iMatch software

I recently received an email from a reader who has been using a program called iMatch -- a tool designed for both professionals and amateurs alike seeking to organize and archive a large image library.

While the program looks like it has real potential for its intended market, I'm not convinced that its limited networking capabilities would justify the shift from the "free" Bridge software. I'd be curious to know if anyone has had experience using this program on a relatively sophisticated network.

For more information you can find out more online at: http://www.photools.com/.

Adobe Lightroom 3's Bad English and Dubious Message

If you've visited this blog before you know that I'm a proponent of using Adobe Bridge as an inexpensive means of organizing and archiving a large image library. However, you might also recall that I use Adobe Lightroom as a way of verifying the files I've organized and uploaded to our server through Bridge (and as a way of perhaps anticipating the future direction of our organization).

Now, you'd think that with the gazillions of dollars Adobe makes they could hire people who code their programs with proper English -- but that nuisance aside, this is an error message that is simply pregnant with danger:

Here's where things can get a bit hazy if not downright confusing. The important thing here is to know which of the two settings is the newest -- if you choose wrong you could lose a fair amount of hard work not to mention the metadata.

Just be careful.

Guide to Using Bridge Workbook now available!

At long last I've finally proofed and published my little workbook on using Adobe Bridge to build and maintain a large image library.

Based on more than two years' worth of experience in building and maintain an image library of more than 140,000 photos shared and accessed by 18 users, this workbook is short but sweet with lots of room for you to jot down your own ideas as you review mine.

Any comments, suggestions or criticism would be most welcome and will likely make their way into the next version.

It's available from www.lulu.com.

Thanks for the support!

Adobe Drive 3 - a hint of the future?

I suppose this post is really for CS5 users. While I’m only testing CS5 on my personal machine – our organization has no immediate plans to upgrade form CS4 to CS5 anytime soon -- what little I’ve learned so far leads me to the tentative conclusion that this is little tool is worth a serious look.

Two caveats right up front:

1. As I said, this is for CS5 users only
2. This only seems to work if your image library sits in a box with a url

If you answer yes to both of these then Adobe Drive is something that, on the face of it, appears to solve at least a couple of issues: versioning and offline work.

One has to wonder if Adobe is angling to provide something resembling a full blown DAM but without the horrendous cost.

For more information you can stop by Adobe TV and check out the handy little intro tutorial by Terry White: http://tv.adobe.com/watch/adobe-evangelists-terry-white/adobe-drive-3/

Drive 3 appears to be free - for a download: http://www.adobe.com/products/adobedrive.html

Beware remapping Bridge on your PC

If you're on a PC and for some reason you have mapped to your image library server twice and get confused about which drive letter you're updating/reindexing, you need to stop, identify the more valuable of the two drives and delete the lesser of the two mapped drive letters. But you're still OK.

This problem doesn't seem to be an issue with Macs.

If, however, you have to remap to the image library the bad news is you will have to begin indexing all over again.

Sorry. Se vrais.

Recursive shmusrive

Although we use Bridge CS4 for our image library at work, I have recently upgraded my personal computer to Bridge CS5 to see what all the fuss was about. First off, there is no significant change between 4 and 5 and I see little reason to upgrade, particularly when you consider you will have to completely reindex your image library (and of course eventually purge your old CS4 cache to save space).

The Bridge interface is basically the same between versions 4 and 5, although now you can use what's called the MiniBridge which is a scaled-down version of the program sitting open while you're in Photoshop. Nice but not terrific.

One thing I have noticed -- and so far it's only happened on my desktop machine -- is an odd behavior that is both curious and frustrating. When I'm in an existing folder and want to (1) create a new subfolder or (2) change the name of the existing folder, I often (but not always) got the following message:

As I noted earlier,  this happens at random, with no apparent pattern -- and it doesn't happen all the time, which makes it curious. What's frustrating is that while this message is onscreen you can't do anything else in Bridge.

Any ideas?

Cache problem on Bridge CS4

As digital photo librarian one of my tasks is to keep Bridge on my four machines constantly indexed and updated: three have admin level and one a simple user level. I call these my benchmark machines since they are the ones by which I measure all the other users' machines in the department. Typically, they the most accurate and up-to-date for searching; they include two PCs and two Macs.

