Inspired by a recent online posting by Lone Digital Librarian (on our wikispaces discussion page) talking about the new Mac OS Lion and the potential search features in Spotlight, I ran a test using Snow Leopard (which is what I have on my Mac).
Assuming your image library is fully indexed in Bridge, here's what you might find. I navigated to the little Spotlight search box in the upper right corner of Bridge and typed in a word (and only one word), "classroom." A few minutes later I had my search results, and it wasn't pretty.
Now I had run tests using Spotlight early on in this project and knew that the search feature was weak to say the least. This time I learned something else, where the limitation rests. Apparently when you type in a word it searches for the word in filenames and keywords and will return those images tagged accordingly. This does not appear to be adjustable.
Oh, and if you type in a word followed by a comma and a second search criterion, Spotlight from within Bridge will search for that combination (i.e., word, comma, word). Not good either.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Lightroom or Bridge?
Adob Photoshop guru Julieanne Kost discusses the pros and cons of using Bridge or Lightroom
Friday, January 20, 2012
Daminion archiving software
I received an email the other day from Murat Korkmazov, the business development director of Daminion Software, an archiving program touted as being designed as a "low-cost alternative for the needs of the small team."
I visited the website and must say I was impressed with the ease of navigating the site and the robust set of features of the product were equally attractive. They also have a server version as well. Finally, the pricing seemed too good to be true -- with deep discounts for education departments.
OK, so did I download a demo and give it a test run?
Nope.
Unfortunately, Daminion is a Windows-only program, which seems a bit odd since most professional photographers I know and certainly most design departments in this neck of the woods run on and around Macs. But Daminion is a Russian company which might partially explain the Windows-only requirement -- due to cost and ease of acquisition, many computer users outside the US and Canada have come to rely on the cheapness and accessibility of PCs driven by Windows.
In any case, according to Murat they have no plans for producing a Mac version anytime soon.
Whatever the reason, it's too bad because this program looked pretty good -- the UI that I could see from the screen shots reminded me a bit of the old Expression Media 2 -- a wonderful catalog-driven archiving program now iterating under the name of Media Pro at Phase One. Plus it was loaded with a ton of features that just cried out to be tested.
I'm providing a link to the company's site -- or you can cut 'n paste the URL if you prefer: http://daminion.net/ in hopes that someone may test it out and let us know if this is a reasonable compromise between Bridge and a full blown DAM.
And best of luck to Murat and his colleagues in Stavropol, Russia.
Oh, and one final word: they do have offices in Seattle, WA and Vancouver, BC.
I visited the website and must say I was impressed with the ease of navigating the site and the robust set of features of the product were equally attractive. They also have a server version as well. Finally, the pricing seemed too good to be true -- with deep discounts for education departments.
OK, so did I download a demo and give it a test run?
Nope.
Unfortunately, Daminion is a Windows-only program, which seems a bit odd since most professional photographers I know and certainly most design departments in this neck of the woods run on and around Macs. But Daminion is a Russian company which might partially explain the Windows-only requirement -- due to cost and ease of acquisition, many computer users outside the US and Canada have come to rely on the cheapness and accessibility of PCs driven by Windows.
In any case, according to Murat they have no plans for producing a Mac version anytime soon.
Whatever the reason, it's too bad because this program looked pretty good -- the UI that I could see from the screen shots reminded me a bit of the old Expression Media 2 -- a wonderful catalog-driven archiving program now iterating under the name of Media Pro at Phase One. Plus it was loaded with a ton of features that just cried out to be tested.
I'm providing a link to the company's site -- or you can cut 'n paste the URL if you prefer: http://daminion.net/ in hopes that someone may test it out and let us know if this is a reasonable compromise between Bridge and a full blown DAM.
And best of luck to Murat and his colleagues in Stavropol, Russia.
Oh, and one final word: they do have offices in Seattle, WA and Vancouver, BC.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
A window into Bridge's limits - or the corrupt cache issue, again
Well, it happened again: the dreaded “Bridge has a problem reading the cache. Purge the central cache.”
This has now happened twice on the G5 tower (my primary benchmark machine). Both times the cache had reached nearly identical size: 44gb, 364k+ items. the first time and 43gb, 352k+ items the second time.
Although a pattern seems to be emerging, it should be noted that the third time this happened was on my Macbook Pro and the size was somewhat smaller: 40gb, 298k+ items.
While we can't determine what this means with any degree of certainty, it just might indicate what the top end limits are in using Bridge.
Still. . . it pays to watch your cache levels carefully and optimize as needed (command/control + K in Bridge preferences)
This has now happened twice on the G5 tower (my primary benchmark machine). Both times the cache had reached nearly identical size: 44gb, 364k+ items. the first time and 43gb, 352k+ items the second time.
