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Catalogs – Working with Managed or Referenced Image Files

In last week’s tip, I talked about the different ways of storing images in Capture One Pro 7 with either Sessions or Catalogs and the advantages of both.

This week, I will concentrate fully on Catalogs and the two different methods of storing images. These are:

Fully Managed Image Files (inside Catalog)
Referenced Image Files (current location)

Managed files are images that are stored inside the Catalog file. Referenced image files are those which exist outside of the Catalog file.

When you create a new and empty Catalog in Capture One Pro 7, regardless of whether you choose to have Managed or Referenced images, a Catalog file must be created.

Choosing ‘New Catalog’ in the file menu of Capture One Pro 7 will open this dialogue:

Here, you can choose a name for the Catalog and where it should be stored. By default, it is placed in the ‘Pictures’ folder on a Mac and in the ‘My Pictures’ folder on a PC, but you can specify any location.

The Catalog file is essentially the database for your image collection. It tracks the location of images and holds information about them – for example, metadata and adjustment settings. If you use Fully Managed Image Files then they will also be stored in this Catalog file. Once created it will appear like this:

Opening a Catalog in Capture One Pro 7 is easy – just double-click on it. You can also have several Catalogs open at once, if you wish.

Once you have set up your Catalog, you can now decide whether to use Fully Managed or Referenced images, or perhaps even a combination of both.

Importing into the Catalog.

For your Catalog to recognize an image, it must be imported into it, via the Import dialog. This ensures the database is kept up-to-date and Capture One Pro 7 knows how to locate the files. It is within the Import dialog that you can choose to have Managed or Referenced image files.

In the ‘Import To’ section of the Import dialogue, choosing ‘Inside Catalog’ will copy and place the images directly inside the Catalog file. These are Fully Managed Image Files.

Choosing ‘Current Location’ will leave the image files where they are. These are Referenced Image Files.

The ‘Choose Folder’ option is useful for importing images from a memory card and copying them to another chosen storage area. These would also be Referenced Image Files as they exist outside the Catalog file.

Fully Managed Image Files

A Catalog with Fully Managed Image Files is very simple to organize and maintain as you don’t have to think about where to place or store the images. The Catalog takes care of that!

Even though the original files are stored insidethe Catalog file, they are not inaccessible or completely hidden from view. In the Mac OSX Finder, right-click on the Catalog file and choose ‘Show Package Contents’.

The following secondary window will appear:

This shows that your original files are stored safely in the folder marked ‘Originals’ and organized by year / month and date imported into Capture One Pro 7.

However! Making any changes into this structure will render the Catalog unreadable or damaged.

A Catalog with Fully Managed Image Files is very easy to backup, as it is simply one file to duplicate and sharing is also quite simple! If multiple users have access to the Catalog then simple mechanisms are in place to prevent damage.

As opening a Catalog in Capture One Pro 7 is like opening a document, you could have different Catalogs for different clients, or even types of photography. Remember though, that any search and filtering would be limited to the currently open Catalog.

Referenced Image Files

If you prefer to store your image files outside of the Catalog file, on any other storage device, then your images will be Referenced Image Files. This way you can also retain an existing folder structure.

Therefore, the images will not be copied and moved inside the Catalog file but remain in their existing location, or another location if you chose to do so in the Import Window.

Using this method means you have no limitation on your storage as you can place the image on very large external devices (for example a RAID or other kind of server) or even across multiple storage devices.

Remember also that the Catalog file and images don’t have to be on the same location. Therefore the Catalog file can be placed on your laptop while the images are on your external storage.

The Catalog file holds a large high-quality Preview of every image in your database so you can still browse your entire Catalog even when you don’t have access to the external storage.

You can even make image adjustments, edit metadata, and change the virtual organization!

Using the Folders area in the Library tool

The location of referenced images is shown in the Folders area of the Library Tool and can be managed here. By default, only the root of the storage and final folder location are shown. To see the complete hierarchy, right click in the Folders area and choose, ‘Show Folders Hierarchy’. This will reveal the complete path from the storage to the imported folder.

Here, you can also add a Folder to the system, by clicking on the ‘+’ icon for the Catalog to recognize. This is not a facility to add images to the catalog (the Import dialogue must always be used for that) but for making a new empty folder to move images too.

Images can easily be dragged and dropped between folders, but make sure you do this within Capture One Pro 7 to keep the Catalog database aware of the changes.

Combining Managed and Referenced Image Files

Your Catalog can also contain a combination of managed and referenced files. If your Catalog is comprised of referenced image files but you would like to go ‘on the road’ with the full raw data then simply drag and drop any images onto the Catalog icon in the Folders area. In the example below, it will move the file from the external storage to the catalog file itself.

Images can also be moved in the same way from the Catalog back to a storage location.

This is another good reason why you might want to add a new folder in the Folders area. For example you can shoot tethered on location into the Catalog file itself and then move these images to your external storage when you are back in the studio or office.

All the best,

Niels

Other Resources

Phase One’s YouTube Channel has plenty of videos on the subject of Catalogs.