Back in July of this year, Bridge on one of my two benchmark Macs displayed the feared "purge the central cache" message:

There is no workaround and no alternative but to purge the central cache and completely reindex the machine from scratch.

Last Friday the same thing happened to my other benchmark Mac, a laptop.

And no, we don't know why this happens: the cache size remains at normal levels:44 gbs with 380k+ items (July) and 40 gbs with 306k+ items (September). No unusual activity at the server end and so far no one else in the department has experienced this problem. Of course, that last observation leads me to suspect that it does have something to do with cache size but this remains far from clear. and anyway, I've had a cache as large as 55 gbs on my laptop with no problems.

Oh and one other thing I've learned recently: Apple's Time Machine does not back up Bridge's caching system -- in fact it doesn't back up the User library's cache folder at all. Curious, eh?

"Error writing metadata to file"

I've talked about this problem early on in this blog since it started happening soon after the library went live some two years ago. And while it's not as catastrophic as a corrupted or damaged cache, it is still annoying and sometimes downright aggravating. I want to revisit the issue now because I've noticed a pattern of sorts and can't figure out what that means (if anything). Anyway, my hope is that someone reading this may have figured out what the problem is and how to fix it:

Here's what happens:

1. I go into a folder of images in our library on the server and select a block of images to modify the metadata. 
2. I make the metadata change(s), typically in either keywords or the description field.
3. Bridge begins to modify the files -- note that my files are usually sorted by filename (lowest to highest number) but Bridge commences its "retagging" from highest to lowest. 
4. It's at this point that Bridge appears to stall and soon brings up the above-noted error message on the first file; I click OK and the same thing happens with the next file; I click OK and then Bridge is off and running tagging all the remaining files just fine without any intervening error messages.
5. I then go back to retag the files that Bridge refused to tag, one-by-one, and the updating works just fine -- no error message.

The frustrating aspect of all this if you are trying to modify a large block of images and the error message keeps repeating there is no way out of the cycle other than to force quit Bridge (no "escape" if you will).

Oh and by the way if I attempt to modify the metadata in the search results window instead of the actual folder, more often than not I'll get the error message far more frequently and across more images in the selected group.

The problem has occurred

• with various file formats (but typically with JPG since those make up the bulk of our library)
• with few if any additional programs open (no pattern noticed)

I've noticed this on two benchmark (fully indexed) Macs:

• a desktop running Leopard 10.5.8 and 
• a laptop running SNow Leopard 10.6.8
• no, I haven't tried tested to see whether it occurs on a PC

Adobe Bridge and an image library - a case study

Every so often I get pinged with an email from someone seeking answers to one of life’s greatest puzzles: “How can Adobe Bridge help me build and maintain a large image library?” (Where’s Einstein or Darwin when you really need them, eh?)

Such queries always come from individuals who are serious, determined and totally perplexed by the task facing them: creating and maintaining a large photo library on the cheap. And such was the case with H____. With her permission I post our email conversation here, as a way of sharing her rather daunting predicament with those of you quite likely facing the same set of concerns. I should say that subsequently we had a long phone conversation that explored several follow-up points in greater depth.

“I have avidly been following your blog,” she wrote last week, “in which you describe the way in which you detail arranging a shared library via Adobe Bridge. I am doing a similar thing, but on a smaller scale and am reaching out to you for some guidance. I have a pretty good idea of what I am doing, but as I read your blog I recognized that there are certain pitfalls that I want to avoid and be prepared for - specifically with the cache and ensuring that all files maintain their metadata.”

