Photo Import

Importing existing photos from a camera’s memory card

Alongside the regular automatic download of newly-taken photos, CaptureGRID can also import existing photos already on a camera’s memory card. This is useful when:

  • Photos were taken before the camera was connected to the app, and you want to bring them into the app’s photo library

  • A camera was previously used in Card storage mode (see Photo Download), and you now want to pull those photos down to the local computer

  • You are setting up the app with a camera that already has photos on it from a prior session

Photo import is distinct from photo download: download happens automatically as new photos are taken, while import is a deliberate action you start to fetch photos that the app did not see being captured.

Starting an Import

The import is started from the camera menu. Two actions are available:

Import Photos

Import a selected set of photos from the camera’s memory card.

Import All Photos

Import every photo on the camera’s memory card.

Note

Screenshot pending — Camera menu showing the Import Photos / Import All Photos actions.

For multi-camera rigs, the action can be applied across all active cameras (see Active Camera), so a single import operation can pull photos from many cameras at the same time.

Import Process

Once an import is started, the app queries the camera’s memory card for available photos and presents the list. You can then confirm the import to begin transferring the files.

Note

Screenshot pending — Import dialog showing the camera’s memory card contents.

Imported photos are saved to the same Photo Download Folder as regular downloads, and have their filenames computed according to the current name policy (see Name Policy). They appear in the app’s photo library alongside any photos that were downloaded automatically.

Note

Screenshot pending — Import in progress with a progress indicator.

While the import is running, the affected camera is shown as busy in the Cameras window and Dashboard, so you can see that it is not available for triggering until the import completes.

Ratings and Metadata

Imported photos have their EXIF metadata read in the same way as downloaded photos. This means any rating that was set on the camera or by another tool is preserved when the photo enters the app’s library. For more on ratings, see Photo Ratings.