[Developed] folder needs to be an option

[Larry]

When a RAW is developed and saved a new jpg (assuming exporting as jpg) in the same folder as the RAW and in the [Developed] folder. The only reason I can find in any documentation for the [Developed] folder is for faster display of the developed RAW file. This is a feature that should be an option and not required and is a main reason I don't develop in ACDSee as I don't want duplicate files floating around. Also, since I develop in a single folder and then move to a permanent folder I have to manually delete the [Developed] folder.

No other RAW converter I've ever used creates an additional jpg. All changes are in either a custom sidecar or the xmp and they don't seem to have any problem with display speed.

Can anyone explain why this should be normal procedure? Does anyone really rely on these duplicate files? Am I missing something?

[pefunk]

I have been asking this question again and again over the last two years, never getting an answer from ACD. Actually these automatically generated jpg's are full size with about 90% quality, good enough for large prints, too big for web or TV or monitor slideshows. They are only generated if you make changes in the develop mode. If you stick with the default settings, no jpg's are added to the "developed" folder.
In the beginning I regularly deleted these files, but now I just put up with them. They are quite nice for printing and my harddrive is big enough.
But I agree with you, these "developed" folders seem absolutely redundant, I never had any issues with the program after deleting them, even the display did not seem any less responsive.
I would not go as far as to use something else for developing my raws, just because of these redundant folders. I compared quite a few raw converters over the years. But after some years of experience and a lot of trial and error with ACD pro and later ultimate, I get superior results with ACDSee, at least with my Sony files.

[3m17]

Afaik the proxies are saved with the compression ratio set as default in the "Save As" dialogue.

[pefunk]

Afraid not.
My default in the "save as" dialogue is set to 100% quality. From an old 5MP Minolta MRW that produces a jpg of 4.3 MB (uncompressed size 14.2 MB). The proxy, generated in the "developed" folder has a size of 1.8 MB. Furthermore the default resolution is set to 240 ppi, whereas the "proxy" has a resolution of 72 ppi (not that it matters). When I set 90% quality/compression as default, I get the same 1.8 MB file as the proxy. So it is safe to say that you cannot alter the settings used for the generation of these "Proxies".

But, as I said before, these Proxies are quite usable. Even printing to 12"x16" does not show any deterioration in quality compared to a 100% jpg. At first I was annoyed because of the waste of disc space but with time I came to the realization that disc space is cheap.

One gripe remains: Why hidden folders? If I hadn't set my file manager (accidentally) to show hidden folders, I would never have known. And I couldn't have used these files if I hadn't found them.

[Emil]

Afaik the proxies are saved with the compression ratio set as default in the "Save As" dialogue.

Works well for me.

This is the [developed] folder when compression is set to 100%:



This is the same folder after compression is set to 0%



[For both screen shots the name of the folder has been edited.]

Here's the dialogue to change the compression:



Don't forget to check mark "Save these settings as the default" before clicking the "OK" button.



BTW. I also suggest to not use the "Save" and "Save as" features after setting the options as needed. Imho the "Export" feature is way better.

[pefunk]

Hi Emil,
thank you for your explanation. I have never "saved anything as" before, and since I do all my file operations in manage mode, I wasn't aware that "save as" even existed (it doesn't in manage mode). I only use the "export" function. Thus in my earlier post I wrote about "save as" but had only the export dialogue in mind. Sorry.
All the same, I will leave everything as is. The 90% quality for full size jpg's is good enough for me, so I put the "proxies" to use. For other projects I have created export presets (web, mail, 4K Slideshow, tiff for further refinement in Affinity).

[Emil]

Setting the compression to a low value only is a work around for people who don't need the [Developed] folder at all and have insufficient disk space. Imho they could delete the [Developed] folder too - on fast modern machines they would hardly notice any difference. However, there actually is a measurable difference in speed. Also the quality of the displayed image in view-mode would be worse for the first second.

Many users use the "save" and "save as" functions and have well decided compression ratios for this, but aren't aware that the same settings are used for the proxies too. I'd vote for a separate set of settings for the proxies too, including an option to disable them at all.

[Larry]

FWIW, I've emailed support about this. For my needs I don't need nor want these additional files. Adjustments are saved in the xmp and what little speed hit as far as display is something I can live with. (Although I can't say I see any significant delay in display). For the life of me I can't see any real advantage. I've used on at least a trial basis Lightroom, On1, Capture One, DxO PhotoLab and none of them use this method. Seems ACDSee can figure out a way too.

For me, the disk space is an issue as I store and process only 2 years worth of images as the SSD partition is limited. Other years are on external hard drives.

ACDSee Pro is a great DAM with a lot of options. I just wish they'd allow more user options as far as these proxies are concerned.

[GusPanella]

Works well for me.

This is the [developed] folder when compression is set to 100%:

This is the same folder after compression is set to 0%

For both screen shots the name of the folder has been edited.]

Here's the dialogue to change the compression:

Don't forget to check mark "Save these settings as the default" before clicking the "OK" button.

BTW. I also suggest to not use the "Save" and "Save as" features after setting the options as needed. Imho the "Export" feature is way better.

Thanks Emil. This is a good optimization... it reduces disk space and reduces write time at the price of a feature ([develop] folder) that I did not seem use except for the fast preview in View Mode. . In my informal tests, on my NVMe drives, this seems to reduce load time by ~0.3 seconds when compared to having the full size jpg in the [Develop] folder. My guess is this would help even more when using a spinning disk. It also helps when using View mode over the network. Thanks Again for this!

[Larry]

I received a reply to my email to tech support. Below is what they wrote so it appears that keeping [Developed] folders are not going to change or have an option.

Thank you for contacting ACD Systems Customer Support.

There is no option in ACDSee to turn off the [Develop] folder, as it is designed to support raw processing, storing the updated view of the rendered RAW image after raw develop in the JPG file format. This implementation will speed up the rendering of the processed RAW image in ACDSee.

The XMP is created to store the raw processing information. Other raw processing software, e.g. Photoshop and Lightroom, also does generate xmp file after your developing the RAW file.

I understand that you may wish to keep the [Developed ] folder in a different partition to save the space on the disk, e.g. a small capacity SSD disk where your original RAW image files are stored. And I will pass this to the ACDSee product management as feature request . Thanks for your patience.