Photography Management Software

[dawnita]

I read a book recently that mentioned using photography management software to track what pictures were currently being used, where, for how long, type of permissions, submissions, etc...Does anyone here use something similar? How do you keep track of your photos? Any suggestions of what I should look at getting and what I should avoid?

Have a great day!
Dawnita

[rpk717]

I just set up folders within folders.

For example I have a BIRDS folder.

...........In that folder I have a Raptor folder
.....................In that folder I have a Hawk folder
...............................In that folder I have a Red-tailed Hawk folder
.............................................There I have the individual files for each image

another example

Birds
.......Song Birds
..................Sparrows
............................White-crowned Sparrow

I set up all of the folders within folders before I added a single file to them. It took several hours but I can easily load the files now with little effort and can find an image within seconds. I rename each file with NAME..LOCATION..DATE

So an example might be: Mallard_SNWR_5Dec07.tiff

that would be a mallard shot at Savannah National Wildlife Refuge on 12/5/2007.

Hope this doesn't sound too hard, it really wasn't.

[bucklermark]

There are a couple of software products that will provide you with invoicing and image management/tracking solutions. You can try both "blinkbid" and "fotobiz". I think that both of them offer trial versions.

I have used blinkbid occasionally and been happy with its results.

Mark

[whitty1]

I think what we are looking for is a Cataloging Software like Extensis (I think), but all the ones I have found are expensive. Anybody know of any that are reasonable? I think the right software will keep track of images you have everywhere you have them, including CDs and external drives.

I am not very good at this, but I have heard it is very important to put good keywords to all of your images, so you can search for them later. I know I have lost things forgetting where they are at.

[rphipps]

Hi,

I used Boyd Norton's NSCS Pro [Norton's Slide Capturing System]. I still shoot film, but I'm sure his latest version is setup to track digital too.

Features:

Labels with file# , shot #, description, [I]italic[I] for species names, info for the shot.

Add thumbnail with info

Pricing assistant

Invoice production

Client list

Client proposals, shot list sent, shots accepted, and all that you have asked about.

Check his website www.nscspro.com for more info. This may be what will match you need. I'm using Pro 2, but Pro 3 is the current version.

Best wishes,
Bob Phipps, Asheville Region