How to store a reference state for JPEG generation

BHAYT · February 9, 2026, 11:00am

@Joanna I do the same but I started to write a program to analyse the DOP and we used that to investigate the ordering of VCs in the DOP when @platypus was concerned about how DxO (re- )orders the VCs because they didn’t appear to be in any particular order in the DOP.

On Windows they are held in the DOP in the expected order [M], [1], … etc. (haven’t checked that for PL9) but that wasn’t the case for the Mac!?

Sorting on the Creation Date of the entries in the DOP determined the correct order.

The DOPs with PL Windows are a nightmare to compare, I sometimes wonder if it was deliberate to obscure the mechanisms used by DxO but…

This is me transitioning from using the IPTC field to using the keyword field

2026/02/09_10:46:06.090  Processing File #1<=======================================================
2026/02/09_10:46:06.090  ===============
2026/02/09_10:46:06.092 09/02/2026 - F:\_____DxOT\___DXO PL5 - Tests Additional\Test 36 - CA Testing\CA Tests 01 - Nymans\Keywords\P1112299.RW2.dop
2026/02/09_10:46:06.093 First Read Pass:-  <----------------------------------------------------------

2026/02/09_10:46:06.093 @ line      1   Sidecar = {
2026/02/09_10:46:06.093 @ line      2   Date = "2026-02-09T10:45:20.5363231Z",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.094 @ line      3   Software = "DxO PhotoLab 7.17",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.096 @ line      4   Source = {
2026/02/09_10:46:06.096 @ line      5   CafId = "C61004c",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.097 @ line      6   Items = {
2026/02/09_10:46:06.097 @ line      7   {
2026/02/09_10:46:06.097 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2026/02/09_10:46:06.098 @ line      8   Albums = "",                                           <===[
2026/02/09_10:46:06.098 @ line      9   CreationDate = "2026-02-09T10:42:17.5596719Z",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.099 @ line     11   contentHeadline = "CA OFF",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.099 @ line     14   Keywords = {
2026/02/09_10:46:06.099 Keyword = CA OFF
2026/02/09_10:46:06.100 @ line     22   Name = "P1112299.RW2",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.100 @ line     24   OutputItems = {
2026/02/09_10:46:06.101 @ line     28   Rating = 0,
2026/02/09_10:46:06.105 @ line    336   ColorLookupPath = "",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.109 @ line    512   Overrides = {
2026/02/09_10:46:06.109 @ line    555   Version = "18.6",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.109 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2026/02/09_10:46:06.110 @ line    560   Uuid = "F97FA132-2A4A-411B-B913-F497D7C44DC4",         <---]
2026/02/09_10:46:06.110 {Album_count = 1 Uuid_count = 1}
2026/02/09_10:46:06.110 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2026/02/09_10:46:06.111 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2026/02/09_10:46:06.111 @ line    564   Albums = "",                                           <===[
2026/02/09_10:46:06.112 @ line    565   CreationDate = "2026-02-09T10:42:17.5636710Z",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.112 @ line    567   contentHeadline = "CA default NO Purple fringing",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.113 @ line    570   Keywords = {
2026/02/09_10:46:06.113 Keyword = CA default NO Purple fringing
2026/02/09_10:46:06.118 @ line    578   Name = "P1112299.RW2",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.118 @ line    580   OutputItems = {
2026/02/09_10:46:06.119 @ line    584   Rating = 0,
2026/02/09_10:46:06.122 @ line    892   ColorLookupPath = "",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.123 @ line   1068   Overrides = {
2026/02/09_10:46:06.124 @ line   1104   Version = "18.6",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.124 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2026/02/09_10:46:06.124 @ line   1109   Uuid = "DA454683-F8DF-468B-9F6C-F6A00C2FD83B",         <---]
2026/02/09_10:46:06.125 {Album_count = 2 Uuid_count = 2}
2026/02/09_10:46:06.125 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2026/02/09_10:46:06.126 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2026/02/09_10:46:06.126 @ line   1113   Albums = "",                                           <===[
2026/02/09_10:46:06.126 @ line   1114   CreationDate = "2026-02-09T10:42:17.5726673Z",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.129 @ line   1116   contentHeadline = "CA default WITH Purple fringing",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.129 @ line   1119   Keywords = {
