Hi Tony,
Guillermo has given a very complete answer here. Could I suggest
that DT is a great editing program. It is not such a great cataloging
program. I would copy the images from the SD card to a suitable folder on
your computer without involving DT. I would then open DT and use the import
function to let DT find the images you have placed in that folder. Then let
DT do what it does best, which is editing. I would never use DT in its
current form as a catalog system, but others might have a different point
of view about that.
Good luck.
On Tue, 23 Jun 2020 at 22:29, Guillermo Rozas <[email protected]> wrote:
> Just to be sure we are reading the same page, the DT v3 manual is
> here: https://darktable.gitlab.io/doc/en/ (there are still v2 manuals
> going around).
>
> > What I have discovered, by pressing the 'folder' button in import, is a
> window labelled 'import film' ..wait!, what ?
>
> Please read the manual, it's defined there:
> https://darktable.gitlab.io/doc/en/lighttable_concepts.html#film_rolls
>
> > Ignoring this confusion I notice an entry in the last of places in this
> window which says 'Home' and sure enough it takes me to
> C:\Users\<myuserid>\ - where no Pictures folder exists. So how can DT
> import images to the default location $(PICTURES_FOLDER}\Darktable ? And,
> indeed I find no 'Darktable' folder within my E:\Pictures folder after an
> import attempt.
>
> Please read the manual:
> https://darktable.gitlab.io/doc/en/lighttable_panels.html#import,
> specially the last paragraph under "Import from filesystem".
>
> You're misunderstanding what "Import" means for DT. When you import a
> picture or folder into DT, you're just telling it where they are and
> making them available in the lighttable. DT will save an entry in its
> internal database pointing to the location of the picture and
> (optionally) create an xmp sidecar file for each one. But it will
> never* move or touch your files in any way, it will respect your
> folder structure (which is a good thing if you want to use it in
> conjunction with iMatch as you said, both programs do the same).
>
> *exceptions: if you import directly from a camera or use the lightable
> module to move the files.
>
> > What is one supposed to do with the symbolic addresses, like '$(HOME)'
> and '$(PICTURES_FOLDER)' ? Should I replace them with actual addresses,
> like 'E:\Pictures', as Bruce Williams suggests in his videos? That doesn't
> seem to work either.
>
> As it says in the first paragraph of section 8.3
> (https://darktable.gitlab.io/doc/en/session_options.html) "Session
> options" only apply to pictures imported directly from a camera, not
> when importing pictures that are already in the computer. For pictures
> already in the computer DT will respect your folder structure and
> won't move the files.
>
> For pictures imported from cameras, especially if your folders are not
> in the "standard" Windows locations, probably you're better off
> putting the actual address there to avoid confusions.
>
> > How do I find out what 'the home folder as defined by the system' means ?
>
> It means exactly what it says: when you press "Home" in your file
> explorer, it takes you to this folder. In Windows it's usually
> "C:\Users\<myuserid>\", although I think you can modify it somewhere.
>
> > What doesn't work even more, to my expectation, than the above is my
> attempt to import from the SD card taken from my camera: I end up with a
> collection which points to an F: drive - the drive letter that is assigned
> when a card reader is attached to my system. Naturally then once the card
> is returned to the camera, attempts to edit the imported images fail with
> an error message telling me that the image is not available. This is
> completely different to my expectation: that the import from an SD card
> would place a COPY of the image somewhere on my harddrive and allow me to
> carry on using the card in the camera. Why does it not do this in my system?
>
> It seems you're mounting the SD card before opening it with DT
> (
> https://darktable.gitlab.io/doc/en/darktable_basic_workflow.html#darktable_basic_workflow_importing_from_camera
> ).
> Once the card is mounted in the system (meaning: you can access it
> with the file explorer), it will appear for all the programs as part
> of the computer filesystem, in your case as drive "F:". DT doesn't
> know that the F: drive is removable, so it just applies the same
> method it would use for any other system folder as I described above
> (and, of course, it will miss the picture files once you remove the
> card).
>
> You need to prevent the system from auto-mounting the card (I don't
> know how you do it in Windows, but it should be possible). Then, a new
> device should show under the "scan for devices" section on the import
> module (
> https://darktable.gitlab.io/doc/en/lighttable_panels.html#import_from_camera
> ).
> However, this is a bit of a hit or miss, depending on your camera or
> SD card reader, operating system, drivers, etc. it may show or not. If
> it doesn't consistently show, you may be better off using a dedicated
> program for SD card import (my recommendation Rapid Photo Downloader
> is not available in Windows, unfortunately).
>
> To be clear: if you want Darktable to copy the images from the card or
> camera to the locations and with the file names defined in "Session
> options", you need to use the "import from camera" button, not the
> "folder" or "image" buttons.
>
> Best regards,
> Guillermo
>
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>
--
Dr Terry Pinfold
Cytometry & Histology Lab Manager
Lecturer in Flow Cytometry
University of Tasmania
17 Liverpool St, Hobart, 7000
Ph 6226 4846 or 0408 699053
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