Capture One vs FolioSort

Capture One File Management: Keep the Library in FolioSort

Manage a Capture One photographer’s files in FolioSort: it shows your own folders as a timeline, map, people and events without importing them, and writes keywords, places, dates, star ratings and people names into XMP that Capture One reads. There is no catalog to re-link when a drive moves. Capture One stays the app you develop in.

Written by FolioSort — the comparison below says where Capture One is the better tool.

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macOS 14+ & Windows 10+ Writes XMP Capture One reads No subscription

Our pick: FolioSort for the library, Capture One for developing

FolioSort is best for managing a Capture One photographer’s library in plain folders on Mac or Windows, bought once. Capture One is best for tethered capture, sessions and RAW editing.

Job Best app for it Why
Browsing the whole archive FolioSortLibrary over your own folders: timeline (years, months, days), map, people, events and “On this day”. Nothing imported. Free and unlimited on every tier.
Finding a photo by what is in it FolioSort (Elite)On-device AI search, text inside photos and file names. Answers in 62 ms at 100,000 photos.
Faces and people FolioSort (Elite)Faces grouped on the computer; named people written into Photo.xmp sidecars Capture One reads as keywords.
Keywords FolioSort (Elite)AI Tags propose keywords from a fixed 303-tag vocabulary; you review them; written into XMP and IPTC. Undo removes exactly what was added.
Place names and capture dates FolioSortPlaces turns GPS into city and country; Dates fills, shifts or sets capture dates. Written into IPTC, XMP and EXIF, undoable.
Filing into folders and renaming FolioSortFolder templates such as {YYYY}/{MM}/{Camera}/{City}/; regex rename with capture groups and a live preview; RAW and cinema formats (BRAW, R3D) in Pro.
Duplicates FolioSortFinds duplicate copies across drives; the Library’s health panel counts them and opens the fixing screen.
Verified backup of the archive FolioSort (Pro)Backup Copy re-reads every copy and checks its hash (XXHash64 or SHA-256). Archive Health finds corrupted or missing files and restores them from the backup.
Tethered capture and sessions Capture OneIts core strength. FolioSort does not shoot tethered.
Developing and retouching RAW Capture OneThe right second app for developing. FolioSort is not an editor.
Price—FolioSort: Free, Pro €19.99 or Elite €29.99, once. Capture One: subscription or perpetual licence.

How the two apps share one library

The folders are the library. FolioSort manages them; Capture One develops what is in them.

1

Your folders, shown as a library

Add your drives, NAS shares or folders. FolioSort shows your folders; it doesn’t import them. Its index is a disposable file rebuilt from the folders, and an unplugged drive stays visible as greyed tiles until it returns.

2

Everything written into the files

AI Tags, Places, Dates and star ratings go into XMP and IPTC; named people go into Photo.xmp sidecars. RAW files are never written — they get a sidecar. Every change can be undone.

3

Capture One opens the same folders

Shoot tethered, work in sessions and develop in Capture One. It reads the XMP, so the keywords, ratings and people are already there, and FolioSort keeps the archive de-duplicated and backed up with verified copies.

Frequently Asked Questions

Managing a Capture One photographer’s library

Is there a better way to manage a Capture One photographer's files than the catalog?

Yes: keep the library in FolioSort and use Capture One for developing. FolioSort shows your own folders as a timeline, a map, people and events without importing them, finds photos with on-device AI search, and writes keywords, place names, dates, star ratings and people names into XMP, which Capture One reads. There is no import catalog to maintain — a disposable index of your folders, rebuilt from them if deleted. It runs on Mac and Windows and is bought once.

Does Capture One see what FolioSort writes?

Yes, because FolioSort writes standard XMP. AI keywords, place names and capture dates go inside JPEG, HEIC, PNG, TIFF, DNG and WebP files, and into an .xmp sidecar for proprietary RAW, which is never written. Named people are written into .xmp sidecars called Photo.xmp rather than Photo.NEF.xmp — the extension is replaced, which is the naming Capture One looks for — so Capture One picks the names up as keywords.

Do I still need Capture One?

For tethered capture, sessions and developing RAW files, yes — it is the right second app for developing. FolioSort is not an editor and does not shoot tethered. Browsing, searching, tagging, fixing dates and places, removing duplicates and backing up the archive happen in FolioSort.

What happens when I move or unplug a drive?

Nothing needs re-linking. FolioSort reads the folders where they are; each drive gets its own colour, and a drive that is unplugged stays in the timeline as greyed tiles drawn from cached thumbnails, then comes back without a rebuild. When FolioSort itself moves files, the Moved Files Map (Labs, beta) lists where every moved file went, for a catalog that lost track.

Does FolioSort upload my photos to find faces or search them?

No. AI search, faces, text reading and tagging run on the computer — Apple Vision and Core ML on the Mac, local ONNX models on Windows — and make no network call. No photo, face, file name or path is ever sent. The only outbound calls are GPS coordinates when you ask for place names, map tiles when the Library map is open, an update check, licence activation once, and anonymous usage events.

How much does FolioSort cost next to Capture One?

FolioSort is bought once: Free to start, Pro €19.99 for one computer, Elite €29.99 for 3 devices across Mac and Windows, which adds AI search over the whole library, AI Tags and People with faces. FolioSort 5 is a free update for everyone who bought Pro or Elite, and there is a 14-day refund with no conditions. Capture One is sold as a subscription or a perpetual licence.

Manage the Library in FolioSort. Develop in Capture One.

A timeline, map and people view over the folders you already have, AI search on the computer, and verified backups — on Mac and Windows, with no subscription.

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