"select only new images" imports deleted images too

[NotAFile]

Is there an existing issue for this?

• I checked and did not find my issue in the already reported ones

Describe the bug

In Darktable 4.8, deliberately deleting an image using "delete (trash)" would cause it to not be re-imported by the "select new images" checkbox in the "copy & import" dialog. This was very useful if you, like me, keep the most recent 16GB of photos on your SD card as additional backup and liberally delete rejected images.

Steps to reproduce

1. Shoot some photos
2. Copy & Import into Darktable
3. Delete some of them
4. Shoot some more photos
5. Copy & Import again

Expected behavior

I would like darktable to remember that the photos had already been deleted

Logfile | Screenshot | Screencast

No response

Commit

No response

Where did you obtain darktable from?

distro packaging

darktable version

5.0.1

What OS are you using?

Linux

What is the version of your OS?

Nixos 25.05

Describe your system

No response

Are you using OpenCL GPU in darktable?

None

If yes, what is the GPU card and driver?

No response

Please provide additional context if applicable. You can attach files too, but might need to rename to .txt or .zip

I don't know if this is a deliberate change in behavior from 4.8 to 5.0. I couldn't find any mention of it in the changelog.

[ralfbrown]

I think you're mis-remembering. The definition of "new" has been "not currently in database" for as long as the current import dialog has existed (version 3.8 or so IIRC).

[NotAFile]

@ralfbrown That's interesting... I remember adopting this workflow with 4.6 specifically after verifying that darktable would not re-import deleted images. Perhaps there was some sort of bug that would lead deleted images to not be fully removed from the database, which was fixed accidentally? I don't want to mess up my current DB by downgrading but I'll see if I can find another computer to check.