Back up and restore a project

What you will do

Back up an Arams project together with its source photographs so that you can recover your work after a drive or folder is lost. You need both parts: the project data preserves your organization and settings, while the source folders preserve the photographs themselves.

This is a manual backup. Restore the project and source photographs to their original paths on the same Windows profile before you import the project. This workflow does not cover moving a project to another computer or different paths, cloud backup, or recovery of files that were not included in the backup.

Before you start

• Sign in to Arams on Windows.
• Choose a backup destination with enough space for the complete project folder, all source photographs, and any sidecar or exported files you need to keep.
• Keep the backup separate from the working drive so that one drive failure cannot remove both copies.
• Finish any active work, then return to the Arams home screen before copying the project.

Identify everything the project needs

An Arams backup must preserve more than the project card shown on the home screen:

• Project data is the complete project folder managed by Arams. With Location set to Default, use Open in explorer from the project card to locate it. Copy the whole folder, including its hidden .retouch4me contents; do not copy or edit index.arams by itself.
• Source photographs remain at their imported paths. Copy the source folder and preserve its filenames and folder layout. The project-data folder is not a replacement for these originals.
• Sidecars stored beside a source photograph, such as XMP files used by your workflow, need to stay with that photograph.
• Exported copies are separate deliverables. Back them up if you need them, but they do not restore a missing source photograph or project catalog.

For more detail about the difference between these files, see Keep projects and source photographs available.

Optional: note a few existing project choices

You do not need to change the project or create test settings before a backup. If you want extra reassurance after a future restoration, note a few choices that already matter to you, such as a rating, Favorite flag, or retouch setting. You can compare one or two of them later to distinguish the restored project from a newly created one.

For an optional reference, note a few existing project choices; you do not need to change them for the backup. Arams 1.10.2 · Windows · American English

Copy the project and photographs

1. Click the left-pointing arrow beside the project name to return to the Arams home screen. Do not copy the project while it is open.
2. Right-click the project card and select Open in explorer.
3. Copy the complete project folder to the backup destination. Include the hidden .retouch4me folder and its catalog.
4. Copy every source-photo folder used by the project. Preserve filenames and the folder layout so that you can later restore the photographs to the same paths.
5. Copy any sidecars that belong with the source photographs. Copy exported deliverables separately if you also need to preserve them.
6. Make sure the backup destination contains the complete project folder and every source folder you intended to copy. Keep the working copies in place.

The backup is complete when both the full project folder and its source-photo folders exist at the separate backup destination.

Restore the backup

Use this procedure when the working project or its source folders need to be recovered. Keep the backup untouched while you create the restored working copy, so an incomplete attempt does not put your only backup at risk.

1. Restore the complete project folder to its original project location.
2. Restore the source photographs and their sidecars to the exact folders and filenames the project used. Do not reimport the photographs as new files.
3. In Arams, select Create a project.
4. In the dialog, select Import project.

To restore the project, select Import project and choose the restored project's top-level folder. Arams 1.10.2 · Windows · American English

5. In the Windows folder chooser, select the restored project folder. Select the project folder itself, not its hidden .retouch4me folder and not the index.arams file.
6. Wait for Arams to open the project. If Arams stays on the home screen, select the restored project card to open it.

Confirm that the project is ready

1. Browse the grid and open the photographs you need. A normal thumbnail without the unavailable-image symbol shows that Arams found the source at its restored path.
2. If you noted existing project choices before the backup, compare one or two ratings, Favorite flags, or retouch settings.
3. Keep the backup until the project opens normally and the photographs you need are available.

When photographs load normally after import, the restored project is ready to continue; a recorded setting can provide extra reassurance. Arams 1.10.2 · Windows · American English

Restoration is complete when the project opens, the photographs you need load normally, and you can continue from the saved project state.

If it does not work

• No project card appears after import: choose Create a project > Import project again and select the restored project folder. Do not drag index.arams onto Create a project.
• Arams reports that no project was found: check that you restored the complete folder and selected its top-level project directory. Do not move or edit files inside .retouch4me to force recognition.
• A photograph is dimmed or marked unavailable: restore it to the exact source path and filename, then close and reopen the project. Do not reimport a replacement just to make it appear in the grid.
• Ratings, Favorite flags, or retouch settings differ: preserve both the backup and the restored copy for diagnosis. Do not overwrite the backup with the incomplete restored state.

Related topics

• Manage your projects
• Keep projects and source photographs available
• Import photos
• Choose retouching tools and settings