Offline Browsing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IgzqVLtuoE

Catalogs In-depth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1uj5ytvklo

Working with Referenced Images
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfJHSizFcyE

Take Control of Your Image Organization with Sessions or Catalogs

NOTE: This article discusses an outdated version of Capture One. To learn more about our latest version, click here.

When working in Capture One Pro 7 you now have 2 different methods of organizing your images and image adjustments:

Sessions
Catalogs

In previous generations of Capture One, you have only had the option of using Sessions, but with the introduction of Capture One Pro 7, you now also have the possibility of using Catalogs for organizing your images.

Why the two different methods?

Capture One originally started out as a RAW studio capture and workflow solution where you would always shoot tethered. The Sessions approach to organizing your work is specifically designed to meet the needs of such a workflow.

If you create a new session for each new job, Capture One will automatically create a folder structure to hold all the items for that shoot including RAW files, image adjustments, previews as well as an output folder for the processed images. At the end of a shoot, the Session folder will contain everything and can easily be moved from the computer in the studio to another computer for further editing or more permanent archiving.

Catalogs are the new organizing alternative in Capture One Pro 7. Catalogs have been designed to meet the needs of photography professionals and enthusiasts who shoot a lot of different images and want to easily search among a large number of images. Catalogs also provide effective tools for organizing images into Projects and Albums based on themes, projects, specific customers etc. or for easier showcasing of for instance, a portfolio.

Catalogs in Capture One Pro 7 are very flexible and they even come with a great feature enabling you to display and edit files saved on file servers or external hard drives that may not be accessible at all times. This unique feature allows you to travel with a large Catalog, view the images and perform adjustments even though the images are archived on a hard drive at your home or your studio.

Below, you will find an overview of the advantages and challenges of using the different methods of organizing your images in Capture One Pro 7.

1) You create a new Session for each new job / project

Advantages:

All inclusive folder structure for easy archiving.
All inclusive folder structure that can easily be moved to other computers including all adjustments and previews.
Automatic Capture Folder for collecting tethered captures.
Automatic Output Folder for the processed images.
The Trash Folder and Selects Folder allow you to easily nail down the important images.
No risk of mixing images from different shoots or clients.
Full search capability among images in a Session.
Easily move single images to another computer including adjustments by using the .EIP format.

Limitations:

No search capability between images in different Sessions

2) You use the Default Session and just browse to where ever you have placed your raw files

Advantages:

You can place your images in whatever file structure that works for you.
You can always move your image folders to other locations and they will still contain all adjustments and previews for Capture One.
You don’t need to know all the details of how a Session works.

Limitations:

No full search capability as only the images in the Session Folders or Session Favorite Folders can be searched and filtered.
Capture One generates subfolders in all the folders you are using to hold the adjustments and the previews. This can be confusing when looking through the file system.
Processed images will always be added to the default Session Output Folder.
You don’t really take advantage of the Sessions concept.
Your Session Trash Folder and Output Folder may contain images from different clients.

3) You use Catalogs to organize your images

Advantages:

No restrictions on where to place your raw files.
Raw files can even be placed on slow network drives with minimum impact on performance as previews and settings are kept inside the Catalog.
The Catalog database automatically keeps track of the location of all the images in the Catalog.
Full search capability among all the images in a Catalog.
Powerful organization possibilities let you organize your images into Projects, Groups and Albums.
Use Smart Albums when organizing images according to specific criteria. These albums are always updated as a result of a filtering process.
View and edit files even though they are physically located on an inaccessible or offline device.
If placed on a shared drive, a Catalog can be viewed by several people on different computers and only be changed by one person at the same time.
The folder for processed images can be placed anywhere.

Limitations:

All images have to be imported in order for the Catalog to register the images, the physical location and to generate preview files.
Deleting images is not as straightforward as in a Session. If you delete an image in an album, you just remove the reference to that image in that album. Remember that the same image can be referenced in multiple albums.
Moving a few images to another computer including their settings requires an Export of the originals which will copy the files to an Export Folder including the settings and previews. This folder can then be moved to the other computer.

In future tips on the blog, I will dig deeper into each of the 3 methods of organizing images.

All the best,

Niels

Learn more about Capture One Pro

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New Processing Engine for a Huge Step Up in Image Quality

Capture One Pro 7 comes with a whole new processing engine that will improve the image quality of your captures compared to using Capture One 6 on a number of parameters:

More precise definition of fine detail
Highly improved recovery of detail and color near data clipping in the highlights
Much stronger ability to recover both deep shadow detail and highlight detail within the same image
Highly improved noise reduction especially for high ISO images
New Clarity tool for boosting landscape images or enhancing skin tones in portraits
More precise and flexible Local Adjustments tool.

Capture One Pro 7 has the ability to render all those images you have already worked on in Capture One 6 exactly as they were processed in Capture One 6 but you can also have them upgraded and rendered using the new processing engine.

Left image is the raw file without any adjustments. Center image has been optimized in Capture One 6. Right image has been optimized in Capture One Pro 7 with the new optimized High Dynamic Range tool and the Clarity tool. Notice how much more detail Capture One Pro 7 has pulled out of the dark foreground and the more dramatic sky.

