AI-powered RAW file management

Abstract

A system and method for managing RAW files is disclosed. A plurality of image files associated with one or more RAW files including respective metadata are evaluated. A set of one or more image files is grouped based on a match of the respective metadata. Asset files corresponding to the RAW files and the grouped image files are generated. The asset files are retrieved upon request from a user device. At least one image file is selected from the grouped set, and a representation of the selected image file is generated for rendering.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Cross - Reference to Related Applications This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 285,809, filed on December 3, 2021, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] 1. Field of the Disclosure This disclosure generally relates to digital file management. Specifically, this disclosure relates to the automatic management of image files.

Background Art

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art Amateur and professional photographers may take hundreds, if not thousands, of photos in a single photographic project. With currently available camera and storage media technologies, photographers can capture multiple exposures, angles, and various other compositional variables during shooting. Using currently available hardware (e.g., desktops, laptops, and mobile computing devices) and software, photos from one or more shooting sessions can be saved, organized, and edited.

[0004] Photographs from digital cameras are sometimes saved as RAW image files, which are unedited and uncompressed data files containing the full set of details captured in relation to the photograph. RAW image files may include formats such as .RAW, .DNG, .RAF, .TIF, and other similar formats, and are often very large in resolution and file size. Compressed image files (e.g., .jpeg or .png files) can be rendered on the displays of most computing devices using standard image viewing software (e.g., those associated with web browsers), but such standard image viewing software is incompatible with RAW image files, which require special software to render for display. The inability to render RAW image files can complicate or make the process of organizing and managing them difficult, and can be further exacerbated if there are many RAW image files to manage and many different software applications to perform different functions on them. Thus, managing RAW image files can be a time-consuming and fragmented process.

[0005] Furthermore, users may create multiple versions of any single RAW image file to evaluate different editing combinations, which can exponentially increase the number of images and files associated with a photography project. These different versions may also be stored using different photo editing applications or services and presented to clients or buyers using different photo storage and secure access services. Thus, different versions of different files can end up scattered across different services and storage locations. For example, a photographer might upload images to one or more digital storage or file-sharing services, allowing buyers to view photos online, request additional edits or changes, or select prints for purchase. In such cases, the photographer needs to search for and retrieve the relevant RAW image files or their edited versions for further editing or printing, and also upload the final edited images to the file-sharing service for storage, access, and viewing by users in a viewable format. Maintaining consistency in version associations throughout this process is extremely cumbersome and time-consuming for the user.

[0006] Therefore, there is a need in this field to provide improved systems and methods for automated RAW file management. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0007] [Figure 1] This diagram illustrates an exemplary network environment.

[0008] [Figure 2] This flowchart shows an example of how to associate digital files.

[0009] [Figure 3] This is an example screenshot of the display generated by the management interface.

[0010] [Figure 4] This is an example screenshot of the display generated by the management interface.

[0011] [Figure 5] This is an example screenshot of the asset organization view in the management interface. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0012] A system and method for automatically associating digital files are disclosed. The file association service may receive various RAW image files, rendered image files, and associated sidecar files in various digital file formats. The file association service may extract metadata from each digital file and, based on the extracted metadata, link or associate one or more digital files with different digital files. Digital files for which metadata similarity is detected may be associated by asset files. Users may manually associate files if the metadata from one or more files does not match. The asset file may contain common metadata for each digital file it contains, and links to each of the RAW files, rendered files, or sidecar files. The asset files, RAW files, rendered files, and sidecar files are stored in the file association service's database, and each file is further accessed by the user via a user device.

[0013] Figure 1 shows an exemplary network environment in which a system for automatic association of digital files may be implemented. RAW image files (hereinafter referred to as "RAW files") 140 may be generated and stored by a RAW file source device 110, such as a digital camera or a smartphone. The RAW file source device 110 may include various sensors 120 capable of generating metadata for the RAW file 140 during image capture, including geographical location, date and time, the manufacturer and model of the RAW image device, and imaging parameters known by the RAW image device used during capture (e.g., focal length, aperture, exposure time, ISO, etc.). The RAW file 140 and the captured metadata may be transmitted to a user device 130, such as a desktop or laptop computer, tablet, or mobile device. In some embodiments, the user device 130 may function as a RAW file source device 110, such as a smartphone, capable of acquiring RAW files.

