[Official] PLEASE SHOW ME your configuration...

[Mario]

Question:

Do you use an application or RAW processor which produces buddy/sidecar files?
If so, please let me know which kind of files, the extensions, where the files are stored etc.

Why:

Currently IMatch displays a dialog for buddy file configuration after a database has been created.
The user selects the file formats she/he uses and IMatch then creates matching buddy file rules based on defaults.

Maybe there is a way to improve this and to allow the user to pick from a set of standard applications in addition.
And then adapt the buddy rules to include the sidecar/buddy/config files produced by that application.

[jarraun]

Hi Mario,

DXO Photolab 2
Sidecar *.raw.dop files stored in image folder

Great idea, thank you

Javier

[Mario]

Hi Mario,

DXO Photolab 2
Sidecar *.raw.dop files stored in image folder

Thanks for responding! When I understand you correctly, the .raw extension in your example refers to whatever RAW format is used?

[ChristopherFoto]

Hallo Mario,

Nikon Capture NX-D
Datei *.NEF.nksc im Unterordner NKSC_PARAM


Caputre One
Im Unterordner CaptureOne\Settings120 die Datei *.NEF.cos  wobei der SettingsOrdner mit Jeder Neuen CaptureOne Version geändert wird (CaptureOne 11 = Settings110, CaptureOne 10 =Settings100, CaptureOne 9.0 war Settings90, CaptureOne 9.1 war Settings91)
Im Unterordner CaptureOne\Cache\Proxies\ die Dateien *.NEF.cof und *NEF.copIm Unterordner CaptureOne\Cache\Thumbnails\ die Datei *.NEF.[49b10950-1793-4f51-9244-997bfa424d6a].cot wobei der Teil in den eckigen Klammern variiert.

[Jingo]

Sorry... though I shoot mainly RAW photos and use Capture One to convert, I only import developed JPG's into IMatch so no need for sidecar or buddy files.  Happy to help by exporting and adding a few if needed.... I have access to tons of RAW converters and shoot on Sony, Nikon and Olympus systems...

[JohnZeman]

I also use DxO PhotoLab 2 and like jarraun, my raws and buddy files are stored in the same folder.  Example names follow.

2019_0912_142746_000.dng
2019_0912_142746_000.dng.dop

2007-0510-081830.cr2
2007-0510-081830.cr2.dop

2000_0115_080500_000.tif
2000_0115_080500_000.tif.dop

All of my original files are stored in subfolders of
D:\Mine\Photos\Original

All of my jpg exports are stored in subfolders of
D:\Mine\Photos\Derivatives

[Mario]

Happy to help by exporting and adding a few if needed.... I have access to tons of RAW converters and shoot on Sony, Nikon and Olympus systems...

Capture One and DxO and Nikon Capture (didn't know this is sill in use, or is this a new software?) are covered.
Lr does not use sidecar files (except .XMP).
If you have another (SilkyPix) or so and you can spend a few minutes to check if and which sidecar files are created, that would be really helpful.

[jch2103]

Happy to help by exporting and adding a few if needed.... I have access to tons of RAW converters and shoot on Sony, Nikon and Olympus systems...

Capture One and DxO and Nikon Capture (didn't know this is sill in use, or is this a new software?) are covered.
Lr does not use sidecar files (except .XMP).
If you have another (SilkyPix) or so and you can spend a few minutes to check if and which sidecar files are created, that would be really helpful.

Nikon Capture NX-D is still in use; I had to use it for some of my Nikon Z6 files before other raw software was updated for it, but otherwise I no longer use it.

I'm another DXO PhotoLab user, with sidecar .dop files in the image folder. I use what I think is the default link expression (^(_*{name})[+\-_]*[0-9|a-z]*\.(nks|jpg|jpeg|dng|tif|nef.dxo|nef.bib|nef.dop)$); this is on my laptop, my desktop isn't available to me at the moment to check.
Note: At some point in the past, my DxO sidecar files were '.raw.dop' (e.g., *.jpg.raw.dop), but now they're all just '.dop'.

Question: Are you also interested in the versioning configuration? I use just very simple versioning to know that my NEF and JPG files for example are related, but don't take advantage of propagation due to how I handle JPG files (e.g., I add keywords to show which JPG files I've uploaded to iNaturalist.org, but don't so mark the original NEF file; if I had keyword propagation, I would be at risk of over-writing the JPG keyword if I changed the NEF keywords).

[Mario]

Thanks. Currently I'm trying to figure out common buddy file setups people use.
A 'versioning assistant' is another can of worms another can of worms and a true project.

