Organizing & Archiving your Pics !

Walter A. said:

Jan Castermans said:

Have a look at IMatch
http://www.photools.com/

This is simply the best way to organize all those pictures on cd

Click to expand...

ACDSee stores thumbnails and data for images archived on CD. You
can view these thumbnails without the CDs, which you will be
prompted for, by name, when you try to view it full-size or edit it.

Click to expand...

So? IMatch does the same ... it even uses a relational database as a back-end so you can store it on a remote server if you want.

IMatch also supports Raw format and a has a great query engine (for example you select a yellow flower, then you can ask for similar pictures in your database --> result for example a yellow sun-flower)
Try that with ACDSee ;-)

Jan--My pictures - http://users.pandora.be/jancastermans/gallery/dirindex.htmlYour Pictures - http://users.pandora.be/jancastermans/g2galleries.html

Doug Mac said:

BTW, I'm thinking about starting to use Kodak Ultima Gold for my
archive CD's. They aren't that much more expensive.

Click to expand...

Why would you want to use Kodak CDs? Have you had problems with other blank CD-Rs?

How much are Kodak Ultima Gold CDs?

I've bought Imation 16x 700MB CR-Rs for pennies per CD when on sale and with rebate offers. This was last year and I got so many so cheap that I still have about 100 left.

Jan Castermans said:

Jan Castermans said:

ACDSee stores thumbnails and data for images archived on CD. You
can view these thumbnails without the CDs, which you will be
prompted for, by name, when you try to view it full-size or edit it.

Click to expand...

So? IMatch does the same ...

Click to expand...

I was merely pointing out that that isn't a unique feature.

Jan Castermans said:

it even uses a relational database as
a back-end so you can store it on a remote server if you want.
IMatch also supports Raw format and a has a great query engine (for
example you select a yellow flower, then you can ask for similar
pictures in your database --> result for example a yellow
sun-flower)

Click to expand...

That's an interesting feature, but I have to wonder how accurate or useful it is in real life. After all, I doubt your program will distinguish between a yello flower and a yellow balloon.

Luke_Calgary said:

I use iPhoto on my Mac laptop - it organizes photos into folders
based on the date that they were taken (not the date that they were
downloaded). It also keeps the EXIF data so you can see exactly
when the photos were taken. On my PC at home, I just use
ZoomBrowser - it does what I want it to just fine. I edit and
resize my pics using Photoshop, and save the retouched photos in a
new directory based on what they are pictures of.
--
'Don't criticize someone until you've walked a mile in their shoes.
That way you're a mile away, and you have their shoes.'
Luke Richardson; Calgary Alberta CANADA

Click to expand...

iPhoto has a very slick interface, as is typical of Apple, but after playing around with it I got the feeling it lacked many of the features common to many image browsing and manipulation software such as ACDSee.

Also, I was a bit confused by the manner in which it handles files and thumbnails and whether one is accessing the original fiels or just copies of them. A little unconventional and unsettling.

I guess the question with "cheap" CD-R's is whether the files will still be there when you look for them 10 years down the road. Using name-brand CD-R's may be a wise investment from that perspective.

Mike R.

P.S. I'm not implying that your Imation CD-R's will fail. But the Kodak Ultima Gold CD-R's are designed and "guaranteed" to have a long life.

Walter A. said:

Doug Mac said:

BTW, I'm thinking about starting to use Kodak Ultima Gold for my
archive CD's. They aren't that much more expensive.

Click to expand...

Why would you want to use Kodak CDs? Have you had problems with
other blank CD-Rs?

How much are Kodak Ultima Gold CDs?

I've bought Imation 16x 700MB CR-Rs for pennies per CD when on sale
and with rebate offers. This was last year and I got so many so
cheap that I still have about 100 left.

Click to expand...

G2 Workflow

DOWNLOADING/CONVERTING

1. Insert CF card(s) and/or 1GB Microdrive into card reader attached to the PC.

2. Execute Breeze Systems Downloader and download all RAW/AVI/JPEG files to an external USB 2.0 80GB HDD. Downloader is set to download all as read-only and into directory DigitalPhotos. Automatically creates a separate directory for each: Year, Month, and Day.

3. Execute Breeze Systems Breeze Browser and display all thumbs. Display each image and delete the unwanted. Rotate any if applicable.

4. Convert selected RAW images to 16-bit TIFF. Double check white balance and post process before converting. Creates a new directory Converted. If desired, create HTML of entire directory using Breeze Browser.

