Import a folder

Importing a folder makes it an imported folder of the library. The import neither copies nor moves anything: each image is referenced where it is, its sub-folders are kept, and Catalog computes its SHA-256 fingerprint, a signature of its exact content. That is what lets Catalog recognise a file already present, even under another name.

Import a folder

Three paths lead to the same import:

• in Library, the Import a folder… button above the grid (or in the middle of an empty library);
• from any section, File › Import Folder… (⇧⌘I);
• in Imports, tab Files, the Import a folder… button.

Choose the folder, then Import. Only one folder import runs at a time: while it lasts, Import a folder… is dimmed. You can also drag a folder from the Finder onto the grid or onto the source list of Library: the import starts at once.

A banner follows the import, “Importing “folder name””, step by step, with the file being processed:

1. Finding files — Catalog walks through the folder and its sub-folders;
2. Computing SHA-256 digests — each new or changed file is read in full;
3. Cataloguing — the files are recorded in the database, in batches;
4. Reading metadata — EXIF, IPTC and XMP of each file, and the XMP sidecar if there is one (see EXIF and XMP metadata).

At the end, the banner sums up the result, for example “Import complete — 1,240 imported · 3 duplicates”, or “Import complete with errors — 1,239 imported · 3 duplicates · 1 failure”. If anything failed, expand “n failures” to see what and why: unreadable file, catalogue could not record or read it, folder missing, duplicate check failed (the file is not imported; the next import picks it up), metadata not saved (the file is catalogued; the next import reads it again), import state not saved (it may not resume where it stopped). Show folder (in the Library section) opens the imported folder in the grid; Create works from these files… prepares works from the folder’s files that are linked to no work (see Creating works from files); OK closes the banner. Nothing is created without your confirmation.

Thumbnails are prepared afterwards, in the background: “Preparing thumbnails: n / N” shows above the grid meanwhile (see What Catalog prepares ahead).

What is imported

Catalog imports still images and camera RAW files, recognised by their extension:

• images: JPEG, PNG, TIFF, HEIC/HEIF, WebP, GIF, BMP, JPEG 2000, AVIF;
• RAW: DNG, CR2, CR3, CRW, NEF, NRW, ARW, SRF, SR2, RAF, ORF, RW2, RAW, PEF, PTX, SRW, X3F, 3FR, FFF, IIQ, MOS, MEF, MRW, DCR, KDC, ERF, GPR.

Hidden files and the contents of macOS packages are skipped, as is any file of another type.

RAW and JPEG of the same shot

When a folder holds a RAW and a JPEG (or other image) with the same name — IMG_0001.CR2 and IMG_0001.JPG — Catalog relates them: they appear in the inspector, under Relationships, as “RAW + JPEG”. If the name is ambiguous (two RAWs or two JPEGs for the same name), nothing is related. With Settings › Files › Pair each RAW with its JPEG turned off, the next imports pair nothing; pairs already related stay.

After the import

The import reads each file’s metadata. A file without a creator or rights is given, in the catalogue, those of Settings › Files if any are set (see Default creator and rights). With Run the analysis after import, an import that catalogued new or changed files starts the analysis of the Faces section, where it is followed and can be stopped (see chapter 7).

Duplicates

A file whose content (the SHA-256 fingerprint) is already in the library is a duplicate, whatever its name or folder, as long as the file already catalogued is still in its place. If it is not, the file is no duplicate: it is the same one, renamed or moved (see Renamed or moved files). Before importing, in Imports › Files, choose what happens to it under “Files already in the library (same SHA-256)”:

• Skip them (default) — the duplicate is not imported; it is counted in the summary;
• Import them anyway and link them as duplicates — it is imported and related to the existing file (“Duplicate” relationship).

This choice also applies to imports started from the Library section. It starts from the default choice, set in Settings › Files (Default choice… takes you there), and only changes the next import.

Stopping and resuming an import

The ⓧ button at the end of the banner stops the import between two batches (“Import cancelled”). What is already recorded stays in the library.

A stopped import, or one interrupted because Catalog was quit, appears in Imports › Files, under Interrupted imports, with the number of files already processed. Resume continues it where it stopped: files already catalogued are not read again, except those whose metadata had not been read yet (import stopped during “Reading metadata”). Forget (✕) removes it from the list, after confirmation (“Forget this interrupted import?”); files already imported stay in the library.

The number of interrupted imports also shows next to Imports in the sidebar, as soon as Catalog opens: no need to open the section to know an import is waiting.

