Troy,
Are there any articles as to a good method for sorting several thousand images into several categories?
Currently I have 9 folders created and I just drag and drop as needed deleting rejects. This takes a while, feels sloppy and I assume there is a better method. I had started to use color codes but there are not enough colors for the # of categories.
Any points in the right direction would be appreciated.
How about putting a word describing the category in some unused IPTC field like 'Edit Status'? Then you could use select photos that belong to the same category, and use the IPTC Stationery Pad to write the same category word into their Edit Status field. You could also create a custom sort that sorts on {editstatus}. That way all of your various categories would group together.
Since you can have as many words as you need, you can completely categorize all of the photos. Identification of the groups would be aided by adding {editstatus} to one of your Contact Sheet thumbnail labels. This way you'll see the category word displayed underneath each thumbnail. To select them you can either find the first and last ones in the Contact Sheet and select them with the mouse, or you could use the Find panel to search only the 'Edit Status' field for the category word you desire which will leave only the photos containing that word selected. Then use your drag and drop method or use the Copy dialog with the Move option set. If you use the copy dialog, you could automate the destination folder by using the destination option 'Create subfolder:' with the {editstatus} variable as the subfolder name. Doing it this way would allow you to select all files at once and process them in one step with the Copy dialog. All of the photos would be moved into their own folder automatically. If you want the folders to be somewhere else and they would all have the same parent folder, you could use the 'Copy to this folder:' (selecting the parent folder) + {editstatus} to put them there instead.
HTH,
-Kirk