5. Rename directory according to event: 2002/04/09-Oahu

PRINTING

1. Edit from within Breeze Browser to automatically execute Photoshop 6.0 and rocess images. Auto Level's, unsharp mask, clone, dust/scratches or actions if necessary. Crop only if required.

2. Save each TIFF with new name in a different directory G2/OUT/Oahu etc.

3. Open image in ACDSEE and print to Epson 785EPX on Epson High Quality Matte paper.

SHARING

1. Execute ACDSEE and display saved TIFF. Resize image and save as jpeg at about 80% quality usually 200-400kb. Email images or burn to CD using NTI Backup Now! Deluxe.

ARCHIVING

1. Execute NTI Backup Now! Deluxe and archive all directories to CD-R with medium compression and file verify enabled.

2. Label each CD-R accordingly and one copy stays at home. Additonal copies will go offsite to Shure Storage.

Scotty,

I only have one point to add...For file organization, I'm waiting for Adobe PS 7.0 before deciding on file management software. Adobe is supposed to have some improved (and much needed) file support in the new version, although some observers here on the forum have said that it will not match the utility of some of the other file mgmt systems mentioned in this thread.

BTW, as an amateir, I do find Breeze Browser excellent, and the support from Chris Breeze for desired features is also excellent, he's constantly updating his program according to user needs. It can produce javascript slide HTML shows from RAW, TIF, or JPEG images, and it has superior flexibility in its conversion controls.

Wildplaces

Scottyee said:

I'm having a blast taking pics with my new G2 (black) w/ 1 GB
microdrive.

What I'm trying to figure out now is a good system (protocol) for
transfering the pics to the hard drive, possibly renaming,
organizing, and archiving (to CD?) the pics.

I'm Interested in hearing how other people here organize and
backup their pictures. Do you re-name your pics from the generic
names given by the camera (IMG_001 etc)? How do you catagorize the
pics : by date, subject, or? I figured it would be wise to setup up
a system NOW before I have so many pics that it gets too
overwhelming to organize later on. Feedback and advice would be
greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

• Scotty

--
http://www.pbase.com/scottyee

Click to expand...

-- http://www.pbase.com/wildplaces/galleries

After a lot of changes, and a lot of discoveries on ACDSee, I think this is the best organization (thanks to other people for some ideas).

What you need:

• CF Card Reader (PCMCIA or USB) or Canon PowerShot direct connect to transfer image files;
• Raw Converter 1.2 or 2.0 to convert CRW (RAW) image files;
• QuickTime 3 (5 recommended) to see movie clips;
• ACDSee 4 to do all the rest.

Download images using either an USB CF reader (or Epson 895) or connecting your PowerShot directly to your pc.

Create directories and subdirectories with a kind of subject or name's event (i.e.: Flowers, Christmas or Birthday's Parties)

Use Raw Converter 1.2 or 2.0 to convert CRW (RAW) files in TIFF 16bit.
Then convert TIFF to JPG at best quality (no compression).
Then delete TIFF files.
==> > IMPORTANT: DO NOT DELETE CRW FILES!!

Be sure that image files you want to rename are not in read-only mode.

For Internet (email or web), convert files using ACDSee with Rename (don't delete original files), in JPG format at max compression (low quality). In spite of it, quality will be good.

If files are still too big in kb, go to menu Tools of ACDSee e select Resize, then change pixel resolution of the image, maintaining proportions (2271x1704 -> 800x600). In the same menu there is Rotate: be sure to select force lossless function before rotate an image file.

With ACDSee, open Properties of every single image file, go to Metadata (EXIF information). Then edit Image Description and User Comment fields, with a short list of shooted subjects and a tag for converted (CONV_X) or modified image files (MOD_X). X are progressive numbers, if converted or modified image files aren't just one.

Use Batch Rename of ACDSee to rename two or more files at the same time, using following template (in this way you will have a cronological and alphabetical list):

[]

and the result will be:
Event/ [].JPG

Example1: Flowers/2002-02-20 13-41-04 Roses (CONV) [FinePix1300].JPG
Example2: Macro/2002-02-20 13-41-04 Ant (MOD_2) [Canon PowerShot S40].JPG

With .CRW (RAW image files) and .AVI/MOV (movie clips) that don't have EXIF Metadata, go to Properties and then to File schedule, and use this manual template:
(### X) [ ]

Where there are symbols substitute: with the name of the model used; X with consecutive numbers; ### with tags for converted images (CONV_X) or modified (MOD_X).
Otherwise is original.

Once u have adopted this metod, if you want to rename image files, remember that you will lose all short descriptions and tags informations, if you won't use mentioned template, but you won't delete informations from EXIF Metadata.

