Moving from Photo Mechanic 6

Your archive

Nothing to convert. Captions, keywords and ratings are in your files, in the same IPTC and XMP fields. Open a folder in Eikonaut and they are there; Photo Mechanic 6 reads what Eikonaut writes.

• RAW files: metadata goes into the .xmp sidecar next to the RAW, under the same name, as before. Existing sidecars are merged: only the fields you change are touched, the rest stays as it was.
• Category, Supplemental Categories, Edit Status and Urgency have their own fields in the inspector and templates.

Your settings

Export your settings in Photo Mechanic 6 (a .pmx file). In Eikonaut, choose Settings ▸ General ▸ Settings from Another App ▸ Import… and pick the file. A sheet lists what it found, with a checkbox for each kind:

• IPTC templates become Eikonaut templates; the Stationery Pad becomes the template “Stationery Pad”, the ingest pad “Card Import Pad”.
• Rename and export presets, and the renaming of the import window.
• Color Classes become Eikonaut’s colour labels (Settings ▸ Labels).

Templates with the same name are replaced.

Code replacements

Your code replacement files work as they are: tab-separated text, code first, then the replacements. Add them in Settings ▸ Codes. Type =code= in a caption field for the first replacement, =code#2= for the second. Eikonaut reads the files where they are and again when they change.

The settings export doesn’t include these files, so add them yourself.

What works the same

• Open a folder; no catalog.
• Stars with the number keys (1–5, 0 clears), full screen with Space, flip with the arrow keys.
• Import from a card with a second copy.
• Variables in captions, file names and exports.
• Colour labels: Eikonaut writes the label’s name into XMP Label, which Photo Mechanic 6 reads with “Synchronize Color Class with IPTC/XMP Label” turned on.

What is different

• One inspector for IPTC and XMP; both are written together, so they stay in sync.
• Every write is checked by reading it back, and every change can be undone, even after a restart.
• Colour labels are set with ⌘1–⌘8 (⌘0 clears); the number keys alone set stars.

Something missing or not working as expected? support@eikonaut.com