Ingest copies your photos from a memory card onto your computer or a drive, then opens them in a new Narrative project. You can make extra backup copies at the same time.
Ingest only copies photos and their XMP sidecar files. It doesn't copy videos or other files from your card. Copy those separately, and check every copy before you erase or format the card.
What do I need before I ingest?
Your memory card and any drives you want to copy to, connected to your computer.
A place to work on the shoot, like your computer or an SSD.
Enough free space on each destination. Narrative checks this before it starts copying.
A folder for the shoot. If you pick a folder that already has photos in it, your project will include those photos too.
How do I ingest with Quick Ingest?
Quick Ingest groups your photos into sessions, so you can pick which parts of the shoot to copy.
Quick Ingest can open when you connect a memory card while Narrative is open, or when you create a project and choose to copy photos from a card. If the full ingest screen opens instead, follow the full ingest steps below.
Select the sessions you want to ingest.
Choose the project folder. This is where you'll work on the photos.
Add any backup destinations you want.
Check your sessions, destinations and copy options.
Click the button that shows how many photos will be copied, for example Copy 120 photos + create project.
Keep Narrative open, and your card and drives connected, until copying finishes.
Quick Ingest: 1 selects sessions, 2 chooses the project folder and 3 starts copying.
How do I use the full ingest screen?
Use full ingest when you want to choose individual photos, copy from more than one memory card, or when Quick Ingest doesn't open.
Create a project and choose the option to copy photos from a memory card onto your computer or a drive.
Choose the memory-card copy option.
Choose the source memory card. Add another card if your shoot spans multiple cards.
Select your memory card.
Use Add Another Memory Card when the shoot spans more than one card.
Check which photos are selected, and uncheck any you don't want to copy.
Choose your project folder and any backup destinations.
Choose your project folder.
Check your copy options, then start copying and create the project.
Start copying once you've checked your selection and destinations.
Narrative then opens the photos from your project folder. If that folder already had photos in it, they'll be in the project too.
How do I add backup destinations during ingest?
Your project folder is the copy you work on in Narrative. Backup destinations get extra copies of the same photos.
After choosing your project folder, you can add up to four backup destinations. Backup destinations can't be inside each other. For example, don't add a backup folder and a subfolder of that same folder as two separate destinations.
Check your destinations, and remove any you don't need, before you start copying.
Use the folder's menu to Show in Finder or Change Folder.
Backups are a one-off copy made during ingest, not an ongoing sync. Ratings, edits or file changes you make later won't be copied to your backup destinations.
What do the ingest options do?
Include subfolders
Turn on Include subfolders to see photos inside any subfolders on your card. Turn it off to see only the photos in the folder you selected.
The Include subfolders option in the full-ingest source menu.
Maintain folder structure
Turn on Maintain folder structure to copy your card's folders exactly as they are. Turn it off to copy all selected photos into one folder.
The Maintain folder structure option.
Don’t include duplicates
Turn on Don’t include duplicates to skip any photos that are already in the destination. Existing files aren't overwritten.
The Don’t include duplicates option.
Rename during ingest
Turn on Rename ingested files with default formula to rename your photos as they're copied. You can set your default naming formula in Preferences → General.
The Rename ingested files with default formula option.
By default, Narrative names files using this format:
YYMMDD-Project Name-Sequence
For example, a shoot on January 1, 2026 becomes: 260101-New Years Shoot-0001
Check your naming formula before a big import. To rename photos that are already in a project, see Rename your images in bulk.
How do I check my copies before erasing the card?
Wait for copying to finish for your project folder and every backup destination.
Open each destination in Finder on Mac or File Explorer on Windows.
Check your photos and their sidecar files are there, and open a few photos to make sure they work.
Copy and check any videos or other files separately, since ingest doesn't copy them.
Don't erase or format the card if any destination is incomplete, disconnected or showing an error. Keep the card as it is until you've checked every copy.
How do I add more photos to an existing project?
Open the project, then use the ingest option in the File menu to copy more photos into the project's folder. This uses the full ingest screen.
On Mac, you'll find this in the File menu.
Check your photo selection and destinations again, and check your copies before you erase the extra card.