Blackmagic Forum

Posted: **Fri May 16, 2025 5:59 am**

Request for Better Photo Management

In DaVinci Resolve, managing and optimizing the order of photos is incredibly complicated, if not impossible, and requires exhausting manual procedures that take a lot of time. I believe that optimizing the workflow for photography would be extremely useful, especially with the increasing number of photographers and enthusiasts adopting the program.

I haven't found an effective method for managing the correct ordering of photos before transferring them to the timeline. In a YouTube video I watched, someone used the rename functionality of the free software FastStone Image Viewer to rename the photos sequentially in batch mode (e.g., 0001.jpg, 0002.jpg, 0003.jpg, etc.).

Once imported into DaVinci, they need to be renumbered one after the other to achieve the desired sequence. This process is absolutely unmanageable for many photos: an infinite amount of time is wasted, and the procedure remains very problematic with poor results that detract from the purely artistic component.

Let me illustrate with a specific example:
I have 19 photos, 9 of nature and 10 of architecture. I asked FastStone to batch rename these images as I just described: from 0001.jpg, 0002.jpg up to 0019.jpg.

Suppose we want to create a presentation in DaVinci with the first 10 photos of nature and the next 9 of architecture. In this timeline:
0001.jpg 0002.jpg 0008 0015 0010 0016 0017 0018 0019 (architecture) 0014 0005 0013 0004 0006 0007 0009 0012 0003 0011

As shown in a screenshot I attached, when trying to drag a photo (e.g., photo 0008) to the third position in the timeline, this operation is not allowed in DaVinci.

In my opinion, this is a truly significant limitation that, if removed, would help to better manage and organize clips.

I hope this crucial feature is implemented in a future update.
Thank you very much,
Marco

https://ibb.co/wZCRvCyw

Posted: **Fri May 16, 2025 6:29 am**

Hi Marco, in Resolve v20 you can change the sort order to 'Custom' which will then allow you to freely rearrange the photos into your preferred order.

: Screenshot 2025-05-16 at 07.27.17.png (86.17 KiB) Viewed 1265 times

Posted: **Fri May 16, 2025 7:37 am**

Andy Mees wrote:Hi Marco, in Resolve v20 you can change the sort order to 'Custom' which will then allow you to freely rearrange the photos into your preferred order.
Screenshot 2025-05-16 at 07.27.17.png

thank you for the report I intend to do it with the preview of the images as in the video tutorial that I created here in attachment see:

Posted: **Fri May 16, 2025 8:09 am**

Andy Mees wrote:Hi Marco, in Resolve v20 you can change the sort order to 'Custom' which will then allow you to freely rearrange the photos into your preferred order.
Screenshot 2025-05-16 at 07.27.17.png

I did as you suggested but if I move a photo it overwrites and does not replace, I repeat DaVinci's management of photos is not good

Posted: **Sat May 17, 2025 3:45 pm**

You have Image 8 twice (and no image 3) in the bin.

Is that intentional?

Posted: **Sat May 17, 2025 4:36 pm**

levideo wrote:
Andy Mees wrote:Hi Marco, in Resolve v20 you can change the sort order to 'Custom' which will then allow you to freely rearrange the photos into your preferred order.
Screenshot 2025-05-16 at 07.27.17.png

I did as you suggested but if I move a photo it overwrites and does not replace, I repeat DaVinci's management of photos is not good

Can you show a video of that ? Drag & Drop custom sorting seems to be working fine here. (Mostly.... it is in BETA so some formatting issues still need to be worked out.) Maybe try working on the EDIT page ? Might also be a problem with your naming/numbering scheme. Maybe try something else to test.

NOTE: this is Davinci Resolve 20 beta ONLY, there is no custom sort order in earlier versions.

Also, this is not really a "photo management" issue... both video & photos may need a custom sort order.

Posted: **Sat May 17, 2025 4:56 pm**

kinvermark wrote:
levideo wrote:
Andy Mees wrote:Hi Marco, in Resolve v20 you can change the sort order to 'Custom' which will then allow you to freely rearrange the photos into your preferred order.
Screenshot 2025-05-16 at 07.27.17.png

I did as you suggested but if I move a photo it overwrites and does not replace, I repeat DaVinci's management of photos is not good

Can you show a video of that ? Drag & Drop custom sorting seems to be working fine here. (Mostly.... it is in BETA so some formatting issues still need to be worked out.) Maybe try working on the EDIT page ? Might also be a problem with your naming/numbering scheme. Maybe try something else to test.

