I started learning how to use this software by using a photo that needed plenty of work. I almost had it edited to my liking after a few hours of learning how to use the program. I closed the program as I did in the past, and when I went to open it again it was gone. Where did my photo go? The xmp icon is still on my desktop, but it only shows that it is 9.1kib.
What might “this software” and “the program” be?
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I guess darktable, as xmp is mentioned. But the description is extremely vague, @Mark2 .
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Sorry. I thought this was a Darktable forum. I worked on the photo, closed the program, and when I tried to re-open it the photo was gone.
How did you import the photo into Darktable? Also, do you see anything in the Collections tab on the left in lighttable?
I tried opening it by clicking on it since it is an xmp file which belongs to Darktable. It usually opens with no problem. I also tried right clicking and choosing Darktable. I have opened it and worked on it several times with no problems. This time it won’t open and the file properties state that it is 91kib.
I would not worry about the xmp file being 9.1kb…the sidecar files are small. When you select the file in your file browser, are you clicking on the .xmp file or the raw/ jpg/ tiff (whatever) file?
The side car (XMP) is not the photo. It’s just the processing instructions for the photo. Where did you store the photo? Did you import it from a card? If it was on a card, did you just add it to the library (which does NOT copy it to your hard disk), or did you use copy & import?
Please try to describe the situation, and how you store/transfer the photos to your computer, and how you work, in detail. Otherwise, this is going to be a very long back-and-forth. Screenshots may help.
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The file is on my desktop. I have opened it several times and worked on it. I never had any problems in the past. Since the last time I worked on it the program can’t seem to find it.
darktable is not editing original image files. It never touches the original file. The program is pointed to the original (raw) file and writes all changes into a small sidecar file. This is the file that ends with xmp. The changes are also written into a database. So it might be also that some inconsistencies happened there.
So, please search for the original image (raw) file on your computer. If you also have the sidecar file (xmp) you can get your edit back.
Edit: And it might help, if you could post the exact name of the sidecar file.
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Unless you specifically ask DT to it will not move or delete the original. If you know where the original was placed it should still be there. When you open it in DT it should then remember the editing steps. The xmp file is usually written to the same location as the original image, so based on your description the original image should be on the desktop.
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Thanks to everyone.
did you find you missing photo?
yes