!!: As soon as possible, record backup on CDR, because of CDRW has fewer trust than CDR.

ATTENTION!!

It is not possible to attach descript.ion files (hidden in every directory opened with ACDSee, and that contain descriptions, notes, and keywords) to image files that reside on read-only file systems such as a CD-ROM. For this reason is useless to use this kind of database to archive your pics.

Scottyee said:

I'm having a blast taking pics with my new G2 (black) w/ 1 GB
microdrive.

What I'm trying to figure out now is a good system (protocol) for
transfering the pics to the hard drive, possibly renaming,
organizing, and archiving (to CD?) the pics.

I'm Interested in hearing how other people here organize and
backup their pictures. Do you re-name your pics from the generic
names given by the camera (IMG_001 etc)? How do you catagorize the
pics : by date, subject, or? I figured it would be wise to setup up
a system NOW before I have so many pics that it gets too
overwhelming to organize later on. Feedback and advice would be
greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

• Scotty

--
http://www.pbase.com/scottyee

Click to expand...

--New owener of Canon PowerShot S40... I think the best of this size.

SORRY, Some visualization problems.

Use Batch Rename of ACDSee to rename two or more files at the same time, using following template (in this way you will have a cronological and alphabetical list):
Tags must be entered between opened and closed "

DateTime ImageDescrip UserComment [Model]

and the result will be:
Event/DateTime ImageDescrip UserComment [Model].JPG

Example1: Flowers/2002-02-20 13-41-04 Roses (CONV) [FinePix1300].JPG
Example2: Macro/2002-02-20 13-41-04 Ant (MOD_2) [Canon PowerShot S40].JPG

With .CRW (RAW image files) and .AVI/MOV (movie clips) that don't have EXIF Metadata, go to Properties and then to File schedule, and use this manual template:

date-and-time-creation shooted-subjects (### X) [ ]--New owener of Canon PowerShot S40... I think the best of this size.

Mike R said:

I guess the question with "cheap" CD-R's is whether the files will
still be there when you look for them 10 years down the road. Using
name-brand CD-R's may be a wise investment from that perspective.

Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more. That's why I do not buy cheap, generic CDs. But note that the ones I purchased were premium, Imation brand CD-Rs, which is a pretty well known brand.

Member said:

P.S. I'm not implying that your Imation CD-R's will fail. But the
Kodak Ultima Gold CD-R's are designed and "guaranteed" to have a
long life.

Click to expand...

"Guaranteed"? So basically that means that if a Kodak CD-R fails ten years from now, resulting in the loss of valuable, priceless, and irreplaceable photos or other data, Kodak will somehow compensate you for that? At best, they will provide you with either a handful of free CD-Rs or a refund of your purchase price, assuming you still have a copy of the receipt.

Cheap, no-name CD-Rs have been known to fail, which is not surprising considering they are manufactured with worn out dies purchased from larger manufacturers who were about to throw them out. But I've never heard any such reports about major name brands like Imation. Until and unless someone demonstrates that this is something to worry about with name brand CD-Rs, I'm not about to pay a fortune for Kodak CD-Rs.

By the way, note that I bought those on same, and that they also had a rebate. Their regular price is probably not much different from the Kodak CD-Rs.

Incidentally, for those of you paying a premium for "audio-quality" CD-Rs, the only reason they cost so much is that a large portion of their price goes towards compensating the recording industry for "illegal copying."

wildplaces said:

Scotty,
I only have one point to add...For file organization, I'm waiting
for Adobe PS 7.0 before deciding on file management software.
Adobe is supposed to have some improved (and much needed) file
support in the new version, although some observers here on the
forum have said that it will not match the utility of some of the
other file mgmt systems mentioned in this thread.

Click to expand...

Do you really want to rely on an image browser that hogs up all your PC's resources and takes so long to start up and shut down?

Photoshop is a great image editor but it sucks as an organizer or browser.

Walter,

I've been lucky. I haven't had a CDR fail after I've successfully burned it. I'm very careful about storing them. I haven't gone to the Kodaks because I'm not sure they really buy me any more protection. They run about 84 cents each in bulk.

I guess I'm pretty conservative. I shoot a lot of B&W, both because I like it aesthetically and also for longevity. I process to archival standards in my own darkroom. I think part of it is vanity. I'm under the delusion that one of my descendents 100 years from now will actually care what her great great grandparents look like. I have prints, glass plates, tintypes and negatives of my family going back well over 100 years. I'm in the process of scanning them in to make sure the images will be around for another 100 years. I think the digital age brings a lot of promise by it's ability to archive these images. Advances in technology are great. There's a question or two that nags me, though. I can walk in my darkroom tonight with a glass plate that was taken in 1895 and make a print using basically the same technology used to make a print in 1895. Will my descendents be able to read a TIFF file 100 years from now? I'm cautiously optimistic they will. In the meantime, I'll embrace all this new technology and the benifits it brings with it.

