Folder Browser

The folder browser is the left panel in the Library. FAVORITES is at the top and FOLDERS is below. Drag the handle between them to resize them.

FOLDERS

FOLDERS lists the folders you’ve added, called roots. A root is usually a year, a shoot location or your main macro folder.

Add a folder

Click + Add a folder at the top of FOLDERS and choose the folder that holds your shoots. It can be on an external or network drive. Add as many as you like. They stay until you remove them. You can also drag a folder in.

Expand and load

Click the triangle next to a folder to expand it. Subfolders are sorted by name, ignoring capitals. Names that start with _, like _archive, come first. To fold everything back up, click the Collapse all button (the double arrow) in the FOLDERS heading.

Click a folder to load its images into the filmstrip as one stack. Double-click to load it and expand it. If a folder has no images, the preview says There are no image files in this folder.

Linked folders

A symbolic link (or, on Windows, a junction) shows up like any other subfolder. A Finder alias doesn’t, because it isn’t a real link. To link a shoot in on macOS, make a symbolic link: ln -s /path/to/shoot ~/Photos/shoot.

Right-click a folder for:

Load N images: the same as a single click.
Add to Favorites / Remove from Favorites.
Reveal in Finder (macOS), Reveal in File Explorer (Windows) or Reveal in File Manager (Linux).
Copy to folder…: copies the folder and everything in it. The original stays put.
Move to folder…: moves the folder. Your roots, favorites and expanded folders follow it.
Rename…: renames the folder on disk. Your favorites follow it.
Delete from disk…: moves the real folder and everything in it to the Trash, after a confirmation that shows its full path. To get it back, press ⌘Z / Ctrl+Z. See Undoing a delete.
Remove from Browser: roots only. Takes the folder off the list without touching the files.

A long copy or move shows a progress bar with a Cancel button. Canceling removes the part-written copy.

Refreshing

Macro Studio watches your folders and updates the list when files or folders change on disk. To refresh by hand, click Refresh at the top of the panel, or press ⌘R / Ctrl+R.

If you rename a root in Finder or File Explorer, its row follows the new name, even if Macro Studio was closed. A root that’s moved or deleted outside Macro Studio (or renamed, on Linux) is marked (missing).

FAVORITES

Use FAVORITES for folders you come back to often.

Star a folder

Hover over a folder’s row and click the star at its right edge, or right-click it and choose Add to Favorites. A filled gold star means it’s a favorite.

A favorite still works if you remove its root. When there are no favorites, the section says (none yet — click any star).

Expand a favorite to browse its subfolders. To fold them all back up, click the Collapse all button in the FAVORITES heading.

The menu has Load, Reveal in Finder (or File Explorer / File Manager), Rename… and Delete from disk…, which work as they do in FOLDERS. Remove from Favorites (top-level favorites only) unstars the folder and leaves it on disk.

Drag and drop

Drag a folder from your file manager onto the folder browser:

On empty space (below the last row, on a heading or on the empty-state card): the folder is added as a new root, with its subfolders. The panel shows a green frame. Nothing moves on disk.
On a folder row: the folder moves into that folder on disk. The row shows a green border. If no row lights up, it’s added as a root instead.

A drop on a row has no confirmation and no undo. If a folder lands in the wrong place, drag it back. Dropping a folder anywhere else in the window just loads its images.

Moving a folder in from another drive

A move from another drive, such as a memory card, copies every file and then removes the original. It can take minutes.

Cancel removes the part-written copy and leaves that folder where it was. Folders that already finished stay moved.
If the original can’t be fully removed (a locked file or a read-only card), Macro Studio tells you. Keep the copy: it’s the complete one.

If the destination already has a folder with the same name, nothing moves. Macro Studio never merges folders. Rename one first.

Dragging inside the app

Drag photos from the filmstrip onto a folder in either list to move them. If files with the same names are there, Macro Studio asks first.
Drag a folder onto another folder to move it inside.
Hold a drag at the top or bottom edge of the list to scroll it.

Stacks follow their photos. Move a stack’s photos, or move or rename their folder, and the stack keeps its Retouch and Raw DNG saving. A reopened DNG is tracked too, if you move or rename it or its folder. So a reopened Raw DNG can still be saved back as a Raw DNG.

Photos a stack is reading right now can’t be moved. Try again when the stack finishes. If anything in your selection is in use, nothing moves.

Putting the lists in your own order

Drag a root up or down FOLDERS, or a favorite up or down FAVORITES. Macro Studio remembers the order. Only top-level rows can be reordered.

Watch the cue before you let go:

A green line between rows: the row moves there. Only the list order changes.
A green border on a row: the folder moves inside it on disk.

Drop below the last row to move a row to the end. A root dropped on a favorite row also moves inside that folder on disk.

Tips

One root per drive is usually enough. The list handles thousands of subfolders.
Put the current job first. Star it and drag it to the top of FAVORITES.