Digital Asset Management & Cataloguing?

[gryffyn]

I noticed Michael's post that he's getting a video ready for summer release on the topic of DAM (Digital Asset Management).  The 2nd edition of The DAM Book from O'Reilly is due out in a few days and available for preorder from Amazon already.

I was hoping for a quick preview on what software tools might be recommended for DAM at this point in digital photography's evolution?

In the past, I've used iview's MediaPro software for cataloguing and asset management.  But it was slow and cumbersome and after being bought by Microsoft, it hasn't improved much in that regard.

Ideally, I would like a DAM tool that does cataloguing and searching independent of the image files.  That is, the images stay where they are and are not imported into a proprietary database, except for maybe thumbnails.  I already have a decent workflow and storage approach for images (which includes Photoshop and proprietary raw tools like NX), so all I really want is the DAM piece.

Any other recommendations?

ACDSee?
Lightroom?
Something else?

One other requirement is the ability to import existing catalog info (eg. keywords, categories, etc.).  iView will let me export our existing catalogues in XML which I can transform into almost any other input format.  Don't relish re-entering years worth of work.

Thanks!

[DarkPenguin]

Imatch, idimager, LR.

[john beardsworth]

A lot depends on what type of files you're dealing with. If your DAM problem includes file types that Lightroom can't handle (eg video), then look at Expression Media - Microsoft haven't improved it much, but it's still hard to beat for its all round DAM capability. As you mention NX, note that EM will show the NX-updated version of NEF files. If you are only dealing with a limited range of file types, then LR becomes more viable as a DAM solution, but it will always show you Adobe's raw rendering rather than the NX updates.

John

[gryffyn]

A lot depends on what type of files you're dealing with. If your DAM problem includes file types that Lightroom can't handle (eg video), then look at Expression Media - Microsoft haven't improved it much, but it's still hard to beat for its all round DAM capability. As you mention NX, note that EM will show the NX-updated version of NEF files. If you are only dealing with a limited range of file types, then LR becomes more viable as a DAM solution, but it will always show you Adobe's raw rendering rather than the NX updates.

Pretty much just image files.  NEF and jpg primarily.

The problem with Expression Media is two-fold. It's now a Microsoft product and hasn't been updated in ages. I have version 1....but version 2 didn't seem to add much for what MS wanted for the upgrade. And it was slow as molasses....cataloguing should be much faster than that.  For example. ACDSee is known for it's ultra fast image viewing/caching.

Thanks!

[gryffyn]

Imatch, idimager

Any comments on how imatch or idimager might be a better mousetrap for DAM work?

Thx.

[john beardsworth]

Runs quickly here. It is disappointing that Microsoft haven't yet made any obvious improvements (unless you're a fan of hierarchical keywording). What they have done is less obvious, and that is make NEF reading extremely fast.

[DarkPenguin]

Any comments on how imatch or idimager might be a better mousetrap for DAM work?

Thx.

Nope.  Settled on lightroom.  But you should give both a try.

[alain]

I'm quite happy with IdImager and extremely pleased with the very fast support.

IdImager is windows only and maybe that could be a problem for some  

[gryffyn]

Runs quickly here. It is disappointing that Microsoft haven't yet made any obvious improvements (unless you're a fan of hierarchical keywording). What they have done is less obvious, and that is make NEF reading extremely fast.

Hmmm...since NEF is my usual format, I might have to take a look into that.

[Phil Indeblanc]

I like ACDSee Pro2.5 for a number of reasons....
It can batch resize,
batch exif edit,
batch watermmark
batch rename

It does a rather good job of drive handling. I have about 9HD and I don't think an hour passes before Bridge cs4 crashes. ACDSee is not perfect, but at least when it does crash(not often), it just dies and you can restart ACDsee right away. Bridge dies a slow death and a questionable rebirth without reboot.

Below are my ACDSee problems....
I wish ACDSee would NOT TRY and handle PDF files (Let Acrobat do this, just show the thumbnail
I wish it would let you Launch Explorer or "OpenWith..." via right clik on a image.  It should NOT be the default editor of all formats, specially not PSD, PDF, etc. let the native sw do its job(hence the term PRO).
It should support Color profiles correctly. It doesnt do CMYk, and not sure how well it does the others. Bridge excel's in color.

I am not so sure what you demand out of your DAM, but ACDSee does the above mentoned fastthough it locks you from tinkering other Acdsee functions while it is processing).

If ACDSee could address the above "problems", with COLOR on top of the list, I could barely live with opening a program(Acrobat, InDesign,etc) that I intent to drag a file to open it, rather than just right click and pick the associated program.

Hope this helps.

[Ken Bennett]

I work in a university setting, so I have requirements that differ from most independent photographers. I archive my raw files on a server here in my studio. All the files have complete caption and keyword information applied with Photo Mechanic. Using Spotlight in Mac OS, I can search the metadata and find whatever files I need. For ease of browsing, raw files are organized by date, so all the 2009 photos are in a 2009 folder, in subfolders by date shot (20090429 would be today), then in individual folders by subject/assignment. I understand that the latest Windows search system is comparable.

Of course, this requires that every file get at least some well thought out keywords, and a full caption is even more helpful. Lucky for us, that's easy to do using Bridge, Photo Mechanic, Lightroom, etc.

To distribute photos to my on-campus clients (art directors, news and communication staff, web team, etc.), I use a web-based archiving system from WebDAM (also called Spitfirephoto.) Probably not much use to most folks on this board, but someone out there might need it. That catalog contains processed JPEG files, ready for web or print use. The archive harvests all the caption and keyword data, which becomes searchable within the web site.

For personal/freelance use, I really like PhotoShelter. PS is another online, web-based archiving and distribution system. It's intuitive, easy to use, easy for my clients to use (important!), and not too expensive. If anyone is looking for a web-based system, this one is very good. (Usual disclaimer -- I'm just a customer.)