I just need to tag and catalogue; Lightroom or Elements5?

I use PhotoshopCS2 for image adjusting, so
all I need is a good fast Tagger &
Cataloguer.

Which would be best for just this purpose
(only) given I have about 4000 photos to
catalogue.

Is it possible to turn off all other
facilities in each of these programs to speed
up the tagging & cataloguing?
Peter

In article <f1e3ca$305e$1@otis.netspace.net.au>, "Peter Jason" <pj@jostle.com> wrote:
>I use PhotoshopCS2 for image adjusting, so
>all I need is a good fast Tagger &
>Cataloguer.
>
>Which would be best for just this purpose
>(only) given I have about 4000 photos to
>catalogue.
>
>Is it possible to turn off all other
>facilities in each of these programs to speed
>up the tagging & cataloguing?

I am also looking for a fast, simple tagging program.
After trying 30+ different programs, I haven't found
anything suitable for my needs :-(

Some questions/issues you'll need to think about
before you will make any progress:

1. What file formats do you need to tag? You'll have
a lot more choices with JPG than you will with
RAW formats like NEF.

2. Where do you need the tags to be stored? Some
programs will store the tags in their own database,
some will store the tags in "sidecar" files, some
will store them "in" the image and many will store
the tags in a couple of those places.

3. You also failed to mention what Operating System
you're running.

I do agree there is a real need for something that will
tag quickly and without dozens of other image processing
features cluttering up the interface and hogging system
resources. Sadly, there doesn't appear to be much out
there.

My personal heaven would be something like IrfanView
with a customizable panel to enter IPTC tags that
would be stored within the JPG/TIFF/NEF files ;-)


--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| malch@malch.com Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On 4 Mai, 06:12, m...@malch.com (Malcolm Hoar) wrote:
> In article <f1e3ca$305...@otis.netspace.net.au>, "Peter Jason" <p...@jostle.com> wrote:
> >I use PhotoshopCS2 for image adjusting, so
> >all I need is a good fast Tagger &
> >Cataloguer.
>
> >Which would be best for just this purpose
> >(only) given I have about 4000 photos to
> >catalogue.
>
> >Is it possible to turn off all other
> >facilities in each of these programs to speed
> >up the tagging & cataloguing?
>
> I am also looking for a fast, simple tagging program.
> After trying 30+ different programs, I haven't found
> anything suitable for my needs :-(
>
> Some questions/issues you'll need to think about
> before you will make any progress:
>
> 1. What file formats do you need to tag? You'll have
> a lot more choices with JPG than you will with
> RAW formats like NEF.
>
> 2. Where do you need the tags to be stored? Some
> programs will store the tags in their own database,
> some will store the tags in "sidecar" files, some
> will store them "in" the image and many will store
> the tags in a couple of those places.
>
> 3. You also failed to mention what Operating System
> you're running.
>
> I do agree there is a real need for something that will
> tag quickly and without dozens of other image processing
> features cluttering up the interface and hogging system
> resources. Sadly, there doesn't appear to be much out
> there.
>
> My personal heaven would be something like IrfanView
> with a customizable panel to enterIPTCtags that
> would be stored within the JPG/TIFF/NEF files ;-)

Hi,

did you try Mapivi (http://mapivi.de.vu)?
It's free, OS independent, has support for fast tagging (e.g. tag
several pictures with several keywords in one step, hierarchical
keywords, tags are stored in the IPTC section of the pictures, support
of all IPTC fields), but it supports only JPEGs.

