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.