[0014] The user device 130 may include multiple different types of computing devices. For example, the user device 130 may include any number of different mobile devices, laptops, and desktops. In another example, the user device 130 may be implemented in the cloud. Such a user device 130 may also be configured to access data from other storage media such as memory cards or disk drives, which may be appropriate in the case of downloaded data or data captured by sensors, but is not limited to these. Such a device 130 may include, but is not limited to, standard hardware computing components such as network and media interfaces, non-temporary computer-readable storage devices (memory), and processors for executing instructions that can be stored in memory. The user device 130 may include various hardware sensors for detecting user interaction, such as cameras, microphones, and haptic feedback input mechanisms. Hardware sensors within the user device may be used to capture user responses and feedback, such as gestures, speech, and touch. These user devices 130 may also run using various different operating systems, such as iOS and Android®. Furthermore, the user device 130 can execute various applications and computing languages ​​such as C++ and Java® Script. The user device may include one or more devices associated with the user, or user devices that can be displayed on one or more screens.

[0015] The RAW file 140 stored on the user device 130 may be digitally processed by software such as Adobe® Lightroom or Capture One, which generates a rendered file 150, such as a .jpeg or .png file. The RAW file editing software may generate a sidecar file 160 (e.g., an .xmp file from Adobe Lightroom or a .cof file from Capture One) while editing the RAW file 140 or while compressing and saving the rendered file 150. The sidecar file 160 may contain a history of the RAW file editing process, may be further edited by the user, and may be used to generate multiple rendered files 150. The RAW file 140, the rendered file 150, and the sidecar file 160 may be stored separately on the user device 130 and accessed separately.

[0016] The user device 130 may send the RAW file 140, the rendered file 150, and the sidecar file 160 to the file association service 170 via a communication transceiver 132 over a communication network such as a wide area network (WAN) or the Internet. The file association service 170 may receive the file transfer through various manual and automated methods initiated by the user device 130. Each file received by the file association service 170 may be stored in the database 171 of the file association service 170. The file association service 170 may include the database 171 and a processor 172. The processor 172 may execute instructions stored in the database 171 to associate the previously received RAW file 140, the rendered file 150, and the sidecar file 160 with the database 171. The file associations may be stored in the database 171 as asset files 174. Capture metadata from the RAW file source device 110, file metadata for each associated file, and metadata for the combined asset file 174 may be maintained as separate sections of metadata and stored within the asset file 174. The file association service 170 may extract capture metadata and file metadata from the transferred files, such as file names, captured date and time, and imaging parameters captured by the RAW file source device (e.g., focal length, aperture, exposure time, ISO, etc.). The extracted metadata, and links to each RAW file 140, rendered file 150, and sidecar file 160, may be included in the metadata of the asset file 174. The processor 172 may further execute instructions to generate a preview file 175 for the RAW file 140. Preview files, such as a compressed .jpg version of the RAW file 140, may be stored in the database 171 as part of the asset file 174.

[0017] The management interface 180 may communicate with the database 171 of the file association service 170 via the application programming interface (AIP) 173 based on a request from the user device 130. The API 173 may act as an intermediary, enabling one or more services of one or more software applications to communicate in a standardized request-response format. The API 173 may require security authorizations, such as access keys, to accept or send data to a service or software application, which must be encoded and passed within each request. The API 173 may reject requests that do not include security authorizations. An encoded request from a connected service or application may include a payload containing security authorizations and instructions for the API to execute the request, such as triggering instructions executed by a processor 172 that retrieves data from the database 171, stores new data in the database 171, or performs other functions of the file association service 170. The management interface 180 may receive user input via a graphical user interface (GUI) 181 displayed on the display 131 of the user device 130 and execute one or more commands that trigger encoded requests sent to the file association service 170 via the API 173. The GUI 181 of the management interface 180 may include commands that perform various functions related to RAW files 140, rendered files 150, sidecar files 160, preview files 175, and asset files 174, such as generating a file gallery, searching for files, overwriting or updating file associations, and displaying transferred files on a screen.

