You can sort the files in a folder by their attributes—their names, file sizes, extensions, types, and dates. You can also set your own custom sorting, or use advanced sorting, that is, sorting based on EXIF picture information. You can set sorting type in the Browser’s right-click menu (the Sort by item), in the Browser’s main menu under Organize | Sort by, using the Display and Sorting 
button on the toolbar, or using column headers, if you have activated Organize | Sort by | Show Header or Display and Sorting | Show Sorting Header.
Custom sorting—in this mode, you can sort pictures freely, by dragging and dropping their thumbnails to the intended places in the sorting order. The first time you switch to custom sorting for a folder, whatever sorting order you are currently using for that folder is retained. You can then drag the picture to the position that you need. The red line between pictures while you drag indicates what the dragged picture’s sorting position will be if you drop it at a given moment. You can cancel custom sorting for a folder at any time using the right-click menu. If you rest the mouse cursor over an edge of the thumbnails window during your drag-and-drop work, the display will scroll so that you can see what is beyond that edge.
The sorting method has an effect on the speed of the program. Sorting by EXIF information requires that EXIF information be read for each file in a folder before that folder can be displayed. For this reason, sorting by name is the fastest.
Show folders—use this to change how folders are displayed in the Browser.
When you are accessing this option through the Sort by window:
- Use the Always option to show folders from the Filmstrip within the thumbnail listing.
- Use Never to hide folders in the Browser completely.
- Turning on the Always option also turns on the Only in folders with no pictures option, which is useful when folders contain subfolders only without any further pictures.
When you are accessing this option through the Display and sorting window:
With the option turned on, folders will always be displayed. With the option turned off, folders will not be displayed.
Group RAW and JPG
When grouping is active, an option for making the program give preference to RAW files, or to JPG files instead, becomes active. Every thumbnail for these grouped files shows an icon that indicates that they are grouped and which file is being given preference. If you choose the JPG preference, then everything that you see and edit for these photo-file pairs will be the JPG version. Use the RAW preference to edit your photos in RAW instead. To speed up your photo management with this option turned on, make sure that you also have Fast Preview active. In the Manager and Develop modules, “RAW+JPG” is shown under the histogram. The format that is underlined here is the one that you are currently working with.
If a thumbnail contains a crossed-out grouping icon, that means that the picture’s RAW and JPG versions contain differing metadata. To successfully group them, set identical information for both files, or turn on a Group Even With Different Metadata exception under Group RAW and JPG.
A picture’s right-click menu in the Manager offers a choice between the Allow RAW and JPG Grouping option and its opposite, Prevent RAW and JPG Grouping. When grouping is prevented in this way, a Group All Including Excluded Items exception can be set for the Group RAW and JPG option, making grouping once again possible.
More Information
Master the RAW+JPG Duo with the Cool Tools in the Zoner Photo Studio X Spring Update