In my follow-up email I asked six questions, to which she quickly replied:

1. How many individuals will be using Bridge? Bridge is going to be used by a handful of people - but with potential to be searched by more in the future. There is also the hope that people unfamiliar with Bridge or CS software would be able to search for images through spotlight (we’re all on Macs ).
2. What version of Bridge do you have? We are using Adobe Bridge CS5.
3. How many images do you have? The images right now are less than 10,000 but growing daily - I am aware of the limitations of Bridge - and at some point I am sure that a more robust and secure DAM system will be put in place - this system is to carry them over and make the workflow more manageable until then.
4. Do you have a keywording strategy in place? We have outlined a master keyword list. I consulted with those who have to use and search for photos daily, and their preference is simplicity and less is more - it will be imported into Bridge and modified as needed - however in testing it has proven to be a bit conflicting. I am in the midst of figuring that out - also the "Bridge Search" in the upper right hand corner is letting me down as it is not invoking hierarchy and will only allow a one-word search.
5. Is there an IT dept involved? IT is not involved....
6. Do you have a metadata gatekeeping policy? The gatekeeping policy will be more solid as the system comes to fruition - but in general only the people sourcing and dealing with images daily would be able to make adjustments- right now that is only 2 or 3 people.

Use these questions and compare your answers to the ones above.

As a postscript, I should note that one of the really crucial issues in this particular exchange concerns question no. 4: I wish that Adobe would remove that little search box in the upper right corner of the UI. It looks so much like the Mac finder and is too tempting to use. Bridge’s real strength lies in its incredibly robust search features accessed from “Edit>Find” from the main menu or “Command/Control+F” from the keyboard.

Otherwise, H____ is right on track. She has a solid plan in place, a good process in motion and a firm grasp of the strengths and weaknesses of Adobe Bridge.

Do you?

"Bridge encountered a problem. . . "

The moment we've all dreaded has arrived this morning. I turned on my computer, launched Bridge and straightaway saw this on my screen:

"Bridge encountered a problem and is unable to read the cache. Please try purging the central cache in Cache Preferences to correct the situation."

Before taking any action, however, I wanted to review my cache size: (User>Library>Cache>Adobe>BridgeCS4). I soon discovered that it consumed 44 gigabytes of space and contained slightly more than 364,000 items.  Since the maximum number of items allowed is 500,000, that didn't seem too extreme. However, I did notice that there were more than 1200 cached folders in the 256 thumb folder but more than 1300 folders in the 1024 preview folder. (Even though the image library contains only a fraction of that number of folders, I use Bridge for moving files/folders around and prepping images for their eventual migration to the photo library.)

The difference between the two numbers seemed a bit odd since both folders should be the exact same size. I wonder if the cache crashed simply because of the number of folders of cached items.

Whatever the root cause, this event reminded me of the importance of tracking Bridge's cache size -- and it would probably be wise to occasionally run the Optimize Cache in Preferences as well:

Bridge>Preferences>Cache>Optimize Cache.

Have you experienced similar problems?

Expression Media 2 now Media Pro 1 and Photoshop User Trashes Bridge

Expression Media 2 is gone, replaced by a totally redesigned program called Media Pro 1 -- and with it any support  for the older program as well. Phase One, who purchased EM2 from Microsoft last year, is selling an upgrade to the photo cataloging program for $59 for EM2 users ($69 for iView users). There can little doubt now that the "new" program is designed to integrate with the company's powerful Capture One RAW converter and image editing tool. A good deal for Phase One users and certainly a smart move from a corporate perspective to be sure -- but what about the rest of us?

I suspect future versions will quietly integrate into the Capture One system, eventually serving as their version of Adobe's Bridge product (but catalog-based, not browser-based). It just makes sense, after all. But if you don't use the entire package, well. . . .

Any thoughts?

So, the alternatives to Bridge get fewer and fewer.

And to top it off, in the latest issue of Photoshop User magazine (published by the National Association of Photoshop Professionals), under "NAPP Community," is a short note pointing the reader to www.photoshopuser.com where they will find "100 Ways Adobe Lightroom Kicks Bridge A$$ for Photographers." Think I'm joking? Check it out, with video tutorials no less.

Where is this leading, I wonder?

Using Adobe Lightroom 2 to catalog our library: backstory

While we have no immediate plans to migrate away from using Adobe Bridge CS4 to manage and maintain our image library, as I've noted in an earlier post we must be prepared for that eventuality. Bridge is not and has never been designed to allow easy access to such an enormous image library. That is has worked so far is a testament to the possibilities under the program (hint, hint Adobe) and to the willingness of our designers and writers to stay on top of reindexing their cache folders so that they may effectively search the image library.