2026/02/09_10:46:06.130 Keyword = CA default WITH Purple fringing
2026/02/09_10:46:06.130 @ line   1127   Name = "P1112299.RW2",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.131 @ line   1129   OutputItems = {
2026/02/09_10:46:06.131 @ line   1133   Rating = 0,
2026/02/09_10:46:06.134 @ line   1441   ColorLookupPath = "",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.137 @ line   1617   Overrides = {
2026/02/09_10:46:06.137 @ line   1653   Version = "18.6",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.137 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2026/02/09_10:46:06.138 @ line   1658   Uuid = "05323BD8-404B-4A25-91E4-6EA6AB37077A",         <---]
2026/02/09_10:46:06.138 {Album_count = 3 Uuid_count = 3}
2026/02/09_10:46:06.138 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2026/02/09_10:46:06.140 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2026/02/09_10:46:06.140 @ line   1662   Albums = "",                                           <===[
2026/02/09_10:46:06.140 @ line   1663   CreationDate = "2026-02-09T10:42:17.5756668Z",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.140 @ line   1665   contentHeadline = "CA Max (Intensity & Size} NO Purple Fringing",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.141 @ line   1668   Keywords = {
2026/02/09_10:46:06.141 Keyword = CA Max Intensity Default Size NO Purple Fringing
2026/02/09_10:46:06.141 @ line   1676   Name = "P1112299.RW2",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.141 @ line   1678   OutputItems = {
2026/02/09_10:46:06.142 @ line   1682   Rating = 0,
2026/02/09_10:46:06.144 @ line   1990   ColorLookupPath = "",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.145 @ line   2166   Overrides = {
2026/02/09_10:46:06.145 @ line   2207   Version = "18.6",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.146 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2026/02/09_10:46:06.151 @ line   2212   Uuid = "56F8EE05-974F-4BB7-9EBE-E0677EC0F052",         <---]
2026/02/09_10:46:06.151 {Album_count = 4 Uuid_count = 4}
2026/02/09_10:46:06.151 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2026/02/09_10:46:06.151 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2026/02/09_10:46:06.151 @ line   2216   Albums = "",                                           <===[
2026/02/09_10:46:06.152 @ line   2217   CreationDate = "2026-02-09T10:42:17.5776657Z",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.152 @ line   2219   contentHeadline = "CA Max (Intensity & Size} WITH Purple Fringing",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.152 @ line   2222   Keywords = {
2026/02/09_10:46:06.152 Keyword = 
2026/02/09_10:46:06.152 @ line   2230   Name = "P1112299.RW2",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.153 @ line   2232   OutputItems = {
2026/02/09_10:46:06.153 @ line   2236   Rating = 0,
2026/02/09_10:46:06.162 @ line   2544   ColorLookupPath = "",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.164 @ line   2720   Overrides = {
2026/02/09_10:46:06.164 @ line   2760   Version = "18.6",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.164 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2026/02/09_10:46:06.164 @ line   2765   Uuid = "B0A676C1-DF26-4633-93DA-9769F0C3688E",         <---]
2026/02/09_10:46:06.165 {Album_count = 5 Uuid_count = 5}
2026/02/09_10:46:06.165 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2026/02/09_10:46:06.165 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2026/02/09_10:46:06.165 @ line   2769   Albums = "",                                           <===[
2026/02/09_10:46:06.165 @ line   2770   CreationDate = "2026-02-09T10:42:17.5796655Z",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.166 @ line   2772   contentHeadline = "CA Max Intensity Default Size NO Purple Fringing",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.172 @ line   2775   Keywords = {
2026/02/09_10:46:06.172 Keyword = CA Max Intensity Default Size NO Purple Fringing
2026/02/09_10:46:06.172 @ line   2783   Name = "P1112299.RW2",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.172 @ line   2785   OutputItems = {
2026/02/09_10:46:06.172 @ line   2789   Rating = 0,
2026/02/09_10:46:06.174 @ line   3097   ColorLookupPath = "",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.176 @ line   3273   Overrides = {
2026/02/09_10:46:06.176 @ line   3312   Version = "18.6",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.176 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2026/02/09_10:46:06.177 @ line   3317   Uuid = "863026EF-4560-4A9C-9553-BD3390269792",         <---]