[0018] The API 173 of the file association service 170 may be configured to accept requests encoded by a third-party application 190 in addition to requests from the management interface 180. Although illustrated as a separate entity in Figure 1, the third-party application 190 may be software installed on a computer-readable storage medium of the user device 130, or it may be software accessed from an application cloud server via the user device 130. In some embodiments, the third-party application 190 may automatically send requests to the API 173 through various user-configured workflows, such as automatically uploading a sidecar file 160 from an editing application.

[0019] Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method for associating digital files. The steps identified in Figure 2 are illustrative and may include various alternatives, equivalents, or derivatives, and are not limited to their execution order. The steps of the process in Figure 2 and any alternative similar processes may be embodied in hardware or software, including a computer-readable storage medium containing instructions that can be executed by a processor in a computing device, for example. The exemplary process shown in Figure 2 may be executed repeatedly while using the file association service 170.

[0020] In step 210, the file association service 170 may receive one or more digital files from the user device 130. The user device 130 may transfer files to the file association service 170 through various manual and automated methods.

[0021] In one embodiment, the user can manually select files and initiate the transfer of files from the user device 130 to the file association service 170. The user may select one or more files from the storage on the user device 130 and transfer RAW files 140, rendered files 150, sidecar files 160, or any combination thereof. In another embodiment, the user device 130 may be configured to automatically transfer files to the file association service 170, such as automatically transferring RAW files 140 generated at creation time. Files received by the file association service 170 may be stored in the file association service 170's database 171.

[0022] In some embodiments, a user can initiate file transfers from different user devices 130 at different times. For example, a user may upload rendered files 150 (e.g., JPGs) to a database 171 via the internet and then send RAW files 140 via one or more storage or data transfer devices. Similarly, one set of files may be transferred from a digital camera at the time of creation, and another set of files may be transferred separately later from a laptop. Thus, files related to the same shooting may be moved at different times using different devices.

[0023] In step 220, the file association service 170 may associate different types of files. The file association service 170 may use the metadata included in each file stored in the database 171 to associate the RAW file 140 with the rendered file 150 and the sidecar file 160. The metadata of the RAW file 140, the rendered file 150, and the sidecar file 160 may include standard metadata fields such as file names, or customized metadata fields (e.g., tags embedded in the file by the user), and capture metadata such as focal length, aperture, exposure time, and ISO. The file association service 170 may compare the metadata fields of one or more files and associate files that contain content that matches in a predetermined metadata field. The file association service 170 may associate files received from different user devices 130 at different times each time a new file is received. For example, the RAW file 140 and the.jpg rendered file 150 may be received from a digital camera and associated together based on matching file names in the metadata. Subsequently, the sidecar file 160 may be uploaded from a laptop, and the file association service may associate the sidecar file 160 with the RAW file 140 and the rendered file 150 based on the metadata of the matching file names.

[0024] In some embodiments, the file association service 170 may associate files using image recognition technology. The image recognition technology may compare the RAW file 140, the rendered file 150, and the sidecar file 160 through various AI and ML algorithms. The image recognition technology may include one or more techniques for identifying common patterns and features among multiple files, such as decomposing the data into numerical values that can be analyzed to identify similar repeating pixel color values among the files. The image recognition technology may associate files identified as having data with at least one common pattern or feature. The file association service 170 may track the results of the image recognition association based on user input that confirms or rejects the associated images as an output of the image recognition. The file association service 170 may re-train and adjust the image recognition output based on the confirmed and rejected images to improve the success rate of file association.

[0025] Also, the user may manually update the file associations created by the file association service 170. The user may overwrite previously created associations by automatic processes, such as file associations created based on common metadata or image recognition. The user may add or remove files from the file associations of the asset file 174 regardless of matching metadata or image recognition.

[0026] In step 230, the file association service 170 may generate a preview of the RAW file. The RAW file 140 transferred to the file association service 170 in step 210 may be stored in the database 171 as a file format that cannot be viewed in a web browser, such as .raw, .raf, .rw2, .dng, .dcr, .iiq, .tif, .bmp, .x3f, and various other similar RAW file formats. The file association service 170 may automatically convert the RAW file 140 into a compressed file format for viewing in a web browser, such as .jpeg, .png, .gif, .svg, .webp, or other similar formats, and may save the generated file as a preview file 175. The preview file 175 may be saved on the database 171 as a new file separate from the RAW file 140, and may be automatically associated with the asset file 174 of the RAW file 140.