OK, so why Lightroom? As I have said earlier, I tested Expression Media 2 last year and found it a very nice interface but have serious concerns about its future. Extensis Portfolio is too rigidly structured and allows little flexibility: one user,  three-user or enterprise-level configurations. I have experienced problems with their importing metadata from Adobe as well.

So, I tested importing our library into Lightroom 2  (1) to give me a complete visual record of what we have in the image library, (2) to allow me to work offline on tagging modifying image metadata and (3) to test whether a catalog-based system would work for us.

I should also say that setting permissions is, for us, the key selling point in any program. Working with our IT department we created a two-tiered permissions system for our present library: myself and three others on the team have admin access to the library, that is we can add, delete and modify files and metadata; everyone else who has access to the system can only read the files and in order to manipulate images must copy the files to their own machine.

Whether we can maintain the dual level of access to the library with a catalog-based system like we presently have with Bridge remains to be seen and tested.

Another consideration to bear in mind is that Lightroom 2 cannot import CMYK files -- but this problem has, I'm informed, been resolved in Lightroom 3. I'll soon be able to confirm this since I'm planning to upgrade to LR3 this next week.

Confusion at Phase One about Expression Media 2?

I just posted this on Peter Krough's DAM forum:

I had a disturbing conversation with one of the sales people at Phase One yesterday regarding EM2.

Backstory: I had called earlier in the day and left a voicemail at their generic sales number in the US explaining that i was looking for updated information on the future of EM2. I explained I was the digital photo librarian for a large university in New England and that we had been using Bridge CS4 for nearly two years to archive and share our large image library (140k+ photos among 18 workstations) and I felt the time was running out on using Bridge. After researching catalog software -- and spending no little amount of time with the DAM Book and here on the various fora -- I had tested EM2 on my own image archive last year and found it a very impressive tool indeed.

Unfortunately, the person from Phase One who called me back left me with the distinct impression that there is uncertainty underlying the future of the software. I had heard from an acquaintance here on my team that he suspected they were going to integrate EM2 into their Capture One software system -- which does make some sense I grant you.

Anyway, the fellow who called me -- horrible connection so I never did get his name right -- I asked if any future upgrade was planned and if so would it be free to existing users. At first he said, "The upgrade was supposed to have already happened," but then he backpedaled right away and said it was going to happen soon, and then probably pretty soon. . .  I asked if it would be free to existing users and he said there would be a fee charged then right away he said it might be free but there would perhaps be some kind of charge. I asked about new features in the "upgrade" and he finally admitted that he didn't really know anything about the future of the product and very little about the product itself.

Finally, I inquired about notification for updates and he said "check back on the website from time-to-time."

Well, you get the picture.

None of this was very reassuring about the future of EM2 as a standalone and certainly not for multiple users.

Lightroom Collections: the Big Drawback

Before discussing the nuts and bolts of using Lightroom 2 to catalog our photo library, I do want to mention one cautionary note about "collections."

While the ability to create collections or smart collections or "nested groupings" (a concept developed by Peter Krough in his superb DAM Book) is one of the most valuable features of Lightroom, sadly they cannot be shared between and among multiple users, not yet at any rate.

The important thing is that, as I understand it, catalogs can be shared among different users, and that's something we'll look into more closely in future postings.

A very brief review of cataloging software

No matter how well Bridge works right now, at some point it will no longer do what we want and expect it to do -- of course, it shouldn't be doing it now but it does. And for that we should be thankful.

But someday the image library will have to migrate to a program specifically designed to manage a large collection of photos, probably a catalog-based,  database software program that focuses on organizing and cataloging images and digital assets.

Adobe Lightroom, Apple's Aperture (Mac only), Expressions Media (Phase One) and Extensis Portfolio are four of the more well-known programs that also allow non-destructive image editing and offline workflow as well.