2026/02/09_10:46:06.177 {Album_count = 6 Uuid_count = 6}
2026/02/09_10:46:06.177 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2026/02/09_10:46:06.177 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2026/02/09_10:46:06.183 @ line   3321   Albums = "",                                           <===[
2026/02/09_10:46:06.183 @ line   3322   CreationDate = "2026-02-09T10:42:17.5816648Z",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.183 @ line   3324   contentHeadline = "CA Max Intensity Default Size WITH Purple Fringing",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.183 @ line   3327   Keywords = {
2026/02/09_10:46:06.183 Keyword = CA Max Intensity Default Size NO Purple Fringing
2026/02/09_10:46:06.184 @ line   3335   Name = "P1112299.RW2",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.184 @ line   3337   OutputItems = {
2026/02/09_10:46:06.185 @ line   3341   Rating = 0,
2026/02/09_10:46:06.186 @ line   3649   ColorLookupPath = "",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.188 @ line   3825   Overrides = {
2026/02/09_10:46:06.188 @ line   3863   Version = "18.6",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.189 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2026/02/09_10:46:06.189 @ line   3868   Uuid = "98482A8E-2387-46B6-8A86-03155186C3AF",         <---]
2026/02/09_10:46:06.194 {Album_count = 7 Uuid_count = 7}
2026/02/09_10:46:06.194 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2026/02/09_10:46:06.194 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2026/02/09_10:46:06.195 @ line   3872   Albums = "",                                           <===[
2026/02/09_10:46:06.195 @ line   3873   CreationDate = "2026-02-09T10:42:17.5836647Z",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.195 @ line   3875   contentHeadline = "CA Default Intensity Max Size NO Purple Fringing",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.196 @ line   3878   Keywords = {
2026/02/09_10:46:06.196 Keyword = CA Max Intensity Default Size NO Purple Fringing
2026/02/09_10:46:06.196 @ line   3886   Name = "P1112299.RW2",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.196 @ line   3888   OutputItems = {
2026/02/09_10:46:06.197 @ line   3892   Rating = 0,
2026/02/09_10:46:06.199 @ line   4200   ColorLookupPath = "",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.206 @ line   4376   Overrides = {
2026/02/09_10:46:06.206 @ line   4415   Version = "18.6",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.206 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2026/02/09_10:46:06.207 @ line   4420   Uuid = "0BFB8AE4-B606-4632-BFF2-4F3C8BD49655",         <---]
2026/02/09_10:46:06.207 {Album_count = 8 Uuid_count = 8}
2026/02/09_10:46:06.208 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2026/02/09_10:46:06.208 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2026/02/09_10:46:06.208 @ line   4424   Albums = "",                                           <===[
2026/02/09_10:46:06.209 @ line   4425   CreationDate = "2026-02-09T10:42:17.5856635Z",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.209 @ line   4427   contentHeadline = "CA Default Intensity Max Size WITH Purple Fringing",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.209 @ line   4430   Keywords = {
2026/02/09_10:46:06.215 Keyword = CA Max Intensity Default Size NO Purple Fringing
2026/02/09_10:46:06.215 @ line   4438   Name = "P1112299.RW2",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.215 @ line   4440   OutputItems = {
2026/02/09_10:46:06.216 @ line   4444   Rating = 0,
2026/02/09_10:46:06.218 @ line   4752   ColorLookupPath = "",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.220 @ line   4928   Overrides = {
2026/02/09_10:46:06.220 @ line   4966   Version = "18.6",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.220 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2026/02/09_10:46:06.221 @ line   4971   Uuid = "7D324D39-3A53-4CB5-808E-92A60ACE7E69",         <---]
2026/02/09_10:46:06.221 {Album_count = 9 Uuid_count = 9}
2026/02/09_10:46:06.221 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2026/02/09_10:46:06.222 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2026/02/09_10:46:06.222 @ line   4976   Uuid = "ECAEF41B-DEF7-422A-8622-8193F1DBE908",         <----
2026/02/09_10:46:06.226 {Album_count = 9 Uuid_count = 10}
2026/02/09_10:46:06.226 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2026/02/09_10:46:06.226 @ line   4979   Version = "18.1",
2026/02/09_10:46:06.226 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