Regards,
Doug

Walter A. said:

Doug Mac said:

BTW, I'm thinking about starting to use Kodak Ultima Gold for my
archive CD's. They aren't that much more expensive.

Click to expand...

Why would you want to use Kodak CDs? Have you had problems with
other blank CD-Rs?

How much are Kodak Ultima Gold CDs?

I've bought Imation 16x 700MB CR-Rs for pennies per CD when on sale
and with rebate offers. This was last year and I got so many so
cheap that I still have about 100 left.

Click to expand...

Walter, you have a good point, but if I'm going to be looking for the file to edit, print or post, might as well do it from PS...I haven't had a chance to try out the image browsers. Friom what you've said, I'll have to test a couple of the trial versions of the recommended ones.

Wildplaces

Walter A. said:

wildplaces said:

Scotty,
I only have one point to add...For file organization, I'm waiting
for Adobe PS 7.0 before deciding on file management software.
Adobe is supposed to have some improved (and much needed) file
support in the new version, although some observers here on the
forum have said that it will not match the utility of some of the
other file mgmt systems mentioned in this thread.

Click to expand...

Do you really want to rely on an image browser that hogs up all
your PC's resources and takes so long to start up and shut down?

Photoshop is a great image editor but it sucks as an organizer or
browser.

Click to expand...

-- http://www.pbase.com/wildplaces/galleries

I looked at a few organization programs, and I chose ThumbsPlus.
One of it's draws for me was that it uses MS Access for it's database.

I keep it simple.

1. create directories based on month - ("2001_01", "2001_02",...etc)
2. copy files (CF reader) into month taken (no renaming)
3. Add keywords and annotations to all pics ("travel",names,"vegas",...etc)

4. when month is over, archive to CD (break directory into 2 or 3 if too big - but a month usually fits on one CD), naming the CD the month ("2001_01")
5. include current TP database on each month's archive CD

This allows me to easily browse and find pictures (even off CD), without all the effort of renaming or trying to organize based on subject.

ThumbsPlus also has most of the "neat" features others have - create slideshows, web-pages, contact sheets,....etc.

Scottyee said:

I'm having a blast taking pics with my new G2 (black) w/ 1 GB
microdrive.

What I'm trying to figure out now is a good system (protocol) for
transfering the pics to the hard drive, possibly renaming,
organizing, and archiving (to CD?) the pics.

I'm Interested in hearing how other people here organize and
backup their pictures. Do you re-name your pics from the generic
names given by the camera (IMG_001 etc)? How do you catagorize the
pics : by date, subject, or? I figured it would be wise to setup up
a system NOW before I have so many pics that it gets too
overwhelming to organize later on. Feedback and advice would be
greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

• Scotty

--
http://www.pbase.com/scottyee

Click to expand...

I, like many others, use and like ACDsee 4.0.

Since a hard drive crash last month which wipped out my database (pictures wre backed up) I've been using the programs ability to edit the "Image description" filed in the metadata rather then using the database "description" field. It's still searchable but is part of the picture file not an external database. No mater what program you end up using I just suggest you make sure that Metadata can be edited (IPTC or simular) or that the database can be backed up. Imatch also seems like a great/powerful program. It just had too steep a learning curve for me.

If interested I started a "wishlist" thread on ACDsee 4.0 here in the PCtools forum:

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1004&message=2515062

Enjoy your new camera.

Scottyee said:

I'm having a blast taking pics with my new G2 (black) w/ 1 GB
microdrive.

What I'm trying to figure out now is a good system (protocol) for
transfering the pics to the hard drive, possibly renaming,
organizing, and archiving (to CD?) the pics.

I'm Interested in hearing how other people here organize and
backup their pictures. Do you re-name your pics from the generic
names given by the camera (IMG_001 etc)? How do you catagorize the
pics : by date, subject, or? I figured it would be wise to setup up
a system NOW before I have so many pics that it gets too
overwhelming to organize later on. Feedback and advice would be
greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

• Scotty

--
http://www.pbase.com/scottyee

Click to expand...

--Citizenpaul

I am on a mac, and largely use a folder system for organization it goes as follows:

MAIN FOLDER: 20020301_pics_taken_in_the_park

INSIDE FOLDERS:

Negatives - this is the folder that holds RAW files.

Positives - this is the folder that holds photos that i liked that I have converted from RAW format to TIFF.

