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Export and Sharing

Goal

Create one or a batch of local rendered outputs, or exact original copies, while preserving catalog recipes and refusing unsafe destination conflicts.

Last reviewed: 2026-09-01 against the current CatalogService export path, Studio long-edge control, and CLI options.

Applies to

  • Ravo Studio's Export Photo dialog.
  • The ravo catalog export CLI command.

Prerequisites

  • A library is open and the asset exists in it.
  • The active original is readable for rendered export.
  • The destination directory is writable and the destination path is new.

Export from Studio

  1. Open a library and select one or more photos to export.
  2. Choose File → Export Selected, or use Export… in the left panel.
  3. Choose JPEG, PNG, TIFF, or Original copy and the matching encoder options. For rendered formats choose Full metadata, Without location, or No public metadata, and optionally a Long edge. 0 keeps the rendered size; a positive value fits the longer edge inside that limit and does not enlarge. Original copy ignores resize. The dialog always starts from the domain defaults.
  4. For one photo, confirm the native save dialog. For multiple photos, review the filename template, choose an existing destination folder, and wait for the status bar to report completion.

The selected format is authoritative. If the destination has no suffix, Ravo adds .jpg, .png, or .tif for rendered formats. JPEG also accepts .jpeg, and TIFF also accepts .tiff. A conflicting suffix is rejected. Original copy keeps the chosen filename and any suffix.

Multi-selection uses the default {stem}-{sequence}{ext} template. The only tokens are {stem}, {asset_id}, {sequence}, and {ext}. Sequence starts at 0001; omitting {ext} appends the format or source extension automatically. Templates produce one flat portable filename, so path separators, shell expressions, unknown tokens, and platform-reserved names are rejected.

Output formats

Format What Ravo writes Current options and boundary
PNG Opaque rendered RGB pixels with resolved color metadata when supported. Default is 8-bit compression 5. Studio and CLI expose bit depth 8
JPEG Opaque rendered RGB pixels through the pinned JPEG encoder. Quality 5–100, default 95. Subsampling auto, 444, 440, 422, or 420. Studio and CLI expose both.
TIFF Classic little-endian, top-left, contiguous rendered output. Default is unsigned 8-bit, Deflate with horizontal predictor, level 6, RGB, and 300 DPI. Studio and CLI can request uint16, float16, or float32, compression, level, conditional grayscale, and 72–9600 DPI.
Original copy The original source bytes copied to a new destination. No Develop rendering or re-encoding occurs. The source is never rewritten.

Rendered export uses the active catalog recipe. A RAW export uses the processed CPU RAW path; an original copy remains byte-for-byte source content.

Supported output profiles are resolved from the recipe. Ravo retains the declared RGB profile in supported PNG, JPEG, and TIFF output paths. It does not infer a monitor profile. Rendered JPEG/PNG/TIFF keep validated capture time and GPS from the Catalog in Full mode. Without location removes GPS from every metadata container while retaining other public fields. No public metadata omits Exif/XMP/IPTC and TIFF public directory fields but retains ICC because it describes pixel color. Original copy is exact bytes and therefore rejects metadata stripping. Automatic sidecar interchange is not an export contract.

For TIFF, the current catalog title/description/creator/copyright values can be written into bounded baseline directory fields. The title field is deliberately not mapped to a TIFF title tag; absent values are omitted and an explicitly empty value has defined empty-field behavior.

CLI encoder options

The CLI form is:

ravo catalog export --catalog <library.sqlite> --asset-id <id> \
  --output <file> --format png|jpeg|tiff|tif|original \
  [--quality 5..100] [--jpeg-subsampling auto|444|440|422|420] \
  [--png-bit-depth 8|16] [--png-compression 0..9] \
  [--tiff-sample-type uint8|uint16|float16|float32] \
  [--tiff-compression none|deflate|deflate_predictor] \
  [--tiff-compression-level 1..9] \
  [--tiff-grayscale-if-neutral] [--tiff-resolution-dpi 72..9600] \
  [--metadata full|no-location|none] --json

Batch form (the encoder/privacy flags are the same):

ravo catalog export-batch --catalog <library.sqlite> \
  --asset-id <id> --asset-id <id> [...] \
  --output-dir <existing-directory> \
  --filename-template '{stem}-{sequence}{ext}' \
  --format png|jpeg|tiff|tif|original [format options] \
  [--metadata full|no-location|none] --json

Common options:

  • --quality 5..100 for JPEG only; default 95.
  • --jpeg-subsampling auto|444|440|422|420 for JPEG only; default auto.
  • --max-edge N to fit a rendered result within a positive maximum edge. Studio's Long edge control is the same Catalog field; 0 in Studio means omit the limit. A smaller source is not enlarged.
  • --metadata full|no-location|none for rendered formats; default full.

PNG-only options:

  • --png-bit-depth 8|16; default 8.
  • --png-compression 0..9; default 5.

TIFF-only options:

  • --tiff-sample-type uint8|uint16|float16|float32.
  • --tiff-compression none|deflate|deflate_predictor.
  • --tiff-compression-level 1..9.
  • --tiff-grayscale-if-neutral.
  • --tiff-resolution-dpi 72..9600; default 300.

PNG 16 and TIFF uint16 / float16 / float32 requests render engine-owned higher-precision samples from the active recipe. An 8-bit source still fails closed instead of inventing precision. JPEG-, PNG-, and TIFF-qualified flags are rejected outside their matching export format and outside catalog export or catalog export-batch.

Destination conflict behavior

Ravo uses atomic no-replace publication for rendered files and original copies. If the destination already exists, the command returns a conflict error and does not overwrite it. Choose a new path or move the existing file yourself.

Batch export checks every source, expanded filename, duplicate destination, and existing target before writing the first item. A conflict therefore produces no batch outputs. A file created by another process after preflight still wins the atomic race.

If rendering, encoding, cancellation, or the final write fails, no partial current item is treated as successful. In a batch, earlier completed files are kept and the error reports the completed count, failed index/asset/path, and whether delivery is partial; Ravo never deletes already delivered user output. Original files and adjacent interchange sidecar files are not modified by a rendered export.

Result

The status bar or CLI result reports the output path, format, dimensions, and bytes written. Reopen the output with an independent viewer when the file is part of a delivery workflow.

Common questions

Why can I not export without selecting a photo?

Studio's export action requires at least one selected photo. A single selection uses an explicit output file; multiple selections use the visible filename template and destination folder rather than an implicit naming policy.

Why did the output have a different size from the source?

Rendered output follows the current preview/render size and optional --max-edge; original-copy output keeps the source bytes and dimensions.

Why did a TIFF request fail when the sample type is valid?

The option can be valid while that particular rendered source is only RGB8. Ravo publishes uint16/float16/float32 only when the engine supplies matching higher-precision samples; it does not expand RGB8 into invented precision.

Can export repair a missing original?

No. Rendered export needs the original at its recorded path. Original-copy also needs the source to be readable. See File paths, backups, and recovery.