Moving Photos Between sub-folders and catalogues

[PeterM]

I have a combination of clarifications and questions about how PM+ and catalogues work.

Perhaps I don’t have the right analogy in mind for how catalogues should function or perhaps there is a more optimal workflow? Pleased to adapt.

My workflow:
1) ingest from cards to a sub-folder of an ‘Inbound’ folder e.g. using a unique folder name

Question: Will ‘auto catalogue’, if checked, automatically add the photos to the currently selected active catalogue? In my situation I have an ‘Inbound’ catalogue and before ingesting I’d have to make sure ‘Inbound’ is the chosen catalogue? Apart from the catalogue selection ‘organizer’ is there any other indication of which catalogue a photo or folder will be added to?

2) After completing a number of tasks I move the ingested folder from my ‘Inbound’ folder to an ‘Archive’ folder. I have a separate catalogue for ‘Archive’.

2a) I typically remove the photos from the source catalogue by ‘select all’ within the folder and right clicking ‘remove from catalogue’. This is where it starts to get non-intuitive. Regardless of whether the item is in a catalogue the ‘remove from catalogue’ gives a confirmation box asking about remove or delete.

Then I move the folder. Choosing ‘include in catalogue’ using the right-click context proceeds without confirmation or indication of catalogue. ie I better make sure I have the right catalogue selected in the organizer.

Question: Is this the best way to move photos between catalogues?

2b) Alternatively, if I move multiple photos and folders (within PM+) without ‘removing’ or ‘including’, I do a ‘bulk’ update of the catalogues using either Scan to Catalogue or Catalogue Sync.

Scanning or Syncing both catalogues (Inbound and Archive) seems to remove and add the photos appropriately.

Question: What is the difference between Scan to Catalogue or Catalogue Sync? (Apart from the ability to set collections and a full or quick scan in Sync)?

A variation of this was discussed as a feature request: https://forums.camerabits.com/index.php?topic=15419.0 i.e. the idea that adding to a folder would automatically add to the catalogue. Not sure how feasible having to option to assign a folder to a catalogue is but if I stick with a folder mentality having catalogues aligned makes sense.

Pleased to adapt my workflow if that would make things more intuitive.

[ahoward]

Question: Will ‘auto catalogue’, if checked, automatically add the photos to the currently selected active catalogue? In my situation I have an ‘Inbound’ catalogue and before ingesting I’d have to make sure ‘Inbound’ is the chosen catalogue? Apart from the catalogue selection ‘organizer’ is there any other indication of which catalogue a photo or folder will be added to?

The ingested images will be added to any catalog whose "Add/Modify" checkbox in the organizer is checked. The only other places this checkbox appears is in the Catalog Management window.

2) After completing a number of tasks I move the ingested folder from my ‘Inbound’ folder to an ‘Archive’ folder. I have a separate catalogue for ‘Archive’.

2a) I typically remove the photos from the source catalogue by ‘select all’ within the folder and right clicking ‘remove from catalogue’. This is where it starts to get non-intuitive. Regardless of whether the item is in a catalogue the ‘remove from catalogue’ gives a confirmation box asking about remove or delete.

There might be room for improvement there to have it not be possible to choose that option if your selection doesn't include any items that are part of a catalog

Then I move the folder. Choosing ‘include in catalogue’ using the right-click context proceeds without confirmation or indication of catalogue. ie I better make sure I have the right catalogue selected in the organizer.

Question: Is this the best way to move photos between catalogues?

I'm not sure if adding to the initial catalog is necessary if everything is contained in a single folder. I'm not sure what tasks are involved for you before you move it to the "Archive" folder, but I am assuming that you are doing things like adding metadata and then editing the image in your pixel editor of choice. Removing from catalog just to add to another every time sounds like an extra unnecessary step to me. You could even just add them to your "Archive" catalog right away. You can browse your catalog by where the images are located (Browse tab -> Folder Path),  so you can still use the folder structure you've described to separate the inbound stuff from the stuff that has been moved to its permanent location.

2b) Alternatively, if I move multiple photos and folders (within PM+) without ‘removing’ or ‘including’, I do a ‘bulk’ update of the catalogues using either Scan to Catalogue or Catalogue Sync.

If you use Photo Mechanic to move files that are in a catalog, it updates the catalog and tells it where the new location of those files are. This would negate the need to do a Scan or Sync.

Scanning or Syncing both catalogues (Inbound and Archive) seems to remove and add the photos appropriately.

Both of these operations only add items to the catalog, they do not remove photos from a catalog.

Question: What is the difference between Scan to Catalogue or Catalogue Sync? (Apart from the ability to set collections and a full or quick scan in Sync)?

Scan to Catalog looks for new files in the folders that you specified and adds them to the specified catalogs.
With Catalog sync, in addition to the things you mentioned, you can have it check all catalogued files for metadata updates that happened outside of Photo Mechanic Plus, and you can also have it generate proxies for files that are in the catalog but don't have one.

[bazography]

Choosing ‘include in catalogue’ using the right-click context proceeds without confirmation or indication of catalogue. ie I better make sure I have the right catalogue selected in the organizer.

This has always really bothered me about PM. It's too easy to forget and add images to the wrong catalog, which can be a serious headache if you don't catch your error right away (ask me how I know). Also, right now I have to switch from the favourites tab to the Organizer tab, then check/uncheck various boxes, then switch back to the favourites tab each time. Way too fiddly in my opinion.

I've always wondered why this doesn't work just like a saving something in any software program. When you go to save something, a window pops up asking where you want to save it. I think PM should do exactly the same thing when ‘include in catalogue’ is selected. A pop-up window should ask you "which catalog?", and give you a list of your catalogs to choose from. Much simpler as it would take just one click, plus it would have the bonus of making it impossible to forget to check which catalog you have selected.