PhotoLab transfer to new MAC

DxO PhotoLab macOS topics
1

I have read some old threads and wonder if this could be simple.

Could this be as simple as installing photo lab 8 on the new Mac, and transferring the folder containing all my processed image files and their DOPs to the new Mac.
And Photolab will know what to do, creating a new database from all those old DOPs?

FACTS
intel iMac transfer to M4 Mac mini Pro
DXO Photolab 7 currently, I will install 8 upgrade on the new Mac
DOP files have been automatically saved for years
I dont care about projects mostly dont use them.
I have vast numbers of presets used mainly in short time frames, I dont have presets I necessarily need to preserve and transfer.
I do have photos marked as 5-star and with colors.
I do have customized Export options and watermarks. I could recreate them.
I do sometimes go back and tweak or rework an image from its RAW file.

Where files are currently.

  1. processed images and their DOP files are on the internal drive (backed up by Time Machine) I may want to change this.
  2. original camera jpeg and RAW files are on external hard drives

Caveat: processed image files sometimes get separated into topical or bird species subfolders. I do not manually move the DOPs to the new processed image subfolders. Does that matter?

  1. I welcome information on how best to set up and organize on the new Mac computer. I expect I will ultimately move the folder of processed image files to an external drive and back them up to another external drive using Carbon Copy cloner.
  2. I welcome advice on the initial transfer process.

do I need to find and move a database?
does it matter where my DOPS are currently?
Is it bad practice to move processed image files into subfolders without finding and moving their individual DOPs with them?
Will some DOPs be missed in creating the new database, if that is what is going to happen?

Are there folders and files that I should be aware of as part of the transfer, and where are they on my current Mac?

What will I have to recreate no matter what?

2

Welcome to the forum @J2day

Most of what you plan sounds reasonable. Copy the photo archive and have DPL8 re-Index the whole bunch. This can take a while, so better start the indexing when you don’t want to use your new computer.

There is one problem though: Orphaned .dop sidecars
:face_with_open_eyes_and_hand_over_mouth: :face_with_open_eyes_and_hand_over_mouth: :face_with_open_eyes_and_hand_over_mouth:

Think of riding a sidecar bike with someone you love.
What do you get when the sidecar falls off at full speed?

Okay, copy the the whole lot to its new location, you can rename or reorder folders, but never ever separate .dop files from their images…unless you’re okay with resetting your images upon next import. The damage might be less painful though, because you only moved processed files.

I propose you do a test run with a partial copy of your photo archive, selecting a part that has orphaned sidecars and files moved (or renamed) while PhotoLab was off. You’ll then see what you get and if you can live with it, you can delete the test copies and the database and start over with the whole lot.

If you can live without searching in PhotoLab, you might just open PhotoLab 8 and open a folder of the new photo archive and check what you get and rediscover your photos over time. If you need/want DPL to find images, you need to index the whole lot.

Caution: PhotoLab 8 writes sidecars that cannot be understood by PhotoLab 7. This means that the move is pretty much one way as soon as you change something in DPL8. Better keep that backup safe!

Caution: If some of your .dop sidecars are old, you risk losing keywords unless you start DPL8 from a copy of the DPL7 database.

Some people delete their DPL database regularly. They simply don’t need the asset management functionality of DPL including keywords, searching and finding etc…

All the other PhotoLab folders can be copied over to migrate workspace settings, presets, profiles, LUTs and whatever you “connected” to PhotoLab 7 and before. As for file and folder locations, have a look at the Library folders or find the post that DxO has placed somewhere with the respective location names.

Again: Test before diving head-first.

3

Many thanks for the quick response.

I’ll comment or question some specific things:

“PhotoLab 8 writes sidecars that cannot be understood by PhotoLab 7”
I did see the advice in another thread to turn off the automatic saving of DOP files in PhotoLab 8 before making the migration. I’ll do that until I am satisfied with my migration process.

All the other PhotoLab folders
Sadly, I currently have no idea what those folders are, their names (on a Mac) or where they are, and where to put them when I do the transfer.
Is there a guide or other resource on DXOs web pages or a useful YouTube video?
It would need to be Mac specific.

Some people delete their DPL database regularly.
What does the database contain and do?its true I dont need keywords or asset management. I assumed it also contained the same information as the DOP side cars. And that it is good to keep in case sidecars get lost. Is there resource that described the database its contents and how it works, in detail?

What about star or color ratings, is one or both in the photo metadata such as EXIF. I have noticed that star ratings I put in while the image is in the camera transfer over. color ratings I put on in Olympus OM Workspace dont show up in DXO photo lab later. are the color ratings strictly in the DXO database?

