Guides / Collect All and Save
Collect All and Save
Collect All and Save puts the samples of a Set into its project folder. It is useful, and it has side effects that surprise people.
What it does, and what follows
Live copies the samples that the Set uses into the project folder. Then the Set points at those copies.
- The project folder grows. A sample from your library now sits in the project too.
- The same sample can sit in many projects. Each project holds its own copy.
- On Windows, a copy with a long path can be skipped without a message. See Paths that are too long.
What to do by hand
- Decide if the project needs its own copies. A project that stays on one computer often does not.
- If you want fewer copies, find the duplicates yourself and compare the files.
- Remove a copy only when no Set in the project uses it.
A Set that still points at a removed copy cannot find its sample. Check each Set first.
What Nearfield does
Nearfield sends only the samples that a Set uses when you share a project. You do not need Collect All and Save to share. Read Share a project.
To clean up after Collect All and Save, open “Find duplicates” on the “Samples” tab. Then press “Find duplicates”. Nearfield looks for copies that are byte-for-byte identical. It reads in the background and writes nothing.
The tool can remove only one thing. It removes a copy that Collect All left inside a project folder, when an identical twin sits in your User Library. Under “Remove the extra copies”, tick each project that you want to clean up. Then press the remove button. A confirm window follows.
After the removal, press “Undo — put these copies back” to put the copies back.
What Find duplicates never removes
- It never removes a file from your Library.
- It never removes an Ableton Set.
- It leaves a copy alone if a Set in the project still uses it, or if the project is shared.
Read more in the help for Find duplicates.