Someone here said he created a batch file that deleted the database every time before opening PL.
George
Mike, I owe you an excuse …
After downloading your file + dop-file
I also couldn’t see your edits – but the result of DxO’s Standard preset.
What happened … you named everything with this [ | ] “pipe” character, incompatible to Windows’ filename convention ( → see some time ago ), and the files were automatically saved as
“MM2_0291 2022-04-15.nef” and “MM2_0291 2022-04-15.nef.dop”
While I could open the renamed raw-file, the dop-file was not recognized
– and your pic appeared with DxO’s Standard preset, which is my setting for new files.
the renamed raw-file // your uploaded JPEG
I could work on your pic and tried all sort of stuff to bring the shady landscape out.
VC1 → MM2_0291 2022-04-15.nef.dop (319,1 KB)
It was a bit of a challenge, as the sunlight only touched the distant mountain.
Master (DxO Standard) // VC1 = my edit + export // Mike’s JPEG (Forum)
I used several global and local adjustments ( also some dodge & burn ) and the HSL tool
to better differentiate the grassland ( → the already brightened yellowish parts ).
BTW, downloading the beautiful pic 0295, I was also ‘excluded’ to see the edits. 
Wolfgang
I’m not sure what to do about this. For perhaps 8 years or so, the person who explained how to get the most out of the PhotoMechanic program suggested using the tools to rename my folders and files to make it more obvious when I view my files in Finder. I had long since given up on Windows, and only used macOS. So, on all my computers, all my files look like this, and the “pipe” character becomes a nice separator when I view a long list of files - such as:
I don’t want to change this convention now, but I don’t want to cause you any grief either. I’ll have to think about this some more, and perhaps find a better character that both Mac and Windows recognize. Any suggestions?
EDIT !!
Hi Mike,
while I’m no IT-specialist, I looked for some ‘resources’
- a (black)list by IBM
- explanations and listing by MS
- article by Michigan Tech
…
All of them note, not to use the [ | ], known as “pipe” or “vertical bar”, in the filename.
Hopefully explained well enough …
What happened … you named everything with this [ | ] “pipe” character, incompatible to Windows’ filename convention ( → see some time ago ), and the files were automatically saved as
“MM2_0291 2022-04-15.nef” and “MM2_0291 2022-04-15.nef.dop”→ your “blank - pipe - blank” automatically got replaced by “blank”
While I could open the renamed raw-file, the dop-file was not recognized … …
Typically, I use “hyphen” and “underscore” to structure my files
( and sometimes I also use “blank”, but if ever only ‘within’ the filename )
I would say that, visually, the pipe character is an excellent choice. I don’t think it is a good idea to revise your whole Mac workflow just to accommodate posting a few images here.
The easiest solution would be to copy any RAW file, that you want to show here, to a dedicated folder and rename it from within PL. This will ensure that the original filename, the DOP filename and the reference to the RAW file in the DOP all get written correctly.
So…
- Edit original image in PL
- Copy RAW file and DOP to dedicated “posting” folder using Finder
- Open copied file in PL
- Rename file in PL
Then you can post the file and the DOP from the “posting” folder to here and it shouldn’t upset those poor souls who still use Windows 
… using the lowest common denominator is the price for to communicate – with the ‘poorer ones’.
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Talking of photographing wildlife, why go out looking for it when it passes through your garden looking for you?
Lovely photo. I hope you used a long lens. I’ve read too many stories of foxes biting people in the USA, with the end result being a series of rabies shots.
I like the way you got the focus perfectly on the eyes! I hope you didn’t let it get close to you. Instead of looking at you, I’m surprised it didn’t instantly run off.
Lovely photo!!!
400mm and here is the uncropped version…
Rabies doesn’t exist in France.
I had to open our verandah door a bit at a time, very slowly, whilst keeping an eye on when the fox was looking away. It looked at me as soon as I pressed the shutter and I just managed to get three shots off before he disappeared under the hedge.