Importing a changed folder again

Catalog does not watch your folders. When you have added or changed images, right-click the folder in the Imported folders list of the Library section, then Import again (importing the same folder from Imports amounts to the same).

The new import is incremental:

• unchanged files (same size, same modification date) are not read again;
• new files are added;
• a changed file is read again: its new fingerprint becomes the reference, and the previous one is kept as a version (see Versions). The summary counts them as “changed (new versions)”, and unchanged files as “unchanged”. Its analysis (objects, text, similarity print, faces) is erased: the next analysis does it again (see chapter 7);
• a file renamed or moved within the folder is found again (see below).

What you entered in Catalog is never overwritten. A file read again (changed, or only its date) takes its technical data again (dimensions, camera, exposure, colour profile), and its descriptive fields (title, description, keywords, creator, rights, rating, label, capture date, coordinates) one by one: a field changed in Catalog since the previous read is kept, even when saved in “The catalogue only”; a field you did not touch takes the new value of the file or its sidecar (a title changed in Lightroom arrives). To take every field from the file, click Read the file again in the inspector (see EXIF and XMP metadata).

Renamed or moved files

A file renamed in the Finder, or put in a subfolder, is no longer at its path. At the next import, Catalog recognises it by its SHA-256 fingerprint: when the file catalogued with that fingerprint is no longer in its place, its row follows the file to its new path. It keeps everything: its metadata, ratings, tags, collections, versions, documents and links to works. The summary says so: “12 files found at a new location”.

• Two present files with the same fingerprint stay an original and its duplicate: only a file that is no longer in its place is followed.
• A file on a disconnected disk is never taken for a moved file: plug the disk back in.

A file deleted from the disk, moved, or stored on a disconnected disk stays in the library until you remove it, but the grid marks it Missing and the inspector says it cannot be found at its location. The mark goes away by itself when the file is back (disk plugged in again).

Locating a moved folder

Catalog recognises an imported folder by its path. If you moved or renamed it in the Finder, if its external disk now has another name, or if you open the library on another Mac, all its files become Missing. Tell Catalog where the folder is now:

1. Right-click the folder in Imported folders, then Locate folder… (the same button is in the inspector of a Missing file).
2. Choose the folder at its new location, then Locate.
3. Catalog looks for each missing file at the same relative path in that folder, and compares its SHA-256 fingerprint with the one the library recorded. A large folder takes a while; Cancel stops the check without changing anything.
4. The preview counts the files found unchanged, those at the same path but with a different fingerprint, those not found in that folder, and those already in place. Nothing changes before Relink n files; Choose another folder… starts again with another folder.

Only the files found unchanged are relinked: the folder takes its new path and name, and its files keep their ratings, tags, collections, versions, documents and links to works. The others stay Missing. A file still at its former location is left alone. Catalog only reads the disk: no file is written, moved or deleted there.

Catalog refuses a folder that is already an imported folder, is inside one, or contains one: its files would belong to two folders. If you had already imported the folder at its new location, its files were found by their fingerprint and now belong to the new imported folder; the former one, empty, can be removed from the library.

When the library opens, if no file of an imported folder can be found, a banner above the grid says so and offers Locate folder…; Later hides it until the next launch. If the folder was on an external disk that is not connected, the banner says so: connect the disk, nothing else is needed. Catalog never changes anything by itself.

Removing a folder or files from the library

• A folder: right-click in Imported folders, Remove from library…, then Remove folder in the confirmation (“Remove “name” from the library?”).
• Files: select them in the grid, then ⋯ › Remove from library… in the selection bar (or ⌘⌫), and Remove n files.

The files stay on disk. Their metadata, tags, versions and collection memberships are removed from the catalogue, as are their links with works of the catalogue raisonné: if one of them was the reference image of a work, the work no longer has one. The confirmation says how many files are linked to works, and how many works will lose that link. This action cannot be undone.

The removal is refused when one of the files is the reference image of a work that carries a certificate: the message names the work. First choose another reference image in its record.

Good to know

• Catalog recognises a folder by its path. A folder moved or renamed in the Finder, or on a disk that was renamed, is found again with Locate folder… (see Locating a moved folder): its files keep everything you attached to them. Importing it again at its new place also finds its files by their fingerprint, with everything attached to them, but makes it another imported folder and leaves the former one empty in the list.
• An external disk must be plugged in for Catalog to read the images of a folder on it (thumbnails, previews, metadata, analysis).
• If a folder has the name of an existing imported folder, it keeps its name: the list shows the full path on hover.