NOTE: this is Davinci Resolve 20 beta ONLY, there is no custom sort order in earlier versions.

Also, this is not really a "photo management" issue... both video & photos may need a custom sort order.

hi andy, as you can see in my tutorial there is no way to change the order of the photos unlike fastone, which would be very useful to everyone, to be able to order the sequence in a preview window before transferring them to the timeline, as happens in any video editing software, even amateur ones.
I hope the problem is solved for the good of all of us.
if you have to manage a fair number of images, it currently becomes unmanageable to do any editing.

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Posted: **Sat May 17, 2025 5:13 pm**

Jim Simon wrote:You have Image 8 twice (and no image 3) in the bin.

Is that intentional?

hi jim, you're right, I hadn't noticed, but what matters in my request is exclusively the possibility of being able to move the photos one in place of the other in the desired order and sequence.
now it's not possible to do it.
I really hope this problem will be fixed.
ciao marco

Posted: **Sat May 17, 2025 5:26 pm**

As I said, it is working here.

Yours looks like you don't have the "custom" sort order checked, but who knows - I can't see it.

This needs to be treated as a BUG report and details shared. The requested feature already exists !

Posted: **Sat May 17, 2025 5:36 pm**

kinvermark wrote:As I said, it is working here.

Yours looks like you don't have the "custom" sort order checked, but who knows - I can't see it.

This needs to be treated as a BUG report and details shared. The requested feature already exists !

hello thank you very much I would like to see my situation from a remote location maybe using the excellent free software anydesk just a couple of minutes, you don't know what a favor you would do me.
thanks infinite hello marco
send me a private message that I will send you the access parameters

Posted: **Sat May 17, 2025 6:16 pm**

Hi Marco,

Appreciate you are reaching out, but I am a bit paranoid about screen-sharing over the internet.

Suggest you look for a local contact to help. Might be easy to spot an problem, or might take quite a bit of detective work. Easier with a native Italian speaker, I think.

Good news is that the feature is in active development so I think sooner or later you will get what you need for your photo-video projects !

Posted: **Sat May 17, 2025 7:09 pm**

kinvermark wrote:Hi Marco,

Appreciate you are reaching out, but I am a bit paranoid about screen-sharing over the internet.

Hi Kinvermark, thank you for your message, don't worry if you have these fears in connecting remotely, but I am comforted by the fact that you told me that the black magic development team is working on the solution to the problem in question. I assume you have certain data on the matter. thank you very much bye Marco

Suggest you look for a local contact to help. Might be easy to spot an problem, or might take quite a bit of detective work. Easier with a native Italian speaker, I think.

Good news is that the feature is in active development so I think sooner or later you will get what you need for your photo-video projects !

Posted: **Sat May 17, 2025 7:09 pm**

Hi Kinvermark, thank you for your message, don't worry if you have these fears in connecting remotely, but I am comforted by the fact that you told me that the black magic development team is working on the solution to the problem in question. I assume you have certain data on the matter. thank you very much bye Marco

Posted: **Sun May 18, 2025 8:44 am**

Hello,
My suggestion
– Import photos in new bin
– Use list presentation
– visualize comment column
– put your number in the comment column
– order the list on comment
– select all photos and "create new timeline…"
You obtain a timeline with your ordered photos (you can change the duration of photos in preferences)
If you want to change order, the Cut page is the easiest.
But FinalCut Pro is the easiest software to arange order.
Jacques

Posted: **Mon May 19, 2025 11:20 am**

jhoepffner wrote:Hello,
My suggestion
– Import photos in new bin
– Use list presentation
– visualize comment column
– put your number in the comment column
– order the list on comment
– select all photos and "create new timeline…"
You obtain a timeline with your ordered photos (you can change the duration of photos in preferences)
If you want to change order, the Cut page is the easiest.
But FinalCut Pro is the easiest software to arange order.
Jacques

hello jhoepffne, thank you for the suggestions you gave me, I tried but I couldn't sort the photos inside davinci resolve studio 20.
would you be so kind as to make me a little video tutorial on how to do it?
thanks a lot bye marco

Posted: **Tue May 27, 2025 2:56 pm**

Here is an example youtube video. It's in German, but still easy to understand.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCPxa8iixEY&t=43s

Note that as of beta 4, the columns still don't resize properly, and IMO there needs to be a "reset" button for the custom sort.

" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCPxa8iixEY "

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Request for improved photo management, sorting, and optim

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