Regards
Martin

"Malcolm Hoar" <malch@malch.com> wrote in
message
news:f1ebrb1e0rk002malch@news.sonic.net...
> In article
> <f1e3ca$305e$1@otis.netspace.net.au>,
> "Peter Jason" <pj@jostle.com> wrote:
>>I use PhotoshopCS2 for image adjusting, so
>>all I need is a good fast Tagger &
>>Cataloguer.
>>
>>Which would be best for just this purpose
>>(only) given I have about 4000 photos to
>>catalogue.
>>
>>Is it possible to turn off all other
>>facilities in each of these programs to
>>speed
>>up the tagging & cataloguing?
>
> I am also looking for a fast, simple
> tagging program.
> After trying 30+ different programs, I
> haven't found
> anything suitable for my needs :-(
>
> Some questions/issues you'll need to think
> about
> before you will make any progress:
>
> 1. What file formats do you need to tag?
> You'll have
> a lot more choices with JPG than you will
> with
> RAW formats like NEF.
>
> 2. Where do you need the tags to be stored?
> Some
> programs will store the tags in their own
> database,
> some will store the tags in "sidecar"
> files, some
> will store them "in" the image and many
> will store
> the tags in a couple of those places.
>
> 3. You also failed to mention what
> Operating System
> you're running.
>
> I do agree there is a real need for
> something that will
> tag quickly and without dozens of other
> image processing
> features cluttering up the interface and
> hogging system
> resources. Sadly, there doesn't appear to
> be much out
> there.
>
> My personal heaven would be something like
> IrfanView
> with a customizable panel to enter IPTC
> tags that
> would be stored within the JPG/TIFF/NEF
> files ;-)
>
>
> --
> |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
> | Malcolm Hoar "The more I
> practice, the luckier I get". |
> | malch@malch.com
> Gary Player. |
> | http://www.malch.com/ Shpx
> gur PQN. |
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Thanks, I have WindowsXP prof.

I always thought that the tagging process
just entered info into the files properties,
and then used a database to extract
selections. In other words the files stay
where they are and the info is therefore
stored "in the image".

I had some bad luck with the Microsoft
"Digital Image Pro 9" because I entered
"keywords" (tags) into the files which were
all TIFF, but when I subsequently converted
them to JPGs (with Irfanview) I lost all the
tagging!

So what I need is tagging into the files
themselves, whether in the TIFF, ORF (Olympus
RAW) JPG etc, and still be able to select
what I want.

Also, I add comments into some digital files
with the EXIF system using Exifer, which
seems the only software that will print these
comments across the bottom of the printout.
Can the EXIF info be part of the Lightroom
and/or Elements database?

Peter.

Peter Jason wrote:
> I use PhotoshopCS2 for image adjusting, so
> all I need is a good fast Tagger &
> Cataloguer.
>
> Which would be best for just this purpose
> (only) given I have about 4000 photos to
> catalogue.
>
> Is it possible to turn off all other
> facilities in each of these programs to speed
> up the tagging & cataloguing?

Why not use Bridge?

LR is great, but to pay (now) $300 for using just a small part of it
seems a waste.

--
John McWilliams

In article <1178259150.822709.256210@y5g2000hsa.googlegroups. com>, Martin Herrmann <mrh1@gmx.net> wrote:

>> My personal heaven would be something like IrfanView
>> with a customizable panel to enterIPTCtags that
>> would be stored within the JPG/TIFF/NEF files ;-)
>
>
>did you try Mapivi (http://mapivi.de.vu)?
>It's free, OS independent, has support for fast tagging (e.g. tag
>several pictures with several keywords in one step, hierarchical
>keywords, tags are stored in the IPTC section of the pictures, support
>of all IPTC fields), but it supports only JPEGs.

Yeah. Problem is, I really want to tag my original RAW files.
I think of my JPEG's as derivative works and they're sometimes
transient.


--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| malch@malch.com Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In article <f1eja1$2of$1@otis.netspace.net.au>, "Peter Jason" <pj@jostle.com> wrote:

>I always thought that the tagging process
>just entered info into the files properties,
>and then used a database to extract
>selections. In other words the files stay
>where they are and the info is therefore
>stored "in the image".

Typically, the tags are stores within JPEG's. But
not many programs will tag RAW files.

>I had some bad luck with the Microsoft
>"Digital Image Pro 9" because I entered
>"keywords" (tags) into the files which were
>all TIFF, but when I subsequently converted
>them to JPGs (with Irfanview) I lost all the
>tagging!

Do you still have the original TIFF's? If so,
all is not lost. You can likely use "exiftool"
to move the tags over.

>So what I need is tagging into the files
>themselves, whether in the TIFF, ORF (Olympus
>RAW) JPG etc, and still be able to select
>what I want.

The JPEG's are relatively easy. The TIFF's are
probably not too bad either. But the Olympus
RAW is likely to be a problem. I would dig into
any and all tools from Olympus to see if they
have anything that will meet your needs.

>Also, I add comments into some digital files
>with the EXIF system using Exifer, which
>seems the only software that will print these
>comments across the bottom of the printout.
>Can the EXIF info be part of the Lightroom
>and/or Elements database?

Exifer is nice but it's no longer being developed
and has already fallen behind the standards curve.

