Hi, just started using RT and i am puzzled about the deletion of history after finishing an edit session. Is there a way to reopen an edited image and get back to the original or to a step prior last version edited? If not, is there a possibility to work on a duplicate? I normally need more sessions to end a work so i would be useful to be able to always run through the history. Is this feature planned?
thanks
Hi Xdbant, welcome to Pixls!
No, you can not. Once you close your session the history disappears.
There is no duplicate function as such, but from within the file browser you can copy:
right click on image â File Operations â Copty toâŚ
or via shortcut keys:
shft-ctrl-c
Copying will also copy the accompanying sidecar.
Copying to the same directory/folder works: RawTherapee renames the file by adding a number (i.e.: _1)
There has been talk about implementing this, but I am not aware of anybody actually working on it at the moment.
Although I understand why you might want to have this functionality it might not be needed. RawTherapee has a fixed ordered pipeline, so it doesnât matter in what order you process your image, X will always be done before Y even if you do Y first and then X.
2 Likes
FWIW, being able to review the steps taken to get an image to state âXâ would be handy, IMO, not so much for the order but for knowing what set of image operations resulted in the final appearance.
I think nobody would disapprove of the feature, itâs just that nobody did the necessary coding to implement it. I believe Albertoâs fork ART has a snapshots feature, which is a compromise between full history and no history at all. But I donât know the details. Perhaps it can be backported at some point.
Lightroom writes your process history to a sidecar so you can always see what youâve done. But as long as the pp3 is saved in RT all my steps are there so I donât really find a missing âtextâ history all that much of a hardship - though going through all the panels to see what I did last time can be a little tedious.
So-IMO- it would be handy, but perhaps not quite as handy as letâs sayâŚa new public release 
5 Likes
FWIW, having permanent snapshots (like in ART) would be a game changer for me already as I often produce various versions and see what I like best. Iâd love to be able come back to those versions later with a âfresh set of eyesâ. I know I could save them to individual pp3 files but that makes everything much more annoying.