In April of 2008 I had started to do research on what software to use for managing RAW digital images. I had been shooting most of my digital pictures using JPG. At that time, the computer that I had used for storing my digital photographs - would not boot and the boot disk stopped showing up in the BIOS after a few days(disk crash). That brings me to the present, where I have a computer now - newly installed Vista on a machine - to start managing those images again.
As a caveat - I am more of a hobbyist photographer now -my profession has been computer programming for a long time. So please judge my solutions on a non-professional interest. I did make a meagre living from photography - early on before my programming career.
Back in April of 2008, the software I has used to manage my photos with only did JPG format - Adobe Photo Album 1 - a precursor to the Adobe Photoshop Elements. As I would like to shoot in RAW format - that is one of my first requirements - ability to view files that are in RAW format. That eliminated Photoalbum as my photo management software.
JPG is a lossy format - you save the file and it changes - loses data. RAW does not lose data - and edits to RAW images are saved external to the RAW file- they are processing instructions to be used on the original RAW file that will produce the image you want -an image might be 8MB and the processing instructions might be 7KB so having multiple example of an image does not eat up so much disk space. JPG is already processed and RAW is not, JPG can be small as a result of already being processed, RAW is huge -it has all the image data at the time the image was shot - which allows you to save an image that might be over or under exposed. JPG sizes on my currrent camera ranges from 2-3MB and RAW ranges from 6 -11MB. So that will consume hard disk space much faster. So managing images offline is another requirement - so that disk space can be reclaimed while still having the ability to find the images.
I had taken a photography course, prior to the computer crash, where the suggestion was to file using a system of folders with a date structure. That was something the "Photo Album" software did not do - it copied it to disk and then you cataloged from there the only thing that made the folder unique was the serial number of the removable media. If you want to back up media on a date based interval knowing when the shots were taken can really help here. This is a new requirement - I want to have photos stored in folders by date of picture taken.
I took another photography course and asked others how they managed their images --no one seemed to have the definite answer and it looks like something you have to come up with for yourself - and then be consistant in doing it one way. The teacher of that class said they discarded 90% or more of the images they shot and others kept almost everything. I liked the way that the "Photo Album" allowed you to categorize and find things in multiple ways. That is another requirement - flexible way of tagging images to find them.. and that may also include media that is no longer on the computer -or may be over a network.
Requirements for my Search:
1. Able to tag an image file in muliple categories (city, event, one or more people categories).
2. Able to browse images - regardless of JPG/RAW/other..and output to other formats.
3. Work on local computer (Windows) and can track media not on computer.
So I began researching what is out there.
My instructor had mentioned ACDsee (Pro 2) as a good solution (currently half off $64.99 until July 26 - price is a factor too).
Before the disk crash interrupted my research on Image management software, I had seen a advertisement on the web where someone taught a DAM course using a product called iView and another called CaptureOne together. I went and looked at CaptureOne (version 4) and disovered that Microsoft had purchased iView and had made it part of the Expression suite - specifically the ExpressionMedia (which as a purchase from Microsoft is $199). Right now CaptureOne goes for $129 and they are running a special to get both for $199. I gather that many people may have used iView now ExpressionMedia as their software catagloging. So the current CaptureOne offer would mean that you are getting Expression Media at full price and CaptureOne at no charge - $199.
In researching this more, I found a post on thedambook.com site that was not complementary of ExpressionMedia.
My earlier research had come accross a site with a Downloader, and a Browser at Breezesys.com. The Downloader at $29.95 seems like a very good tool to have for organizing the photos by date-camera-and filetype. It just does not allow you to view them.
Lightroom has been a product that the local photography group suggested to me - right after I asked him about the iView that was on his computer. I had not considered that before due to its costs of $299 - seemed a bit steep.
Lightroom is something that needs to be looked at in this area of Digital Asset Management, and there is a version 2 of lightroom that is currently in Beta until August 31. I get the impression that a lot of photographers have gone to Lightroom. I played with the first beta of lightroom but the price kept me from purchasing that. With Raw processing in Photoshop -- I could not justify that cost.
Managing RAW images though is the key element now, and Lightroom should be a contender. I noted that Adobe Labs is also working on a Lightroom Export SDK (for version 1.3) so developers can write plugins for other areas to export to.