Although a pattern seems to be emerging, it should be noted that the third time this happened was on my Macbook Pro and the size was somewhat smaller: 40gb, 298k+ items.
While we can't determine what this means with any degree of certainty, it just might indicate what the top end limits are in using Bridge.
Still. . . it pays to watch your cache levels carefully and optimize as needed (command/control + K in Bridge preferences)
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Discussion forum is up on wikispaces
Just to the right of this post you'll notice a link to the new discussion forum on wikispaces. Once you click on the link and land on the forum just click on "Recent changes" on the left side bar menu and voila! We can continue our dialogue about image archiving solutions - please note that I'll still be posting here as well.
Let me know if you have problems accessing or posting.
Anyway, we'll give this go -- thanks for the idea "Anonymous" -- and see how well it works!
Let me know if you have problems accessing or posting.
Anyway, we'll give this go -- thanks for the idea "Anonymous" -- and see how well it works!
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Which image archiving option to use? part 2
In my last post I started reproducing a dialogue that began as a series of comments between myself and a reader but on an older post. The dilemma "Anonymous" raised, over which image archiving tool is the best, affects more than just the two of us and our respective organizations.
Any suggestions or comments you might have by all means jump into the conversation!
I have included the latest reply from Anonymous (January 6) as well as my response:
I've had some time to actually discuss a bigger picture of what's going to be needed with the department professionals and the list of needs has left me a bit concerned that we may need something made? Keep in mind this is a for-profit company. I'm not too certain about what product could achieve all of the following:
It is also important to note that I am a staff of one for this particular function, with limited programming history and a Mac OS to work around.
Like you, I'm a staff of one with limited technical background and although I use both a PC and a Mac as benchmark machines to maintain the library, virtually everyone else with access to the library uses a Mac.
Looking over your bullet list above, I would have to say that, with a couple of possible exceptions, Bridge can pretty much accomplish all those tasks.
Having said that, the key deciding factor for our organization -- and from conversations I had with other readers here I sense we're not alone -- the key factor is cost. Bridge is free (or nearly so). And there's also the learning curve: many designers, for us the most likely users of an image library, have some familiarity with the software already.
OK, so any thoughts?
Any suggestions or comments you might have by all means jump into the conversation!
I have included the latest reply from Anonymous (January 6) as well as my response:
I've had some time to actually discuss a bigger picture of what's going to be needed with the department professionals and the list of needs has left me a bit concerned that we may need something made? Keep in mind this is a for-profit company. I'm not too certain about what product could achieve all of the following:
- -Intranet systems for internal information use
- -Simple template input portal for uploading, labeling, and tagging images.
- -Database look ups for linked images across multiple programs (ex: inDesign)
- -Simple search portal to narrow down images and permit more in the way of browsing capabilities.
- -Use of multiple search terms for searching directly.
- -A bulk file rename utility.
- -There is also a want for something like an OPAC for use within the company to find both images and books within the company library.
It is also important to note that I am a staff of one for this particular function, with limited programming history and a Mac OS to work around.
Like you, I'm a staff of one with limited technical background and although I use both a PC and a Mac as benchmark machines to maintain the library, virtually everyone else with access to the library uses a Mac.
Looking over your bullet list above, I would have to say that, with a couple of possible exceptions, Bridge can pretty much accomplish all those tasks.
- We use it on a network
- Photo downloader is a handy little tool for importing and applying metadata templates to images straight from a camera or memory card
- While it's not a database, Bridge can certainly search across various file formats -- if I understand you correctly
- It's search features are pretty easy to use -- of course much depends upon the keywording and search strategies developed to access images in the library - I do agree that bridge has limitations here to be sure
- Bridge's search features are quite robust and allow for multiple metadata searching
- Bridge CS4 has a handy bulk renaming feature, which has been significantly enhanced in CS5
- I'm a bit unclear here on exactly what you have in mind here -- but again, if the "book" is in a file format that can be tagged and if the item has been tagged properly, Bridge should be able to find it.
Having said that, the key deciding factor for our organization -- and from conversations I had with other readers here I sense we're not alone -- the key factor is cost. Bridge is free (or nearly so). And there's also the learning curve: many designers, for us the most likely users of an image library, have some familiarity with the software already.
OK, so any thoughts?
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Which image archive option to use?
I've had a running conversation with a reader on one of my older blog posts about the dilemma we all face in trying to come up with the right option for creating and using a large image library. Since the issues raised touch at the very heart of what many of us are faced with, I thought I would share them.
