Manual · Chapter 11
Export
The export workflow creates a controlled copy of the reviewed photo set for the next stage of your workflow. ViolaScope can apply rating and culling rules, create XMP sidecars, write a transfer manifest and avoid unnecessary duplicate image copies.
What export does
Export creates copies of the selected image resources in a destination that you choose.
The original source files are not moved or overwritten simply because you export a project result.
Export is therefore a transfer step between the ViolaScope review workflow and another stage such as editing, delivery or archiving.
Choose the export destination
Select where the exported result should be stored.
The destination can be a folder used specifically for the current export or an existing location that you want to continue using.
Choose a clear folder name so that the exported result can be identified later without ambiguity.
Minimum rating
ViolaScope can limit export according to the star ratings assigned during review.
The minimum-rating option allows you to export:
- all edited or reviewed photos
- photos rated 1 star or higher
- photos rated 2 stars or higher
- photos rated 3 stars or higher
- photos rated 4 stars or higher
- photos rated 5 stars
This makes it possible to create an export containing only the rating level that is relevant for the next stage of your workflow.
Export Rejects separately
Rejects do not have to be mixed with the regular exported selection.
When the export of Rejects is enabled, ViolaScope stores them separately in the subfolder Aussortiert.
This keeps rejected photos available when required while clearly separating them from the main exported result.
XMP sidecars
ViolaScope can create XMP sidecar files during export.
XMP is a standardized metadata format that can be used to transfer supported information between applications without modifying the visual image data.
Depending on the export configuration, project information such as ratings and compatible metadata can be written into the sidecar files.
XMP profiles
ViolaScope provides several XMP profiles for different target workflows.
- Neutral – general-purpose XMP output
- Adobe Lightroom – intended for transfer to Adobe Lightroom
- DxO PhotoLab – intended for transfer to DxO PhotoLab
Choose the profile that best matches the application in which you plan to continue working.
Not every ViolaScope property can necessarily be represented identically in every external application.
Transfer manifest
ViolaScope can create a transfer manifest named ViolaScope-Transfer-Manifest.json.
The manifest provides additional information about the exported photo set and helps preserve the relationship between exported resources and their ViolaScope identity.
This is particularly useful when the exported result is later used as part of another workflow or loaded again.
Identity and checksums
File names alone are not sufficient to reliably determine whether two photo resources are identical.
ViolaScope therefore uses project identity information and, where required, content-based checks such as SHA-256 values or other fingerprints.
This helps distinguish an identical resource from a different photo that happens to use the same file name.
Checksum calculations can take time
A content checksum requires reading image data.
With larger files or larger photo collections, this can add processing time to an export operation.
The additional work is used to make resource identity and repeated exports more reliable.
Repeated export to the same folder
ViolaScope is designed to avoid creating unnecessary duplicate image copies when the same resources are exported again to an existing destination.
If an existing image is recognized as the same resource, ViolaScope can keep the existing image copy instead of writing another identical copy.
Metadata files or transfer information can still be updated when required.
Same file name, different image
Two different image resources can have the same file name.
If ViolaScope detects that the destination already contains a different resource with the requested name, it uses a conflict-free destination name instead of silently overwriting the existing file.
This protects unrelated files that happen to share the same original name.
Location data
Geographic information may be included in the ViolaScope project and in exported metadata.
The export workflow therefore includes an option for whether location information should be retained in the XMP and transfer-manifest data generated by ViolaScope.
Removing location data does not sanitize the image file
This distinction is important.
When ViolaScope is configured to omit location data during export, that setting applies to the XMP sidecars and transfer manifest created or managed by ViolaScope.
It does not automatically remove GPS information that may already be embedded directly in the copied image file itself, for example in EXIF metadata.
If the exported image must contain no embedded GPS information at all, that requirement must be handled separately.
The export result becomes part of the workflow
After a successful export, the exported result can become the active working state for the project.
The filmstrip can then show the photos that were successfully exported into that working set.
Photos that were not included in the export are not automatically deleted from the overall ViolaScope catalog.
Why the export folder may contain more files than the filmstrip
ViolaScope does not automatically clean older files from an existing export folder simply because a later export contains fewer photos.
The physical folder may therefore contain older files that are not part of the current exported working set shown in the filmstrip.
This avoids an automatic deletion of files that may still be needed for another purpose.
Load an export folder explicitly
If you later use Load Photos and explicitly select an export folder as a source, ViolaScope treats that folder as a source for loading photos.
In that situation, the contents of the selected folder can be examined and added according to the normal photo loading workflow.
This is different from simply continuing with the successful export result after the export operation.
Export summary
At the end of an export, ViolaScope provides a summary of the result.
Depending on the operation, this can indicate how many image resources were copied, how many metadata files were written, which files were skipped or already present, and whether any items could not be exported.
Review this summary before continuing if the exported result does not contain the number of photos you expected.
Export is not a project backup
An export is designed to transfer a working result. It is not a complete backup of the ViolaScope project.
The export folder may contain selected images, XMP sidecars and a transfer manifest, but it does not necessarily contain every component required to recreate the complete project state.
Project backups are explained in the next chapter.
A practical export workflow
One possible export workflow is:
- Complete the current photo review.
- Check ratings and culling decisions.
- Select the export destination.
- Choose the required minimum rating.
- Decide whether Rejects should be exported separately.
- Enable XMP sidecars when required.
- Select the appropriate XMP profile.
- Decide how ViolaScope-generated location data should be handled.
- Start the export and wait for the operation to finish.
- Review the export summary.
- Check the destination before continuing with another application.
Next step
Export transfers the reviewed result into the next stage of your workflow. It does not replace a complete project backup.
The next chapter explains the ViolaScope project folder, managed photo resources and the differences between a project backup, catalog backup, XMP and export.