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Reference mode is built for situations where you already have a set of edited or returned files — for example, JPEGs from your retoucher or exported selects from Lightroom — and you want to find the matching RAW originals in your archive and copy them somewhere. Copycat reads the filenames in your reference folder, indexes your source archive by filename stem, and copies every match it finds.

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How it works

Copycat compares filenames between two folders: the source (your RAW archive) and the reference folder (the edited or returned files). It strips the extension from each reference file, looks for files with the same stem in the source index, and copies matches to your chosen destination. The comparison is by filename stem only — so DSC_0042.jpg in the reference folder matches DSC_0042.CR3 in the source.

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Run a Reference mode copy

1

Switch to Reference mode

Open Copycat and click the Copy tab. Select Reference from the mode selector at the top of the panel.
2

Select the Source folder

Click the Source folder picker and choose your RAW archive. This is the folder Copycat indexes to find candidates. Sub-folders are included.
3

Select the Reference folder

Click the Reference folder picker and choose the folder containing your edited or returned files. Copycat reads the filenames here to build the list of files to look for.
4

Choose a Destination folder

Select where you want the matched RAW files copied. Copycat creates the folder if it doesn’t already exist.
5

Configure the match policy

Choose how to handle cases where more than one source file matches the same reference filename:
When multiple files in the source share the same filename stem, Copycat copies only the one with the most recent modification date. This is the safest option if you keep versioned copies or have duplicates across sub-folders.
Every source file that matches is copied. Use this when you intentionally keep multiple versions and want all of them in the destination.
You can also enable case-insensitive matching if your RAW filenames and reference filenames may differ in capitalization (for example, DSC_0042 vs dsc_0042).
6

Click Run

Copycat indexes both folders and begins copying. Progress updates as each file is processed.
7

Review the results

The results grid shows every requested file with one of four statuses:
StatusMeaning
OkFile found in source and copied successfully.
MissNo file with a matching stem found in the source.
SkippedFile already exists at the destination path; copy was skipped to avoid overwriting.
ErrorFile was found but could not be copied (for example, a permissions issue).
The summary at the top shows total Copied, Missing, and multi-match counts.
If many files show as Miss, check that the source folder contains the file types you expect. It’s common to point Reference mode at a JPEG export folder as the source by mistake — make sure the source is your RAW archive, not the reference folder.

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Understanding multi-match results

When the source contains more than one file with the same stem (for example, IMG_1234.CR3 and IMG_1234.CR2), Copycat counts this as a multi-match. With Newest Only, only one file is copied and the result note will say “Selected newest of N matches.” With All, both files are copied. The summary’s Multi count tells you how many stems had more than one match so you can review them if needed.