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Can I speed up this part of my Raw processing?

Roger Whitehead
Background: I select Raw files for processing using Photo Mechanic, copying likely candidates to a directory labelled "Upload". The contents of this directory appear in C1P when I select "Import Images".

C1P then invites me to import one or more of the files in that directory by clicking on the relevant button at the bottom of the frame. I must then open the browser (Ctrl-b), click on the picture I want to work on, then close the browser (Ctrl-b again).

This seems long-winded and I wonder if it can be by-passed somehow. I've tried the published shortcuts but they don't seem to apply.

Two specific questions arise:

1. Is it possible to select from the import window by double-clicking on a file?
2. Is it possible to edit a selected image without going through the browser on/browser off shuffle?

TIA,

Roger (using v9.1.2 under Win10 Home 64-bit)
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Comments

8 comments

Date Votes
  • Robert Whetton
    just start a new session, then browse in C1 to your upload DIR you won't need to import anything and can start working on the files immediately 😊
    https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-yfin4Rxt4SY/Vz8Vh4PSaRI/AAAAAAAAfKA/EYS26tZrIO46DpabxRqR-6lNkjDOPlU6ACL0B/w342-h212-no/Folder.jpg
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  • nighthawk
    You can also set the session HOT folder to the UPLOAD dir, and anything that Photo Mechanic puts in the UPLOAD dir will get automatically imported into the session.

    Forgot exactly where you set this up since I'm at work and don't use that feature, but it should be easy to find using Google.
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  • Roger Whitehead
    [quote="Bobtographer" wrote:
    just start a new session, then browse in C1 to your upload DIR...


    Thanks, Bob, but that doesn't seem to work for me.

    I set up a new session, scroll down the Library window on the left of the screen and, under System Folders, go to the Upload directory. I click on that but see nothing in the edit screen.

    However, if I then go View/Hide Viewer, I do see the files. If I click on one, it appears in the editor but with the browser open. I might as well have stuck with the original method if these extra steps are not fixable.

    All this got me experimenting and I've discovered that if I put C1P on PM's launcher list, I can click on the Raw version of a picture in PM and have it open directly in C1P with none of the foregoing contortions.

    (Even so, I have to close C1P after each edit -- the PM method won't work if there's a file already open. Seems there's always a 'gotcha'.)

    Roger
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  • Roger Whitehead
    [quote="nighthawk" wrote:
    You can also set the session HOT folder to the UPLOAD dir...


    Thanks but it looks as though that's only possible with tethered working (which I never do).

    Roger
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  • nighthawk
    Honestly I never tried it so not sure if it only works when tethered. That is its primary intended purpose yes, but I would imagine it can be used without a tether. Actually I'm 100% sure of it, because the typical use of the hot folder is to tether your camera to the NATIVE tethering software (Canon EOS Utility for example, NOT C1). Then EOS Utility puts the images captured into the hot folder which C1 then imports into the session/catalog. However, having PhotoMechanic put the files into the hot folder should not concern C1. I will try using the hot folder without tethering when I get home.

    Regarding your browser question, the browser shows the files which are in the selected folder. I'm not sure how you expect to bypass that. Listing the files in the system folder tree is not feasible, considering some folders might have a few thousand files. Every major raw converter I've seen has an equivalent of the browser and I don't see how you could not have it.
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  • Roger Whitehead
    [quote="nighthawk" wrote:
    I will try using the hot folder without tethering when I get home.

    I'd be interested in your findings.

    [quote="nighthawk" wrote:
    Listing the files in the system folder tree is not feasible, considering some folders might have a few thousand files.

    I never have more than a dozen files in the Upload directory. Photographically speaking, I'm a sniper rather than a machine gunner.

    I can directly open a file from a directory in Photoshop Elements, Nikon Capture NX2 (orphanware but still highly functional) and Silkypix. No browsing required with any of these programs.

    (Can't do this with C1P, which looks for database files at File/Open.)

    Roger
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  • nighthawk
    Right, so I tried the hot folder thing. Apparently in session mode the Capture folder is the hot folder and is always on. If you are working with catalog you can select the hot folder through the Camera -> Select Hot Folder menu. The end result is the same.

    So, with my new session created, on the file system there will be a CAPTURE folder. This is by default the hot folder.
    I dropped a file in there manually using Windows Explorer, and lo and behold, it showed up immediately in the image browser. So there, hot folders are not just for tethering. So basically, if you use Sessions, all you have to do is point Photo Mechanic to drop files in the CAPTURE folder under the Session folder in the file system. You can change the folder, but then things won't remain organised nicely so I recommend keeping the Capture folder as the hot folder. If you use catalogs, you can use any folder you like. I always use sessions for my "working set". That way C1 works faster than having an entire catalog loaded. Once I'm done editing all photos, I import the session into my main catalog.

    I never have more than a dozen files in the Upload directory.


    Unfortunately, as much as I'm sure Phase One would like to develop custom software for each and every one of us, generally the user base of C1 Pro are people who will have much more than a dozen photos in every folder. Can you imagine a sport photographer sporting a 1DX Mark 2 or similar going home after an event and seeing 6500 photos in the directory tree (all without a thumbnail obviously as then the list will be REALLY big)

    Photoshop Elements is designed to work with one file at a time as it is a single image editor not a mass raw converter. It has a different target audience. In fact, Adobe Bridge is more like how C1 works in the organisational department and... you guessed it... there's a Folder pane on the left which lists just folders, and a Content pane on the right which lists the files much like the C1 browser.

    I am also now wondering whether you have the browser full screen or not. My browser is just a single row along the bottom of the screen, kinda like a filmstrip. I can click a file and edit it without closing the browser. Sometimes I do make the browser bigger if I have many files, but in your case, if you have a dozen photos, they will probably fit in one row. If working 100% full screen without the browser strip along the bottom is really that important to you, I think the CTRL-B shortcut is as quick as it can get.

    See this sample screenshot. Browser is the filmstrip along the bottom
    https://www.phaseone.com/~/media/NEW_WEB/Software/Capture-One-Pro/Tutorials/TopBox2.ashx
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  • Roger Whitehead
    [quote="nighthawk" wrote:
    Right, so I tried the hot folder thing...


    Interesting. Thanks for your efforts.

    Roger
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