Most tools will read the EXIF data without too
much problem. Not all will handle IPTC.

And, as you discovered, the EXIF data may be lost
if you convert the image to a different format
(e.g. TIFF -> JPEG). Grab a copy of exiftool since
that can be a lifesaver is such situation.

IrfanView does a nice and really fast job of NEF
to JPG conversion. But it drops the EXIF in the
process. I found that was fixable by running
exiftool. Note that exiftool has a command line
interface -- no GUI.

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| malch@malch.com Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Fri, 04 May 2007 08:44:23 -0700, John McWilliams
<jpmcw@comcast.net> wrote:

>Peter Jason wrote:
>> I use PhotoshopCS2 for image adjusting, so
>> all I need is a good fast Tagger &
>> Cataloguer.
>>
>> Which would be best for just this purpose
>> (only) given I have about 4000 photos to
>> catalogue.
>>
>> Is it possible to turn off all other
>> facilities in each of these programs to speed
>> up the tagging & cataloguing?
>
>Why not use Bridge?
>
>LR is great, but to pay (now) $300 for using just a small part of it
>seems a waste.


Many peole who use CS2 used the Elements Organizer for cataloging
before Lightroom. Lightrooom will even import the info from Elements.
Either the Elements Organizer or Lightroom will do what you want.
Lightroom is likely the better choice for the long run and if you have
a student or teacher in the family, Lightroom can be bought for under
$100.

"Malcolm Hoar" <malch@malch.com> wrote in
message
news:f1fn34ag0c4004malch@news.sonic.net...
> In article
> <f1eja1$2of$1@otis.netspace.net.au>, "Peter
> Jason" <pj@jostle.com> wrote:
>
>>I always thought that the tagging process
>>just entered info into the files
>>properties,
>>and then used a database to extract
>>selections. In other words the files stay
>>where they are and the info is therefore
>>stored "in the image".
>
> Typically, the tags are stores within
> JPEG's. But
> not many programs will tag RAW files.
>
>>I had some bad luck with the Microsoft
>>"Digital Image Pro 9" because I entered
>>"keywords" (tags) into the files which were
>>all TIFF, but when I subsequently converted
>>them to JPGs (with Irfanview) I lost all
>>the
>>tagging!
>
> Do you still have the original TIFF's? If
> so,
> all is not lost. You can likely use
> "exiftool"
> to move the tags over.
>
>>So what I need is tagging into the files
>>themselves, whether in the TIFF, ORF
>>(Olympus
>>RAW) JPG etc, and still be able to select
>>what I want.
>
> The JPEG's are relatively easy. The TIFF's
> are
> probably not too bad either. But the
> Olympus
> RAW is likely to be a problem. I would dig
> into
> any and all tools from Olympus to see if
> they
> have anything that will meet your needs.
>
>>Also, I add comments into some digital
>>files
>>with the EXIF system using Exifer, which
>>seems the only software that will print
>>these
>>comments across the bottom of the printout.
>>Can the EXIF info be part of the Lightroom
>>and/or Elements database?
>
> Exifer is nice but it's no longer being
> developed
> and has already fallen behind the standards
> curve.
>
> Most tools will read the EXIF data without
> too
> much problem. Not all will handle IPTC.
>
> And, as you discovered, the EXIF data may
> be lost
> if you convert the image to a different
> format
> (e.g. TIFF -> JPEG). Grab a copy of
> exiftool since
> that can be a lifesaver is such situation.
>
> IrfanView does a nice and really fast job
> of NEF
> to JPG conversion. But it drops the EXIF in
> the
> process. I found that was fixable by
> running
> exiftool. Note that exiftool has a command
> line
> interface -- no GUI.
>
> --
> |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
> | Malcolm Hoar "The more I
> practice, the luckier I get". |
> | malch@malch.com
> Gary Player. |
> | http://www.malch.com/ Shpx
> gur PQN. |
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks I'll check out this "Exiftool".

I have been checking out the Lightroom system
because I want to have my comments, which I
added via EXIF, printed out in a thin line
across the bottom of the print when I give
these to my relatives, either as hardcopy or
on a DVD.

The recipients of my collection are not
always computerized and so I *have* to have
the comments watermarked across the bottom of
the photo, in some suitable-sized text,
directly from the EXIF data.

I have not found this in Lightroom yet,
though it could be done to a fashion in
Exifer. Perhaps it's hidden in there
somewhere.