Is there an image mgmt program that does all this?

[Hipólito]

Keeping the current IMatch version up-to-date and "bug free" and
providing top first-level support is - in my opinion - more
important than shipping the next major release a few weeks earlier.

I totally agree and I have always received excellent support from you. Keep up the good work.

Here is a simple feature I miss sometimes: The ability of making a fixed aspect ratio crop (as I can do e.g. in Photoshop). This is useful if you intend to print a picture for a predefined display.

--
Hipólito
http://www.hip-visual.com

 

[caba]

I also see no risk in the "other" products. IMatch always targeted
a rather demanding professional and semi-professional clientel.
Adobe PSA, ACDSee etc. target the entry-level market (SOHO or
"prosumer") and hence PSA is much more dangerous for ACDSee, T+ and
others than for IMatch.

professional and semi-professional clientel and entry-level market will love IMatch even more when managnig multiple versions of a single image will be implemented...

caba

 

[Mario Westphal]

professional and semi-professional clientel and entry-level market
will love IMatch even more when managnig multiple versions of a
single image will be implemented...

caba

This feature sounds like a "hidden" feature request ;-)
Rest assured, versioning will be part of the next major release.

But what exactly do you mean with multiple versions?
For example,

+ You have a RAW file on CD - the original
+ You made a copy of the RAW on your disk
+ You saved the RAW as TIFF for safety
+ You have several edited copies of the image for var. purposes
+ You finally made a JPEG for web site usage

You stored all these different images in different folders on your disk.

Most likely you also assigned them to categories in IMatch. This gives you the ability to "group" the files together in a category to keep them together, whether they are stored on disk or a CD-ROM.

All these images can be considered as different versions of the same original image. But what functionality an application like IMatch should have regarding versioning? Do you rather consider the versioning features of revision control products like SourceSafe / CVS, or do you mean the revision features of classical document management / content management systems?

--
Mario Westphal
Author of IMatch - The Digital Image Management Solution
[email protected]
http://www.photools.com

 

[caba]

Yes, it is a feature request;-) I know, that I can use categories (and I use them) to group different versions of the image.

What I mean... right now I have one folder for "original", second for "working" and third for "final" pictures. My worklow (still searching the right one) is shooting JPG and save to "original". Open with Photoshop, save as Tiff compressed to "working". Than I have to rescan "working" folder, add the new image to database, copy properties, categories and so on... little amount of manual work with one picture but with 100 or 1000 pictures...

When the job in Photoshop (or any other editor) is finished, picture is saved to "final" folder and the whole work with rescaning, ading picture to database, copy properties, categories and so on... has to be done again.

Functionality I´m missing (I don't know if it's possible) is to keep the track even if the image is processed by external program (out of IMatch)

caba

professional and semi-professional clientel and entry-level market
will love IMatch even more when managnig multiple versions of a
single image will be implemented...

caba

This feature sounds like a "hidden" feature request ;-)
Rest assured, versioning will be part of the next major release.

But what exactly do you mean with multiple versions?
For example,

+ You have a RAW file on CD - the original
+ You made a copy of the RAW on your disk
+ You saved the RAW as TIFF for safety
+ You have several edited copies of the image for var. purposes
+ You finally made a JPEG for web site usage

You stored all these different images in different folders on your
disk.
Most likely you also assigned them to categories in IMatch. This
gives you the ability to "group" the files together in a category
to keep them together, whether they are stored on disk or a CD-ROM.

All these images can be considered as different versions of the
same original image. But what functionality an application like
IMatch should have regarding versioning? Do you rather consider the
versioning features of revision control products like SourceSafe /
CVS, or do you mean the revision features of classical document
management / content management systems?

--
Mario Westphal
Author of IMatch - The Digital Image Management Solution
[email protected]
http://www.photools.com

--
-caba-

 

[caba]

one sentence more - anothe nice functionality will be the possibility to synchronize categories, properties, IPTC of different version of the same picture

Functionality I´m missing (I don't know if it's possible) is to
keep the track even if the image is processed by external program
(out of IMatch)

caba

professional and semi-professional clientel and entry-level market
will love IMatch even more when managnig multiple versions of a
single image will be implemented...

caba

This feature sounds like a "hidden" feature request ;-)
Rest assured, versioning will be part of the next major release.

But what exactly do you mean with multiple versions?
For example,

+ You have a RAW file on CD - the original
+ You made a copy of the RAW on your disk
+ You saved the RAW as TIFF for safety
+ You have several edited copies of the image for var. purposes
+ You finally made a JPEG for web site usage

You stored all these different images in different folders on your
disk.
Most likely you also assigned them to categories in IMatch. This
gives you the ability to "group" the files together in a category
to keep them together, whether they are stored on disk or a CD-ROM.

