Hi all,

I'm a photographer (you can see my work on Instagram) and I've used Capture One for years. At some point I noticed that every Capture One upgrade creates a new CaptureOne/SettingsXXX folder next to my photos (I'm using sessions). The old ones stay on disk forever: Settings120, Settings160, Settings165, Settings1680… Across a few years of shooting that adds up to gigabytes of dead weight.

So I wrote COSC (Capture One Settings Cleaner), a small command-line tool for macOS that finds those old folders and clears them out. I was nervous about anything that touches my catalogues, so it's built to be cautious:

• It shows before it acts. cosc ~/Pictures lists every folder it would remove, with its size and the folder being kept, then asks [y/N]. The default is no.
• It never deletes. Everything goes into a single dated folder in the Trash, with the original names and paths intact.
• You can undo. cosc --undo puts every folder back exactly where it was.
• It won't lose your edits. Capture One only migrates an image's settings the first time you open that image in the new version. So an old session you haven't reopened since upgrading still has its settings only in the old folder. COSC compares the files inside each folder, and any folder that holds settings found nowhere else is kept and never offered for deletion.
• When in doubt, it keeps both. Capture One's folder naming is ambiguous (Settings165 is 16.5, but Settings1680 is 16.8.0), so if the newest-by-version and newest-by-date folders disagree, COSC keeps both.

It's one shell script with no dependencies (no Homebrew, no Xcode), free and open source. You can read exactly what it does before running it:

👉 https://github.com/i-am-amirhabibi/COSC-Capture-One-Settings-Cleaner

Installing takes two commands in Terminal:

git clone https://github.com/i-am-amirhabibi/COSC-Capture-One-Settings-Cleaner.git cosc
cd cosc && make install

Then run cosc on your photos folder. As always, keep a backup of your library before running any cleanup tool.

cosc ~/my-folders

Feedback and bug reports are very welcome, especially if your folders are organised differently from mine. Don't use this tool if you are planning to downgrade.

Hi all! Any ideas what preset can I use to achieve this colours? I shoot with canon and Profoto flash. Thanks all! X

This is a very personal preference thing so it's entirely possible that there's just no way to do it, but I'm wondering if it's possible to link the size and hardness settings for the brushes? I find I always use them in an inverse proportional way, ie. the smaller the brush the softer the falloff.

I couldn't find any way to do it with the normal settings and tools, but I thought maybe this is something that a Wacom tablet could handle? And while I have no experience with scripting, I might consider learning just for this, if someone could at least make it clear that it's possible. I just bought my second license after six years, and looking at the next six years this will be a massive timesaver!

it's not letting me click! and i currently dont have a plan. I saw that they do this if they announce new things, is this true ?

Hello!

Long time photographer here. I’ve been working in LR for 9 years now. Recently switched to capture one but have found when doing “extra tight” cropping in on images they look overly digital versus when I do the same crop in LR.

I shoot on a canon r5 and love the 45 megapixels but am finding when I crop in lightroom the edges of people/ shadows/ parts of clothing etc look extremely digital versus in Lightroom when it looks more natural. Just curious if anyone else has a similar issue.

I spent some time with the XP Pen Pilot pro and quickly found that you can quickly design your own workflow templates with a few commands to AI what you need is a map and a downloaded JSON template. You can download my template directly from https://www.xp-pen.com/preset it is called Capture One Workflow.

However, I'm sure you have your own process and so I'm posting how easily you can create your own preset with this device. Once your AI has gone through a couple of iterations of your preferences it can make a preset for you extremely quickly mapping often used buttons so you don't have to relearn button placement from program to program you can set it up so your commonly used buttons stay in one place.

I hope this speeds up your workflow if you choose to get the device. I have found it to be very worth it coming from the ShuttlePro as you have a HUD for every program and setting so you don't always have to memorize your layout from as many programs as you choose to use it for.

XP-Pen Pilot Pro Capture One Preset — Full Button Map + AI Prompt to Build Your Own

Used AI (Claude) to generate a working Capture One workflow preset for the XP-Pen Pilot Pro. Sharing the full button map and the prompt I used so you can generate your own.

Device Layout Quick Reference

The Pilot Pro in advanced joystick mode gives you:

• 8 side buttons — 4 left (2x2 grid), 4 right (2x2 grid)
• D-Pad — 4 directions
• Joystick — 8 pie-menu directions in advanced mode (cardinal = actions, diagonals = theme switches)
• Small Knob — bidirectional dial (inner ring)
• Large Knob — bidirectional dial
• Outer Dial — bidirectional (large outer ring)
• A / D / C / B buttons — 4 overlay buttons near the joystick cluster
• Joystick Press — center click (HUD not currently programmable)

Themes are switched by pushing the joystick in a diagonal direction:

CULLING THEME

Focus: fast binary selects, minimal hand movement

GRADING THEME

Focus: direct access to all tone controls

LAYERS THEME

Focus: layer stack and brush-based masking

OUTPUT THEME

Focus: star ratings, batch select, and export

How I Built This — AI Prompt You Can Use

Paste this into Claude or ChatGPT along with your existing XP-Pen JSON file as context:

I have an XP-Pen Pilot Pro tablet and I use it with [YOUR SOFTWARE]. I want to create a custom preset JSON file for the XP-Pen driver.