I should mention that hybrid programs such as Apple's iPhoto and Photoshop Elements both have cataloging and image adjustment features. However, iPhoto is Mac only and neither were really designed to handle the demands of large image libraries. iPhoto also lacks the more (much more) robust tagging, search and editing features required for anything other than the most basic of image collections.

For those of us in search of the holy grail of photo archiving, finding a resource that compares the wide variety of tools is scarce indeed. Fortunately, there is an excellent, albeit dated source on the Impulse Adventure website. There you can find a very helpful table comparing the various large- and small-scale programs. (You can also cut and paste this URL: http://www.impulseadventure.com/photo/flow-catalog-compare.html.)

For enterprise level collections (50k images on up) you would probably do well to consider cross-platform systems with robust cataloging features:

1. ACDSee Pro 4 (WIndows only) - $240
2. ACDSee Pro (Mac)  - $170
3. Expression Media 2 -  $200
4. FotoStation Pro - €489/$700
5. Lightroom (Adobe) - $300
6. Photo Mechanic - $150
7. Portfolio 8.5 (Extensis) - $200

All have trial versions with varying restrictions. I did not include Canton's Cumulus or Extensis Portfolio Server 9 since they apply to Workgroup and Enterprise levels and have an entirely different pricing structure (read: expensive).

Of course, licensing for large numbers of users will drive the costs up no matter which catalog program you settle on.

Anyway, last year I tested Expression Media 2 and Portfolio 8.5 (single user) products. My primary criterion was discovering how many image files could one catalog handle before it slowed to a crawl or simply stopped working altogether. Our unique situation requires that users in our creative group be able to search as many images as quickly as possible. It's pointless to create 10, or 30 or 50 or more catalogs since searching requires searching across ALL images, and not just selected catalogs. And searching across catalogs is not possible.

That's the challenge.

I spent some time with Expression Media 2 (before it was sold to Phase One) and found its features robust and catalogs responsive. I liked it's easy to learn and easy to use interface. Cataloging was not a problem and searching within catalogs seemed to work fine. Please note I only catalogued a fraction of our image library, however. The process at the time was simply too tedious and time-consuming.

Portfolio 8.5 also has a nice interface but I found the cataloging of our large library incredibly slow and the catalogs it did produce were often unresponsive in searching. In earlier tests with Portfolio I was disappointed in the program's handling of xmp metadata, particularly keywords created in Adobe programs.

I have to admit that my tests were by no means systematic and I never did catalog the entire library so your experience may be different.

I am presently finishing cataloging our entire library using Adobe Lightroom 2 and my next series of posts will focus on the ongoing lessons from that experience.

If you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to contact me: steve at steve soper dot com.

Have a great spring.

Smart Collections won't help reindexing

If you have a large photo library and are sharing it from a central server/hard drive among other creative team members (and why else would you be here, right?) then you already know what a hassle it is to continually and constantly have to reindex your images.

In our case we have a fairly simple folder hierarchy of (right now) 61 folders of images, each containing between 1-3k image files. But new metadata is added frequently to images and so not a week goes by when at least several folders have to be reindexed in order for each machine to be able to effectively and accurately search the entire library. But reindexing is time-consuming and is affected by the variety of workflows within the department. So, naturally this results is a fairly long process for some team members.

As a consequence, I'm always on the lookout for some workaround that might expedite the reindexing process and thought I had struck pay dirt with Smart Collections (SC).

Here's what happened:

Last week, for no particular reason, the question popped into my head that since SCs seemed smart enough to update itself automatically when an image with specific search criteria was added to the library, did it do this on its own without any further attention from my part? The short answer, for you spoiler fans, is no.

Anyway, my first thought (prayer really) when working with a SC the other day was, "Hey, maybe I can use this as a workaround for continually reindexing!" I ran a quick test by creating a new smart collection, then added an image to the library with the same search criteria and went back to the SC to see if it updated automatically.

No such luck.

I had to go in and reindex the folder where the test image resided and then sure it popped up just fine in the SC.

Two other rather unpleasant side notes: (1) They don't like lots of photos -- my SCs take several minutes to load each and every time I launch it. And (2) when going from one to another (with large number of files in each) and back again the SC selected always takes a long time to load, leading me to believe that the SCs are not indexed of course and wondering how/where Bridge stores these beasts.