All these images can be considered as different versions of the
same original image. But what functionality an application like
IMatch should have regarding versioning? Do you rather consider the
versioning features of revision control products like SourceSafe /
CVS, or do you mean the revision features of classical document
management / content management systems?

--
Mario Westphal
Author of IMatch - The Digital Image Management Solution
[email protected]
http://www.photools.com

--
-caba-

--
-caba-

 

[tko]

A lot of us went through the same frustation. After coming back from Europe with 3000 new pictures I decided I needed to get organized. It took me a few months to try every piece of software out there, settle on Imatch as the lesser of all evils, and start using it. Three months later and I haven't printed any picture yet.

Trouble is, photo orgaization software is like any other software. Whatever you commit to you'll need to stick with for a lifetime, or it should be very open with very good import/export capabilities. It's not a decision to be made lightly! Very frustrating. I would have been happy with just PhotoShopAlbum but it was so slow as to be unusuable - minutes of response time with 30,000 pictures.

Guess there's a real marketing opportunity here.

 

[chojan]

But what exactly do you mean with multiple versions?
For example,

+ You have a RAW file on CD - the original
+ You made a copy of the RAW on your disk
+ You saved the RAW as TIFF for safety
+ You have several edited copies of the image for var. purposes
+ You finally made a JPEG for web site usage

Hi Mario --

This is probably the single feature on the top of most people's "want-list", so it would be great to see it included in a next release.

I think what most people are after is a way to group multiple "working versions" of the same image into a single entity within the IMatch database/category view.

By "working versions", I'm refering to what you have indicated above (ie. multiple versions of the same file targeted for different purposes). I don't think many people are after "revision control", and so, although it would be nice, it certainly isn't the prime need. Besides, any fairly generic implementation of "working version" control should allow manual revision control methods to work.

Currently, I have been using a diligent naming methodology that differentiates versions on the basis of file name suffixes. I then run a script I wrote that finds all of these "edited" versions of the original, adds the appropriate "state" tag (ie. edited, resized, etc.) and then copies all of the category assignments (besides state) from the original to the edited version. So long as I run this script periodically, I am then able to:

Search across categories and find a file (including the edited versions), rather than just the original. Most people only tag the original, or end up manually trying to copy the tags over, which is inflexible and prone to error.

In addition, a nice related feature is the ability to perform some sort of safeguarding within IMatch for the "Send to User Tool" command. If you provided a "Send Copy to User Tool", one would reduce the need of the user to always be aware of which version they're sending to Photoshop, for example.

Photoshop Album 2 implements the "edit a copy" methodology fairly well. Photoshop Elements 3 implements some form of "stacks" which might be one way of going about the need for "working version" management.

Thanks,
--
Cal.
http://www.pbase.com/chojan

 

[caba]

Currently, I have been using a diligent naming methodology that
differentiates versions on the basis of file name suffixes. I then
run a script I wrote that finds all of these "edited" versions of
the original, adds the appropriate "state" tag (ie. edited,
resized, etc.) and then copies all of the category assignments
(besides state) from the original to the edited version. So long as
I run this script periodically, I am then able to:

Hi, may I have a copy of the script?

Thanx

-caba-

 

[Mario Westphal]

one sentence more - anothe nice functionality will be the
possibility to synchronize categories, properties, IPTC of
different version of the same picture

Use Copy/Paste Attributes to transfer IPTC,EXIF,Properties,Bookmarks,ICC profiles etc. from one image to others.

I think I recall a script in the Files section at the IMatch user forum which automatically does this for images linked via name or folder...

--
Mario Westphal
Author of IMatch - The Digital Image Management Solution
[email protected]
http://www.photools.com

 

[pixelSnaps]

Hi, may I have a copy of the script?

Of course - just go to Yahoo Groups, join imatchuserforum and then look in the Files/scripts section.

Oh - you'd be surprised how useful the forum is when it comes to answering all sorts of questions about IMatch; much better then here

-----
tfl.

 

[caba]

if it´s there, what is the name of the script?

I know the imatchuserforum, I joined a long time ago...

caba

Hi, may I have a copy of the script?

Of course - just go to Yahoo Groups, join imatchuserforum and then
look in the Files/scripts section.

Oh - you'd be surprised how useful the forum is when it comes to
answering all sorts of questions about IMatch; much better then
here

-----
tfl.

 

[pixelSnaps]

caba - I must apologise for that last post of mine. I assumed that chojan had placed his script in the forum files area; of course he hasn't - well, I can't find it there - and there is no reason for him to do so unless someone asks. So you did the right thing by asking!

Next time I post, I'll be more careful about my facts.

I know the imatchuserforum, I joined a long time ago...

caba

Hi, may I have a copy of the script?

Of course - just go to Yahoo Groups, join imatchuserforum and then
look in the Files/scripts section.