[0027] In step 240, the file association service 170 may receive a request for asset file 174. The request for asset file 174 may be initiated via a user device 130 performing the functions of the management interface 180. The request may include a user selection for asset file 174, which may include multiple files, namely a RAW file 140, a rendered file 150, and a sidecar file 160. The request from the management interface 180 may be processed by the file association service 170 to retrieve the requested file from the database 171.

[0028] In one embodiment, user input to the user device 130 may request the creation of a file gallery via the management interface 180 for display on a website. Based on the selection made by the user, the management interface 180 may display one or more asset files 174 to be included in the file gallery. The management interface 180 may include commands to filter which file formats are included in the gallery, such as selecting a file format like .jpeg, .png, or .webp files. For example, the user may choose to display only .jpeg type files for the gallery. The management interface 180 may include .jpeg rendered files but may exclude other types of files included in asset file 174 from the gallery, such as .png rendered files associated with the same asset file 174. The management interface 180 may also send a request to the file association service 170 to generate a preview file 175 in .jpeg format for asset file 174 containing a RAW file 140 (the RAW file 140 does not include the associated rendered file 150).

[0029] In another embodiment, user input to the user device 130 may execute a search function of the management interface 180 to filter and find the asset file 174. The search function may display a search query including a text box. The user may enter search terms related to various search criteria for finding the asset file 174 into the text box via the user device 130. The search criteria may include metadata from the asset file 174, RAW file 140, rendered file 150, or sidecar file 160, such as file name, date, position, time, imaging parameters, or custom tags. The search terms may further include search criteria for image recognition using artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML) techniques, such as terms related to the content of the displayed image that may not be present in the metadata. Thus, a learning model for image recognition and characterization can be developed based on such metadata. Such a learning model can be further updated based on user feedback, and subsequent images are more likely to be recognized and characterized according to the updated learning model. Thus, image recognition can improve over time as user feedback continues to update the learning model. Furthermore, the learning model may be used to improve image search functionality and may provide suggested filters and / or search criteria to the user device 130. Such suggestions may be presented by displaying toggles to enable or disable specific categories (e.g., toggles for positioning-based criteria, toggles for image recognition-based searches). The learning model may also be developed and improved for a specific user's file management workflow. Such a learning model may be used to predict subsequent steps and their parameters (e.g., transfer to and launch of a photo editing application, upload to a photo sharing application), and such predictions may be used to automatically filter, launch, and / or automate specific workflow steps.

[0030] In step 250, the management interface 180 may cause the requested files to be displayed on the display 131 of the user device 130. Depending on the type of request, the display 131 may include the requested asset file 174, RAW file 140, rendered file 150, sidecar file 160, associated metadata of asset file 174, or any combination thereof. For example, a user may request to display a specific .jpeg rendered file 150 associated with RAW file 140 and sidecar file 160. The management interface 180 may generate a display of the .jpeg rendered file 150 on the user device 130, and may exclude the display of RAW file 140 or sidecar file 160. In another example, a user may request to display the entire asset file 174, including RAW file 140, rendered file 150, and sidecar file 160. The management interface 180 may generate a display that includes metadata for the RAW file 140, the rendered file 150, and the sidecar file 160, as well as the asset file 174, such as file name, image parameters, and creation date.

[0031] Figure 3 is an illustrative screenshot of the management interface displaying information about RAW files and metadata. The user can access a RAW file 140 from the management interface 180 to view a display 300 of the associated RAW file 140. The display 300 of the associated RAW file 140 may include a preview file 175 and information about the metadata 310 of the RAW file 140, such as camera information and imaging parameters. The file association service 170 may automatically generate a preview file 175 of the received RAW file 140 without receiving any other files associated with the RAW file 140. The management interface 180 may generate commands 320 for adding, editing, and displaying additional metadata for the RAW file 140, such as adding tags, captions, notes, or comments. Metadata added or edited by the user may be stored as part of the asset file 174 of the RAW file 140 and stored in the database 171 of the file association service 170.

