A setup is a file that contains a record of all changes you make to a clip in a particular module. This record includes references to clips used—not the clips themselves. Setups let you save your work separately from clips, so you can load and work on the setup at anytime or apply the setup to other clips. You can create different setups during a single work session, including text setups, key setups, custom filters, and images. For example, when you save an Action setup, all menu parameters, layers, clip references—everything you need to rebuild the scene—are saved in the setup .

When you save a process tree in Batch, the settings and clip references for the various nodes contained in a process tree are saved in the Batch setup. When you load a setup from another project, you will not have access to the referenced clips unless you enable the associated clip libraries in the Network menu or copy the clips over to the current project.

By default, each type of setup is stored in a separate directory. For example, the resize directory stores resize setups, the picture directory in Paint stores single images, and the correct directory stores colour correction setups.

You can also archive setups. See Archiving and Restoring Setups.