I propose you do a test run with a partial copy of your photo archive, selecting a part that has orphaned sidecars and files moved (or renamed) while PhotoLab was off.
I do see your advice to make a test run. Always good advice.

Thanks.

P.S. Not a migration question but…
On my current old Mac, the RAW files are on an external drive. If I take Photolab to the RAW file, and select it to tweak the edits, so far that all seems to work. I assume because the database has the edits for that RAW file saved. and the DOP has them saved. What if I moved the RAW file to a different drive. Then I find the RAW file in its new location and select it to edit in photo lab, still on my old computer, will the former edits be active based on the file name alone and the database records, regardless of whether the RAW file is or is not where it used to be in terms of storage devices?

I have always wanted to understand file locations and dependencies and the database so I could set up my storage to work best in the long run, and transfer it again one day for the next computer.

4

Other PhotoLab Folders and Files

  • Look for DxO and PhotoLab in Mac > Library > Application Support
  • Look for DxO and PhotoLab in Mac > Users> … > Library
  • Look for DxO and PhotoLab in Mac > Users> … > Library > Application Support
  • Copy the respective top folders to the same place on your new Mac

About the database

  • SQlite database that contains info about your files, folders, metadata, edits etc.
  • PhotoLab’s central memory and is only updated when PhotoLab is running
  • Can get inconsistent with assets on your drive (don’t move/rename with Finder)
  • Cannot be made consistent. DxO provides no such feature.
  • Can be explored with a DB Browser for SQLite like this one

Database and .dop sidecars

  • Sidecars contain a subset of the information stored in the database and the subset has grown more complete with newer versions of PhotoLab
  • Both database and sidecars are not backwards compatible. While PL8 can open and migrate a PL7 DB, PL7 cannot handle a PL8 DB or any PL8 sidecar
  • Current .dop sidecars can be understood as a distributed DB backup, but due to the omission of some of the DB’s content, restoring a DB from the sidecars is increasingly incomplete the lower the version number of the writing PhotoLab was/is

XMP files

  • A means to transfer metadata between applications
  • Some metadata can’t always be grasped by PL, e.g. colour labels from Lightroom

Best practices

  • DO NOT move or rename files and folders with the Finder
  • DO NOT separate (move/rename) .dop and .xmp sidecars from their parent files
  • DO NOT edit images alternatingly with PL7 and PL8
  • DO NOT expect things to do as you imagine. Instead, test and learn!

Well now, start testing and keep your posts short.

5

Is there a way to convert PhotoLab 8 dop files back to PhotoLab 7 dop files? I’m interested as most of my computers will be on Monterey (PhotoLab 7), but I have one on Sequioa. I’d probably go to the trouble of writing a conversion utility if the formats are close.

Happy New Year everyone!

6

I changed the version numbers near the end of the sidecars and PhotoLab has so far been smart enough (in all but a few cases) to ignore the parts that it doesn’t cover.

Example of version numbers for PL8 and PL7 respectively:

Screen @ 2024-12-31 um 16.07.29
Screen @ 2024-12-31 um 16.07.292340×1306 487 KB

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7

This is great information!
Now I can revise my practices, or keep working the same way, in an informed way. And make my transfer to a new computer as smooth as possible.
I have some specific tests in mind to do first.
Many thanks!

Jay

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8

If you want to have the same data 1:1 on the new M4 Mac as on the Intel iMac, then it would probably be easiest to connect the two Macs via cable and transfer the data using Migration Assistant. I recently did this for a colleague - MacBook Air 2013 → MacBook Air M3. No problems at all.
It also works with a Time Machine backup of the Intel iMac.

Just an idea…

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9

That’s great guidance actually. I had not even thought of it, because I have always done “clean” installs. But by now I think I can trust that apple has this migration stuff figured out. I do want the same accounts and data, so this will save alot of time and mental effort.

I like the idea of cable to cable. vs wifi. did you need a thunderbolt cable, or was usb c to usb c good enough?

Jay

10

I have done this a couple of times with no problems. You might like to transfer large amounts of images to an external drive, regardless of transferring, then the migration will take a lot less time

That should be plenty. I have all my images on an external USB-C/Thunderbolt drive and work on them in PhotoLab and Topaz from there.

11

Yes - I am one of those people. I depend entirely on the .dop/sidecar files.

The database contains, essentially, the same information as do .dop/sidecar files PLUS keywords and Project details, which are NOT held in .dop/sidecar files.

