Folders vs. saving?

[jimhere]

First post. I assume "catalogs" cannot be saved from PM. Is the only way to show/hide different "folders" by clicking on them (or not) in the Navigator pane?

[Kirk Baker]

First post. I assume "catalogs" cannot be saved from PM. Is the only way to show/hide different "folders" by clicking on them (or not) in the Navigator pane?

Photo Mechanic does not *currently* have a cataloging capability.  Photo Mechanic is primarily a browser, meaning that it browses folders full of images that you tell it to browse.  Generally you do this by double-clicking folders in the Navigator.

-Kirk

[fantalbert]

Photo Mechanic does not *currently* have a cataloging capability.

Hmm, does this imply that cataloging is coming to PM?  I currently use MediaPro and am evaluating Portfolio.  I don't really care much for either one.  I'd really have something to look forward to if I could handle my cataloging with a program as good as PM.

[Kirk Baker]

Photo Mechanic does not *currently* have a cataloging capability.

Hmm, does this imply that cataloging is coming to PM?  I currently use MediaPro and am evaluating Portfolio.  I don't really care much for either one.  I'd really have something to look forward to if I could handle my cataloging with a program as good as PM.

Yes, I did mean to imply that. 

It won't be in version 4.5 however as we plan for the 4.5 release to be a fairly short development cycle.

-Kirk

[MrAleGuy]

Photo Mechanic does not *currently* have a cataloging capability.

Hmm, does this imply that cataloging is coming to PM?

Yes, I did mean to imply that. 

It won't be in version 4.5 however as we plan for the 4.5 release to be a fairly short development cycle.

-Kirk

If I read that correctly, Photo Mechanic will (in the not too distant future) grow to include cataloging features.  That is great news for me personally for several reasons:

• It will be one program that can take care of all my digital photo needs after they leave the camera.  Importing, tagging, cataloging, and archiving.  That should help my workflow tremendously.
• I've heard many good things about Photo Mechanic, the helpfulness of the support, and the responsiveness to feature suggestions.
• I'm a current iView MediaPro 3.1 user... the purchase of iVMP by Microsoft doesn't give me a good feeling about Mac support.  Even the programs which they do support on Mac, they don't behave like Mac programs.

Are you looking for feature suggestions with respect to cataloging? 

[Kirk Baker]

Photo Mechanic does not *currently* have a cataloging capability.

Hmm, does this imply that cataloging is coming to PM?

Yes, I did mean to imply that. 

It won't be in version 4.5 however as we plan for the 4.5 release to be a fairly short development cycle.

-Kirk

If I read that correctly, Photo Mechanic will (in the not too distant future) grow to include cataloging features.  That is great news for me personally for several reasons:

• It will be one program that can take care of all my digital photo needs after they leave the camera.  Importing, tagging, cataloging, and archiving.  That should help my workflow tremendously.
• I've heard many good things about Photo Mechanic, the helpfulness of the support, and the responsiveness to feature suggestions.
• I'm a current iView MediaPro 3.1 user... the purchase of iVMP by Microsoft doesn't give me a good feeling about Mac support.  Even the programs which they do support on Mac, they don't behave like Mac programs.

Are you looking for feature suggestions with respect to cataloging? 

Sure, but please start a new thread.

-Kirk

[Hydester]

Hope I'm not being too naive to imagine you haven't done this already but be sure to read The Dam Book by Peter Krogh before you even START to develop your cataloging program. I agree with just about all its contents. I already have IVMP & Extensis Portfolio but reckon you can do a better job ! Stephen

[Kirk Baker]

Hope I'm not being too naive to imagine you haven't done this already but be sure to read The Dam Book by Peter Krogh before you even START to develop your cataloging program. I agree with just about all its contents. I already have IVMP & Extensis Portfolio but reckon you can do a better job ! Stephen

I've got the book and I agree that it is pretty good, except for his recommendation to convert all of your RAW files to DNG, and get rid of the original RAW files.  That part is bad advice in our opinion since unless you plan to use Adobe Camera RAW/Lightroom forever, you have now cut yourself off from using the camera manufacturer's software altogether.

I will definitely read more of the book before we develop our cataloger.

-Kirk

[Pavel]

Kirk, for two years now I have wondered what I could entreat you with to have Camerabits think of making Catalogueing software so this is fantastic news!  I currently use aperture only to catalogue my final shots and to keyword my images.  I hope you get a chance to consider some of how Apple does those two things as (in my opinion) they have the best approach. 

In particular with how you can keyword with a single keystroke once you have chosen a keyword set.  I can keyword about two pictures per second this way and love it.  It is great that using the right arrow to navigate to the next shot commits the keywords - no separate save step.

I hope that smart folder capability can be implemented (at least on the mac)  I use it to modify the names and it's invaluable to me as the names later determine which gallery in photoshelter the shots go to.  I'd love to see that in any catalogue software if possible.

I've gotten to the point that I consider PhotoMechanic to be the best piece of software, bar none that I've ever had the pleasure to use.  To think that now I could hope to catalogue with it as well (or a side product) made my day!

When this comes out - you will be my hero. Well, you already are .... but you know what I mean.

[Kirk Baker]

Pavel,

Kirk, for two years now I have wondered what I could entreat you with to have Camerabits think of making Catalogueing software so this is fantastic news!  I currently use aperture only to catalogue my final shots and to keyword my images.  I hope you get a chance to consider some of how Apple does those two things as (in my opinion) they have the best approach. 

In particular with how you can keyword with a single keystroke once you have chosen a keyword set.  I can keyword about two pictures per second this way and love it.  It is great that using the right arrow to navigate to the next shot commits the keywords - no separate save step.

Macro keywording is separate from Cataloging.  I want to add a Macro keywording feature to Photo Mechanic at some point.

