Frequently asked questions & reference

Diffractor is a Windows application for organizing, viewing, and searching local photo & video collections. It focuses on fast metadata editing, duplicate detection, and powerful search.

It indexes the collection (one or more folders you choose) to enable fast search, presence (duplicate & sidecar detection), and metadata queries.

Choose / update collection folders in Collection Options (CTRL+F6).

Need a step‑by‑step workflow? See the how‑to guide. This page covers deeper technical details and common questions.

Diffractor can view and play many file formats and codecs. It is not meant to replace a full media player with every playback feature.

• Enter full screen
• Space play / pause video or start slideshow
• Esc exit full screen or dialogs
• ←/→ previous / next item
• Ctrl+←/→ extend selection for side‑by‑side compare
• F11 toggle fullscreen mode
• K toggle details pane
• Ctrl+Space zoom to fit

See the full keyboard shortcuts reference.

Presence shows whether an item already exists in the collection, has duplicate variants, or has sidecar files (e.g. XMP, subtitles). Hover over a thumbnail to see presence information, or hover over the displayed item title for details. Duplicates are tinted purple; items with sidecars are tinted blue.

Duplicate detection is exact, not visual. Two files are treated as duplicates when they share an identical CRC32C checksum, or share a filename and identical file size (audio & video), or share a filename and identical capture date. Because matching is checksum- and metadata-based, a resized or re-encoded copy of the same photo is not detected as a duplicate.

Open external folders (e.g. a memory card) and group by presence to identify new items versus those already archived.

Each item falls into one of five presence categories:

• In collection — an identical copy is already indexed
• Similar in collection — a same name+date or same name+size match exists
• Newer in collection — a more recent version is already held
• Older in collection — an older version is already held
• NOT in collection — no match found yet

Sidecars are paired automatically: photos pair a .xmp file; videos pair .srt, .smi, .vtt, .mpl2, .thm and .xmp.

The address bar accepts folder paths, filters, and free‑text. By default only collection folders are searched; add explicit paths to search elsewhere.

Quick search: Press Ctrl+F or F3 to focus search, Ctrl+F3 for advanced search. Use R to search for related files.

The text London can match a tag, description, or location.

Search items can be excluded with a minus. Items not in London -london or Items not in a folder -c:\photos\secret.

Folders & files

By default only collection folders are searched. Add a folder or drive to look elsewhere — including removable media by drive letter (D:) or volume label (MY-SD-CARD).

• c:\photos c:\videos London — restrict to these folders
• D:\Media\2023 — limit to a folder
• D:\Media\2023\*.jpg — only JPGs
• D:\Media\2023\** — flatten subfolders

Wrap any path or value that contains spaces in quotes so it is treated as one term, e.g. "D:\My Photos\2023" or City:'New York'.

Media types

• @Photo — photos only
• @Video — videos only
• @Audio — audio only
• @Photo or @Video — combine with OR

Dates

• May — any May
• May 2022 — May 2022
• 2022 — the whole year
• Year:2022 — explicit metadata year (may differ from file create date)

Tags

• #London — tag match
• #London #Fireworks — both tags (AND)
• #London -#Fireworks — exclude a tag
• #London or #Paris — either tag (OR)

Metadata properties

• Exposure:1/60 — shutter speed
• FNumber:2.8 — aperture
• Camera:'Canon EOS 7D' — camera model
• City:'New York' — location field

Missing metadata

• without:tag — items with no tags
• with:location — items that have a location
• without:rating — items with no rating

Duplicates

• @duplicates — all duplicate items
• @duplicates 2022 — combine with other terms

Search results are shown as groups of thumbnails. Choose how items are grouped to slice a collection in different ways — group by date for a timeline, by camera to separate devices, or by presence when reviewing a memory card.

Group by file type, folder, date created or modified, camera, resolution, size, extension, location, rating & label, album, or presence. Shuffle randomizes the order for rediscovery.

Within each group, sort by name, size, or date; dates can run oldest- or newest-first. When grouping by duplicates, each duplicate run is shaded so it stands out.

Switch between a thumbnail grid for visual browsing and a detail list with metadata columns for scanning the facts.

Add an approximate location (nearest town). Built‑in database enables quick lookup. If GPS is embedded, Diffractor resolves town, city, and country automatically.

• L add location to selected items
• F3 search by location name
• Ctrl+Shift+O open containing folder

If missing, an online lookup can suggest alternatives.

Open any item full-screen with Enter, then move through the collection with ←/→. Photos, videos, audio and animations all play in place — no need to switch apps.

Zoom a photo with Ctrl+Space to fit, then pan with the arrow keys or by dragging. The zoom level is kept as you move between images, so you can inspect the same detail across a series.

Compare side-by-side: select an item, then extend the selection with Ctrl+←/→ to view two items together. Press A to pin one item so it stays put while you cycle the other — ideal for picking the sharpest frame from a burst.

Press Space on a photo to start a slideshow of the current results. A progress bar shows the time until the next image; the on-screen controls fade away while it runs and reappear when you move the mouse.

Repeat modes (none, all, one) control whether the show loops. The slide delay is set in options.

Diffractor includes quick edits for everyday fixes: crop, straighten, rotate and resize, plus colour adjustments — brightness, contrast, saturation, vibrance and tone curves — all with a live preview.

JPEG 90° rotations are lossless. Rotate straight from the grid with [ and ].

Diffractor is an organizer first, so editing covers common corrections rather than replacing a full editor. Results are written back using standard formats so other tools can read them.