[Ger]

Darktable creates it's own XMP record, adding .xmp to the full filename (instead of replacing the file extension):

20121025_165337_5223.cr2 (raw file)
20121025_165337_5223.xmp (metadata)
20121025_165337_5223.cr2.xmp (darktable xmp)

Ger

[Mario]

20121025_165337_5223.cr2.xmp (darktable xmp)

Darktable manages metadata in a rather complicated way. And, being a DAM, it you have Darktable, you don't need IMatch anyway...

Darktable stores versions of metadata, stacks and whatnot in multiple XMP files in the same folder as the original file, with some sort of numbering schema.

To quote this: https://www.darktable.org/usermanual/en/sidecar_files.html

For a given source image, multiple editing versions, called duplicates, can co-exist, sharing the same input (raw) data but each having their own metadata, tags and history stack. Each duplicate is represented by a separate XMP sidecar file with a filename constructed in the form "<basename>_nn.<extension>.xmp", where nn represents the (minimum two-digit) version number of that edit. Information for the initial edit – the "duplicate" with version number zero  – is stored in the sidecar file "<basename>.<extension>.xmp".

[Ger]

I don't use darktable for any DAM exercise, just (incidentally) for developing RAW files. When importing the developed image into IMatch, the metadata from the master is propagated (and kept in the original xmp file).

[RobiWan]

Hi Mario,

ON1 Photo RAW
*.on1 and *.xmp files (XMP Files with metadata like stars, color-flags ....) ON1 Files with metadata and ON1 Edits (it's XML file too)

Cheers Rpbert

[Jingo]

Hi Mario - Silkypix creates a SILKYPIX_DS subfolder in each folder you browse (yikes) and add the sidecar files: <filename>.9.spd for each file edited.  The ".9" refers to the version of silkypix used so you can have multiple sidecar files if you upgrade from version to version and re-edit your images in that version.

Looks like Luminar doesn't use sidecar files because they just store all their data in their own database (in fact, they don't READ XMP files either so that is just terrible!).

Enjoy!

[Mario]

Silkypix creates a SILKYPIX_DS subfolder in each folder you browse (yikes)

I think there might be an option to prevent this (not sure). It's still bad behavior.

[Mario]

ON1 Photo RAW
*.on1 and *.xmp files (XMP Files with metadata like stars, color-flags ....) ON1 Files with metadata and ON1 Edits (it's XML file too)

Thanks. XMP files are automatically handled by IMatch.

Regarding the .on1 files:
What happens if you have a blah.raw, blah.tif and blah.jpg in the same folder?
I suppose ON1 only deals with RAW files (does not allow to open/edit other file types?) and the extension will then be blah.on1 and belongs to blah.raw ?

[jarraun]

[/quote]
Thanks for responding! When I understand you correctly, the .raw extension in your example refers to whatever RAW format is used?
[/quote]

Yes Mario that is.

[cthomas]

What is  DxO PhotoLab 2 and what do you use it for?

[Jingo]

What is  DxO PhotoLab 2 and what do you use it for?

It is a very powerful RAW editor and image processor.  I've tried it on/off over the years and it excels in noise reduction (Prime module), lens adjustment modules and precise local adjustments (uses the u-point tech that I think they bought from Nik!)... the biggest issue for me was speed and filesize to export images that uses the Prime noise reduction... if you do decide to use it, the file grow huge and can take 10 minutes a pop to export... so you need to be selective.

In the end, I like the interface, speed and flexibility of Capture one more so use that on a weekly basis... but I keep looking at new versions of Dxo.. because if they can make leaps in speed... it is a very capable program!

[Mario]

And of course there is always the web site of the DxO company where you can learn everything about this software.

BTW: Looking at the cover image on their web site: I find the photo of the lady totally 'oversharpened' if there is such a word. Just check the nose area....
And I think I can see some pretty visible retouching below the nose as well...? May be only me.

[Jingo]

And of course there is always the web site of the DxO company where you can learn anything about this software.

BTW: Looking at the cover image on their web site: I find the photo of the lady totally 'oversharpened' if there is such a word. Just check the nose area....
And I think I can see some pretty visible retouching below the nose as well...? May be only me.

This image was chosen for the splash screen when loading the software too.... amazing what passes for image touch-up these days......

[Mario]

Still, the software is good. Better than Lightroom in some areas.

[sinus]

I use only Photoshop, as a RAW-converter and for editing.
Hence the buddies are only XMP-files.
And I store them in the same folder like the nefs from my Nikons.

I have not set someting for buddies, I think, IMatch does this automatically.

[Mario]

I have not set someting for buddies, I think, IMatch does this automatically.

