Trying to understand existing "Quick Search" on a Mac

[PGuyton]

Hi,
I'm a newer than newbie    I downloaded the demo and am enjoying it. I run OS X Leopard and use Nikon Capture NX as my RAW editor of choice.  I pointed PM at a folder and did a search and was surprised to see tons of results which were not in that folder.  Then I saw a thread regarding PM's use of Spotlight on OS X which explains the results. This appears to be quite powerful and it, in a way, postpones the need for a true Catalog tool (or Digital Asset Mgr - DAM).  I've used Aperture for a while and I keep going back to NX and occasionally CS3 to edit. But as my Capture NX skills improve, I'm doing 90% of my editing in NX. Problem is, I have two RAW editors - Aperture and NX - and it's not an easy situation.  Lightroom wouldn't help either so I'm exploring file browsers like PM (and Nikon View NX). PM looks great and with the Spotlight integrated search, it appears to be a tool which will get me by until the DAM version of PM comes out.

Back to the point, could you explain the spotlight integration a bit?  It might help me in how I plan my next steps.  For instance, can you limit the search to just RAW (NEF) files and TIFFS? (avoiding jpgs)?  Any insight into the Spotlight integration would be helpful!
Thanks
Peter G.

[Kirk Baker]

Peter,

I'm a newer than newbie    I downloaded the demo and am enjoying it. I run OS X Leopard and use Nikon Capture NX as my RAW editor of choice.  I pointed PM at a folder and did a search and was surprised to see tons of results which were not in that folder.  Then I saw a thread regarding PM's use of Spotlight on OS X which explains the results. This appears to be quite powerful and it, in a way, postpones the need for a true Catalog tool (or Digital Asset Mgr - DAM).  I've used Aperture for a while and I keep going back to NX and occasionally CS3 to edit. But as my Capture NX skills improve, I'm doing 90% of my editing in NX. Problem is, I have two RAW editors - Aperture and NX - and it's not an easy situation.  Lightroom wouldn't help either so I'm exploring file browsers like PM (and Nikon View NX). PM looks great and with the Spotlight integrated search, it appears to be a tool which will get me by until the DAM version of PM comes out.

Back to the point, could you explain the spotlight integration a bit?  It might help me in how I plan my next steps.  For instance, can you limit the search to just RAW (NEF) files and TIFFS? (avoiding jpgs)?  Any insight into the Spotlight integration would be helpful!

Yes, but not with the Quick Search.  You'll have to use the Search command instead.  From there you can add various rules to trim your search results.  Once you get a search that you like, you can add it to the Favorites and call it up from there anytime with a click or two.

The Search feature is documented in the 4.5.3 manual.

-Kirk

[PGuyton]

Thank you, I'll check it out. The integration with Spotlight is awesome. It really makes it much more than a browser as you can find stuff across hundreds of folders.  I have a feeling my wallet will be $150 lighter when the trial ends