One version handles Hierarchical (or Hierarchal!?) Keywords and I have a program that can submit images back to DxPL via an External Selection.

@frederic.chaume It is not used at all as far as I know.

The program is written in PureBasic, now handled by a French developer I believe.

The original and all VCs have their own entry in the DOP and they are in the expected order for a Windows DOP (yet to be verified with PL9).

I use the ‘Albums’ as my counting variable for my analysis, DxO don’t use it but I do.

Amendment:- That last statement is nonsense. the chances are they use it how I use it, i.e. too determine where a new copy starts but no more, i.e. they don’t include (re)naming details for a copy.

platypus · February 9, 2026, 1:24pm

…on Mac

Note the individual names I gave the master and virtual copy files:

…and how copies are “sorted” in the sidecar:

This situation (and it can change with every export of the sidecar) simply means that one cannot count entries in the sidecar to find “the reference”.That is why I proposed to give the reference copy a distinct name … PhotoLab is NOT be able to find the distinctly named VC!

For search to work, one needs a physical copy…or a star rating or a colour tag or a keyword or… an entry under IPTC Status, which is meant for such information.

swmurray · February 9, 2026, 2:29pm

???
When “experimenting” with an image and lots of edit alternatives, generating a 2nd copy (or more) of the RAW image works better than a long series of VCs.
Yes, this takes up storage, but helps me with organization minimizing overwrites.

Mostly depending on VCs and the habit to not overwrite exported images to keep my edits organized and retrievable.

BHAYT · February 9, 2026, 4:38pm

@frederic.chaume You know that the [M]aster can never be deleted, in addition the order of VCs cannot be changed. When a new one is created from the [M]aster or any VC it will be added to the end of the sequence but takes the edits of the VC from which it was “cloned”.

The database does not appear to contain any reference to the {M]aster in the database entry, I believe that is determined by about position determined by the order in which they were added to the database (effectively the ‘CreationDate’ but not using that field)!

The indexes on ‘Items’ are

and the fields are

@platypus Thanks for adding that, but everyone knows you are a Mac user and I am a Windows user.

But there is no PL(Win) feature that allows individual VCs (or the [M]aster) to be uniquely identified, none whatsoever, while using the UI and not really any when looking at the exports.

They will be something like the top snapshot below but using PIE (Picture Information Extractor) then a degree of order can be restored using embedded keywords or IPTC data.

.

However, if you export again then you are either going to overwrite previous exports or create the following

and that make a superb point about the lack of forethought by DxO when it comes to the naming of the [M]aster image. Typically I rename it with the suffix of “_0” but if DxO had managed to put a bit of intelligence into the program no user action would be necessary, just saying!

@swmurray Each to his own.

I have used both, but typically independently, i.e. multiple Renamed images or VCs but less often have I used both of them simultaneously, i.e. Renamed + VCs.

However, DxPL contains no way on Windows to annotate an export, no metadata fields can be incorporated into a filename template.

Hence, I believe it is imperative to incorporate data into the exports that can be used to help identify editing decisions, intent, ultimate purpose etc. and associated with the export.

@swmurray as you indicate an image may be exported multiple times and each export could overwrite previous exports, albeit PL will typically ask whether to Overwrite or allocate a unique number.

platypus · February 9, 2026, 6:54pm

Is there a way to edit the IPTC Status on a per-VC basis?

If yes, that’s the way to go. Most apps should be able to deal with IPTC metadata, but some might depend on it being in XMP or (upcoming legacy) IPTC format.

BHAYT · February 9, 2026, 7:06pm

@platypus That is exactly what I have done in this case and each image originally had IPTC Content “Header” set to identify the modifications I had made to each and every copy, [M]aster and VCs included.

The second example above was where I started to transition from IPTC data to keywords and at the point I took the snapshot it had identical data in both sets of fields.