I hope that smart folder capability can be implemented (at least on the mac)  I use it to modify the names and it's invaluable to me as the names later determine which gallery in photoshelter the shots go to.  I'd love to see that in any catalogue software if possible.

I like smart folders too.  We already have them in Photo Mechanic 4.4.x on Mac OS X 10.4.x via Spotlight.  You can create a Search and save it as a Favorite.  When double-clicked, the search query is executed again and the results appear in the Contact Sheet.  I like to make Saved Searches that show me the photos I've taken in the last week, month, year, etc.  Very cool.

I've gotten to the point that I consider PhotoMechanic to be the best piece of software, bar none that I've ever had the pleasure to use.  To think that now I could hope to catalogue with it as well (or a side product) made my day!

When this comes out - you will be my hero. Well, you already are .... but you know what I mean.

Thanks, 

-Kirk

[peterkrogh]

Kirk,
Hey there.  I saw this post, and I just want to clarify something.  While I personally delete my proprietary RAW files, I don't tell anyone else to do so.  I would leave that decision up to the user, for the reason that you point out.

It's important to understand the risks and benefits.  And I centainly don't think anyone should even *consider* deleting proprietary RAWs until they have worked with a DNG workflow for at least 6 months.

That said, I know a number of people who have made the decision that the DNG workflow offers enough benefits - and the format is widely supported enough - that they are comfortable deleting the proprietary RAW files.

I look forward to see what CameraBits comes up with in Cataloging software.  You guys have made a really great browser.

Peter

[Kirk Baker]

Peter,

Hey there.  I saw this post, and I just want to clarify something.  While I personally delete my proprietary RAW files, I don't tell anyone else to do so.  I would leave that decision up to the user, for the reason that you point out.

It's important to understand the risks and benefits.  And I centainly don't think anyone should even *consider* deleting proprietary RAWs until they have worked with a DNG workflow for at least 6 months.

That said, I know a number of people who have made the decision that the DNG workflow offers enough benefits - and the format is widely supported enough - that they are comfortable deleting the proprietary RAW files.

I look forward to see what CameraBits comes up with in Cataloging software.  You guys have made a really great browser.

Thanks!  And thanks for the clarification.

-Kirk

[Paul Smith]

Macro keywording is separate from Cataloging.  I want to add a Macro keywording feature to Photo Mechanic at some point.

Kirk, I hope this doesn't mean that an improved keywording system won't be in the next version of PM, i.e. 4.5. 

Photo Mechanic is a great program at the moment for captioning, editing, renaming, etc. But it's keywording abilities are seriously lacking. At the moment I do all my captions & edits in PM & then have to copy my selected photos to a folder that I open in Adobe Bridge to do the detailed keywording. In Bridge, I have a list of all my keywords in a column on the left and simply can select whichever images I choose then click the checkboxes next to each keyword to apply those keywords to the images. Please implement a system similar to this for PM.

Cheers,

Paul Smith

[Kirk Baker]

Paul,

Macro keywording is separate from Cataloging.  I want to add a Macro keywording feature to Photo Mechanic at some point.

Kirk, I hope this doesn't mean that an improved keywording system won't be in the next version of PM, i.e. 4.5. 

Photo Mechanic is a great program at the moment for captioning, editing, renaming, etc. But it's keywording abilities are seriously lacking. At the moment I do all my captions & edits in PM & then have to copy my selected photos to a folder that I open in Adobe Bridge to do the detailed keywording. In Bridge, I have a list of all my keywords in a column on the left and simply can select whichever images I choose then click the checkboxes next to each keyword to apply those keywords to the images. Please implement a system similar to this for PM.

Have you tried the new Keywords Editor?  You can very easily add a long list of master keywords, select portions of them and copy them to your photo.  Done with the IPTC Stationery Pad means you can keyword in bulk.

If you still find the Keywords Editor lacking, it would be useful if you could suggest how to improve it.

-Kirk

[Paul Smith]

Paul,

Macro keywording is separate from Cataloging.  I want to add a Macro keywording feature to Photo Mechanic at some point.

Kirk, I hope this doesn't mean that an improved keywording system won't be in the next version of PM, i.e. 4.5. 

Photo Mechanic is a great program at the moment for captioning, editing, renaming, etc. But it's keywording abilities are seriously lacking. At the moment I do all my captions & edits in PM & then have to copy my selected photos to a folder that I open in Adobe Bridge to do the detailed keywording. In Bridge, I have a list of all my keywords in a column on the left and simply can select whichever images I choose then click the checkboxes next to each keyword to apply those keywords to the images. Please implement a system similar to this for PM.

Have you tried the new Keywords Editor?  You can very easily add a long list of master keywords, select portions of them and copy them to your photo.  Done with the IPTC Stationery Pad means you can keyword in bulk.

If you still find the Keywords Editor lacking, it would be useful if you could suggest how to improve it.

-Kirk

Hi Kirk,

Thanks for getting back so quickly - where else can one get tech support like this on a Sunday? 

Yes, I have tried the Keywords Editor. The problem I found with that is that you can only open it from the IPTC Stationery Pad, then select the keywords, click the arrow button to copy them to the current keywords list, click ok, then click apply stationery to selected. Too many stages. Also, when I then move on to the next batch of images to keyword, the previous keywords are still there and I have to first delete them before starting over again with the keyword list.

My suggestion for improving keywording, would be to be able to keep the Master Keyword List open - either in a separate scaleable window, or as a collapsible column on the left or right of the contact sheet - and be able to select the image/images to keyword and simply click or double-click on the keywords in the Master Keyword List to apply them directly to those images. Ideally, for this stage, one wouldn't even need to go to the IPTC Stationery Pad.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Paul