Oh - you'd be surprised how useful the forum is when it comes to
answering all sorts of questions about IMatch; much better then
here

-----
tfl.

--
-----
tfl.

 

[chojan]

caba - I must apologise for that last post of mine. I assumed that
chojan had placed his script in the forum files area; of course he
hasn't - well, I can't find it there - and there is no reason for
him to do so unless someone asks. So you did the right thing by
asking!

Next time I post, I'll be more careful about my facts.

Oops... Yes, I haven't posted the script yet... but if enough people were interested, I could finish tidying it up (and perhaps make it more generic) and post it for others.

--
Cal.
http://www.pbase.com/chojan

 

[caba]

You can send the sript to me "untide"

caba - I must apologise for that last post of mine. I assumed that
chojan had placed his script in the forum files area; of course he
hasn't - well, I can't find it there - and there is no reason for
him to do so unless someone asks. So you did the right thing by
asking!

Next time I post, I'll be more careful about my facts.

Oops... Yes, I haven't posted the script yet... but if enough people were interested, I could finish tidying it up (and perhaps make it more generic) and post it for others.

--
Cal.
http://www.pbase.com/chojan

--
-caba-

 

[chojan]

You can send the sript to me "untide"

Check your inbox....

I should be able to package it up for everyone else (including documentation) very soon.

Thanks,
--
Cal.
http://www.pbase.com/chojan

 

[chojan]

The "Manage Versions" script is now available on my web page at:

http://www.impulseadventure.com/photo_flow_catalog.html

The script is located under "Multiple Version support" in the "IMatch" section.

Let me know if anyone finds it useful or if there are other features that would help to improve it.

--
Cal.
http://www.impulseadventure.com - Portraits, Travel, Digital Workflow, Extreme Sports

 

[medvind]

Basicly ArkiPix can do what you want - we have just released a new build 2

try that for 14 days with up to 1000 images!

I have been testing different programs, and so far not one has all
the features I want.

iMatch comes the closest but lacks one key piece - the ability to
select multiple categories at once (easily).

I want to :
Keep track of all images on my HD or archived to CD/DVD.
Make contact sheets that can easily include folder path in the
header both to print and save to HD/DVD.
Keep track of multiple versions of the same image easily:
original, working, and final (with final further divided by web,
4x6, 5x6, 8x10, etc.).
Allow me to organize my files by category for easy searching.
Handle all image file types.

Basically what I want is iMatch with ACDSee's multi category
selection ability.
IE - I want to find all "Automotive" images that are "Original", or
all "Automotive" images that are "Final.4x6", etc. Or I want to
find all "Original" images that include "John" and "Bill".

So far, I have tried thumbs+, ACDSee, and iMatch. My images are
just getting to the point where they are overwhelming me, and so
far I am not happy with my options. Any other suggestions?

--
regards,
Bent
ArkiPixTeam
http://www.ArkiPix.com - The new imagearchiving software for PC!

 

[Hipólito]

Use it for raw conversion? Why?

Because iMatch RAW processing works very well! Why would I use 2
programs when I can have an integrated solution?

I have noticed that when I process RAW images in the iMatch editor the EXIF information is not copied to the new file.

Anyone knows how to correct this?
--
Hipólito
http://www.hip-visual.com

 

[pixelSnaps]

I have noticed that when I process RAW images in the iMatch editor
the EXIF information is not copied to the new file.

Anyone knows how to correct this?

Well, you may have forgotten to swicth this feature on?

Go into Options~Preferences; click the File Format Preferences tab, and in the Image Editor group make sure that "Keep EXIF information when saving images" is checked and that "Don't save/copy EXIF maker notes" is unchecked.

Hopefully that'll solved your problem.

--
tfl.

 

[Mario Westphal]

I have noticed that when I process RAW images in the iMatch editor
the EXIF information is not copied to the new file.

Anyone knows how to correct this?

Well, you may have forgotten to swicth this feature on?

Go into Options~Preferences; click the File Format Preferences tab,
and in the Image Editor group make sure that "Keep EXIF information
when saving images" is checked and that "Don't save/copy EXIF maker
notes" is unchecked.

Hopefully that'll solved your problem.

--
tfl.

In addition:

Depending on your RAW format, and the chosen output format, copying EXIF information may not be a good idea.

Some camera vendors store pointers to data in the original file in their proprietary maker notes. Copying such an EXIF record to a different file may lead to corrupted EXIF data and invalid "pointers".

Other applications may produce incorrect results or even crash when they read the bad EXIF data and try to follow the now invalid pointers.

EXIF was never intended to be copied between files. That's why you need to explicitely enable EXIF maker note copying in IMatch.

--
Mario Westphal
Author of IMatch - The Digital Image Management Solution
[email protected]
http://www.photools.com