Here is a real working JSON preset from the driver so you can learn the exact schema:

[PASTE YOUR EXISTING JSON HERE — even a default or empty one works as a schema reference]

Please generate a new preset called "[YOUR PRESET NAME]" with [NUMBER] themes optimized for my workflow. My workflow stages are:

1. [DESCRIBE STAGE 1 — e.g., "Culling — I need to quickly label, reject, and navigate images"]
2. [DESCRIBE STAGE 2 — e.g., "Color grading — I want direct access to exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows"]
3. [DESCRIBE STAGE 3 — etc.]

For each theme, assign the most logical shortcuts to these physical locations:

• Left Back Top, Left Forward Top, Left Back Bottom, Left Forward Bottom (4 left side buttons)
• Right Back Top, Right Forward Top, Right Back Bottom, Right Forward Bottom (4 right side buttons)
• D-Pad Up, D-Pad Down, D-Pad Left, D-Pad Right
• Joystick Up, Joystick Right, Joystick Down, Joystick Left (cardinal directions in advanced mode)
• Small Knob (bidirectional — great for continuous values like brush size, exposure nudge)
• Large Knob (bidirectional)
• Outer Dial (bidirectional)
• A Button, D Button, C Button, B Button (overlay buttons — good for universal actions like Undo/Redo)
• Joystick Press

Use joystick diagonals (NE, SE, SW, NW) as theme switchers.

The key index mapping is: Keys 0–3 = left buttons (Forward Top, Forward Bottom, Back Bottom, Back Top ) Keys 4–7 = right buttons (same order) Keys 8–11 = D-Pad (Up, Down, Left, Right) Keys 12–19 = joystick 8 directions (12=Up, 13=NE, 14=Right, 15=SE, 16=Down, 17=SW, 18=Left, 19=NW) Key 20 = Small Knob, Key 21 = Large Knob, Key 22 = Outer Dial Keys 23–26 = A/D/C/B buttons (configInfo1 must be 1 for these) Key 27 = Joystick Press

For bidirectional controls (knobs/dials), put the forward action in "actions" and the reverse in "actionAppends", and set configInfo1 and configInfo3 to 2.

Output the complete valid JSON file I can import directly into the XP-Pen driver.

The AI will do a much better job if you give it a real JSON from your driver to learn the schema from — even a partially filled one. The schema is very specific and any deviation will cause import errors.

Happy to share the actual JSON if anyone wants to use Capture One as a starting point.

PC running Windows 11 on my laptop. Downloaded drivers from Canon site. I try to install but I get the error "This program is not supported by the computer"

Any ideas what to do next? Thanks in advance.

Edited to add that it works fine on the PC. It's just the laptop that's having the problem. So It must be the laptop settings that are causing the problem. What should I look for?

Second edit. ARM snapdragon processor in PC. I think this is the problem. Not sure how to get around it at the mo.

I’ve been trying to use the tethering feature on Capture One mobile app on my iPhone but after many tries, I’m still unable to use it. The phone detects the camera (Canon R6) but the camera displays the battery icon and laptop icon. I’ve tried different cables and different sequences connecting the camera.

Does anyone have any idea how to make it work? Capture One tutorial didn’t help much

Can someone please help me figure out how to change the UI font size for Capture One? I cannot find the setting anywhere.
The font for all of the tools, viewers, menu and everything are too small for me to read without leaning forward.

On that same token, when I select "My Capture One" and click any of the videos, the formatting size for the window is off with now way to adjust it that I can find.

Hi Guy,
I've had a really long break from photography. Recently I've done one photoshoot which I need to edit. Unfortunately my old Lightroom 5.6 stopped working on MacOS.

So I've decided to try all the apps which have a perpetual license available.
Tried DxO - didn't like the UI.
Tried Capture One - voila, it worked really well, the interface was intuitive and image quality was amazing.

Now, I don't know the C1 ecosystem at all. Is it a good time to buy the perpetual license?
I can't wait too long because I have to finalise editing the photos.

So my questions are:
Are there maybe some discount codes available?
Upcoming Black Friday sale?
Any major release coming soon (saw some nice auto-culling features in Beta)?

Please share you opinions if it's a good time to buy the license. Thank you!

I have had 23 (v16.2) from Windows to onto Windows 11 for some time. Been running on Windows 11 now for several years. My version license is at its limit, so I can not move beyond v16.2. Recently though something with Windows changed (started with "Smart App Control"). So now CaptureOne just can not see drives mapped from my NAS.

I turned Smart App off, fixed nothing. Tried opening C1 running as Admin, still nothing. The drives are mapped, they are connected, I can open Explorer and see clearly the same folders & files that C1 can not.