[0032] Figure 4 is an illustrative screenshot of the display generated by the management interface that displays the associated files of an asset file on the file association service. The file association service 170 may automatically generate an asset file 174 containing the associated files based on matching metadata in one or more received files, such as the same file name 410. Users can access the asset file 174 from the management interface 180 to view a display 400 that shows the asset file 174, which includes metadata for various asset files and details of the files associated with the asset file 174.

[0033] The details displayed for asset file 174 and its associated files may include a display of a rendered version of the RAW file 140 rendered by the file association service 170, such as a preview file 175, or a display of a rendered version rendered by the user in editing software, such as a rendered file 150 generated from the sidecar file 160. Furthermore, the displayed details may include the respective associated file name 410, file type, file size, and last modified date. In the displayed configuration, the RAW file 140, rendered file 150, and sidecar file 160 are uploaded and automatically associated with asset file 174 by the file association service 170 based on each file metadata, including a matching file name 410. The display of associated file details 420 may include interactive links to access each associated file, as shown in the RAW file display in Figure 3.

[0034] Furthermore, the display 400 of the asset file 174 may include user-editable fields for adding or editing asset metadata 430, such as adding a title or caption. In some embodiments, the asset metadata 430 may be stored in the asset file database 171 without updating the metadata of each associated file. For example, a user may add or edit a title to the metadata 430 of an asset file, while the metadata for the filename and title of each associated RAW file, rendered file, and sidecar file remains unchanged.

[0035] In another embodiment, a user can add asset metadata 430 that is automatically propagated to the metadata of each associated file by the file association service 170. The file association service 170 may automatically propagate changes to the asset metadata to the associated file metadata based on various automated workflow triggers and user preference settings of the file association service 170. Alternatively, a user may manually initiate metadata propagation through the functions of the management interface 180. For example, a user may add a custom metadata tag field, such as "client," to the asset metadata 430 to store the customer name. In setting the custom tag field "client," the user may specify a preference for automatically propagating changes to the custom metadata tag field to each associated file, and this preference may be stored in the database 171. The user may add text such as "client:John Smith" to the "client" tag in the asset metadata 430 of asset file 174. The file association service 170 may automatically propagate the same field and text to each associated file based on selected user preferences stored in the database 171. Further automated workflow triggers and user preference settings are explained in more detail in Figure 5.

[0036] Figure 5 is an illustrative screenshot of the asset organization view of the file association service management interface. The asset organization view 500 may include various functions related to the simultaneous display and interaction of multiple asset files 174. Simultaneous display and interaction of multiple asset files 174 may include functions such as the asset assembly 510, user preference settings 520, asset display table 530, and various other functions.

[0037] The asset assembly 510 may include functionality for grouping one or more asset files 174 into user-specified groups. The asset files 174 may be grouped in various user-defined ways, such as grouping by capture event or by category of the subject captured. The asset assembly 510 may include filters for including or excluding asset files 174 to display for browsing during the gallery assembly. The asset files 174 may be filtered by metadata, file type, asset files 174 with or without associated files, and various other similar filters. For example, the user may specify that only files with "dog" metadata be displayed. In another example, the user may specify that all files with "dog" metadata be excluded from display. The asset assembly 510 may also work in conjunction with the asset display table 530 to display images selected by the user to be included in groups.

[0038] User preference settings 520 may include features for preferred user actions, such as the setting of an automatic workflow trigger. The automatic workflow trigger may be configured by the user to repeatedly and automatically execute a task based on the completion of an action by the user or based on the completion of an action by the file association service 170.

[0039] For example, an automated workflow trigger may be configured by the user to track the history of changes to asset file 174. Changes to asset file 174 may include tracking user actions such as adding or deleting files to file service 170, updating file metadata, manually creating file associations, overwriting existing files, and various similar actions. The change tracking history for asset file 174 may include tracking changes made automatically by the file association service 170, in addition to changes initiated by the user. The change tracking history for asset file 174 may be displayed in detail for each asset file, or as a log of all user actions over a given period.