Positives for print - these are photos I want to send away for printing, or print myself.

Panoramas - these are jpegs that were taken using the panoramic function of the G2 - they get a seperate folder because they are numbered differently.

My photo files generally keep the numbers that the camera gave them. In some special circumstances (for instance a photo collection from a trip I took that numbered over 1300 photos) I will number them consecutively with a descriptive title - i.e. sanfran_vegas_0034.

I use iViewMedia Pro to make a unique catalog for each folder - so that I can open that catalog at any time and see what photos are inside that folder. I also use iView to rename photos and make desktop icons for them. You can also conveniently drag photos into photoshop from iView, so I can edit as I am looking at my catalogs.

The system has worked well for me, I have thousands of pics archived this way.

Joe Rivera
--www.bitterlemonstudio.com

If you've never used image browsing software, you're in for a treat. ACDSee can start up and display images almost instantly, and provides an excellent interface with numerous viewing modes that make it a pleasure to browse and organize your image collection.

Photoshop, on the other hand, takes forever to load up, is too slow, and it hogs too much memory. I RARELY open images from within Photoshop. It's much faster, easier, and more efficient to find images in ACDSee and then open them up for editing in Photoshop (or any other desired app) from there.

Also, ACDSee is much faster and more efficient than Photoshop for basic image editing tasks, such as lossless JPEG rotation, batch renaming, file type conversion, resizing, and printing. In a pitch, it can even do a decent job of 'auto-levels.'

wildplaces said:

Wildplaces

Walter A. said:

wildplaces said:

Scotty,
I only have one point to add...For file organization, I'm waiting
for Adobe PS 7.0 before deciding on file management software.
Adobe is supposed to have some improved (and much needed) file
support in the new version, although some observers here on the
forum have said that it will not match the utility of some of the
other file mgmt systems mentioned in this thread.

Click to expand...

Do you really want to rely on an image browser that hogs up all
your PC's resources and takes so long to start up and shut down?

Photoshop is a great image editor but it sucks as an organizer or
browser.

Click to expand...

--
http://www.pbase.com/wildplaces/galleries

Click to expand...

NetNemo said:

ATTENTION!!
It is not possible to attach descript.ion files (hidden in every
directory opened with ACDSee, and that contain descriptions, notes,
and keywords) to image files that reside on read-only file systems
such as a CD-ROM. For this reason is useless to use this kind of
database to archive your pics.

Click to expand...

The use of descript.ion files is optional in ACDSee. But yes, this seems to be the only way it has of storing descriptions.

How do other programs store this data?

Walter A. said:

NetNemo said:

ATTENTION!!
It is not possible to attach descript.ion files (hidden in every
directory opened with ACDSee, and that contain descriptions, notes,
and keywords) to image files that reside on read-only file systems
such as a CD-ROM. For this reason is useless to use this kind of
database to archive your pics.

Click to expand...

The use of descript.ion files is optional in ACDSee. But yes, this
seems to be the only way it has of storing descriptions.

Click to expand...

By the way, I just noticed that ACDSee can store descritions and notes for images, even of they're stored on CD-R. But the info is stored on the hard drive, and not on the CD.

Do other programs store this info on the CD?

If so, and there isn't any technological barrier to doing so, I imagine we could request this feature and ACDSystems could easily implement it in the next release.

Well, here's my two cents worth...

I created a folder call PIX,
Within this directory I create subfolders for each day or event as follows:

2002-04-10 Beach pix

or

2002-04-10 Moms B-day Party

Then I download all pictures in the appropriate folder.

This way all folders are listed by year, month, day with a brief description of what's inside the folder. As a side benefit, you get a kind-of diary event log of your year.

After a while I transfer to CDR and archive the disc.

Any photo I single out for tweaking or display or printing goes into a different folder called Gallery Pix.

Scottyee said:

I'm having a blast taking pics with my new G2 (black) w/ 1 GB
microdrive.

What I'm trying to figure out now is a good system (protocol) for
transfering the pics to the hard drive, possibly renaming,
organizing, and archiving (to CD?) the pics.

I'm Interested in hearing how other people here organize and
backup their pictures. Do you re-name your pics from the generic
names given by the camera (IMG_001 etc)? How do you catagorize the
pics : by date, subject, or? I figured it would be wise to setup up
a system NOW before I have so many pics that it gets too
overwhelming to organize later on. Feedback and advice would be
greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

• Scotty

--
http://www.pbase.com/scottyee

Click to expand...

--Sony DSC-F707 & Canon S40Gallery : http://www.pbase.com/dre/galleries