Sync Shutter guide · Mac, iPhone, and iPad
Cameras set to RAW+JPEG write two files per frame. Whether you want both copied off the card depends on what the JPEG is for. Sync Shutter has one setting for that decision, plus a few neighbours that people mix it up with. This guide walks through what each one does and when a working photographer would pick it.
Two files are a pair when they share a base name and one of them has a RAW extension while the other is a JPG or JPEG. The RAW extensions Sync Shutter recognises are CR2, CR3, NEF, ARW, DNG, RAF, ORF, RW2, PEF, and SRW. So DSC00123.ARW and DSC00123.JPG are a pair. Pairing is by name, not by folder, so a card that splits RAW and JPEG into separate folders still pairs correctly.
A file with no partner is never touched by the pair setting. A lone JPEG from a burst shot in JPEG mode is copied whatever you choose below.
In Settings, under RAW+JPEG Pairs, choose one of three. This is a Sync Shutter Pro setting; Pro is a one-time $0.99 purchase that covers Mac, iPhone, and iPad, and the setting is available on all three.
| Choice | What is copied for a pair | Who picks it |
|---|---|---|
| Keep Both (default) | The RAW and the JPEG | Anyone who is not sure yet. It costs storage and nothing else. |
| RAW Only | The RAW; the JPEG stays on the card | You develop everything in Lightroom, Capture One, or similar, and the camera JPEG is only a preview. Halves the backup and keeps the library clean. |
| JPEG Only | The JPEG; the RAW stays on the card | Straight-out-of-camera delivery: events, sports, social, a second shooter handing over same-day files. Also useful when the destination is a small cloud plan. |
The choice applies to every destination in the same run. There is no per-destination pair setting, so "RAW to the NAS, JPEG to Google Photos" is not something one card insert can do today.
If Pro lapses, the app falls back to Keep Both. It never copies fewer files than you would get without Pro.
Also in Settings, Back up these file types has switches for Photos (JPG, JPEG, PNG, HEIC), RAW Files, and Videos. Turning RAW Files off skips every RAW on the card, paired or not. That is a different tool: use it when you shoot RAW+JPEG but only ever want JPEGs backed up by this app, regardless of pairing.
On the Mac, Choose files before backup starts (Settings, free) pauses each backup at a thumbnail grid so you can untick what should stay on the card. It applies to automatic and manual backups. On iPhone and iPad, the Import screen has Choose Files… for the same purpose.
The Import Date Filter (Pro) does this by date instead of by hand: include files from Today, The last few days (you set how many), or A date onward. It uses each file's date on the card. A card that has been in the camera since June, on a Mac that backs up every card automatically, then only sends this week's frames. Older files stay on the card untouched.
With a custom naming template (Pro) both halves of a pair get the same new name, because the template only replaces the name and the original extension is always kept. {date}_{name} turns DSC00123.ARW and DSC00123.JPG into 2026-09-02_DSC00123.ARW and 2026-09-02_DSC00123.JPG, which is what Lightroom needs to treat them as one photo.
Tokens: {name}, {date} (YYYY-MM-DD), {datetime} (YYYY-MM-DD_HH-MM-SS), {year}, {month}, {day}, {counter} (four digits, per run), and {ext}. Dates come from EXIF; a file with no EXIF date keeps a valid name rather than a literal {date}.
Organize files by date (free) sorts into folders as 2026/2026-09-02, 2026/2026-09, or 2026-09-02, and works with any of the above.