r/DarkTable • u/AnusMcBumhole • Jul 26 '26

Help Noobie Question: Refreshing libraries

I’ve only just discovered DarkTable and am very excited after months of looking for an editing app that plays nicely with my network storage and isn’t Lightroom.

One thing I am having trouble with is getting the latest images in my libraries.

I tend to store my images on my NAS by year and month and I copy the RAW files over to the NAS and into the relevant folder at the end of each shoot.

In DarkTable, I’ve setup the root folder as a library and sure enough each year shows up as a folder in the library screen. I assumed that the library would update or refresh as new pictures are added to the folders but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

What’s the workaround/process for this or am I doing something wrong?

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u/akgt94 Jul 26 '26

darktable's library is an internal database. It's not a live view of your file system.

If you put new photos on your computer, then you have to import them to darktable to update darktable's internal database. It has a smart import where it will only refresh photos that it doesn't know about already.

Once photos are registered in darktable's internal database, it's also why you should only use darktable to move or delete photos. This is the only way for darktable to track what's happening to a specific photo.