Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/10/10
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I've been using Extensis Portfolio 5.0 and 6.0 for several years now... Whether or not it is the best, I don't know... but it works very well for me... I have probably around 19,000 images in my main catalog of archived images for distribution... a second catalog of a couple of thousand to be archived, sitting on my raid drives that I need to edit, adjust and archive... and a third catalog of another 15,000 raw files and odd psd and jpg files of stuff that I don't want to discard... but don't want to have to wade through on a regular basis, in a secondary archive system... Portfolio allows me to search through multiple catalogs for things... and you can quickly sort and copy entries from one catalog to another etc... If someone asks me for a catalog of all health care related photos... I can generate one in a couple of minutes.... I make 3 copies of every cd I archive... 1 copy goes to our HQ in the US.... one goes in a metal file cabinet never to be touched and the 3rd is my working copy... I had been using Kodak Gold cd's but since those are long gone and I'm about out... I'm switching to Mitsui or Mam-a Gold Archive cds. I also use portfolio 6.0 to generate html based catalogs that we have on our LAN... and whenever I photograph someone or an event where I give them a cd, or cds.... I include a linked thumbnail catalog and browser software they can use to view the images quickly.... So it Portfolio offers a lot of useful options... The trick to using organizing files easily in the digital file realm... in my opinion.... is renaming files as you add them... I start with a 3 letter subject code or something so you can sort them by subject quickly... in my case.. HVQ is Hospital Vozandes Quito, EMN Ecuadorian Mountains... EAN Ecuadorian Animals etc etc.etc..... Portfolio 6.0 has a nice function where you can rename things... splitting them into 3 parts... I use a three letter subject code... a 4 digit sequential number ( you can start numbering anywhere, like at 1400 for example) and then I add a final letter code that allows me to sort out various sized versions of the same original file... O is original... H is 800x600 jpg saved at level 9 for PowerPoint... R is 1200x1800 for a 4x6 print etc... This allows you to rename and renumber things fast without overwriting files or wondering whether two different sized files are of the same neg, slide or digital file.... Since all of my Ecuador children photos start with ECH.... so I can sort the catalog by name and find photos of Ecuadorian kids fast... without including children from Russia or Morocco... You can also sort by: starts with... ends with.. file type, size, keywords... volume/cd label etc... etc. It is a program I don't think you can outgrow and it's not outrageously priced considering what it does and how quickly it works... I haven't seen anything that works better... For what it's worth. Duane Birkey HCJB World Radio Quito Ecuador Duane's Photographs of Ecuador http://ecuadorphotos.tripod.com ********************************** I am beginning to get thousands of digital pictures on my harddisks. I really need a good program to keep track of them. Which is the best one these days ? Thumbsplus ? /HD - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html