12

…and there are differences between what is saved to sidecars by DPL on Win vs. Mac…

13

It depends on the connections of your two Macs.
USB-C is just the connector shape and there can be different transfer protocols behind it (USB-3, USB4/Thunderbolt 3, Thunderbolt 4, etc.).
So if you have USB-C ports on both computers (which the new one certainly has), I would check what transfer rates the new Mac has and get a cable that can transfer this speed. There are differences from cable to cable. But with a cable like this, you are also equipped for the future, even if the possible speed of the cable cannot be achieved when transferring data from Mac to Mac because the “old” Mac simply does not yet offer the technology.
If your old Mac only has USB-A ports, you will need to get an adapter in the case of the cable just mentioned. Or a cable with a USB-C and a USB-A connector.

I hope I’ve explained it reasonably clearly :wink:

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14

OK good point. My processed images are on my internal drive on the old iMac. But I was planning to rearrange that on the new set up so that processed images would be on an external drive, to save space on the new internal drive.

Your suggestion clarifies for me that I should get that arranged on the old iMac before I do the transfer. Many thanks.

15

Thanks.
my old iMac has Thunderbolt 3 and the new M4 pro, I think, is thunderbolt 5.

I do think it’s worth getting a cable, which would later support a thunderbolt external drive or even a monitor. I’ll do that.

the old iMac is rated to 40GB/s transfer on the Thunderbolt.

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16

Ok thanks.

since my DOP ‘may’ have been stranded when I transferred processed image files into subfolders (the DOP remain the main folder), I may want to transfer the database.

Although maybe the database has lost track. So far I have never noticed the database losing track of editing data for a RAW image file.

It would all depend how the database

  1. connects editing data to a RAW file, or
  2. with regard to DOP, how it finds the DOP.

Do you know how the database works in these regards?

  1. i.e. in Photolab I go find the RAW file to make more edits on. Photolab recognizes it and has the editing data. based on filename alone, or the full path?
  2. similarly, with a new database on the new computer, when rebuilds based on DOP files, will it look in a folder and all its subfolders, and again, based on full paths or based on filename alone matching.

I expect to move my entire main folder of processed images, containing the DOP files to a different drive before I migrate, and before photo lab has a chance to rebuild the database.

It is good to know I can delete the database if I am not satisfied with it from the transfer, and that frequent deleting is a practice some folks use anyway.

was there a particular reason you delete it regularly?

sorry if this is too much. I am just asking in case you happen to know these aspects off the top of your head without a lot of effort.

Jay

17

with regard to finding library and support files, this information from tutoDXO looks helpful

apparently the Library folder within a user account is hidden, so you need to use the Go menu as described to find the relevant DXO files.

(additional bolding is added by me)

“”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”“”
Mac OS configuration:
Copy / Paste paths in the finder.

In these paths, ~/Library is usually hidden, so you can get to it in the Finder with the Go > Go to Folder menu option, or by opening the ‘Go’ menu while pressing Alt who show ~/Library in the list.

Important files to back up
– Database: ~/Library/DxO Photolab v7/ DOPDatabase.dopdata and following
– Watermarks: ~/Library/DxO PhotoLab v7/Watermarks
– Licenses: ~/Library/Application Support/DxO Labs/Licenses
Note that the license files are never destroyed during the uninstallation.

These files are automatically copied to the new release.
They can also be copied to a new computer with the same OS , Windows or MacOS.
– Presets: ~/Library/DxO PhotoLab v7/Presets
– Optics Modules: ~/Library/DxO PhotoLab v7/Modules

– Workspaces: ~/Library/Application Support/DxO PhotoLab v7/Workspaces
– Current Workspace: ~/Library/Preferences/com.dxo.photolab6.workspace.plist
Workspaces, custom palettes and output options must be recreated with each major update.

18

looking around the forum, I see you have been advocating for using the DOPs for some years now. I found my database file, its 1.64 GB.

does deleting the database regularly somehow improve performance?

I think I have found the relevant files to transfer other things I might want, independent of transferring the existing database file.

Jay

19

I found an additional resource on sidecars and the database.

Jay

20

No, I don’t believe it would make a massive difference - but, since I have no need for key-word searching and I don’t use Projects, I find it simpler to do without the database (and to rely entirely on .dop/sidecar files instead) … It avoids all the hassles associated with using the database: as are regularly discussed on this forum.

For performance improvement - whether or not one uses the database - do NOT have too many images in the folder that PL is currently working on … where “too many” is > 99 (and less the better).

  • I use PL always with the same work-in-progress folder - into which I move unprocessed images (in batches of about 25 images), and from which I move processed images into my structured storage system.

  • This workflow is another reason why I don’t use the database - 'cos it cannot keep track of images moved by other means (outside of PL itself).

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