Copy & Paste Settings

When you've nailed the look on one photo and want to apply it to others without saving a permanent preset, copy & paste settings is the fastest path.

The basic flow

Select the source photo (the one with the look you want).
Press Ctrl+C.
Select the target photo, or multi-select several targets (in library or filmstrip).
Press Ctrl+V.

The pasted adjustments take effect immediately. Targets keep their own crop, ratings, masks (depending on settings; see below).

What gets copied

The copyable groups are exactly the ones exposed by the Copy Settings modal:

Group	Includes
Basic	Exposure & Tone Mapper, the six tonal sliders, Curves
Color	White Balance, Presence, Color Grading, Color Mixer, Color Calibration
Details	Clarity & Dehaze, Sharpness & Centré, Noise Reduction, Chromatic Aberration
Effects	Vignette, Grain, Halation & Glow, LUT
Geometry	Crop & Aspect Ratio, Transform & Rotation (rotation, flips, perspective sliders)
Masks	Mask containers and submasks

What is NOT copied

Lens Correction (Distortion / Vignette / TCA toggles, lens model, Lensfun parameters) is currently not part of the copyable groups.
Ratings, color labels, tags (these are metadata, not edits).

Merge vs. Replace

The copy & paste settings modal, which can be opened by clicking the settings icon in the bottom bar, lets you pick:

Mode	Behavior
Replace	Target's existing adjustments are overwritten by the copied ones.
Merge	Copied adjustments are layered onto the target's existing values. Values in the copy that are at "neutral" (default) are left as-is on the target.

Replace is the right choice when you want consistent looks across a set ("apply this grade to every photo from the ceremony"). Merge is the right choice when you want to add an effect on top of existing edits ("add my custom Vignette settings to every photo, but keep their individual exposure tweaks").

When to use a preset instead

Use copy & paste when…	Use a preset when…
The look is one-off	You'll reuse the look across shoots
You want to copy everything including masks/crop	You want a clean named look
You're applying within the same shoot	You want to share the look with others

Copy & paste is ephemeral; the next copy overwrites it. A preset is named, organized, and savable.

Tip: copy across folders

After Ctrl+C, the copied state persists across folder switches. Browse to a different folder, select photos, and Ctrl+V still works.

This is the fastest way to apply a single look across many shoots: copy once from your reference photo, then paste into each new folder.