Translations by Damon Lynch

Use python-style <a {link}>regular expressions</a>

<b>Downloading all files</b><br><br> A download always includes all files that are marked for download, including those that are not currently displayed because the Timeline is being used or because only new files are being shown.<br><br> Do you want to proceed with the download?

%(number)s of %(available files)s marked for download (%(hidden)s hidden)

%(number)s of %(available files)s marked for download

Files that have already been downloaded are remembered. You can still mark previously downloaded files to download again, but they are unmarked by default, and their thumbnails are dimmed so you can differentiate them from files that are yet to be downloaded.

In case of any problems, a red icon will appear at the bottom of the window indicating how many error reports there are. Clicking on it opens the Error Report window.

The Error Report window lists any problems encountered before, during or after the download. An orange triangle represents a warning, a red circle indicates a failure, and a black circle indicates more serious failures. You can click on the hyperlinks to open its file or device in a file manager. You can also search the reports using the search box in the lower left of the Error Report window.

<p>In the illustration above, the first row of the Timeline is black because all the files on that date had been previously downloaded.</p><p>The Timeline's slider adjusts the time elapsed between consecutive shots that is used to build the Timeline:</p>

A download always includes all files that are marked for download, including those that are not currently displayed because the Timeline is being used.

Thumbnails can be sorted using a variety of criteria:<ol><li><b>Modification Time:</b> when the file was last modified, according to its metadata (where available) or according to the filesystem (as a fallback).</li><li><b>Checked State:</b> whether the file is marked for download.</li><li><b>Filename:</b> the full filename, including extension.</li><li><b>Extension:</b> the filename's extension. You can use this to group jpeg and raw images, for instance.</li><li><b>File Type:</b> photo or video.</li><li><b>Device:</b> name of the device the photos and videos are being downloaded from.</li></ol>

When thinking about your download directory structure, keep in mind two different types of directory:<ol><li>The <b>destination folder</b>, e.g. &quot;Pictures&quot;, &quot;Photos&quot;, or &quot;Videos&quot;. This directory should already exist on your computer. In the illustration below, the destination folders are &quot;Pictures&quot; and &quot;Videos&quot;. The name of the destination folder is displayed in the grey bar directly above the folder tree, with a folder icon to its left and a gear icon to its far right.</li><li>The <b>download subfolders</b>, which are directories that will be automatically generated by Rapid Photo Downloader. They need not already exist on your computer, but it's okay if they do. They will be generated under the destination folder.</li></ol>

You can download photos and videos to the same destination folder, or specify a different destination folder for each. The same applies to the download subfolders for photos and videos&mdash;download photos and videos to the same subfolders, or use a different scheme for each type.

Whenever possible, the program previews the download subfolders of photos and videos to download:<ol><li>The destination folder tree shows the download subfolders already on your computer (those in a regular, non-italicized font), and the subfolders that will be created during the download (those whose names are italicized).</li><li>The folder tree also shows into which subfolders the files will be downloaded (those colored black).</li></ol>

Download subfolder names are typically generated using some or all of the following elements:<ol><li><b>File metadata</b>, very often including the date the photo or video was created, but might also include the camera model name, camera serial number, or file extension e.g. JPG or CR2.</li><li>A <b>Job Code</b>, which is free text you specify at the time the download occurs, such as the name of an event or location.</li><li><b>Text</b> which you want to appear every time, such as a hyphen or a space.</li></ol>Naming subfolders with the year, followed by the month and finally the day in numeric format makes it easy to keep them sorted in a file manager, which is why it's the default option:

To automatically create download subfolders as you download, you can use one of Rapid Photo Downloader's built-in presets, or create a custom preset. Click on the gear icon to bring up a drop-down menu:

Using the drop-down menu, select a built-in preset or click on <b>Custom</b> to configure your own scheme. You create your own schemes using the Photo or Video Subfolder Generation Editor:

You do not have to create nested download subfolders. This illustration shows the generation of download subfolders that contain only the date the photos were taken and a Job Code:

Although there are many built-in date/time naming options, you may find that you need something different. It's no problem to create your own. You can combine date/time choices to generate new combinations. Supposing you wanted a date format that combines year (YYYY), a hyphen, and month (MM) to form YYYY-MM. You can create it like this (note the red circle around the hyphen):

Read more about all the ways you can generate download subfolder names and file names in the <a href="http://damonlynch.net/rapid/documentation/#renamedateandtime">online documentation</a>.

<b>Job Codes</b> let you easily enter text that describes sets of photos and videos. You can use them in subfolder and file names. In this illustration, some files have had the Job Code &quot;Street&quot; applied to them, and the selected files are about to get the Job Code &quot;Green Bazaar&quot;:

You can apply new or existing Job Codes before you start a download. If there are any files in the download that have not yet had a Job Code applied to them, you'll be prompted to enter a Job Code for them before the download begins.

When you give your photos and videos unique filenames, you'll never be confused as to which file is which. Using <b>sequence numbers</b> to make filenames unique is highly recommended!

<p>Four types of sequence values are available to help you assign unique names to your photos and videos:<ol><li><b>Downloads today</b>: tracks downloads completed during that day.</li><li><b>Stored number</b>: similar to Downloads today, but it is remembered from the last time the program was run.</li><li><b>Session number</b>: reset each time the program is run.</li><li><b>Sequence letter</b>: like session numbers, but uses letters.</li></ol></p><p>Read more about sequence numbers in the <a href="http://damonlynch.net/rapid/documentation/#sequencenumbers">online documentation</a>.</p>

The <b>Rename</b> panel allows you to configure file renaming. To rename your files, you can choose from among existing renaming presets or define your own.

<p>The <b>Synchronize RAW + JPEG</b> option is useful if you use the RAW + JPEG feature on your camera and you use sequence numbers in your photo renaming. Enabling this option will cause the program to detect matching pairs of RAW and JPEG photos, and when they are detected, the same sequence numbers will be applied to both photo names. Furthermore, sequences will be updated as if the photos were one.</p><p>Read more about file renaming in the <a href="http://damonlynch.net/rapid/documentation/#rename">online documentation</a>.</p>

You can have your photos and videos backed up to multiple locations as they are downloaded, such as external hard drives or network shares. Backup devices can be automatically detected, or exact backup locations specified.

Several of the program's preferences can be set from the command line, including download sources, destinations, and backups. Additionally, settings can be reset to their default state, and caches and remembered files cleared.

Rapid Photo Downloader deals with three types of cache:<ol><li>A <b>thumbnail cache</b> whose sole purpose is to store thumbnails of files from your cameras, memory cards, and other devices.</li><li>A <b>temporary cache</b> of files downloaded from a camera, one for photos and another for videos. They are located in temporary subfolders in the download destination.</li><li>The <b>desktop's thumbnail cache</b>, in which Rapid Photo Downloader stores thumbnails of RAW and TIFF photos once they have been downloaded. File browsers like Gnome Files use this cache as well, meaning they too will display thumbnails for those files. </li></ol>Read more about these caches and their effect on download performance in the <a href="http://damonlynch.net/rapid/documentation/#caches">online documentation</a>.