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Stacks

Stacks are groups of files that have the same origin but differ in quality, format, size, or color. Go to Settings > Content to change the stacks-related settings for your library.

To see all images with a group of related files, open Stacks in the expanded Search navigation:

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Since videos and Live Photos are always stacked with a still image, they are not included in the search results when you navigate to Search > Stacks.

For what reasons can files be stacked?

  1. Files that share the same file and folder name (except for the file extension) are always stacked, for example /2018/IMG_1234.jpg and /2018/IMG_1234.avi
  2. Files with sequential names like /2018/IMG_1234 (2).jpg and /2018/IMG_1234 (3).jpg can be stacked as well (optional)
  3. File metadata indicates that the pictures were taken at the same position within the same second (optional)
  4. File metadata includes the same Unique Image ID or XMP Instance ID (optional)

You can change your preferences for 2 - 4 in the Stacks section under Settings > Content.

Note that it is not possible to disable stacking of files with the same name as this would break important functionality, most notably support for Apple Live Photos (which consist of a photo and a video file), any other multi-file/hybrid formats like RAW/JPEG, and indexing of metadata from XMP/JSON sidecar files.

Are files automatically unstacked when I change the settings?

When you change the stacks-related settings under Settings > Content, files that are already stacked will not be unstacked automatically. This is because unstacking is a resource-intensive operation that requires each file to be re-indexed.

The result also depends on the exact order in which you unstack the files, as non-media sidecar files, for example, remain bound to the remaining media file in a stack. We consider providing a command for this in a future release and appreciate any contributions in this regard.

If you are new to PhotoPrism and want to re-index your library with different settings, you can run the photoprism reset command in a terminal to reset the index and start from scratch. Learn more ›

Which sequential naming patterns are supported?

If stacking by Sequential Name has been enabled, files with e.g. the following names would be stacked with the file /2018/IMG_1234.jpg:

  • /2018/IMG_1234 (2).jpg /2018/IMG_1234 (3).jpg
  • /2018/IMG_1234 copy.jpg /2018/IMG_1234 copy 1.jpg /2018/IMG_1234 copy 2.jpg
  • /2018/IMG_1234 (-2.7) /2018/IMG_1234 (+3.3).jpg /2018/IMG_1234(-2.7).jpg /2018/IMG_1234(+3.3).jpg

  1. Click on

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  2. Use arrows to see all photos of the sequence

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Change Primary Files

The JPEG file marked as primary is used in our views. It is listed first in the files tab.

To change the primary file:

  1. Open the photos edit dialog

  2. Open Files tab

  3. Click of the file you want to set as primary

  4. Click primary

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Unstack Files

  1. Open the photos edit dialog

  2. Open Files tab

  3. Click of the JPEG file that is not marked as primary

  4. Click unstack

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Now, both files appear in our views.

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Delete Non-Primary Files

  1. Open the photos edit dialog

  2. Open Files tab

  3. Click of the JPEG file that is not marked as primary

  4. Click delete

  5. Confirm

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