My concern is that there is no way from within DxPL of transferring anything into the file title (unless you want to export each image one at a time and set unique suffixes, and life is way to short for that) , hence the snapshots from PIE, which appears to be a Windows only product and free for basic use, basically demonstrating exactly what you are suggesting.

platypus · February 9, 2026, 7:12pm

no worry for me, I don’t use chatty filenames for photo files. They have a timestamp and running digits … and keywords. That’s why I need and want reliable asset management.

frederic.chaume · February 10, 2026, 8:10am

I think I will start with VC and IPTC fields.

information I may need to store in IPTC fields are:

for each VC : the initial preset used (I didn’t find such information in the DOP) and main modification applied on top of it. Also will keep the history
the status : something like work in progress , stable (moving from 1 to stable would require to overwrite previous export, but sounds reasonable until DXO should be the reference. Another option would be to use color label or flag to allow some filtering capability

I could prefer using fieds from “IPTC-status “ instead of “IPTC-content” which is more dedicated to the picture itself (title and description of the picture)

I like very much DXO but from my point of view all relative to workflow management is too limited and not self suffisant.From my side I’m using DXO in conjonction with Digikam for the library and workflow management.

Thanks all for your feedbacks

BHAYT · February 10, 2026, 11:12am

@platypus Neither do I most of the time but being able to use a more descriptive naming convention from time to time would be useful, in particular to differentiate between VCs.

The current uninspiring handling of the [M]aster image naming when exporting a [M]aster and a group of VCs is just plain dumb.

It does appear that DxO developers are not photographers, amateur or professional, and all the variants in between, and they simply refuse to listen to their users who are, on so many issues.

@frederic.chaume With respect to your use of DigiKam I have a query (which I have now answered), I first played with that product a good few years ago, so I have a catalogue of images which is out of date but fine for testing.

I subsequently bought IMatch, which I mostly don’t use either!?

Recently, I tested DigiKam submitting images to PhotoLab and it appeared to be the same result as FastStone Image Viewer(FSIV), which used to send images in such a way that only the last image arrived at PhotoLab!

Now FSIV send the images in such a way that each image of a group arrive as a separate ‘External Selection’ and that was the same for DigiKam until I did a search and discovered “%f” versus “%F”.

DigiKam was able to ‘Open with’ PhotoLab 6, that’s how long ago that I played with it seriously!??

So I got this firstly with “%F” and then reverting to “%f” in the “dxo6.desktop” configuration file

You may have discovered this or there is a setting somewhere in DigiKam that does it automatically.

The choice of fields to “steal” is your choice but when I started experimenting with PhotoLab I created a giant collection of ‘Presets’ using a labelling convention. The convention was much easier to arrive at them because there were less options available!?

It allowed me to select and change combinations quickly to evaluate what worked and what didn’t, but

The Presets are loaded at the start of PhotoLab
The larger the number of presets the slower it is to add a new Preset on the fly.

I would suggest that you keep an easily accessible directory of images, suitably named and annotated using your chosen metadata/Ratings/Colours/… scheme and you can then copy the “Presets” (settings) from those images as the starting point for your image editing session.

The DOP retains all the image settings but not ‘Projects’, including ‘External Selections’, and ‘Advanced History’. If you lose the database you will also lose them but I seem to remember that @andras.csore provided a SQL script to extract ‘Projects’.

Rebuilding such a “library” is not for the faint-hearted and, yes, the notion of writing a program to do both jobs, dump and rebuild ‘Projects’, has been on my ideas list for some time but it is not one that I have already started.

frederic.chaume · February 10, 2026, 2:28pm

the file is located in C:\Users\…\AppData\Local\applications

and the content should be the following:

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=DxO Photolab 8
Name[fr]=DxO Photolab 8
X-Exec=“E:/Applications/DxO/DxO PhotoLab 8/DxO.PhotoLab.exe” %f
X-Icon=“E:/Applications/DxO/DxO PhotoLab 8/DxO.PhotoLab.exe”
MimeType=image/jpg;image/raw

This work for Digikam 8.x and for previous version you may have te remove X- before Exec and Icon

This is more or less, I have created different folder for the preset depending on the purpose or image source (not the same preset for my OMD-M5 than for my Drone) and also I’m building an exposition on the fog, and this conduct some specifics parameters.