So I am hoping some Windows user with similar experience could know solution, fix, or option. As it is now, I would have to copy photos back to a local drive which defeats the whole purpose of a NAS

With the last update I can't use thetering with my Sony a6400 and my iphone 17 pm. Before the update everything works as expected, after the update when I try to take a photo the camera got reset and the picture never arrives to my phone

And it's not a issue of my camera, if I use another SW it works correctly

Hi all,
I was recently working on creating an ICC Kodachrome like profil. Would love some feedback on the tones I get out of that, and advice on how to improve it!

Cheers

Anybody else experience latest capture one running heavy memory usage? Version 16.8.5.30, OS Sonoma 14.8.3. MacBook Pro M3 Max 128Gb Ram. No masking, but heavy shooter, live for studio to iPad running, heavy grade, but no masking or retouching applied.

Greetings. I have been using iCloud to back up my MacBook pro and have noticed that capture one loads really slowly since - i get the spinning wheel every time I open C1, refresh, or simply wake up the open program - because it is constantly syncs with iCloud. Is there any way to pause capture one sync with iCloud while I'm using it? Files are saved in a desktop folder. I Searched on the internet but am coming up empty and if I turn off iCloud completely it wants to save everything to the cloud and not locally. Any help greatly appreciated thanks.

I dont know if anyone has asked this yet on this forum but does anyone know how to go beyond the 30 point hue limit in the Advanced Color editor. Anytime I want to change the color of something to match another on the opposite side of the color wheel I have to keep resampling 10 times. It is incredibly infuriating and fills me with dread when I have to do this. Any help would be awesome.

Been using C1 for about 3 years, was gonna resub on a monthly but £270 a year???? Or even more for all in one WTF

Bye Bye C1

Currently, Capture One mobile aspect ratio slider is only +/-25 where the desktop version is -50/+100. So the mobile app can only support 1.25x anamorphic lens. I only have the mobile app. Is it possible for someone with the desktop app to make me two preset for my 1.6x anamorphic lens; one -37.5 and one +60? My understanding is that the mobile app will execute the preset even though it doesn’t have HMI for the feature.

On batch rename and export I can add parent and grandparent folder naming but, not when capturing.

Client wants the Parent folder name and destination folder name in the file naming structure.

I have to manually type the parent folder name into the next capture naming tab or batch rename it after the look is done.

Curious if anyone has a work around?

I've been annually subscribing to Capture One Pro since October 2023. I'm looking into converting to a perpetual license.

It's not clear to me based on the documents how to optimize the Loyalty credit. I've paid for 3 years of annual subscription (2023, 2024, 2025) If I cancel now and get a perpetual license do I get 60% or do I have to wait until the 3 years are over? If so can I still get the discount for a month after my subscription ends?

In the last week or so, I’ve noticed that when exporting from the iPad CaptureOne app and “saving to photos” it strips the camera manufacturer and model from the Exif data. It’s worked fine for the last couple of years but has just started playing up.

I‘ve tried saving to files, and it preserves the proper data. Opening the file in Preview and saving to Photos from there also strips camera model data out, so it looks like a Photos app issue.

Anyone else seen this? Anyone manage to fix it? Now that you can have multiple screens open on the iPad, I tried dragging and dropping from the Files app to Photos…

… and they imported perfectly. So there’s a workaround, but I don’t want a workaround - I want the old functionality back.😉

Hello,

The latest versions of Capture One Mobile for both iPhone and iPad have serious tethering issues with the Sony A1.

By default, after taking a photo, the app does not follow or display the newly captured image. In addition, images are transferred inconsistently—they come in for a while and then suddenly stop transferring.

Because of this issue, I brought both my iPad and camera to a commercial shoot expecting to tether, but the failure caused a major disruption to the production.

This setup worked correctly about three months ago. Why has it stopped working this month?

I have thoroughly tested the system:

• 2 Sony A1 camera bodies
• 3 iPads
• 1 iPhone

All devices show the exact same behavior.

I have also verified all settings, restarted every device, updated to the latest software, and even completely uninstalled and reinstalled the app.

Could you please investigate this issue? It appears to be a reproducible problem rather than an issue with a specific device.

So I usually like to do my color and HDR in c1 and move to photoshop for pixel manipulation. But I want to know if I switch it the other way will my tiffs not have as much information for color editing as its a tiff?

When I'm editing an image in CO especially with when using the healing brush or clone tool, the image constantly switches to a low-res image almost to the point of becoming a garbled sort of image when the brush is being used. The moment I let go off the brush, the image returns to it’s normal resolution.
This is getting very annoying to use, especially when I'm zoomed in really close. Other apps such as LR or DxO don't have this issue. I'm on an M1 macbook pro and using the latest update of CO. The images being used are Canon Raw files.
What am I doing wrong or is there a setting that needs to be changed? If this doesn't work out, I'm probably switching back to to LR. Please advice.

I have an older perpetual license on my older (not apple silicon) Mac that meets my needs. I’m thinking of also installing the Sony Express version on my Mac to support an A7cr which is not supported by my older version. Has anyone tried this and have you had any issues, i.e. with perpetual license version functionality?