January 4 Anonymous asked: In your opinion, would a product like Extensis Portfolio work as an extension of Adobe Bridge?
My response: On the face of it yes, Bridge can pretty much function as an extension of any database cataloging program.
Are you planning on sharing your image library among multiple users? If so, I believe Extensis Portfolio has a number of limitations in that regard -- they want multiple users to upgrade to their vastly more expensive Portfolio Server system I suppose).
Still, using a browser program like Bridge with a DB program like Portfolio in tandem should not be ruled out.
For example, I use Adobe Lightroom 3 as a file verification tool for our school's digital image library. But since no one else has the program we can't share catalogs -- which would be ideal, of course.
Anyway, you can use a program like Portfolio along with Bridge but I would suggest you test out the metadata copying and synching between the two programs. thoroughly before making any serious commitment.
Ultimately, though, I might suggest you go with one or the other and reduce your workflow while keeping your costs reasonable and making your life simpler.
Anonymous said: Well, I have a large volume of images (100,000+ with new ones daily/weekly) in a corporate setting where the images need to be accessible to over 20 people. We're working with macs, so I'm trying to find something simple that performs a better search than spotlight or the bridge program itself. I was considering Asset Bank as another option to work within our server, since we don't need to make the images accessible to clients or the public. These were the package options I'd seen. http://www.assetbank.co.uk/product/packages/ Third Light also looks like an option, but I'm a bit unsure where to go.
I replied: Like you we also have a large image library ( more than 153K photos) shared by 16 workstations (all but two Macs).
Regarding the options noted, comparing Bridge to either Assetbank or Third Light is a bit like comparing apples to dirigibles: Bridge is a simple straightforward browser program while other two are mega-expensive, server-based systems (like Portfolio Server) and frankly way out of our price range. Like you, we just need to share among the tight department so keeping our costs down is primary right now.
In fact, that's what drove us to initially test out the viability and reliability of Bridge in the first place: it's free, or rather it comes with Adobe's Creative Suite of programs used by all our designers and writers. And, while it's a space hog (for the cache), slow to search sometimes (OK, most of the time), we have found it does work nonetheless.
But I'd be curious to hear more about what you decide to do -- and I'm sure there are others who pop by here every so often who might be keen on hearing about how to resolve your nagging dilemma.
To be continued. . .
January 4 Anonymous asked: In your opinion, would a product like Extensis Portfolio work as an extension of Adobe Bridge?
My response: On the face of it yes, Bridge can pretty much function as an extension of any database cataloging program.
Are you planning on sharing your image library among multiple users? If so, I believe Extensis Portfolio has a number of limitations in that regard -- they want multiple users to upgrade to their vastly more expensive Portfolio Server system I suppose).
Still, using a browser program like Bridge with a DB program like Portfolio in tandem should not be ruled out.
For example, I use Adobe Lightroom 3 as a file verification tool for our school's digital image library. But since no one else has the program we can't share catalogs -- which would be ideal, of course.
Anyway, you can use a program like Portfolio along with Bridge but I would suggest you test out the metadata copying and synching between the two programs. thoroughly before making any serious commitment.
Ultimately, though, I might suggest you go with one or the other and reduce your workflow while keeping your costs reasonable and making your life simpler.
Anonymous said: Well, I have a large volume of images (100,000+ with new ones daily/weekly) in a corporate setting where the images need to be accessible to over 20 people. We're working with macs, so I'm trying to find something simple that performs a better search than spotlight or the bridge program itself. I was considering Asset Bank as another option to work within our server, since we don't need to make the images accessible to clients or the public. These were the package options I'd seen. http://www.assetbank.co.uk/product/packages/ Third Light also looks like an option, but I'm a bit unsure where to go.
I replied: Like you we also have a large image library ( more than 153K photos) shared by 16 workstations (all but two Macs).
Regarding the options noted, comparing Bridge to either Assetbank or Third Light is a bit like comparing apples to dirigibles: Bridge is a simple straightforward browser program while other two are mega-expensive, server-based systems (like Portfolio Server) and frankly way out of our price range. Like you, we just need to share among the tight department so keeping our costs down is primary right now.
In fact, that's what drove us to initially test out the viability and reliability of Bridge in the first place: it's free, or rather it comes with Adobe's Creative Suite of programs used by all our designers and writers. And, while it's a space hog (for the cache), slow to search sometimes (OK, most of the time), we have found it does work nonetheless.
But I'd be curious to hear more about what you decide to do -- and I'm sure there are others who pop by here every so often who might be keen on hearing about how to resolve your nagging dilemma.
To be continued. . .
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