No. IMatch does not do any buddy file processing by default (except XMP files).
You probably have enabled the PSD default buddy file preset under Edit > Preferences > File Relations.

[sinus]

I have not set someting for buddies, I think, IMatch does this automatically.

No. IMatch does not do any buddy file processing by default (except XMP files).
You probably have enabled the PSD default buddy file preset under Edit > Preferences > File Relations.

?? Hmm?
I wrote this:
I use only Photoshop, as a RAW-converter and for editing.
Hence the buddies are only XMP-files.
And I store them in the same folder like the nefs from my Nikons.

I have not set someting for buddies, I think, IMatch does this automatically.

I use only xmp-files, what are created from Photoshop or IMatch.
And these files are processed by default, like you wrote in paranthesis.

Hence IMatch DOES handles my xmp-files as buddies, although I have not set any buddy-relation.
This is true, I think!?
And no, I have not set any PSD-default or so.

[Mario]

As I wrote, XMP files are always automatically processed.

[sinus]

As I wrote, XMP files are always automatically processed.

OK, than it is fine.
I was irritated by your "No", what you wrote accidentally, I think.
It is ok then. 

[Mario]

I wrote:

No. IMatch does not do any buddy file processing by default (except XMP files).

If all you use is Photoshop and/or Lr, the IMatch default settings work out of the box.

[Sir Nameless]

I'm a Rawtherapee user, and new iMatch user. I haven't gotten all of my configuration worked out yet, but I can tell you about Rawtherapee sidecar files.


Rawtherapee saves development information in a sidecar file ending with the extension of the source file + .pp3

Example:
- Raw file:  Image.DNG
- Sidecar:  Image.DNG.PP3

Rawtherapee can optionally save development information in a sidecar related to the output file with the extension of the output file + .out.pp3

Example:
- JPG: Image.jpg > Image.jpg.out.pp3
- TIFF: Image.tif > Image.tif.out.pp3

Rawtherapee can also, optionally, automatically create a unique file name if the output file name already exists. So if Image.jpg already exists, a second export would result in

Image-1.jpg
Image-1.jpg.out.pp3

[Mario]

I'm a Rawtherapee user, and new iMatch user. I haven't gotten all of my configuration worked out yet, but I can tell you about Rawtherapee sidecar files. (...)

Welcome to the community. And thanks for sharing the info about how RT creates sidecar files. Interesting. Yet another way to deal with sidecar files.
IMatch is flexible enough to support this, this of course. For both buddy files and versions.

[jcldl]

Hello I use of course Imatch for a long time and DXO Photolab2 most of the time and sometime  also Luminar 3. No problem at all.

[ColinIM]

Silkypix creates a SILKYPIX_DS subfolder in each folder you browse (yikes)

I think there might be an option to prevent this (not sure). It's still bad behavior.

We can tell IMatch to ignore this SILKYPIX_DS subfolder by setting the "\\SILKYPIX_DS$" value into the "Skip these folders:" field under:
Edit Menu > Preferences > Indexing

The general method is explained here in this Help topic:
https://www.photools.com/help/imatch/#rmh_config_indexing.htm

Although I rarely use the SilkyPix program now, I still keep  \\SILKYPIX_DS$  in that "Skip these folders:" field, because (of course) I still have many historical SILKYPIX_DS subfolders throughout my folders.

(I'm also now a DxO PhotoLab Elite user - almost exclusively.)

[Aubrey]

What a timely discussion!
I've just come back from holiday and faced problems with sidecar files from DXO.
I edited files in DxO without my usual renaming. When I got home I renamed... but on loading some images in DxO they were not processed. I found that sidecar files were not renamed. I hadn't set up sidecar auto renaming!

I needed to manually set up buddies in Preferences| file relations, set up now shown in jpg attached.
Note I did 2 setups one if I only process jpgs and one for NEFs in DxO.

In the jpg is shown the complete Relations Definitions Tree and also my set up for Buddies.

I won't discuss my versioning sequence unless someone is interested.

Aubrey.

PS: I've given up on LR, and enjoy DxO, nice to have the local adjustments (Panorama and HDR not available, I use LR6 for this but there are plugins that can be used in DxO)
I'm also investigating Affinity Photo (there's also Designer and Publisher), looks good for extra processing a la Photoshop appears to do most things one needs in Photoshop (though never used this sw very much). These are at a fraction of he Adobe monthly subscription.
IMatch automatically handles DxO and Affinity Photo.