[0040] In another example, an automated workflow trigger may be configured by the user to enable secure or permitted access to asset file 174. Secure or permitted access to asset file 174 can be enabled with various configurations to restrict public access to the file, such as restricting access to all newly created files, restricting access to file types (e.g., disabling viewing of asset file 174 containing only RAW files 140), creating a private uniform resource locator (URL), or requiring a password to access the gallery or file. Secure or permitted access may be configured uniformly for all of the user's files, or used in any combination for different subsections of the user's files.

[0041] In another example, an automated workflow trigger may be configured by the user to automatically retrieve files from the user device 130 or another storage location such as a cloud server. The automated workflow trigger may include a configuration for specifying the file type, the file location (e.g., a specified folder on the user device 130), and how often to automatically check for and retrieve new files. Based on this configuration, the file association service 170 may periodically check for and retrieve files stored in the database 171. Automatic file retrieval may include the file association server 170 communicating with the user device 130 or the cloud server via API 173.

[0042] In yet another example, an automated workflow trigger may be configured by the user to launch a third-party application 190 from the management interface 180. The automated workflow trigger may include configuration for selecting the third-party application 190 from a list of connected third-party applications that the file association service 170 has previously communicated with via API 173. The automated workflow trigger may further include conditions for launching the selected third-party application 190, such as launching a storage application when a new file is created on the file association service, or launching an image editing application for a RAW file 140 that the user has selected to edit from the management interface 180.

[0043] The asset display table 530 may include functionality for visually sorting and selecting asset files 174. The asset display table 530 can be used in conjunction with the asset assembly 510 and user preference settings 520, for example, when selecting images to create a gallery or when selecting images to launch in an editing application.

[0044] The asset display table 530 may display simplified or reduced versions of various images, metadata, and other information stored in each asset file 174. The asset display table 530 may include a thumbnail image 531, file name 532, and RAW file extension 533 of the asset file 174. The thumbnail image 531 of the asset file 174 may include a miniature or cropped version of the preview file 175 contained in the asset file 174. The management interface 180 may prefer to display the preview file 175 of the RAW image 140 of the asset file 174 as the thumbnail image 531, rather than displaying subsequent versions or edits of the RAW file 140, such as the rendered file 150 contained in the asset file 174. In some embodiments, the asset file 174 does not have to contain the RAW file 140, and the management interface may display the rendered file 150. File name 532 may include the file name of RAW file 140 or any other file (e.g., rendered file 150 or sidecar file 160) if RAW file 140 is not present in asset file 174. RAW file extension 533 may display the extension file type of RAW file 140 contained within a particular asset file, or it may not display the extension file type if RAW file 140 is not present in asset file 174. Thumbnail images of asset file 531, file name 532, and RAW file extension 533 may be used as simplified information about asset file 174 to help the user identify and select files to perform additional functions.

[0045] The asset display table 530 may further include interactive features for displaying additional information without accessing the details of individual asset files. For example, an overlay such as a hover 534 may appear during the user's initial interaction with the displayed asset file 174 in the asset display table 530, such as when the user moves the mouse cursor over the name or icon of asset file 174 or taps the name or icon of asset file 174 once on a touch-enabled mobile display. The hover 534 may include extended metadata information about asset file 174, such as a list of related files contained within asset file 174, in addition to the file name 532.

[0046] Furthermore, the asset display table 530 may also include an asset directory 535 containing a file tree consisting of a hierarchy of folders and asset files 174, thereby assisting the user in sorting, browsing, and searching for files. The folders in the hierarchy may be manually generated by the user or automatically generated by the file association service 170 under certain conditions. For example, the file association service may generate and display folders containing assembled asset files in the gallery.

[0047] The above detailed description of the Art is provided for illustrative and explanatory purposes only. The above detailed description is not intended to be comprehensive or to limit the Art to the exact form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The aspects described in this disclosure have been selected to enable those skilled in the art to utilize the Art, along with various modifications suitable for specific intended uses, in order to adequately illustrate the principles of the Art and its practical applications. The scope of the Art is intended to be defined by the claims.

