edit history is lost when importing photos

[trash-picker]

Is there an existing issue for this?

• [x] I checked and did not find my issue in the already reported ones

Describe the bug

I've been using Darktable for the past 3 months, and this issues has persisted throughout this time. I've seen no other reports of a similar issue. No other editing software is being used in my workflow. I'm in the process of reorganizing my hard drive's photo storage structure, so I've been doing a lot of removing and adding files into dark table.

During this process, I've noticed that photos that I've edited in darktable are losing their edits when importing back into darktable. This issue is repeatable, but this issue is only present on approximately every 2 out of 40 photos imported. See the attached photo below of the two images whose edit history has been lost.

Steps to reproduce

1. Select import,add to library...
2. Select photos and add to library.
3. Apply presaved style and edits
4. Select filmroll in collection.
5. Right click and remove
6. Select import,add to library...
7. Select filmroll that was just edited and import
8. Observe that ~2 out of 40 photos have lost their edits

Expected behavior

retain edits on all photos in roll after remove and import

Logfile | Screenshot | Screencast

The log files doesn't update after repeating these steps and observing the bug.

Commit

No response

Where did you obtain darktable from?

darktable.org / GitHub release

darktable version

5.0.1

What OS are you using?

Windows

What is the version of your OS?

Windows 11 Pro

Describe your system

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8665U CPU @ 1.90GHz 2.11 GHz Graphics Intel UHD Graphics 620 Installed RAM 32.0 GB (31.8 GB usable) System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

Edition Windows 11 Pro Version 24H2 Installed on ‎11/‎15/‎2024 OS build 26100.4061

Are you using OpenCL GPU in darktable?

I dont know

If yes, what is the GPU card and driver?

No response

Please provide additional context if applicable. You can attach files too, but might need to rename to .txt or .zip

• I have not tried to reproduce this on other darktable versions.
• This issues is reproducible with a .TIFF and .NEF file type
• The issue still persists after having uninstalled Darktable, restarted my computer, and reinstalled.
• I do not use Luna Scripts
• The issue persists even after clearing edit history, and reediting photos
• Please see an example of the .xmp whose edits have not been retained following an import. 20250401_0108.tif.xmp.txt

[wpferguson]

What are your XMP Sidecar settings (Preferences->storage)?

This XMP file says the image was never loaded in darkroom and processed.

   darktable:auto_presets_applied="0"
   darktable:history_end="0"
   darktable:change_timestamp="-1"

If you repeat the test, save the xmp files before you do the remove, then compare the saved XMPs to the reimported XMPs so that we can have a before and after to try and get a better idea of what is happening.

[trash-picker]

The issue persisted with various configurations of the storage settings. I'm currently running on the default:

Additionally, please see the before and after XMPs where I've lost the edits after importing.

BEFORE_20250401_0107.tif.xmp.txt

AFTER_20250401_0107.tif.xmp.txt

[ptilopteri]

• trash-picker @.***> [05-27-25 22:12]:

trash-picker left a comment (darktable-org/darktable#18884)

The issue persisted with various configurations of the storage settings. I'm currently running on the default:

Additionally, please see the before and after XMPs where I've lost the edits after importing.

BEFORE_20250401_0107.tif.xmp.txt

AFTER_20250401_0107.tif.xmp.txt

are you moving the accompaning xmp file with the relocated image before reimporting?

-- (paka)Patrick Shanahan Plainfield, Indiana, USA @ptilopteri facebook/ptilopteri Photos: http://wahoo.no-ip.org/piwigo paka @ IRCnet oftc

[trash-picker]

No, I am not moving or renaming any files during these tests

[trash-picker]

Just wanted to follow up here. I booted up a fresh version of windows 11 on my machine and installed a fresh copy of darktable, and can confirm the issue still persisted.

[github-actions[bot]]

This issue has been marked as stale due to inactivity for the last 60 days. It will be automatically closed in 300 days if no update occurs. Please check if the master branch has fixed it and report again or close the issue.