Library, Catalog and Cache

Picturesque keeps three kinds of data apart, so it is always clear what is precious and what can be rebuilt:

The library

The folder you chose, holding your imported photos, organized by the folder structure you picked (Path Templates), with the XMP sidecars that carry your ratings and flags. It is ordinary files: back it up, browse it, open it in other tools. Picturesque only adds files (imports, sidecars) and moves rejects into _Rejected when you ask; it never deletes a photo.

The catalog

A database in the application data folder with what Picturesque knows about each photo: capture details, place, files, decisions, analysis results, series. It makes browsing and filtering instant. Your decisions are also in the sidecars, so other tools see them.

The cache

Thumbnails and previews, recreated whenever needed. Deleting the cache folder only costs time.

Where each lives, and what is safe to delete: Data Locations.

Imports copy

Importing copies photos from their original folders (memory cards, old dumps, backups) into the library, verifying every copy, and leaves the originals untouched (Import). Once you have checked the library, you can format the card or delete the old copies yourself.

One library per catalog

A catalog belongs to one library folder: photo paths are stored relative to it. Choosing a different library folder is refused once the library has photos; moving a library to another disk or path is not supported yet (see Troubleshooting).