[Carlo Didier]

PS: I've given up on LR, and enjoy DxO, nice to have the local adjustments (Panorama and HDR not available, I use LR6 for this but there are plugins that can be used in DxO)
I'm also investigating Affinity Photo (there's also Designer and Publisher), looks good for extra processing a la Photoshop appears to do most things one needs in Photoshop (though never used this sw very much). These are at a fraction of he Adobe monthly subscription.
IMatch automatically handles DxO and Affinity Photo.

You can also try out ON1, Capture One and Luminar. The more different applications you try, the more likely you'll find what suits you best.

[GrantRobertson]

... And, being a DAM, it you have Darktable, you don't need IMatch anyway...

I have to disagree. I compared DarkTable's DAM features to IMatch's extensively and choose to spend $130 for IMatch. That is the most I have spent on software... hell, almost ever. Certainly for a couple of decades.

Mario (yes you) can be a bit of a curmudgeon sometimes. But you should have seen how the DarkTable fanboys tore into me when I criticized their nonstandard way of naming .XMP files.

Will I still be using DarkTable for my photo processing? Probably. But I will still use IMatch for my DAM, even if I have to jump through some hoops to make things work. And, as far as I'm concerned, all those hoops will be DarkTable's fault.

[Mario]

I had to look up "curmudgeon". Learn a new word every day 

I'm not old and not bad tempered. Maybe a bit more bad-tempered over the past six weeks, giving all the burdens of Corona and the massive amount of work and stress caused by rolling out IMatch 2020 into 70 countries. But in general, I'm rather chilled and only rarely lose my cool 

If you refer to specific posts here in the community which make you think I'm "a crusty, ill-tempered, and usually old man" (Webster Dictionary on 'curmudgeon'), let me know and post some links below.

Thanks for using IMatch. I have never worked with Darktable myself so I don't know how it compares to other RAW development software. Or DAM software.

[bekesizl]

DxO Photolab 3 and rarely RawTherapee.

Regarding ON1, the file is actually JSON, not XML.
I specifically edited a raw and a jpg pair and attached a sidecar (rename it back to .on1). I only found one for both files together. Couldn't find out, how it decides which edit belongs to which filetype.

[lucio]

Hi Mario,
I use DXO PhotoLab 3
I store the sidecar files in the image folders,

file_name.[original_file_extension].dop

Hope it helps.

[abgestumpft]

Hi,

I also use DXO Photolab 3 and Affinity Photo.

For my olympus ORF files I have configured this:
1. Buddy Files:
^(_*{name})[+\-_]*[0-9|a-z]*\.(jpg|jpeg|dng|orf\.dop|afphoto|ori)$

2. Versioning:
^(_*{name})[+\-_]*[0-9|a-z]*\.(jpg|jpeg|dng|afphoto|ori)$


orf\.dop = for DXO Photolab 3: when I have RAW file called: P4212031.ORF the sidecar file from DXO will be called P4212031.ORF.dop
afphoto = for Affinity Photo
ori = When shooting highres shots with Olympus, the highres RAW file is a .ORF file, and the normal resolution side car file is called .ORI (but technically same like .ORF). This means (in case of shooting Highres shots) I have a P4212031.ORF (the Highres RAW File) and a P4212031.ORI (the standard resolution RAW file)

[Belenos2017]

Hi Mario,
I use DxO as RaW-Converter since nearly 10 years. In the Beginning ( from 2010 to 2011) I hat DxO optics Pro V6.0. That produced sidecar-files like  "Name.cr2.v6.dxo" and I store them all in the same place as the raw picture. All newer versions produce "Name.cr2.dop" and I store them all in the same place as the raw picture. In the moment I use DXO Photolab 3.

[kohlhoff]

Capture One and DxO and Nikon Capture (didn't know this is sill in use, or is this a new software?) are covered.
Lr does not use sidecar files (except .XMP).
If you have another (SilkyPix) or so and you can spend a few minutes to check if and which sidecar files are created, that would be really helpful.
[/quote]

Hi,
does imatch support Capture One settings? The thumbnails seem to be rendered according global settings (e.g. exposure, black and white etc.) but do not display local adjustments as crops etc. Is imatch capable to display the image (at least the main variant) in its current state, i.e. as it would appear after development? Only in this case imatch could replace my old Media Pro.
Thanks

[Mario]

Please see IMatch and RAW Processing Software
The virtual settings you apply in C1 are only instructions for the C1 render engine. No other software can process your RAW files based on that. You are locked into C1 for that.

Use proxy images for IMatch (for example, export a JPEG from C1) or use a DNG-based workflow where C1 applies your settings to the DNG and updates the preview. I don't know if C1 supports these concepts, though. With its unique proxy images and versioning concept IMatch can show you the files you process in C1 as you see them in C1. You just have to produce a final image with all your settings applied in C1.