<info> <desc>Keep the Shotwell library in sync with photo files on disk.</desc> </info>

Every photo in the Shotwell library corresponds to a file stored on your hard disk. Shotwell has several features which help you keep the Shotwell library and files on disk in sync.

Using a custom directory pattern

Shotwell allows you to specify how it names directories in your library. You can do this by changing the <gui>Directory Structure</gui> and <gui>Pattern</gui> settings in the <gui>Preferences</gui> dialog. You may use a preselected pattern, or choose <gui>Custom</gui> and type in your own.

The available symbols for the directory pattern begin with a % (percent sign). The values these symbols produce are locale-dependent, so what you see on your computer may vary from the examples below.

| Symbol | Meaning | Example
| %Y | Year: full | 2011
| %y | Year: two digit | 11
| %d | Day of the month with leading zero | 03
| %A | Day name: full | Wednesday
| %a | Day name: abbreviated | Wed
| %m | Month number with leading zero | 02
| %b | Month name: abbreviated | Feb
| %B | Month name: full | February
| %I | Hour: 12 hour format | 05
| %H | Hour: 24 hour format | 17
| %M | Minute | 16
| %S | Second | 30
| %p | AM or PM | PM

There are other symbols available; please check the manual for strftime by running the command <cmd>man strftime</cmd> if you need one that isn't listed here.

Automatically importing photos

Shotwell can automatically import new photos which appear in the library directory. (The library directory is usually the <file>Pictures</file> directory in your home directory; you can change its location in in the <gui>Preferences</gui> window.)

To enable auto-import, check the box <gui>Watch library directory for new files</gui> in the <gui>Preferences</gui> window.

Shotwell can also follow symbolic links inside automatically-imported directories.

Automatically renaming imported photos to lowercase

Shotwell can automatically change the filenames of imported photos to lowercase. To enable this, choose <guiseq><gui>Edit</gui><gui>Preferences</gui></guiseq>, and in the <gui>Preferences</gui> window, check the <gui>Rename imported files to lowercase</gui> box.

Writing metadata on the fly

By default, Shotwell does not modify photo files, even when you edit photos or change their tags or titles. Shotwell records these changes in its own database only.

To change this behavior, you can enable the checkbox <gui>Write tags, titles and other metadata to photo files</gui> in the <gui>Preferences</gui> dialog. When this option is enabled, Shotwell will write the following metadata to most photo files whenever you change it in Shotwell:

<list> <item>

titles

</item> <item>

tags

</item> <item>

ratings

</item> <item>

rotation information

</item> <item>

time/date

</item> </list>

Shotwell stores this information in photo files in EXIF, IPTC and/or XMP format. Note that Shotwell can write only to photo files in JPEG, PNG and TIFF format, not to BMP photos, RAW photos or to video files.

Runtime monitoring

While Shotwell is running, it notices changes made to any photo file externally. When a photo file changes, Shotwell rereads the file and updates your view of the photo and metadata.

Note that Shotwell checks all photo files for changes at startup, but only photo files contained in the library directory are monitored in real time after startup. We hope to remove this limitation in a further release.