Please recommend an image reference system.

[gavinlg]

Lightroom does everything better than most.

[fidget]

Thanks for your help guys.
I don't want to pay for a new editing suite when all I want is the organiser bit.

I loaded up "Windows live photo gallery". It will allow the creation of image collections for uploading to some of websites, which is where the "live" comes from, I think. It also has some basic editing features. I didn't want any of these.
It is pretty well spot-on what I wanted in a simple and flexible database/search system.
It will allow images to be appended with a rating (0 to 5) stars, keywords and a caption.
Images can be searched as a rating alone or as a character string within the directory name, file name (inc extension), keywords and caption (all of these simultaneously).

Raw files supported (browsing) with the downloading of codecs.

Looks to be simple enough for me! (and free).

Dave

[sepiareverb]

Originally Posted by Phantomas

I tried and couldn't get along with LR, although I do see advantages and would also recommend it. I just got used too much to Bridge+Photoshop combo and found the library system uncomfortable (mostly due to working and transfering files between a couple of machines). But do give LR a try. It's also excelent/straightforward for RAW editing.

+1 for me. I really like Bridge, as do I like Photoshop. One can make collections in Bridge, lots of them, so getting to images can be pretty easy. Lots of metadata options also, so as long as you're somewhat diligent in doing something more than just dropping the pictures onto a hard drive they can be found. Bridge is quite a program once one takes the time to learn what it can do.

I have a filing system based on my years of analog shooting, and it has served me well- Bridge does make it easier to find digital images than some analog ones tho.

Lightroom is very good also, but I just don't get along with the tools like I do in PS. I have several colleagues who won't go back to PS from Lightroom.

[Richard G]

Johan, is wrapping negatives in A4 really OK? Does it have to be some particular paper, like acid-fee...? I really like the look of your system, physical and digital.

[majid]

Since you're on Windows, Lightroom or IMatch. You want a keyword-based system that supports hierarchical keywords. Here's how I did it back when I still used Windows:
http://majid.info/blog/image-categor...t-with-imatch/
http://majid.info/blog/another-guide...-imatch-users/

I would really reconsider Lightroom if I were you. The power of the LR workflow is simply unbeatable on Windows, only Aperture on Macs comes close.

[cabbiinc]

Earlier I stated that Bibble was now bought by Corel and renamed AfterShot Pro. Well I tried it for a while and I've got to say that's the worst program I've ever tried to edit images on. To say it's unintuitive is an understatement. I've never tried any of the competition, LightRoom or the like, but I'm pretty disgusted with ASP. It's painful to use.

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I don't like using editing software like lightroom or aperture for catalogues. They really are not designed for that, and will get pretty unwieldy when you get to where I am, with thousands of images that you frequently search when someone buys one and needs a print made or a file prepared for a licensed use.

I use Microsoft Expression Media, which used to be iView MediaPro. Its now sold by Phase One under a different name. This is designed just for cataloging. You put the files where you want on whatever internal or external drives you want, and import them into the program's database. They aren't moved, it just makes a thumbnail and a larger preview that get stored in the DB.

It automatically imports your keywords and descriptions, and other file info data you input in Photoshop, Lightroom, or whatever when you edited the image. It can do RAW as well as JPEGs and Tiffs.

You can create categories to put images in and an image can be in more than one category if you want. This doesn't affect the original files, its just for organizing the catalog. Searching for an image by keyword or title is FAST. When you need the original file to print or edit again, it opens the Mac finder or Windows explorer with the original file highlighted for you! The best catalog I have tried for professional use and I think I have tried them all). It does one thing and does it right, without a bunch of other crap to get in the way.

[astro8]

Originally Posted by Chriscrawfordphoto

I don't like using editing software like lightroom or aperture for catalogues. They really are not designed for that,and will get pretty unwieldy when you get to where I am, with thousands of images. I use Microsoft Expression Media, which used to be iView MediaPro. Its now sold by Phase One under a different name. This is designed just for cataloging. You put the files where you want on whatever internal or external drives you want, and import them into the program's database. They aren't moved, it just makes a thumbnail and a larger preview that get stored in the DB. It automatically imports your keywords and descriptions, and other file info data you input in Photoshop, Lightroom, or whatever when you edited the image. It can do RAW as well as JPEGs and Tiffs. You can create categories to put images in and an image can be in more than one category if you want. This doesn't affect the original files, its just for organizing the catalog. Searching for an image by keyword or title is FAST. When you need the original file to print or edit again, it opens the Mac finder or Windows explorer with the original file highlighted for you! The best catalog i have tried for professional use and I think I have tried them all). It does one thing and does it right, without a bunch of other crap to get in the way.

+1

Yes Chris, Thorsten Overgaard also recommends this for the same reasons you've stated.