image file managers

[KCook]

ZoomBrowser is cute. But I am looking for a manager that is a little more serious. However, too cheap for Cumulus, etc. Here is my shortlist -

Ai Picture Explorer

BR PhotoArchiver

ImageWalker

PhotoPhilia

Smart Pix

Ulead Photo Explorer

So are any of these dogs? Serious user support would be nice. Looking for solid database cataloging, not image editing bells and whistles (I already have the full Photoshop).

Thanx for any comments,
Kelly Cook
Arizona

[Roger_Cavanagh]

Kelly,

Can't comment on the stuff on your short list, but have you looked at ThumbsPlus from ww.cerious.com and iMatch from www.photools.com.

I use ThumbsPlus in preference to iMatch, which has more complexity than I need.

Regards,

[KCook]

Thanks for the quick reply. I looked at both web sites. Both would no doubt get the job done. But I would like to stay under $40 here.

Sorry to be so cheap!
Kelly

PS - Important - Anybody who E-mails me instead please POST A NOTICE here first. So I will expect the E-mail, as I habitually delete all E-mail from unknown sources. Thanks, Kelly

[jboyd]

I am new to all of this stuff, but I use Photoshop Album to manage my photos. Actually, many you mention are unfamiliar to me. I just got my G3 and PS Album at the same time. And, it was only $49.

[KCook]

Thanks for the tip on Photoshop Album. My copy of Photoshop was bundled with a scanner. Unfortunately this did not include Photoshop Album. Since the above posts I have gone ahead and downloaded BR's PhotoArchiver. Looks Ok so far. Will post more after I get a little experience with it.

Kelly

[JohnnyE]

You may want to pick up the March 11, 2003 issue of PC Magazine. It has a good comparison article on all the top Image File Managers. It even has MSRP for them.

[KCook]

I'm not a regular reader of PC World, so thanks for the tip. If you mean this article -

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,109093,00.asp

It covers only 3 managers. I was surprised at how many different managers there are when I seached the usual download sites.

Kelly

[JohnnyE]

My mistake: I meant to say PC magazine.
www.pcmag.com/imagemanagement. There are reviews on about 20 of them.

[oregonzs]

check out a free demo of PhotoLibrary at
http://WWW.PhotoLibrarySoftware.COM/

and the Open Directory which has a list of Image Management Software at
http://dmoz.org/Computers/Software/Graphics/Image_Cataloguing/

See these Reviews too.
http://www.naturephotographers.net/dfs0202-1.html

http://www.photosource.com/tools/software/

[KCook]

Thanx for the links guys! So far I am fairly impressed with the BRs PhotoArchiver that I downloaded. Will post more when I know more.

Kelly

[Ziggy]

On the other hand, if you don't need the sophistication of some of the examples given above, or don't want to spend the money, try Vallen Jpegger

http://www.vallen.de/freeware/index.html

It's great for viewing, slideshows, thumbnails and can also be included on CDs for distribution. Also supports drag and drop, rotation and flipping, and prints, including "proof sheets" of thumbnails.

and best of all it's FREE. Much more practical than Zoombrowser.

ZiggyAlso forgot to mention that Jpegger manages MP3 files as well!

Z

[relux]

Hey all, I have been looking around also. Have not tried Adobe's new product yet. However I have found that ACDSee 5 has been the best for me so far.... Just another option out there.

[KCook]

Very nice web site there for ACDSee. Looks like that one does a good job of covering all the bases. Minimum system requirement is Win98. My old box is still running Win95, so I was not able to take ACDSee seriously.

Really surprised me as to just how many different managers are out there for downloads. I wonder how many digital photographers actually use these?

Kelly

[bronxnla]

I have 3 Canon cameras that I have started to shhot in RAW formats: 1D, 10D (just got), and Powershot s50. I have lots of photos but would like to organize them and catalog them and view the catalogs as thumbnails. many of the programs refereed to above do not support Canon RAW files. What is the name of a good program that supports this format from these programs?

I have Breeze Browser and Yarcs Plus and I can convert the photos but I like to catalog the images as RAW and only convert when printing.

[CyberDyneSystems]

ACDsee is showing all my RAW files I take with the 10D. ACDSee can not edit them however.

[oregonzs]

check out a free demo of PhotoLibrary at
http://www.PhotoLibrarySoftwaRE.COM/

and the Open Directory which has a list of Image Management Software at
http://dmoz.org/Computers/Software/Graphics/Image_Cataloguing/

See these Reviews too.
http://www.naturephotographers.net/dfs0202-1.html

http://www.photosource.com/tools/software/

[benca1]

KCook wrote:
Very nice web site there for ACDSee. Looks like that one does a good job of covering all the bases. Minimum system requirement is Win98. My old box is still running Win95, so I was not able to take ACDSee seriously.
Kelly


That cracked me up! I don't believe there's ANY development anywhere that addresses anything for Windows95!

But. I'll bet money that ACDSee works in Windows 95 anyway. They just do not want to support it, nor do they want to be liable for anyone losing any data. Upgrading to Windows98 on old hardware even would be a very good decision. In my opinion...

[jonken2000]

You shouldn't be greedy when selecting your image management tool! Why? Because you will most likely be stuck with it for a long long time when you have added all your photos into the database.

Do your homework and evaluate numerous programs before you select the tool that suits you best. I ended up with IMatch because you can use regular expression to search, it handles RAW format and I like the structure of the category assignment and file handling.

[KCook]

benca1 - Always happy to supply a laugh. It does seem that there is plenty of Win98 software which still runs on Win95. But the developer just doesn't want to screw with Win95 level support. Yeah, my next box will have the latest, greatest version of Windows. Just as soon as Bill Gates figures out what that is.

jonken2000 - Excellent points. When selecting a manager I was shooting for strong file data handling, not image bells-and-whistles. Fortunately, my Canon A40 is happy with the old JPG format, so I did not have the RAW requirement. Your IMatch does seem to be more sophisticated than my PhotoArchiver. Example, both have categories, but on IMatch they can be nested. With PhotoArchiver, all categories are on one level. I am very happy with PhotoArchiver so far. Their support has been superb, even for Win95.

Kelly