Importing flags and ratings from other apps into Photomator

Effortlessly transfer your photos from other editing apps into Photomator, with all your flags and star ratings intact.

Importing flags and ratings from Lightroom and Lightroom Classic

In Lightroom and Lightroom Classic, flags and ratings can be saved in two ways:

1. Directly into the file metadata during export (destructive workflow)

2. In a .XMP sidecar file (non-destructive workflow)

For JPEG, HEIC, PNG, etc. formats:

• If you're using local storage, the flagging and rating data is usually written directly to the file. You can import these files or the folders storing these files into Photomator with all the information intact.

• If the files are stored in Cloud storage, you'll need to use Lightroom’s Export function with "All Metadata" enabled. Then, import the exported file into Photomator.

For read-only formats like RAW (ARW, RW2, ORF, RAF, CR2/CR3, NEF) and DNG:

• In local storage, flagging and rating data is saved to a .XMP sidecar file. When importing into Photomator, make sure to select both the original RAW file and its corresponding .XMP sidecar file to retain all the necessary data. If both the original and the .XMP sidecar files are in the same folder, you can also import the folder into Photomator directly.

• If the file is stored in the Cloud library in Lightroom, you can use the Export function to convert the image to a different format. This will embed the flagging and rating data directly into the new file.

Importing flags/ratings from apps like Darkroom, RAW Power and Nitro

Since these apps are tightly integrated with the Photos app, importing their flags and ratings into Photomator is easy. Just make sure you're using the Photos browser within Photomator. Once you've got the Photos browser open in Photomator, go to File > Scan Photos for Rating and Flag Collections. This will pull in any flags or ratings you've set in those other apps.

Keep in mind that Photomator doesn't automatically track changes made by other apps to flags and ratings, so if you make updates in those, you'll need to run the scan again when you're back in Photomator.

Other apps that also save their flags or ratings in "Flagged", "Rejected" or "★★★★★" albums will generally follow the same process.

Importing ratings from Capture One

In Capture One, ratings can be saved in two ways:

1. Directly into the file metadata during export (destructive workflow)

2. In a .XMP sidecar file (non-destructive workflow)

For formats like JPEG, HEIC, PNG, etc.:

• The rating data is usually written directly to the file. You can import these files or the folders storing the files directly into Photomator with all the information intact.

For read-only formats like RAW (ARW, RW2, ORF, RAF, CR2/CR3, NEF) and DNG:

• Rating data is saved to a .XMP sidecar file. When importing into Photomator, make sure to select both the original RAW file and its corresponding .XMP sidecar file to retain all the necessary data. If both the original and .XMP sidecar files are in the same folder, you can also import the folder into Photomator directly.

If you’d like to export a file with the rating information saved directly to it, select Show all options and under Metadata, activate Rating and Color Tag when exporting. This will ensure that the rating information is preserved.

Importing an image with its respective .XMP file to Photomator will not carry over any editing information, only the flags and ratings.