tcadwall
03-28-2007, 08:16 AM
Image Management.
I have recently started using iMatch.
1) My collection of images has grown.
2) My organization of images has started to become less than effective
3) My online (available primary hard drive space) storage space is getting low and I need to make some images off-line but still keep track of them.
4) I find most photo albumn software very limiting, and feeling like 'freebie grade'
5) I wanted to be able to integrate with Bibble, or whatever other editing software I use, or may use in the future.
6) Must be able to work (preview) with .nef files.
Enter Photools iMatch.
At this stage it would be unfair for me to do a full review of the product, and it would be redundant, in that there are several resources available for you to read and they are quite accurate.
Initial thoughts though:
Not the most confusing, and NOT the easiest tool to use. It is however, the most powerful tool available. My advice - read the tutorial first (before using).
I love the way you can (after catalogging your images) tell iMatch that you are burning / have burned a group of images to xxxx cd or dvd. Then iMatch will make sure it has preview shots of those images, and allows you to remove the originals from the hard drive. Whenever you want to access the original (later) iMatch will tell you which CD/DVD to pull out of the drawer and place in the tray. Then it will load the image for you. If you have it configured properly it will open the image in your editor of choice. (haven't done this yet, but will be doing it soon)
The tutorial will tell you to do a test first. Use one folder, and add those images to the database (it is nicely wizard driven, but not the easiest to understand what is being asked of you - did I mention read the tutorial first?)
If you like the way your images are importing, and feel you have done a good initial test load, load the rest of your images. I recommend (after NOT doing it this way) that you load a folder at a time. This makes it much easier to handle.
The software allows (and actually includes a development environment for) you to create your own scripts. This can do wonders to automate your workflow, correct settings you may have utilized incorrectly on load, etc. The scripting uses vbScript, so if you have much experience at all in programming or in scripting microsoft products (excel, word, access, etc) you will find this easy and powerful. The negatives- 1) if you don't know what you are doing you can really screw things up with that kind of power. 2) if #1 is true, and you download an evil script, you could open your computer up for viruses, and other damage - scripting is no joke.
The software is EXTREMELY affordable.
Searching for a group of images is EXTREMELY easy, and even MORE powerful than it is easy. Make your own searches! REALLY.
It allows easy hierarchal categories, supports IPTC editing, file paring, associating, etc. Unbelieveable list of features really. I can only scratch the surface at this point.
OVERALL:
If you have any programming experience and have a large collection of images, this is for you. Even if you don't have programming experience this could very well be a great tool for you.
REFERENCES:
Photools: http://www.photools.com/index.php
LL Review: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/software/Imatch.shtml
Wiki available Scripts: http://wiki.photoolsweb.com/index.php?title=Category:Scripts
I have recently started using iMatch.
1) My collection of images has grown.
2) My organization of images has started to become less than effective
3) My online (available primary hard drive space) storage space is getting low and I need to make some images off-line but still keep track of them.
4) I find most photo albumn software very limiting, and feeling like 'freebie grade'
5) I wanted to be able to integrate with Bibble, or whatever other editing software I use, or may use in the future.
6) Must be able to work (preview) with .nef files.
Enter Photools iMatch.
At this stage it would be unfair for me to do a full review of the product, and it would be redundant, in that there are several resources available for you to read and they are quite accurate.
Initial thoughts though:
Not the most confusing, and NOT the easiest tool to use. It is however, the most powerful tool available. My advice - read the tutorial first (before using).
I love the way you can (after catalogging your images) tell iMatch that you are burning / have burned a group of images to xxxx cd or dvd. Then iMatch will make sure it has preview shots of those images, and allows you to remove the originals from the hard drive. Whenever you want to access the original (later) iMatch will tell you which CD/DVD to pull out of the drawer and place in the tray. Then it will load the image for you. If you have it configured properly it will open the image in your editor of choice. (haven't done this yet, but will be doing it soon)
The tutorial will tell you to do a test first. Use one folder, and add those images to the database (it is nicely wizard driven, but not the easiest to understand what is being asked of you - did I mention read the tutorial first?)
If you like the way your images are importing, and feel you have done a good initial test load, load the rest of your images. I recommend (after NOT doing it this way) that you load a folder at a time. This makes it much easier to handle.
The software allows (and actually includes a development environment for) you to create your own scripts. This can do wonders to automate your workflow, correct settings you may have utilized incorrectly on load, etc. The scripting uses vbScript, so if you have much experience at all in programming or in scripting microsoft products (excel, word, access, etc) you will find this easy and powerful. The negatives- 1) if you don't know what you are doing you can really screw things up with that kind of power. 2) if #1 is true, and you download an evil script, you could open your computer up for viruses, and other damage - scripting is no joke.
The software is EXTREMELY affordable.
Searching for a group of images is EXTREMELY easy, and even MORE powerful than it is easy. Make your own searches! REALLY.
It allows easy hierarchal categories, supports IPTC editing, file paring, associating, etc. Unbelieveable list of features really. I can only scratch the surface at this point.
OVERALL:
If you have any programming experience and have a large collection of images, this is for you. Even if you don't have programming experience this could very well be a great tool for you.
REFERENCES:
Photools: http://www.photools.com/index.php
LL Review: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/software/Imatch.shtml
Wiki available Scripts: http://wiki.photoolsweb.com/index.php?title=Category:Scripts