Can I delete a Catalog without losing photos?
Having left Adobe LR6 when it went subscription I started using ON1 Photo Raw and found it to be an excellent editor. It essentially uses a folder structure approach to DAM but also has a catalog facility if you want to use it. Sadly the software is proving too unstable for use on my 4 year old iMac and having also moved to Sony I was drawn by the Free Sony Express version of C1.
Having played with it for a week or so I am liking the RAW development very much (appears sharper and more defined than ON1 or my old LR6) and am thinking of going for the paid Sony version to get the sessions, layers and discrete colour tools etc.
My preferred workflow would be around sessions rather than the single fixed catalog in the Express version, but already my C1 catalog is over 42 gig on my hard drive.
My concern (and reason for this post) is to ask if I simply delete the catalog from the Mac will I delete the photos too (Which I don't want to!) I don't particularly want a huge catalog file taking up space and would much rather work in the Sessions approach offered by the paid for version.
If it does, how can I get rid of the catalog file safely please/
Thank you.
Having played with it for a week or so I am liking the RAW development very much (appears sharper and more defined than ON1 or my old LR6) and am thinking of going for the paid Sony version to get the sessions, layers and discrete colour tools etc.
My preferred workflow would be around sessions rather than the single fixed catalog in the Express version, but already my C1 catalog is over 42 gig on my hard drive.
My concern (and reason for this post) is to ask if I simply delete the catalog from the Mac will I delete the photos too (Which I don't want to!) I don't particularly want a huge catalog file taking up space and would much rather work in the Sessions approach offered by the paid for version.
If it does, how can I get rid of the catalog file safely please/
Thank you.
0
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I'm not sure about the Express versions but in the main a catalogue can have 'Managed' files or 'Referenced' files.
It sounds like your catalogue likely has managed files (or very large Preview files) for it to become that large. Managed files are imported to the catalogue file structure. Referenced files are left where they were before importing.
Knowing whether the files are inside the catalogue file structure is therefore important to you delete process decision.
All edit information will be in the catalogue.
If you wish to keep the edit information you have created so far, whether the files are managed or referenced, you can do so but you need to be aware of the best ways to so so for your future intentions. C1 offers some options for that.
As I don't use catalogue extensively I will leave it for someone with relevant real experience to offer suggested guidance. That said I think you will probably find useful videos and Knowledge base articles that cover the options.
HTH.
Grant0 -
To follow on from what Grant ("SFA") has said: you can check whether any or all of your images are stored inside the catalog (managed files) by going to the Folders section in the Library tool, and clicking the first item there (In Catalog). If any images show up, they are in the catalog, if they don't then your images are referenced (on your hard disc).
If your images are NOT in the catalog, deleting the catalog would preserve the images stored on your hard disc, BUT you would lose any adjustments you have already made to them because the information about those is stored inside the catalog (wherever your files are stored).
But what you can do about that, once you have moved to the Sony Pro version, is to create the session(s) you want and then export your images from the catalog complete with adjustments. To do that you select the images you want to export, go to Export Images on the File menu, then Export Originals. In the dialog box you select the destination folder (perhaps the Selects folder of your session) and you MUST make sure that you check the box that says Include Adjustments. The images and their adjustments will be copied into your session. (In a session, the information about adjustments is not stored in the session file itself, but in subfolders of the folders where the images are. So for instance the Selects folder of your session will have a subfolder called Capture One which in turn has a subfolder called Settings 120 which holds .cos files for each image which are the record of the adjustments for that image.)
Exporting the images as I have described works equally for images stored inside the catalog (managed) and outside the catalog (referenced).
Ian0 -
Thank you Ian, I am seeing 1077 images as showing "In Catalog" so I am presuming they will be managed rather than references (There are 2102 shooing against "All Images" so 1077 of these I have imported as managed by what you say).
(For clarity when I installed and used C1 Express I merely imported some file already on my hard drive so I could play with it and test it).
Am I right in thinking that if I delete that catalog through "finder" it will also delete the 1077 managed photos then - they are still showing in their original folders through finder?
Does C1 "Managed Files" work by duplicating the image to the catalog when it's "Managed" leaving the original in its actual folder? if so I could delete the catalog and start again?
(For clarity when I installed and used C1 Express I merely imported some file already on my hard drive so I could play with it and test it).
I don't mind losing any adjustments, I have only up to now being playing with it so nothing critical to lose adjustment wise (but I don't want to lose the photos lol).
Appreciate your help.0 -
When you created the catalog, if you imported the 1077 images that now show as In Catalog, they were just copied into the catalog. They would not have been automatically deleted from their existing location. But you can also move images (within Capture One's library tool) from a folder on your computer into the catalog. That should actually move the files so that they will be removed from your hard disc and stored inside the catalog instead. So managed files may or may not be on your disc - it depends how they got into the In Catalog section of the catalog.
You can see where the 1077 images in the catalog are if in Finder you right click the catalog file and select show package contents from the context menu. There will be a folder inside the catalog called Originals, and the images are stored in subfolders of that. (Good luck understanding the way they are organised - they are not really meant to be user-friendly, and it is best to use the Library tool to move and organise your images!)
If you are 100% sure that the 1077 images are also on a folder outside the catalog, and if you are sure that you don't want any of the adjustments you may have made, then yes you can safely delete the catalog file using Finder. That won't delete any images from your disc, whether the managed or the referenced ones. If you are in any doubt, export the images from the catalog.
Ian0 -
Thats great info thanks Ian, really appreciate your time. 0
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