Batch rename builds names from a template with a live preview before anything changes. Mix fixed text with metadata fields and a sequence number — for example a template using the capture date plus a counter turns IMG_0042.JPG into 2023-08-14 Holiday 001.jpg.

Because names are driven by metadata, renaming stays consistent across a whole shoot. The same templating drives file naming during import.

Import options

• Ignore previously imported items — skip anything brought in before.
• Overwrite if source items are newer — replace existing files when the source is more recent.
• Move source items — ⚠ deletes the originals after a successful copy.
• Set file date created to metadata date created — ⚠ rewrites the file's Windows timestamp to match its capture date.

Folder-structure templates

The destination layout is a template built from metadata tokens, with a live preview. Presets include:

• {year}\{created} — year then full date (Year/Month/Day)
• {year}\{country} — group a year's photos by country
• {artist}\{album} — for music
• {show}\Season {season} — for TV

Any metadata field can be used as a token, so you can shape the structure to fit your collection.

Synchronize (Ctrl+Shift+F9) mirrors changes between your working copy and a NAS or network drive. It compares both sides, shows the differences, then applies the changes you allow. You can sync the whole collection or just one folder.

Four independent toggles control what happens:

• Copy newer files local → remote
• Copy newer files remote → local
• Delete local files missing from the remote
• Delete remote files missing locally

When a file has changed on both sides, the newer timestamp wins automatically — there is no interactive merge prompt.

⚠ Heads up — the defaults can delete files on your NAS.
By default Diffractor copies newer local files to the remote and deletes remote files that aren't in your local copy. If the remote holds anything the local copy doesn't, review the delete toggles before your first sync.

Beyond photos and video, the viewer adapts to the file:

• Audio plays with a live spectrum visualiser and shows embedded cover art.
• Archives (ZIP) list their contents without extracting.
• Any other file opens in a built-in hex viewer.
• Commodore disk images (D64, D81, T64, CRT) list their contents — a nod to where it all began (see about).

Items with GPS — or a location you add — can be shown on a built-in map using OpenStreetMap tiles.

Diffractor supports many photo (including RAW), video, audio formats, plus extras (e.g. D64). Full list: Formats & Codecs wiki.

• Most video formats
• Most photo formats including RAW
• Most audio formats
• D64 disk images

Metadata (tags, rating, description, location) is written using standard XMP / EXIF / IPTC schemas for interoperability.

A local cache accelerates search; edits are flushed back safely.

JPEG/TIFF/PNG/GIF: embedded EXIF/IPTC/XMP. RAW: typically .XMP sidecar. MOV/MP4/MP3: native atoms+optional XMP. MKV/AVI: XMP (Matroska tags extended later).

Field list: Metadata wiki.

Which operating systems are supported?

Windows 7, 8, 10, 11 (desktop). macOS / Linux not supported currently.

Is Diffractor a media player?

Primarily an organizer & metadata editor; playback is convenient, not exhaustive.

Why did a metadata write fail?

File failed validation (non‑standard or corrupt). Operation aborted to protect file. Report cases via support.

Does Diffractor perform lossless rotations?

Yes — JPEG 90° rotations are lossless.

How do I disable indexing or GPU?

Use -no-indexing or -no-gpu command‑line options.

Access help quickly?

F1 for help, Ctrl+F1 for keyboard shortcuts reference. These are always available.

Does Diffractor respect my privacy?

YES. No personal data collected or uploaded. Diffractor does contact the server to check for updates, this can be disabled in options. It can also upload anonymous diagnostics if Diffractor crashes, this can also be disabled in options.

Compare two photos / videos?

Select an item then Ctrl+←/→ to extend selection.

Press A to pin files, making the pinned item stay selected for comparison.

Does Diffractor support non‑Latin text (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Cyrillic…)?

Yes. Diffractor uses Unicode (UTF‑8) throughout, so tags, descriptions, and file/folder names in scripts such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean (Hangul) and Cyrillic are supported. Korean searches match across both NFC and NFD Unicode forms, so a tag typed on one device still matches on another. Right‑to‑left scripts are not fully supported for text layout. If a specific tag or name still misbehaves, please report an example via support and keep Diffractor up to date.

Why don't my video tags show up in Windows Explorer?

Diffractor writes video metadata as XMP inside the file. Windows Explorer uses its own proprietary tag store, so it may not display XMP tags even though they are saved. Applications that read XMP (XnViewMP, Adobe Bridge, and others) will show them. See where metadata is stored.

Deleted files on a network drive don't go to the Recycle Bin?

This is a Windows limitation. Files deleted through a mapped drive letter (e.g. H:\) are sent to the Recycle Bin, but files deleted through a UNC path (e.g. \\server\share) are removed permanently — Windows provides no Recycle Bin for UNC locations, so there is no undo. To stay protected, map the share to a drive letter before deleting, keep NAS snapshots or backups, and double‑check the selection before confirming a delete.

Is there a portable version?

Not yet. The ZIP build stores configuration in the Windows registry and data in your user profile, so it is not fully self‑contained. A true portable version is planned.

How do I change the language or add a translation?

Diffractor detects the system language when a matching translation is available. Translations are .po files (see the languages folder) installed into the languages subfolder of your user profile. Add a language file there — e.g. zh.po for Chinese — and it will be picked up. Contributions of new or improved translations are welcome.

Browsing the grid

Selection & comparison

Viewing & playback

Rating & labels

Editing & metadata

Searching

For the full search syntax see the search reference above.

Importing & organizing

Application & help

New to Diffractor? Start with the how‑to guide.