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In fact, placing an image inside a descriptively named folder amounts to a very rudimentary type of metadata an identifier that can be used to help locate the data stored in that folder. Metadata - literally data about your data - is vital to managing any collection of digital files. Instead of relying on a folder structure to sort your images you can manage your photos much more effectively by using keyword and EXIF metadata. This can work to your advantage as you only see the files you'd actually consider working with and don't have to bother wading through irrelevant files. #Lightroom keyword manager mac software#One under-appreciated aspect of the import process is that when you select a directory containing many different types of data, i.e., music files, spreadsheets or Word documents, the software filters out any file formats it does not support. This process, while it may seem an unnecessary step, is required in order to build a catalog of files made up exclusively of the images and videos you have deemed relevant. What all these database-driven apps have in common is that you have to explicitly import media files into the program, adding them to an app-specific catalog, which is the primary holder of all your image data. Point a browser-based app like Adobe Bridge (shown here) at a folder on your hard drive and you'll see everything that’s on the computer.īy contrast, the Lightroom Import dialog, pointed at the same folder, only shows the three JPEGs files located there. Adobe's entry, in the form of Lightroom, launched soon after. Extensis Portfolio was another option available, but it was the launch in 2005 of Aperture from Apple that showed how one could combine the power of a database with image editing tools to provide an all-in-one solution for photographers. The company behind it was acquired, first by Microsoft which renamed it Expression Media, but is now developed by Phase One and sold as Phase One Media Pro. One of the first and most well-known was iView Media Pro. Sound familiar?ĭatabase management programs designed specifically for photographs were developed to tame such chaos. Meanwhile, the audience waits impatiently while the instructor sifts through a complex hierarchy structure of folders known only to himself. I can't count the number of times I have sat through a seminar where the instructor has come unstuck when relying on folder/browser navigation to locate their demo files. #Lightroom keyword manager mac pro#Using digital asset management software such as Phase One Media Pro or Lightroom, however, there is no need to create physical duplicates. In the folder-based example I mentioned above this could involve duplicating the master image several times. It makes sense to categorize this by the location it was shot in, the presence of a diver, as well as the coral featured in the foreground. Here is an example of an underwater photo (in this instance a photo shot by Jeff Schewe). Yet there are people who work this way with digital files precisely because they are not using a database-driven management system. ![]() This physical duplication was necessary in order to make the library system work effectively, but no one would call it efficient. When adding new transparencies, he would have dupes made so that a photograph of say, a diver with a shark could be filed in one set of physical folders labeled ‘sharks’, another named ‘divers’ and another broken down by ‘location’. Someone once told me about an underwater photographer who maintained a small photo library of his work. For all their admittedly useful features, they simply browse the existing folder structure on your hard drive.Īnd my chief complaint about sorting images by folders is the very real problem of determining just which folder they should go in. Yet this is exactly how image browser software, like Adobe Bridge operate. This file directory management approach may make sense with task-specific Word documents but becomes extremely limiting when applied to large collections of less easily-defined images. ![]() ![]() #Lightroom keyword manager mac Pc#database managerĪs computer users who've come of age during the PC revolution, we have grown accustomed to the idea that everything needs to be sorted into folders, and indeed folder hierarchies have become the primary means of organization. In this article I'll lay out the basic principles of image management in Lightroom and explain how this approach can actually make the task of locating your images more efficient. One of the most common questions I'm asked about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom from new (and sometimes not so new) users is, 'Why do you have to import photos to the catalog first before you are able to edit them?' The answer to this question goes right to the heart of Lightroom's approach to information storage and retrieval, which to my mind more adequately addresses the needs of today's photographer. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom is built atop a database architecture that relies on a centralized catalog to house information about your still images and video files. ![]()
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