Need Suggestions for Image Database or Cataloging Software

[Bytes U]

What program do you people recommend for cataloging photos so I could do a search on keywords, events, places etc?

I'm testing a shareware program called BrilliantPhoto (http://brilliantlabs.com/Products/Photo/) and it seems alright at first glance but before I get too much time invested I wanted to check with people that might have some experience with alternate programs.

[evilenglishman]

extensis produce a prog called portfolio: http://www.extensis.com/en/products/asset_management.jsp

I haven't used the most recent version but it used to be good - although it costs :(

[J Rabin]

Use iView Media Pro daily and satisfied. Solid and crash proof, though a few menu commands quirky and require a learning curve (What product doesn't).
Better scrolling speed than PS CS File Browser. Also, better QUALITY of rendered thumbnails and faster rendering; beats any other program I've tried. Like looking on a sharp light table. Becuase it offers MORE annotations than IPTC, iView also provides a PSCS compatible plug in. The kicker is the cross platform, freely distributable viewer utility. You can burn slide shows, and distribute with the free viewer. It's like free Adobe Reader for your image database, with more functionality than is provided by Reader, or the comparable products.

Equal to but different from Extensis Portfolio 7. 7 seems more geared to workgroup use. Both are better for single users than expensive products like Cumulus. ACDSee is more amateurish, with a less refined interface.

Most of these products have free, download for a week and test drive, offers on their sites. Do that and decide.

[who10]

iView and Extensis are both very good (although I haven't used iView's current version). Twice I've played with the 30day Extensis trials (once for version 6 and recently for version 7) - ultimately I purchased Extensis 7 portfilio.

Features I find useful:

Directly catalog and display CRW raw file images
Open RAW files with PSCS raw from the viewer for editting
Link images back to original source files (associate jpg or TIFF files to their original CRW or source psd "parents")
Powerful sorting features (for example EXIF sorts by shutter/ISO/aperature combinations - a feature which I use alot)
Wide array of web template options (fringe benefit for me)
Generation of contact sheets (which I archive as PDF files)

I have one complaint which for me is a minor annoyance. Extensis displays CRW images in landscape (No portrait orientation for raw file formats). It's not a big deal because I only catalog RAW files so that I can find them quickly with sorts, or to burn DVD archives associating final RAW/TIFF/JPEG versions together as image sets.

Frankly I'm a novice working with the Extensis, but I was able to assess completely whether or not the tool would suffice within the free trial period - It has already saved me countless hours trying to "find stuff" as I venture into year five shooting digital...

The primary reason Extensis stood out for me was the ability catalog, sort and view raw Canon 10D and D60 CRW files.

David

[petiot]

LOL i had a look at Portefolio from extensis, 49.5 MEG for the installer alone!!!! Come one, it is even worse than ACDSee. I have not even bothered downloding it and i am not even considering installing such a soft on my computer.

iView a very slick, very effective, and simple to use. Really nice soft. If you are looking for very good piece of software, which does exactly what it is required to do in a very nice way, try Phoa. it is very nicely done, but there is few catch: now support for RAW yet, and you need few cliks to access the exif data. aprat from this it is superb and it is free.

dan

[J Rabin]

In my earlier comments, I did not state that iView has excellent support of Canon RAW, including rotation and ability to open in either PS CS ACR or Canon EOs Viewer.
Coming from a 35 mm slide shooting light table background, it was the superior quality of iView's thumbnail renderings that made me select it in addition to its slick accessible features other users noted above

As noted Extensis portfolio and iView and are both mature, crash proof, do as advertised products, similarly priced products that are updated, supported, and superior in speed in features to PS CS File Browser and Adobe Abobe Album and especially the ancient ACDSee. Far cheaper than Cumulus and other Unix based network managers.

[Maguzza]

I like IMatch (http://www.photools.com).

Lots of flexibility to assign categories, etc. It has an interface that was clearly designed by an actual user. There are lots of keyboard short cuts, the ability to customize the interface, and the like.

I looked at ACDSee and similar programs and was very unimpressed.

[autograff]

Go with iView.
I have been using it for the past couple of years and you can't beat it. It's designed for professional enviroment, espesially if you go with iView Media Pro.
You can download it and test drive it for a couple of weeks and see if you like it. And if after that period you decide, that you'll keep it, just go to the iView site and buy the licence and you'll be all set go. Also after 10-14 days you should receive actual box with Installer CD.
Good luck!

[Bodog]

Man, I'm not sure why everyone is knocking ACDSee. I can't imagine a more versatile image management app. From downloading RAW files, to converting formats, to color managed printing to burning CDs, it handles it all. I have over 20,000 images catalogued, most on offline CDs, and it doesn't even break a sweat finding what I want. v.7 is the one to get IMHO.

[tim]

I use a logical date based folder structure, folders for year, subfolders for month, subfolders for month, subfolders for date. I put a brief description of the event on the date label. I leave filenames as they come out of the camera. If anyone wants prints they give me the photo numbers. I have a good enough memory to be able to find photos in that structure.

I like ACDSee 5, but it has problems with CRW files - you can't hit + and have them zoom in. It doesn't seem to do CR2 at all.

Picasa 2 is very good given the price.