[elektronaut]

It’s just files inside a magic folder. Edits are stored in sidecar files. So even if the database is corrupted, you can still recover.

You don’t need to have your photos inside the catalog either, they can be referenced externally.

If you like to maintain your own structure, you might like the Sessions feature. It’s an folder-based alternative to the monolithic catalog.

[aikinai]

Yeah, I use sessions, which basically means there’s no catalog. I just keep the files where I like and open those folders with Capture One when editing.

I also like the EIP package format. You can package an image into a zip of the original image and all Capture One data. Then it’s just one file for your archives but everything you need is there for the future. Even if you can’t open the Capture One bits at some point, the original is still in there.