Claims

1. This is a method for navigating RAW files. A step in which one or more computers evaluate multiple image files associated with one or more RAW files, wherein each of the multiple image files includes its own metadata. The steps include: one or more computers grouping one or more sets of image files, wherein the sets of image files are grouped based on the fact that their respective metadata matches the same RAW file; The steps include: one or more computers generating an asset file that associates one or more derived files with the RAW file, wherein the derived files include one or more file formats different from the RAW file; The steps include: one or more computers obtaining the asset file in response to a request from a user device, wherein the request includes custom asset metadata associated with the asset file; The steps include: one or more computers automatically transferring the custom asset metadata to the metadata of each of the grouped image files; The steps include: one or more computers selecting at least one image file from the grouped set of image files; The steps include: one or more computers generating a display of the selected image file for rendering by the user device interface based on one or more derived files; A method that includes this.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of evaluating the plurality of image files includes comparing the plurality of image files using image recognition technology.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein using the image recognition technology includes identifying common patterns and features of the plurality of image files.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of one or more computers formatting one or more image files from the set of grouped image files on a browser.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of selecting the at least one image file includes filtering based on the type of file.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of selecting the at least one image file includes receiving one or more search queries from the user device.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the one or more search queries include terms relating to the content of one or more image files within the set of grouped image files.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of selecting at least one image file includes providing the user device with one or more proposed search criteria.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the one or more computers improving the selection of the at least one image file using one or more feedbacks from the user device.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising one or more computers predicting a subsequent step based on the selected image file in the set of grouped image files.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the derived file includes one or more rendered files, and the rendered files are compressed image files generated from the RAW file.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the derived file includes one or more sidecar files, and the sidecar files include a history of the editing process of the RAW file.

13. The method according to claim 1, comprising the step of one or more computers generating a preview file generated from the RAW file, wherein the preview file is included in the generated display of the selected image file.

14. A system for managing RAW files, Memory and The system comprises a processor that executes instructions stored in the memory, and the execution of instructions by the processor is: A step of evaluating multiple image files associated with one or more RAW files, wherein each of the multiple image files includes its own metadata, A step of grouping one or more sets of image files, wherein the sets of image files are grouped based on the fact that their respective metadata matches the same RAW file; A step of generating an asset file that associates one or more derived files with the RAW file, wherein the derived files include one or more file formats different from the RAW file; A step of obtaining the asset file in response to a request from a user device, wherein the request includes custom asset metadata associated with the asset file. The steps include: automatically transmitting the custom asset metadata to the metadata of each of the grouped image files; The steps include selecting at least one image file from the grouped set of image files, A step of generating a display of the selected image file for rendering by the user device interface based on one or more of the derived files, A system that includes this.

15. The system according to claim 14, wherein the plurality of image files are evaluated by comparing the plurality of image files using image recognition technology.

16. The system according to claim 15, wherein the image recognition technology identifies common patterns and features of the plurality of image files.

17. The system according to claim 14, wherein the execution of instructions by the processor further includes formatting one or more image files from the grouped set of image files on a browser.

18. The system according to claim 14, wherein the at least one image file is selected by filtering based on the file type.

19. The system according to claim 14, wherein the at least one image file is selected by receiving one or more search queries from the user device.

20. The system according to claim 19, wherein the one or more search queries include terms relating to the content of one or more image files within the set of grouped image files.

21. The system according to claim 14, wherein the at least one image file is selected by providing the user device with one or more proposed search criteria.

22. The system according to claim 14, wherein the execution of instructions by the processor further includes improving the selection of the at least one image file using one or more feedbacks from the user device.

23. A non-temporary computer-readable storage medium having a program on the storage medium that is executable by a processor for performing a method of managing RAW files, the method being A step of evaluating multiple image files associated with one or more RAW files, wherein each of the multiple image files includes its own metadata, A step of grouping one or more sets of image files, wherein the sets of image files are grouped based on the fact that their respective metadata matches the same RAW file; A step of generating an asset file that associates one or more derived files with the RAW file, wherein the derived files include one or more file formats different from the RAW file; A step of obtaining the asset file in response to a request from a user device, wherein the request includes custom asset metadata associated with the asset file. The steps include: automatically transmitting the custom asset metadata to the metadata of each of the grouped image files; The steps include selecting at least one image file from the grouped set of image files, A step of generating a display of the selected image file for rendering by the user device interface based on one or more of the derived files, A storage medium that includes this.

Images