How To Install Capture One Styles

Installing Presets and Styles for Capture One requires access to dedicated Application Support folders. You can not easily access these folders because they are hidden by default. Read on to find out where your Capture One configurations are stored and how to access the files.

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System And User Files

As aCapture One Pro user, you are focused on your images and their adjustments. Only during maintenance tasks like a backup of your images or an upgrade of the program, you are aware of their specific location on your drive.

The program is stored in your computer's Programs folder. Your images, however, are stored in a subfolder of your user's Home folder, typically the Pictures folder.

Both Mac and Windows systems follow the same logic here: complete separation of system files from user files. However, your Presets and Styles are stored in another location.

Different Locations

In addition to system files and user files your drive stores a third category of files and folders that you may not be aware of. These are your configurations about the programs you use. The folders involved are commonly referred to as the Application Support (Mac) or Application Data (Windows) folders.

In Capture One Pro you can createPresets and Styles or Process Recipes, save Workspaces and edit Keyboard Shortcuts. These settings are stored in a distinct area under your user's Home folder because they are unique to you, not to your system despite that they relate to a specific program, Capture One Pro in this example.

Mac Finder, Application Support folder, Capture One

Your computer keeps track of them for you by organizing all data in relevant folders and files under the Application Support folder. Under Application Support, you find folders for many of your applications and within each folder your settings for that program. In the screenshot above you can see how this looks like on a Mac for your Capture One configurations.

Preferences

In Capture One Pro you can also set your Preferences. The program stores these configurations in a folder adjacent to the Application Support folders. We will take a look at the Preferences in an upcoming blog.

Hidden Folders

To prevent you from accidentally altering Application Support files, on both Mac and Windows the parent folder is hidden by default. I will show you how to unhide this folder and access the necessary information for backup and customizations.

As an example, you might want to install Presets and Styles from a download to multiple computers. For this reason, you need access to the hidden folder.

Library Folder on Mac

The Application Support folder on a Mac is a subfolder of the user's Library folder. However, this Library folder is hidden by default. You can unhide the user's Library folder in several ways, and I show you the most convenient one.

Open the Finder and open the Go menu. It will look like this:

Finder, Go menu

Next, with the menu open, press the Alt-key (a.k.a. Option-key). The Go menu expands with one item: Library. Click with your mouse on Library. The Library folder opens.

Note: on some iMac systems with macOS 10.12 I noticed that you need to press the Shift-key. On these systems, you can also use the shortcut Shift+Cmd+L.

Once in the Library folder, you can find the application support files for Capture One in the following path:

[user_name]/Library/Application Support/Capture One

You will see something similar to the screenshot earlier in this blog. Please note that you substitute [user_name] with your name on your computer.

Select the desired folder in the Capture One folder, for example, the Presets60 folder to copy presets files into the respective tool folders. I discuss this in more detail below.

Tip

If you need access to this user's Library folder often, move this user-Library folder to the sidebar of the Finder for faster access.

Note

Please note that on Mac there are also two system-related Library folders, which you should not use for the purpose outlined in this blog. Focus on the single Library folder within the user's Home folder. Using the wrong Library folder is the most common error in this scenario resulting in users complaining that Presets they bought and installed does not show up in Capture One.

AppData Folder on Windows

On Windows 8 and 10 you open Explorer and browse to your user's Home folder. The full path is typical:

C:\Users\[user_name]

You might see a folder AppData in your user's Home folder. If not, please allow hidden files and folders to be displayed. You enable this from the View menu and check Hidden items.

Windows Explorer, user folder, AppData, CaptureOne

Now, continue browsing the following path:

C:\Users\[user_name]\AppData\Local\CaptureOne

You will see something similar to the screenshot above.

Select the desired folder in the ..\AppData\Local\CaptureOne folder, for example, the Presets60 folder to copy presets files into the respective tool folders. I discuss this in more detail below.

Note

For Windows 7 users instructions are slightly different to unhide hidden folders. Perform the following steps in Explorer to view hidden files and folders.

Go to the Tools menu, Folder options. In the Folder Options dialog, select the View tab. Under Advanced Settings, select Show hidden files, folders, and drives, and click OK.

Installing Presets and Styles

To install Presets or Styles that you downloaded, open the ../Application Support/Capture One (Mac) or ..\AppData\CaptureOne (Windows) folder as described above.

Installing Presets

Capture One saves presets in the Presets60 subfolder. Here you may find folders for all tools that can save presets.

Finder, Capture One, Presets folder

But if you have not been working with Presets in the past, the Presets60 folder may be absent. Your safest bet to create this Presets60 folder is to let Capture One do it for you: create a single preset from whatever tool and the Presets60 folder is there.

Next, you copy the Presets in the folder for the tool that the Presets are made for. In other words, presets for the Exposure tool are copied into the ../Capture One/Presets60/Exposure folder. Make sure to start Capture One (again) after you have copied the Presets.

Note that subfolders inside the../Capture One/Presets60/[tool] folder are allowed.

Installing Styles

Capture One saves Styles in the ../Application Support/Capture One/Styles (Mac) or ..\AppData\Local\CaptureOne\Styles50 (Windows) subfolder. Here you may find custom build Styles or more subfolders in which these Styles are organized. But if you have not been working with Styles in the past, the folder may be absent or empty.

Thank you

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Best Regards,

Image Alchemist