the Session folder by default. This will ensure that the Session can be moved to a backup device or another computer later.

The image above shows the Library tool in Capture One. The current Session is named “2011-10 Demo”.  The Session folders provide quick references to the default Session folders. To see the physical location of a Session folder, right click on the Session folder and select the “Show in Library”. In the above example, you can see how all the Session folders are placed inside the Session folder “2011-10 Demo”. The small icons indicate the function of the individual Session folder.

Besides the Session folders, you can also find a .col50 folder. This is the Session folder containing the information about image selections and Albums. If you double click on a .Col50 folder in the file system, Capture One will open the associated Session. You can rename a Session by simply renaming the .col50 folder directly in the file system, but if you do, first you must make sure that Capture One is not open.

You can create and add as many folders to your Session as you like. You can also add folders to your Session from any location outside the Session folder, but doing so you lose the possibility of moving the Session to another physical location later. If you know that you will never need to move your Session, there are no problems.

If you are shooting tethered, you should choose a tethered Session, as this option automatically gives you a Capture folder and sets the capture naming to equal the Session name by default.

In the Library tool, you click on the “+” icon to create a new Session. The current Session named “2011-10 Demo” is a tethered Session and includes a Capture folder. Both tethered and untethered Sessions will always include an Output folder for the processed images, a Selects folder for holding specially selected images and a Trash folder for all the trashed images.

If you chose an untethered Session, you won’t get an Image folder until you manually create one or use the Importer tool to import images. The Importer will automatically provide options for creating Import folders inside the Session folder.

After completing an import, you will notice that the Import folder has been added to the Session Favorite List. It is important to note that only images placed in folders that are visible in the Session Favorites List can be searched when using the search and filtering function.

I have imported 3 CF cards into this session and the importer has automatically added the Import folders to the Session Favorites. I named the import folders by date and an index number.

You can always use the browser in the Library tool to select an Image folder, but the Image folder won’t be searchable until you add it to the Favorites list.

To add a folder to the Session Favorites, just right click on the folder and select “Add to Favorites” in the drop down menu.

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

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