We can import images very quickly via the File System tab. Navigate to the folder with the images that you wish to import and right-click on it or, if you only want to import some of the images of this folder, display its contents, select the images you'd like to import, and right-click on the selection.
In the pop-up menu click on the Import Selected Files... entry. You'll get an import dialog box like the one shown in the following screenshot:
Depending on what your source for import is, the Source Folder field will either display a location or (Selected files). More important for us is the selection of the catalog where we want to import the images. Have a look at the Import into Catalog field. If the catalog is not the one you want, click on the field and select the correct one.
In the selection dialog box, select the correct catalog. In case the right catalog is not already open, you can open it by clicking on the Open Catalog... button. If you need to create a new catalog, click on the New Catalog... button.
You can click on the Apply Import Settings checkbox too at this point. Any keywords you enter in the Keywords field will be applied to all imported images, as well as any presets that you add in the Presets field.
A click on the Begin Import button in the import dialog box will then import the images into the selected catalog.
As you can see, the image is referenced by its location on the hard disk. The path to it is /home/.../2012_08_23.... If we move the image to another location outside of AfterShot Pro, then AfterShot Pro would no longer be able to find it. On the other hand, if we move it within AfterShot Pro, for example via a drag-and-drop action, these changes would be duplicated in the filesystem thus making sure that AfterShot Pro references to the right file.
If you are like me, you probably won't copy your photos to your hard disk to import them. Luckily, AfterShot Pro can download and import in one single step. Connect your camera or make your memory card available to your operating system and navigate to the corresponding folder. Then select the images you want to download and import. Now, instead of right-clicking on the image to import them, use the keyboard shortcut D to start the Download batch. If you prefer to use drag-and-drop, you can also drag the folder or the images onto the Download batch, which is located in the Output tab.
When you use the drag-and-drop option, the number of images is displayed together with a preview of one of the images.
Whichever method you use to start the Download batch, renaming the images is the first step. Give the images good names, you want to be able to find them again later. The next dialog box lets you select or create a new folder or directory on your hard disk to actually store the images. Remember, AfterShot Pro only references to them. The images don't reside within the catalog, so they need to have a home of their own. When you have found or created a place for them, you again select the catalog that you want the images to import into.
It's the same dialog box you get when you import from a folder on your hard disk, so you shouldn't be too surprised by it. Make your selection and the images are downloaded, saved, renamed, and imported into AfterShot Pro.
Don't worry if you are not completely satisfied with the way the Download batch works. We'll adapt it to your needs in a later chapter when we deal with input and output batches.
Note
The Download batch of AfterShot Pro lets you select a folder/directory for your images only once per session. So if you download images from several memory cards in the same AfterShot Pro session, they will all end up in the first selected folder. Don't worry about this, though. You can easily create a new folder in the catalogs by right-clicking on it and select New Library Folder.... Then simply drag-and-drop your images to the right folders. They will be moved on the hard disk as well.