A Mac app that imports and archives photos the same way every time

If you move or copy files the same way after every shoot — camera cards into dated folders, or a verified yearly archive onto a second drive — rebuilding those settings each time is wasted effort, and every rebuild is a fresh chance to pick the wrong one.

Archyv is a Mac app that saves that routine as a transfer template: whether originals are copied or moved, how the destination folders are built, how name clashes are resolved, how thoroughly each copy is verified and which files are included. Save it once and a repeat import or archive becomes a single choice from a menu. Below: what a template remembers, how copy and move differ, and how to check a run before it moves anything.

One profile remembers every decision

A transfer template captures how files should move: whether the originals are copied or relocated, how the destination folders are structured (flattened, mirrored, or organised by date, photographer, or another field), how name clashes are resolved, how thoroughly the copy is checked, and which files are included. Four templates are built in — Quick Copy, Organized by Date, Full Archive, and Photo Import — and you can save your own on the Transfer Templates tab, then run it any time from the File Transfer process.

A template can also carry a metadata filter — move only one photographer’s files out of a mixed selection, say — and templates export to a file you can back up or share, with imported ones arriving as new, editable copies, so importing never overwrites a preset you already have.

Copy or move — clearly, and on your terms

Archyv is explicit about what happens to your files. A Copy profile leaves the originals in place — the right choice for backups, client deliveries, or a second drive. A Move profile relocates them to free up the source, for imports and migrations. The template states which it does, so there’s no guessing before you start.

For archives, a profile can verify each copy against its source with a checksum, so you know the files copied correctly; and because each file is transferred whole, an interrupted run leaves no half-written files behind. Want to see the outcome first? Turn on Simulation Mode in Settings to dry-run the transfer into the log without moving anything — and, as with every process, the run is recorded in your change history so you can review it afterwards.

Full reference

• Transfer Templates — build reusable transfer profiles
• File Transfer — run a move or copy against a profile