Ciao for now

Using Collections to Manage Search Results in Bridge CS4

Using Bridge CS4 as the linchpin in our image library development has certainly made it much easier to both find and track specific images among more than 140,000 photos. But with our robust search and keywording strategy, searching can often produce many dozens or even hundreds (even thousands) of images.

The easiest way to manage such large searches -- particularly when you find yourself performing the same search again and again, is to create a collection out of the search results. And to make things easier, you can create a "smart" collection that will automatically update your collection when new images with specific metadata are added to the library.

To create a collection after you perform your search, select all the images you wish to use in the new collection.

Go to the collections panel and click either the "New Collection" or "New Smart Collection" icon at the bottom of the panel, give it a name and voila! That's it!

If you created a smart collection, each time an image or images are added to the library with the search criteria you used that image or those images will automatically be added to your collection.

Please note two important things:

1. collections cannot be shared
2. you must be connected to the image source to view the images in your collection (you cannot work offline)

Take care and good luck!

Image cataloging software: the browser approach

There are few low-cost database digital asset management systems available today, and with the growing trend toward cloud computing and storage that number is likely to decrease in the years to come.  Extensis Portfolio 8.5 (standalone), Adobe Lightroom 3, Apple Aperture 3 and Phase One EM2 are the only serious reasonably-priced DAM options available. But even those programs can become costly when you starting adding up the licensing fees for multiple users.

If you need to organize your organizations image collection and can't afford an enterprise-level digital asset management system  or  a catalog-based (i.e., database) program your best bet is a browser-driven program.

Perhaps the best known browser program is Adobe Bridge CS4 that ships with nearly all Adobe image editing and suite programs. Easy to set up and easy to use, Bridge is in some ways a more sophisticated "Finder" (for the Mac).

A stand-alone program, Bridge also possesses a very robust set of organizational tools. In fact, my browser of choice for the Johnson & Wales University image library is Bridge CS4.  But Bridge is not, as we discussed in a previous entry, a cataloging program, and as a result has several important drawbacks, particularly non-accessibility offline and the need to continually update the local cache.

Bridge is ideal  primarily for its ease of use, ubiquitous nature and of course cost (free). But it is, really, only a stopgap method for any large image collection. If you're using Bridge (like we are) you must start planning for the next phase in managing your image library. Given the nature of software Bridge will eventually reach its breaking point -- you need to be prepared for that eventuality.

Next: catalog or database software for image archiving.

Microsoft drops Expression Media 2 and Phase One picks it up

Just in case you didn't get the word last year:

On May 25, 2010, Microsoft announced that Phase One had acquired Expression Media 2 (EM2); as of August 25 Phase One took full control of customer support for the product.

Phase One is widely known for their high-end digital camera systems, digital backs and digital photo software and their acquisition of EM2 provides them with a robust and competent digital asset management program.

As of this writing, Expression Media 2 upgrade is selling on Amazon for a little over 80 bucks and the full product is available on the Phase One website for $199 (Windows and Mac versions available).

Next: I'll talk a bit about the handful of low-cost DAM programs available today.

Tweaking Photoshop to Save your Metadata

Well, I learned something about Photoshop and metadata recently and thought I would share it with you. For some this little thing may be no big deal but if you're keen on preserving metadata across users and platforms, if providing lo-rez images for 3rd-party vendors or to scattered staff where the need to view metdata might be crucial, then this little tip may help.

Oh, and this predicated on the idea that you're using Photoshop in prepping images for the web.

If you "Save for the Web" in Photoshop (keyboard: Option+Command+Shift+S), on the right side of the large  dialog box, directly above the Color Table is a drop-down menu for metadata. I believe that by default it is set to "Copyright and Contact Info" but don't quote me on that. Anyway, whatever the setting I suggest you set this to "All." It will stay that way by default until you manually change it to something else.

If you don't make this adjustment then none of the metadata embedded in any image you run through this feature of PS4 will be saved. And that's a fact.

Forewarned is forearmed. (Click on the screenshot to enlarge.)