What are Dynamic Columns?

Dynamic Columns let you build your own columns for the file/report view and fill them with whatever content you want, assembled from metadata tokens. You are no longer limited to the built-in columns. You can make a column that shows the exact piece of information you care about, such as “Camera + Lens”, “Resolution”, “Artist – Album (Year)”, or “Series #Number”.

A few things to know:

• They are stored per collection, inside the catalog file, so each collection can have its own columns and they stay with the file when you move or share it.
• They are token-based. A column’s content is defined by a pattern: plain text mixed with %tokens% that get replaced, for each item, with the matching metadata value (%filename%, %size%, %exif_camera%, %tags%, and so on).
• You can rename a column at any time without rebuilding it.
• Token names in the picker are translated to your interface language.

The Name column is itself a Dynamic Column. It always exists and cannot be removed. Its default pattern is %autoN%, which builds a readable name for audio tracks and falls back to the file name for everything else. You can redefine the Name column like any other.

Opening the editor

1. Right-click any column header in the file/report view and choose More… (the column chooser, Configure columns).
2. Click Dynamic Columns….

The Configure columns dialog opens. This is where you create, edit, rename and delete your custom columns.

Creating and editing a column

The dialog has these parts:

• A column selector (drop-down) at the top switches between the columns you have defined. The ＋ (Add column) and Remove buttons next to it add a new column or delete the selected one. (The Name column cannot be deleted.)
• The Column header field sets the title shown in the column header. Edit it to rename the column on the spot.
• The Pattern field holds the template that defines the column’s content. Type plain text and insert tokens (see below). A live preview under the field shows how the pattern resolves for sample items as you type.
• The Available fields list contains every token, grouped by category. Double-click a field to drop its token into the pattern at the cursor.
• The Filter box narrows the field list as you type (try exif, audio, or size). The ✖ button clears it.

Click OK to save your columns to the collection, or Cancel to discard your changes.

Mixing tokens and text

A pattern can combine literal text and tokens however you like. If a token has no value for a given item, it simply resolves to nothing, so half-filled patterns still look fine. Examples:

Pattern	Result (example)
%exif_camera%	Canon EOS R6
%exif_width% × %exif_height%	6000 × 4000
%artist% – %title% (%year%)	Pink Floyd – Time (1973)
%comic_series% #%comic_number%	Saga #12
%size% • %file_date_change%	4.2 MB • 2026-03-14

Token reference

Tokens are grouped in the picker the same way they are listed below. Which categories show up depends on what kind of files are in your collection (audio, photos, video, comics, and so on).

Frequently used

Token	Description
%filename%	Full file name (with extension)
%filebase%	File name without extension
%ext%	File extension
%size%	File size, formatted automatically (KB/MB/GB)
%comments%	Item comments
%tags%	All keywords/tags assigned to the item
%rating%	Item rating (number of stars)
%db_id%	The item’s internal database ID (w3_items.id), handy for power users and external tooling

Automatic names

Token	Description
%auto%	Automatic name built from audio metadata (artist / album / title / year / length)
%autoN%	Same as %auto%, with the track number in front

Audio (ID3)

%artist%, %album%, %title%, %genre%, %year%, %track%, %len% (duration), %brate% (bitrate), %srate% (sample rate), %chN% / %chA% (channels), %id3_comments%.

Photos (EXIF)

Dimensions (%exif_width%, %exif_height%), camera and lens (%exif_camera%, %exif_make%, %exif_model%, %exif_lens%), shooting settings (%exif_iso%, %exif_exposure%, %exif_aperture%, %exif_focal%, %exif_flash%), date taken (%exif_date%), GPS (%exif_gps_lat%, %exif_gps_lon%, %exif_gps_alt%), and many more advanced EXIF fields.

Video / media (MediaInfo)

Duration (%mi_duration%), video and audio codecs (%mi_video_codec%, %mi_audio_codec%), resolution (%mi_width%, %mi_height%), frame rate (%mi_framerate%), bitrates (%mi_video_bitrate%, %mi_audio_bitrate%), channels (%mi_channels%), plus detailed per-stream fields.

File properties

Dates (%file_date_change%, %file_date_create%), full path (%file_path%), checksums (%file_md5%, %file_sha256%, %file_crc32%), attributes (%file_hidden%, %file_system%, %file_readonly%, %file_archive%), parent folder (%parentF%, %parentC%), and size in specific units (%size_b%, %size_kb%, %size_mb%, %size_gb%, %size_tb%).

Disk / volume

%vol_label%, %vol_serial%, %vol_filesystem%, %vol_root%, %vol_disk_number%, %vol_total_size%, %vol_free_size%, %vol_used_size%, %vol_date_added%, %vol_date_updated%.

Comics

A full set of ComicInfo fields, including %comic_series%, %comic_number%, %comic_writer%, %comic_publisher%, %comic_year%, %comic_summary%, %comic_page_count%, and more.

AI

Fields produced by WinCatalog AI Bridge: %ai_caption%, %ai_category%, %ai_shot_type%, %ai_people%, %ai_keywords%, %ai_model%, %ai_date%.

Tip: You don’t have to memorize tokens. Open the editor, use the Filter box to find a field, and double-click it to drop the token into your pattern.

Showing your column

After you click OK, add the column to the view through the same column chooser (right-click a header → More… / Configure columns), or drag it into place. Dynamic Columns sort and reorder just like the built-in ones.