Sessions and Catalogs offer two different ways to organize your photos — each with its own strengths depending on how you work. This guide will help you choose the right one for your workflow.
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What’s the difference between a Session and a Catalog
Sessions are simple, portable, and easy to understand. Each Session has its own folder structure so you can keep everything in one place, images, settings, and adjustments. Great for individual shoots or tethered capture.
Catalogs work more like a library. They’re ideal when you want to manage large photo collections over time, especially across multiple shoots.
If you’re switching between desktop and mobile, Sessions can be a smoother option since the folder structure stays consistent and easy to transfer.
When to use what
Use a Session if:
- You’re working on a specific shoot
- You plan to move files between devices like mobile to desktop
- You prefer a simple file structure that you can easily back up or hand off
Use a Catalog if:
- You manage ongoing projects or a large archive
- You want to search and organize across different projects
- You don’t plan to move the project between machines frequently
Recommended locations for storing Catalogs & Sessions?
Choosing where to store your Sessions or Catalogs is just as important as deciding which one to use. Here's what we recommend and what to avoid.
Whether you're using Sessions or Catalogs, the safest place to store them is on local drives. That includes your internal hard drive or any directly connected external drives like USB-C or Thunderbolt.
Why? These locations offer fast, reliable access to your files and that means smoother editing, faster previews, and less risk of corrupt data.
Images could still be referenced from an external drive, so that you don’t run out of available storage on your computer. While sessions can do that out of the box, for catalogs you need to import images with “Add to Catalog” option selected in the Import window.
Using Cloud and NAS? Here’s what to consider
Cloud-synced services
Storing your Session or Catalog in a cloud-synced location like iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive is not supported unless syncing is paused entirely while Capture One is open. That includes system-level sync like iCloud Drive on macOS or OneDrive on Windows.
Even with sync paused, we recommend caution. These services can start syncing again in the background, which increases the risk of data corruption or lost work.
Network-attached storage (NAS) I
Capture One can work with any readable and writable volume mounted on your computer, including NAS. But real-world performance can vary a lot. Troubleshooting server and NAS configurations is generally out of scope for Capture One Pro support.
If you do choose to use NAS, we strongly recommend copying your Session or Catalog to a local drive before editing. Once you're done, you can move it back to the NAS for storage. It’s not an ideal workflow, but it reduces the risk of file corruption, sync conflicts, and slow performance.
Several factors can impact performance with external storage. For example, on macOS, USB SSDs formatted as exFAT can be significantly slower than the same disks formatted as APFS.
If you're investing in a NAS, prioritize fast connectivity (ideally 10Gb/s Ethernet) and a high IOPS rate for better reliability.
FAQ
Can I switch from a Session to a Catalog?
Yes, you can import a Session into a Catalog, but not the other way around.
Which is faster: Sessions or Catalogs?
Sessions are often faster for single projects; Catalogs are better for long-term organization but may slow down with very large libraries.
Can I use Sessions between desktop and iPad?
Yes, Sessions are portable and easy to move between desktop and iPad if you keep the folder structure intact.
Can I store Sessions or Catalogs in the cloud?
We don’t recommend it. Syncing services like iCloud or Dropbox can cause file issues unless syncing is paused while Capture One is open.
Can I reference images on an external drive?
Yes. Sessions do this by default. With Catalogs, use "Add to Catalog" during import to avoid copying the files.