How to organize photos & videos with Diffractor

Choose the PC or external-drive folders that hold your organized library in Collection Options (CTRL+F6). Adding a folder indexes it; it does not upload or relocate its files.

Collection folders can use removable-drive labels and exclusions. Temporarily offline files remain searchable from the index and are marked as unavailable until their drive returns.

If storage is limited, an external SSD can hold collection folders. Prefer original files direct from the camera or phone because some cloud services re-encode files and reduce quality.

Start with a simple structure such as Year/Month/Day. Search and metadata are better than elaborate topic folders for finding subjects and events.

Open a camera card, phone-export folder, USB drive, old PC folder, or cloud export directly in Diffractor. Browsing a source leaves its files where they are.

Presence indicators (see docs) distinguish collection files from possible matching copies. Review possible copies before skipping an import or removing originals.

Use Import (F9) to copy or move the remaining files. They join the collection when the reviewed destination is already a collection folder. Dates come from embedded metadata (details), and folder templates can create a durable Year/Month/Day structure.

Analyze and Review show every destination, collision, replacement, skip, and source deletion before Run.

Navigate quickly: Alt+Up for parent folder, Alt+Left/Right for back/forward through recent folders.

Promote the best, remove the worst. Rate keepers (5★), reject obvious duds. Press P to label edit candidates with to do.

Compare similar shots side‑by‑side (select first, then CTRL+LEFT/RIGHT). Press A to pin one shot so it stays in the comparison while you step through the rest of the burst.

Press R on an item to see its related items — possible copies plus anything from the same album or series, or taken at the same time or place. Useful when you are deciding which of several near-identical files to keep.

Correct incorrect capture dates to preserve chronology. Diffractor keeps three dates per item — Original, Created and Modified — and the properties panel names the tag each one came from, so a date that looks wrong can be traced before you change it.

Find missing metadata using without (for example, without:location).

Edits are stored using open standards (XMP/EXIF) compatible with many other applications.

Deleting offers Recycle, recoverable from the Windows Recycle Bin, and Permanent delete, which is not and always confirms with a count. There is no application-wide undo, so prefer Recycle while you are pruning.

Chip away — review a few folders when time allows.

“Adjust date” (CTRL+SHIFT+D) fixes bad timestamps. It shifts the whole selection by one amount and leaves the Windows file stamp alone.

Add a location (L) by placing the map center where the photo was taken. Diffractor derives a nearby place for display and search.

Quick rating: 1-5 for stars, 0 for none, M or Alt+Delete to reject. Use 6-9 and P for labels (Select, Second, Approved, Review, To Do).

Use [ or ] to rotate images.

Add tags for people, events, subjects (e.g. #Amalie #Family #Cat). Keep naming consistent.

Use without:tag searches to locate untagged items.

Write short descriptions for standout sets; they become searchable context.

Press T to add tags quickly and Ctrl+E to edit metadata for all selected items — every field there is optional, so a run only writes the fields you ticked. E opens the Edit view for photo adjustments.

Diffractor is optimized for fast searching. Type a person, place, month, or combo in the address bar. Indexed metadata makes it quick.

As you type, ↑/↓ preview completions, Tab accepts one without running it, and Esc puts back what you typed. Alt+↑ broadens the search one step at a time when you have narrowed too far.

Need power syntax (boolean, dates, missing metadata)? See search reference. Use original: for when a photo was taken and created: for when its file was made — they are different questions.

Press Ctrl+F or F3 to focus the search box instantly. Use Ctrl+F3 to focus the Items filter box.

Keep the active working copy on a fast PC drive and maintain independent backups. A NAS can hold another copy for household access, but synchronization alone is not a backup.

Apply the 3‑2‑1 rule: 3 copies, 2 media types, 1 off‑site.

• Main working copy (PC / SSD)
• NAS mirror (sharing)
• Cloud or external off‑site backup

Diffractor can synchronize changes with a NAS or network drive. Enabled deletion options can copy deletions from one side to the other, so keep a separate off-site or versioned backup.

Synchronize (CTRL+SHIFT+F9) to mirror changes to a NAS or network drive.

⚠ The default sync settings delete remote files that aren't in your local copy. Review the sync toggles before the first run.