When working in a Session, you can simply browse to any folder with images. If the images have already been rendered in Capture One 6, then Capture One Pro 7 will render them exactly like version 6. In the Color Tool Tab in the Base Characteristics Tool we have added the version number of the processing engine.

The Base Characteristics tool. Here you can see the current processing engine being used for the selected image. You will also see an upgrade button that will upgrade the processing engine to version 7 and convert all settings to Capture One Pro 7 settings.

If you work in a Catalog, you need to import your images. If you have already worked on the images in Capture One 6 and you want to import them to Capture One Pro 7 with all the existing adjustments then choose “Use Existing Adjustments” in the Importer tool as shown below.

The Importer tool. Choose “Include Existing Adjustments” to ensure that the images will be rendered exactly like as when they were adjusted in version 6.

All new images will be rendered using the Capture One 7 engine by default. This is also the case if you create a new variant of an image using the version 6 engine. A new variant can be created by right clicking on the thumbnail of the image and selecting “New Variant”

Upgrading an image from version 6 to version 7:

If you work on images with adjustments from Capture One 6, you can upgrade the processing engine to Capture One Pro 7. In the base characteristics tool, you will also find the “Upgrade” button that will upgrade all your selected images.

Not all image adjustments can be 100% transformed to the new version 7 engine. When you upgrade an image the different settings will be converted to create an image that comes as close as possible to the look you had created using the version 6 engine. However, as some of the tools have been improved from version 6 to version 7, it may not be possible to create a 100% match.

Please note that you cannot “undo” an upgrade so if you want to make sure not to lose a special look created with the Capture One 6 engine you can:

Clone the variant. This will give you a virtual copy with exact the same settings and including the processing engine version.
Then upgrade the new variant leaving you with two variants of the image based on the two different processing engines.

You can then compare the quality of the version 6 processing engine with the version 7 processing engine side by side and fine-tune the upgraded version if needed. It won’t take long until you’ll notice the great improvements in the new processing engine.

As mentioned, not all adjustments from version 6 can be converted to a 100% match in version 7 as many tools have been improved. The improved adjustment tools are:

Contrast from the Exposure tool
Highlight and shadow from the High Dynamic Range tool
Clarity settings
The noise reduction parameters in the Noise and Advanced Noise tool.

All the best,

Niels,

You can download the free 60 days trial of Capture One Pro 7 here

You can learn more about Capture One Pro 7 here

Highlights and Shadows at Loch Harport

I am not sure if I have the correct workflow, but it seems to work well for me. My approach is to expose for the highlights and let Capture One bring out the shadows.

Now, up front I have to emphasise that there is a problem with this technique, and that problem lies in the shadow areas. If I am underexposing my image to ensure the sky doesn’t clip (isn’t overexposed), then darker areas in the image might be receiving very little exposure. This isn’t necessarily a problem if I want to leave these areas dark in the final rendition, but if I want to lighten them, then the really dark areas may lack the quality I desire if I lighten them too much.

However, when using a medium format digital back with a wide dynamic range, I find that I can comfortably lighten up the shadows without too many problems, most of the time.

This would not necessarily be the case with a DSLR camera which has a narrower dynamic range. If using a DSLR, I would be better off bracketing my exposures and using a better exposure to lighten up the dark areas. I also bracket with my medium format back as well, as insurance, but I find I don’t need the lighter file very often.

This photograph of a dingy in Loch Harport on the Isle of Skye is a case in point. The original exposure is very dark in the foreground, but the sky is just about right. The camera wanted to give the image a little more exposure, but I used the exposure override to keep the histogram under control. I am always looking at my histogram for this type of work.

Using a Local Adjustment, I brushed in the foreground and lightened it. At this size and looking at a low resolution file, it shouldn’t look too bad. There’s lots of detail to be found and, as I still want to keep some blacks in this area, I’m comfortable with the result. However, as noted above, I could possibly improve the quality of this area by using another exposure which better accommodated the shadow areas, and stripping it in. But that’s a lot of work unless I plan to turn the image into an exhibition print. For book reproduction (where this image was used), the current workflow approach is more than adequate.

The late afternoon light was relatively colourless, so I added in a second Local Adjustment and helped the dingy out with a little more colour. I generally don’t change the colours that are already there, finding that an increase in colour saturation is often enough, but for the dingy I preferred the result when I also warmed up the hue. Bringing out the yellows and reds helps.

Warm colours come forward, cool colours recede, so I added in a third Local Adjustment and made the water and clouds a little blue. This adds to the mood a little and removes a little bit of the murkiness, plus creates more of a separation between the dingy and its background.

And the final step, as shown in the opening photo, was to add one more Local Adjustment and lighten up the dingy itself, giving it a subtle ‘spot light’.

Peter Eastway is a professional photographer and photography magazine editor based in Sydney, Australia. To see more of his photography, visit www.petereastway.com. Peter also offers an online Landscape Photography MasterClass. It contains articles and videos, outlining his camera and post-production techniques. Details can be found at www.betterphotography.com.