Overwriting exported files with a safety net
Implemented
It should be possible to make C1 overwrite exported files (e.g., JPEGs or TIFF files) instead of ending up with old exported versions and new (but renamed) versions.
I created this request to offer a potential implementation strategy that may allay reservations which so far may have prevented the suggestion from being implemented:
An option could be offered to create a cloned variant of every to be exported image in the catalogue or session.
Such cloned variants would ensure the possibility to regenerate any file that was ever exported.
After all, exported files are dispensable in principle as they could always be regenerated from the original files by exporting the latter again. The exception to that rule of course occurs when after an export operation, edits are made to the adjustments an image. In this case regenerating the exported file is only possible if the adjustments that were in place at the time it was exported can somehow be retrieved. The role of the cloned variants is to serve as the memory required to retrieve the respective adjustments and hence support regenerating the exported files. Typically only the latest such saved cloned variant would be required, but the feature could even support choosing from a range of past exported files.
N.B., storing the data for the cloned variants would be more storage efficient than storing the exported images as such. Even users not interested in overwriting exported files could regard this feature as being useful for archiving purposes.
The above suggested scheme could be offered in addition to the three-step "accident prevention" proposal I made earlier:
- The option to use overwriting during export needs to be enabled in the preferences first.
- Overwriting during export requires opting in during exporting (i.e., the first step above only enables the opt-in option; it does not activate it yet).
- A warning dialog appears before any files are actually overwritten (this should include a "Never show this dialogue again" option).
Given that even the "Image Alchemist" Paul Steunebrink endorsed the "overwrite exported files" request nine years ago, I think that the C1 developers should tell their user base why they still appear to be against the inclusion of such a feature.
With this request I may have made a proposal that finally opens a door to the feature becoming feasible but there is no way of knowing in the absence of any counter arguments to the proposal.
P.S.: It would of course help for the suggestion made here to be more practical, if C1 "variants" would be first-class citizens (like LR "virtual copies") so that one could separate them from other variants.
P.P.S: If the equivalent of an LR "snapshot" existed in C1 then there would be no need for cloned variants. The adjustments necessary to regenerate any exported file could just automatically be saved as a "snapshot" in an image's editing history whenever an exported file is created.
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Hi there,
Thank you for the feedback provided.
There is also a couple of similar requests to have the exported files overwritten.
Thank you also for providing a detailed overview of how this could be implemented. These suggestions were forwarded to the PM team for further consideration.0 -
This would be a big plus.
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+1
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