Shootist Loc: Wyoming

Has anyone used Microsoft Photo Gallery for their sorting and cataloging software? I don't want to put a lot of effort into setting this up just to find out it has fatal flaws. LightRoom seems to be the most popular but I am not interested in that particular program and also have no interest in cloud storage. Comments please?

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

The Shootist said in part: "up just to find out it has fatal flaws." That flaw is actually that they are not needed!!!

I get confused that people go to great length to complicate their lives! Am I missing the elitist approach that requires multi steps and software to do simple make files and do drag and drop.
TO BE SPECIFIC BY EXAMPLE:
Cats and Cats Hairless are two files I have... OK, one week I take photos of neighbors cats ... one neighbor has a 12# Lion.. another petite Sphynx [hairless breed] cat. Open my "photo" F: drive then drag and drop the new photos to the appropriate file. On need not open those files and they will still swallow the photos directly from the opened SD card file in the reader.

Right clicking on the contents of a file gives you a "Sort By" option... name, date, file type... With in files you can have sub files like Yellow cats, black cats, etc... Quick, Easy, Fool Proof, and Zero cost.

Am I missing the boat on this one by thinking walking across the river on a bridge is easy compared to chartering a boat?? WHY DO I NEED A PROGRAM TO DO THE SIMPLE TASK? [ If a commercial guy taking 1000s... perhaps]

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I've often thought about that myself, but never made the move. There is a lot of cataloging software available, from free to not free.

https://photography.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-choose-asset-management-software-for-your-digital-picture-archive--cms-24356
http://www.toptenreviews.com/software/multimedia/best-photo-organizing-software/
http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/10-free-photo-managing-software-you-should-at-least-know/
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/pictures-story/412-best-free-photo-management-software.html

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Jerry, how do you keep track of your photos? I can understand that a database system is needed for your [very helpful] catalogue of references, but photos?

Delderby Loc: Derby UK

There are cataloguing systems that enable the retrieval of photos from different demands, e.g. a black cat photo could be sourced from "pets" or "cats" or "black cats" or whatever or how many references you catalogue the pic under. But I guess you are aware of these very time-saving apps.

johneccles Loc: Leyland UK

I use Microsoft Photo Gallery it sorts your photographs by date, just get it from The Windows Store, it also has a good editor and its free.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

A popular misconception is that when you use Lr/Ps, it implies that you must store your images in their cloud. That is not how it works. They just use the cloud to distribute software. If you have the software preferences to auto-update, and let them notify you when an update is available, you get to chose the date and time of the update.

For the money, it is the best (and cheapest) DAM software (Digital Asset Management) you can get.

I looked at Photo Gallery once, and found it was extremely "light duty" - it has a very rudimentary editor, no real organizing and management tools, but it's free. It's fatal flaw is that it will run out of gas on capability pretty quickly. The good thing is that it has a short learning curve.

The problem with using an operating system and file dates and file tags and dragging and dropping files into specific folders is pretty clear, and why a digital asset management package is useful.

I shoot lots of birds. Using Lightroom, I put all my images into a descriptive folder - with a date. The description usually shows where the pictures were taken and possibly who I was with. If I am shooting for a client it will have the client's name, location of shoot, and subject(s), along with a date. But I always save images by date, and I only have ONE copy of the original file.

When I import into Lightroom, I attach keywords. Back to the bird example - I might have the following keywords for a late September shoot - "raptor", "red tailed hawk", "Juvenile, 1st yr", Warbler", "Black Throated", "Chat" "Yellow Breasted", "Male", "Female", "migrating", "resident", Sparrow", "Chestnut sided", "Song", "Leucistic", White-headed" and so on. I have built a library of keywords, so I don't have to type these in each time, I just select them from a menu.

Now comes the good part - Ir provides the capability to make virtual collections - Sparrows, Warblers, Finches, Raptors, Waterfowl, Dabbling Ducks, Herons and Egrets, Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring, Migrating, Small birds, Large birds, Medium Birds, and so on. A bird can be part of multiple categories - Fall, Sparrows, Migrating, Raptors, Resident etc. - but I don't need to make multiple copies of any single file to include it in multiple groups. So if I want to find warblers that migrate in the spring, I can create a search string that includes the keywords - Warblers, Migrating, Spring. But if I just want to find all my warbler pictures I can to the Warbler collection, which will show me all my warblers regardless of season. The collections are virtual, so there is no increase in storage requirements.

My use of Lr's cataloging and management has evolved over time. But I can tell you when I need to find something I can do it quickly, without needing to drill down through multiple folders to find a copy of a file, and it provides the functionality, through it's indexed relational database and extensive search and filtering capabilities to find anything in a matter of a second or two - basically as fast as I can type a few keywords or set up a quick filter. Lr also allows me to save a set of search criteria for future use. It is complex but powerful, or you can just use is as I did when I first got it - where I search just by folder description and date. Either way, as your file library grows and your search and recall needs expand, Lr, or any other good Digital Asset Management program is well-worth the investment of time to learn. It has saved me 100s of hours looking for stuff, and my hard drive folder structure doesn't look like a plate of spaghetti.

If you like the idea of DAM, but don't want Lr, you can always look at ACDSee Photo Studio Standard, iMatch5, and others.

Here is a nice summary of the more popular ones and what they can (and can't) do.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_organizer

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

Excellent Answer

Shootist Loc: Wyoming

Thanks for taking the time to comment. In essence I agree that less is better but to get what you are looking for sometimes means more. The more for me is being able to give a photo a rating and/or give it keywords. I considered just using the Windows file system but unless I missed something the file system does not offer this ability. Let me know if I am wrong about this as your option is simpler for file storage purposes.

Shootist Loc: Wyoming

Thanks for the sites, you are a wealth of information about where to go. I suspect that with your resources and knowledge you could make a good living charging for your services.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I wish I had a wealth of wealth. They say information is power. I'm still waiting.

Shootist Loc: Wyoming

Actually, I am not very familiar with what is available. I did some research online but everything I saw was either attached to the Cloud, a social site for sharing photos or had a price tag. I am somewhat paranoid about putting anything on the Cloud unless absolutely necessary and would prefer free stuff if possible. On top of that I have not become comfortable broadcasting my image files except in very targeted instances. I guess I am getting the "Old Man's Disease" of being overly cautious and very careful not to spend unnecessary money (GAS attacks excepted). Thanks for your comment, any input is likely exposing me to something with which I am unfamiliar.

Shootist Loc: Wyoming

Love that word "free"! Have you used Photo Gallery? If so what is your opinion as to its strengths and weaknesses?

Shootist Loc: Wyoming

I hear you. Not all power uses coercion and centers on the one with power. The best power is about having resources and being willing to share them for the benefit of others. (Sorry for being "preachy but it needed saying)

Shootist Loc: Wyoming

I am awed at the amount of time you dedicated to answer my questions, thank you very much. I can see my immediate future will include looking into your suggestions with more depth.