I got a DB corruption long time ago, so now I’m using the DxO database backup function you can find in menu file/DXO database.

BHAYT · February 14, 2026, 9:40am

@frederic.chaume I apologise for not responding earlier.

@frederic.chaume The good news is that not only do I know where to find the Database backup function but I also wrote a (still unfinished) program to backup DOPs and the database and … a number of other things!

Unfortunately it morphed into a DOP fix program as well and still needs to be finished, what a surprise!

@frederic.chaume I installed digiKam 8.8.0 a few weeks ago ago and used that for my testing. I believe if you continue to use “%f” then when you submit 10 images, for example’ to PhotoLab you will get 10 ‘External Selections’ with 1 image in each but if you use “%F”, as I suggested above, you will get 1 ‘External Selection’ containing all 10 images.

@frederic.chaume There is one minor complication I cannot find the directory and file you are referring to!?

I typically install on my C: drive but I also use E: ( Extension) and that is where the latest version of Digicam is now located but the old version was also still on C:\ (I have since removed it)

However I could not find the directory you were referring to in either version!

The file I found and changed was located here

Along with some other “.desktop” files and two new files added by me but the menu in digiKam shows only the following

So I have a list in digiKam that looks like this versus the “.desktop” files that look like this

and your file that looks like this but I can’t find it!?

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=DxO Photolab 8
Name[fr]=DxO Photolab 8
X-Exec=“E:/Applications/DxO/DxO PhotoLab 8/DxO.PhotoLab.exe” %f
X-Icon=“E:/Applications/DxO/DxO PhotoLab 8/DxO.PhotoLab.exe

The file I changed, that influenced the image presentation to PhotoLab (6), was the one in the snapshot earlier but now set back to its original form with “%f”! and a new one created that digiKam is ignoring (along with other files)?

frederic.chaume · February 14, 2026, 4:01pm

@BHAYT see below, even if I use “open with DxO” from DK, for mulitple Raw file, I have only entry

I think that if you see the DXO entry in the menu “Open With” , I believe it is correct..
In my case the location was “C:\Users\frederic\AppData\Local\applications” and I checked there was no “applications” directory in program files. Perhaps some configuration difference

BHAYT · February 17, 2026, 9:53am

@frederic.chaume Sorry I had been looking at the correct file but the problem is with digiKam I am afraid. Doing an internet search revealed that digiKam can develop a habit of using an old configuration for the external programs.

So my original installation was on C:\ and referenced DxO V6 and the list from that time is “hiding” somewhere in my machine regardless of where I place digiKam.

After C:\ I installed the latest version on E:\ recently but the original was left on C:!

I then deleted the digiKam directory on C:\ and the original ‘Exterior Selection’ table persisted. Deleting the directory completely resulted in no ‘Exterior Selection’ options (at least that worked as expected) but returning the directory simply continued with the original list, which is not a complete list of the contents of the directory anyway!

I de-installed the copy on E:\ and used “Wizfile” to locate any files anywhere with digiKam in the file name and deleted many of the files I found and re-installed digiKam back onto C:.

The old directory with all the old entries was “miraculously” recreated and the incomplete selection list from that directory was back!? The removal of digiKam files worked in that the there was no “memory” of my previous use of digiKam and that I had a catalogue already in existence but the same old ‘Open with’ list popped up!??

So somewhere on my machine is an ancient list that is being resurrected every time!?

But “%f” sends the images in a list of images one at a time and “%F” sends the list of the images as a group.

%f:-

%F:-

The difference in time between test submissions was because my machine refused to let me modify the text file, now back on C:, until I ran the program making the change as ‘Administrator’!

So I am unable to link digiKam to any later version of PhotoLab because every time I install the program it resurrects the old ‘Open with’ list and ignores any changes made to that list.

It can’t be done by changing the details of the C:\Program Files\digiKam\data\applications\dxo6.desktop and replacing the dxo 6 entry with dxO9 etc. because this happened

@frederic.chaume best of luck with digiKam! In my case I already have a licence for IMatch so I can use that if the urge for using a DAM returns.

Take care

Bryan