Hot folder
watched folder
A hot folder (or watched folder) is a folder that software monitors, so any file dropped in is automatically processed, uploaded or sent onward.
Hot folders are a common automation pattern: software watches a folder and reacts the moment a file appears. Photographers use them so that exported or incoming images are picked up and delivered automatically.
Camera-to-cloud delivery achieves the same outcome a step earlier — instead of waiting for a file to land in a folder, the photo is sent the instant the camera captures it, so there's no folder to watch and no export step in between.
- Cameraeach shot as it's taken
- CloudTetherdelivers the file
- Watched folderon an FTP or SFTP server
- Software actsprint, ingest or import
How it works
The watching software checks the folder for new files — either the operating system tells it something changed, or it looks at intervals. When a file appears it waits until the file has finished being written, then acts: apply a preset, print it, rename and move it, or upload it. Many set-ups also have an output folder and a place for failures, so one broken file doesn't block the queue.
Where photographers meet them
Event print stations print whatever lands in a folder. Newsrooms and agencies run ingest folders on FTP servers that feed the picture desk. Studios point a NAS folder at their editing or asset-management system, and Lightroom Classic's Auto Import watches a folder and imports whatever arrives in it.
An example: a print station at a brand launch
At a brand launch the event team runs a print station that watches a folder on a server. The photographer's shots are filed there as they're taken, and the print software turns every new file into a branded print within a minute — nobody has to carry a card to the printer.
Hot folders and CloudTether
CloudTether doesn't watch folders on your computer; it takes photos straight from the camera. It's often what fills a hot folder, though. Deliver to an FTP or SFTP server whose folder is watched, and in app 1.1 turn off “New subfolder for each shoot” so every file lands in that exact folder rather than a subfolder the watcher ignores. See your own SFTP or FTP server.
Hot folders vs direct delivery
A hot folder is a hand-off point: whatever writes into it doesn't need to know what happens next, and whatever watches it doesn't need to know where files came from. That's why it's popular for joining systems that were never designed to work together. Direct delivery — straight from the camera to a gallery or a cloud drive — skips the hand-off when the destination can accept photos itself, which removes one more thing that can stall on the day.
Tips and common mistakes
- Many watchers only look at the top level of the folder — check whether yours looks inside subfolders.
- Don't let two cameras write the same file name into one hot folder; the second file can replace the first.
- Test with one file and check the output before the event starts.
Put it into practice
CloudTether tethers your camera to your phone and delivers every shot to the cloud, live as you shoot — no laptop.