Move and rename photos and folders

When you move or rename files in DarkRay, the files and the catalog change together. Edits, ratings, keywords and collections stay with the photo. If you do it in the file manager instead, DarkRay can usually relink the photos afterward (see Folders and sync), but doing it here is safer.

Move photos to another folder

1. Select photos in the grid.
2. Drag them onto a folder in the Folders panel, or choose Image › Move to Folder… and pick the folder.
3. DarkRay asks “Move N photos on disk to …?”. Click Move.

If some names are already taken in the destination, Move keeps both by adding a number to the new name (IMG_0101_1.NEF), and Skip Those moves only the photos whose names are free.

The move runs in the background, and you can cancel it from the status bar.

Rename a photo

Select one photo in the grid and choose Image › Rename…, or press F2 (by default). Type the new name. The extension stays, and a change of case only is allowed. A name can’t be empty, can’t contain characters the system forbids, and can’t end with a dot or a space.

For a virtual copy, F2 renames the copy, not the file.

Work with folders

Right-click a folder in the Folders panel.

Command	Does
New Folder…	Creates a folder inside this one.
Rename Folder…	Renames it on disk. Its photos keep their edits.
Move Folder…	Moves it into another folder on the same drive. You can also drag it onto the folder.
Show in File System	Opens it in the file manager.

DarkRay asks before moving a folder. A move to another drive is refused: copy the folder in the file manager, then use Locate Folder… on the original.

Show a photo in the file manager

Choose Image › Show in File System, or right-click a photo. On Windows the file is selected in Explorer. On other systems its folder opens. If the file is missing, DarkRay says so and opens the nearest folder that exists.

Caution

There is no Undo for moving or renaming. If a step fails part-way, DarkRay puts the files back and says what happened.

Technical details: companion files

A photo’s .xmp and .merge.json files move, rename and go to the trash with it. If a RAW and a JPEG share an .xmp named by the common stem, it moves only when every photo that shares it moves, and stays put when just one is renamed. RAW and JPEG pairs are separate photos in the catalog, and move only if you select both.

A move writes the file first, then the catalog; if the catalog step fails, the file is moved back. Across drives, the copy is verified byte for byte before the original is deleted. Decoded RAW data and other caches are keyed by the file’s content, so a moved file doesn’t rebuild them.