At first, a browser and a cataloging application look similar. Each one can display multiple files, sort according to multiple criteria, and send off the files to be worked on. But behind the scenes, there is an important difference. A browser extracts data from the files on a more or less "real-time" basis and builds its utility around this information. (Figure 1.7 (left) shows a typical browser screen from Adobe Bridge. DAM cataloging software, however, keeps a permanent catalog of information about the images, including thumbnails. You can see a screenshot of one of my catalogs in Figure 1-7 (right).)

Figure 1-7. At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be much difference between a browser (such as Bridge, on the left) and a catalog application (such as iView MediaPro, on the right).

Why is this difference between browser and cataloguing applications important? The differences between the application types don’t really become apparent until you have a large number of files to work with. Because cataloguing software keeps the extracted information in a database, it has several important advantages over a browser:

It’s DAM faster

One thing cataloguing software can do better than a browser is to return results much faster. Because cataloguing software keeps all the organizational information in a database document, it only needs to do a local search to find, for instance, all images with “Josie” written in the keywords. A browser may have to look through the keywords of 100,000 files stored on several different drives to return the same results. And if the software is structured to continually update the search results, it will be constantly reindexing this information.

It allows you to have virtual sets

More important, however, is the ability of good cataloging software to create and keep virtual sets. Virtual sets are like the folders that you keep images in, except that they all point to the same original file. This enables you to include an image as part of multiple sets without having to copy the files multiple times – for instance, the same file can live in the Vacation group, the Grand Canyon group, the Pictures of Josie group, the Stock Photos group, and the Mom’s Favorites group.

The best of the cataloguing applications will also let you organize your groups into groups (see Figure 1-8_, so that, for example, within the Personal Work group is a subset called Projects, and within that is the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus group. This set of images can, in turn, be organized into Everything, Select, and Web Page groups. I call this organization nested virtual sets, and I think it’s essential to good organization of your image files.

Figure 1-8. On the left side of this window, you see something that looks like a directory structure. These are not actual folders, but rather virtual sets. These can be used to keep track of images in many different ways.

It knows where stuff is supposed to be

Another critical advantage of cataloguing software is that it knows where files are supposed to be, so it can assist you in keeping track of images that may have been erased, renamed, or moved accidentally. A cataloguing application will be able to tell you that an image is missing and should be found or restored from your backup, while a browser will simply omit the file. Cataloging software therefore helps you to truly manage your files.

It allow faster backup of important sorting work

Cataloging software has a further advantage: it allows you to back up your valuable sorting work quickly and thoroughly. Because the cataloguing application stores all the information in one place, it is easy to back up your work after every sorting session. If you are using a browser to do the sorting work, you will need to write a sorting term – a keyword – back into the original files themselves. You may then have a bunch of widely distributed files that you need to back up, if you want to be sure that you are saving this work. This adds quite a bit of time and complexity to the process of saving your work, compared to simply saving the catalog document. (Of course, as we’ll discuss later, good cataloguing software also enables you to write that sorting work back into the actual files when you want to.)

It allows you to work with offline images

Finally, cataloguing software can work with offline image files, such as images at a different location, or photos that are on disks that are not currently connected to your computer. This offline capability lets you, for instance, copy your catalog to your laptop and take it with you on a trip, in order to either work on it or show it to other people.

If I am traveling and expect to have some downtime in airports along the way, I often use this opportunity to catch up on my image organization without having to bring the actual files with me. The ability to work with offline images also lets me “spin down” several of my hard drives – particularly those with older work on them – and still be able to see the images in my catalog. This saves energy and increases the hard drives’ lifespans.

Visit the MediaPro product pages to learn more about cataloging
Find out more about The DAM Book by Peter Krogh