Curious, did you get a good shot just as the fox decided to leave?
You “did good!” …as always!
Just thinking out loud… in what way is the “pipe character” not a valid character in Windows? Can Windows be configured to see it as just another character?
I think @Wolfgang can edit my images with no problem. The “pipe character” apparently doesn’t exist in Windows. Apparently after he edits my images, and posts the results, the problem is at my end, because I’m not sure where to save these pipe-character-less files.
Maybe a better solution is for Wolfgang to just do what he’s used to doing already, and I will save his files in a new folder at my end, where everything will be the same but for the slightly different file names. Wolfgang can do just what he is already doing, but I will then download both his “.dop” file, and the image file into a new “Wolfgang folder” on my computer.
I seem to spend a huge amount of time figuring out what Wolfgang did, and why, so a separate folder at my end is no problem, and probably even better for me.
Is this acceptable?
There are several characters that are not recognised in a Windows file name and that includes the pip character. Your idea of running a separate folder. I would have thought very acceptable.
It’s a done-deal. I’ll upload files like I have done. When anyone with Windows works on them, the pipe character will vanish, and when I download the edits, I will have one separate folder maybe named “Windows-Edits”.
What are the other characters that Windows does not recognize? Does Windows just “not see” the character, as if it didn’t exist?
I do still have one Windows computer, my old Lenovo W530 laptop. I guess I should install one of my older versions of PhotoLab on it, just for the heck of it. I used to think I knew Windows fairly well, but I’ve forgotten almost all of it…
Read the posts and don’t keep asking or finding a different solution.
Post 315 from @Wolfgang. It’s not a matter that windows doesn’t recognize them, but they are reserved characters.
George
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Sorry, my mistake. I will ask correctly now: In addition to the “pipe character”, what other characters does windows “reserve”?
And see this post for the best workflow to share such a file
Just for your information, macOS allows all but one of the Windows reserved characters so, if you really want to make a file or folder totally unreadable for Windows users, you can even do something like this…
I am at my brother’s home near Fellsmere, Florida, out in the country. He has a 5-acre plot of land, and shares with with lots of local critters. I brought along my repaired D750, and two zooms. I went out walking with him around the property late afternoon yesterday, and we were greeted by some rabbits that wanted nothing to do with us, and even less to do with my brother’s dog. Towards the end of our walk, my brother went off on his own, taking his dog home, and I stayed in a field with two rabbits that were pretending to ignore us. So, I figured if I took my time, maybe a photo op would present itself.
My camera should have recognized I was in Colorado a few weeks ago, but it didn’t, so I set it manually. I forget to set it back to Florida until late last night. I need to remember these things. Anyway, as long as I stood still, the rabbits seemed to ignore me. I slowly moved a little closer (not much) and to an angle I thought would make the rabbits look better. Rabbit #1 stood its ground, but #2 gradually approached it, until they were next to each other. So, I changed what I was doing to get a photo of both rabbits together. My 70-300 was set to 300, and I followed the advice here to use auto-ISO. Knowing that the ISO could have gone much higher, I wish I had set a much higher shutter speed, but I didn’t think I would need it. I wondered about aperture, but decided I should leave it where I had it, and focus precisely on the rabbit closest to me. The other rabbit would be less sharp, but I thought that was good. Rabbit #2 started cleaning its paws, which made the photo even better. After I got my favorite photos, the rabbits decided to move off, as did I.
Editing was going to be with PhotoMechanic then PL5, both of which needed to be updated. I played around with various crops, and gave up on my original idea for the photo, cropping in very close, which shows what I wanted people to see, a close, detailed look at the pair of bunnies, relaxing.
Durn, I’ve tried six times to copy the raw image file here, and each time I get the same error message “Draft is being edited in another window. Please reload this page.” I know I’ve got a poor internet connection, but how to I get around this?
Here’s the exported image, but I’m not sure why I can’t upload the raw file…