The blog post that I cited earlier about Expression (thedambook.com), mentioned some other products I had not come accross before.
IDimager and Bibble
In my initial reading of IDimager it reads like a very good solution - specifically designed as an Image Cataloging Software. They have a professional and personal edition. The features of the pro version seems to justify the $129 price tag - it supposedly retains previews of online and offline images. Collection flitering with Scripting. It will download to folders (which would elimated the Breeze downloader) and Network file support. The import feature setup was no where near as intuitive as the Breeze version but it did allow me to setup a simiar file pattern naming and after it downloads the images from a card - it runs a verification process afterwards - which might be very good in preventing corruption. It also allows me to identfy a RAW and JPG version with one be a sub-version of the other (you pick in the download config from the card). It also can start building catalog entries based on the EXIF info as it downloads and the thubmnails and previews for the catalog - making the download process longer but could save time later. I was also able to delete both images by indiating that they were a set when I had a bad image( I had set the camera to record both JPG and RAW at the same time).
Bibble seems to be targeted to the Raw Conversion like CaptureOne --both priced the same. Bibble Professional comes from Bibblelabs.com, and the version that I am looking at is version 4.10a - they have a Linux (RPM,Debian), Mac (Debian based), and Windows version. The Windows instalation looks dated at first. On setup it asked to install to the User directory saying it can become quite large. On setup it asks for desired setup - Flat contrast - Low Contrast - and the default - Normal Contrast (accept the default). it then asks you about what "color space profile" you want to use -which is obviously not for novices. default of sRGB. It then asks about a default tool layout - Floating Simple (default) or Docked/Combined - the later will start with an "advanced toolbox open and docked" -which if you are a windows programmer might make more sense(and it does to me). Default Layout orientation - Landscape(default) or Portait. Workflow optimization - SingleImage/Save as(default) or Multiple Images / Batch Processing. For now take the default. Default image display size - Fit to Window or Preview Sized (default - faster smaller image). Upon seeing the first screen - it looks more like IDImage in terms of a UI.
When you consider that Lightroom is $299 and the combination of a Rawconversion (CaptureOne or Bibble) with IDimager is only $260 .. it encourages a question of how good is the Lightroom cataloging compare to the IDimager approach.
Then there is the Adobe Photoshop Elements (version 6) - that I can do an upgrade to from Photoshop Album. The class that I took, where the filing by date was suggested, had a good number of entry level photographers, and most of them were using some version of this package. It is the largest of all the downloads so far. One thing that this package would give me that the other approaches do not - is a basic JPG editing ability on the photo storage computer - I have the Full version of photoshop on my laptop and a different desktop machine and licensing prevents more copies than that in use.
I setup a folder for the Adobe Photoshop Elements (PE) and the difference from Photo Album is apparent. Like the LR setup you can have multiple catalogs. I setup a folder for the import targe and it asked if I wanted to create a folder based on shot date (not down to camera and Filetype). The first set of files are all JPGS that have been waiting from April. I next need to see some of the RAW processing setups here. The Edit does not have the photoshop levels, but it does have some stripped down functionality. (I was a bit suprised to see the catalogue ask if I wanted music in there -maybe for website postings??). This package for a beginner would be strongly recommended. It is a great starter package for the price.
In the import of photos, you can enter in Author and Copyright information to be stored with the image - if you go to the advanced dialog during the download. That is nice.
You have to hit a checkbox to get the filenames to display, which is the only way to know you have a raw image - and then the full editor gives you access to the Editing for Camera Raw -(current version is 4.2). Which was used in a comparsion against the BIBBLE image processor and Bibble was rated beter - something about how not all Raw processors are equal. (That level of analysis would be for a different post).
There was something in Adobe PE that mentioned stacking - which I have seen mentioned in a couple of other packages.
The import speed is only detected by seeing the task button precentage - no other GUI elements indicate progress. (this sample has 96 images at 473MB)
Download sizes:
Download Pro 8MB.
CaptureOne 54MB
Lightroom (Beta) 24MB
Expression Media 18MB
IDImager PRO 41MB
Bibble Pro 39MB
Photoshop Elements 462MB (bigger than everything else combined)!
I have now downloaded installed and experimented with most of the software packages mentioned.
The step of "GET PHOTOS" - and move to the computer in a DATE type format requirement:
Downloader from Breezesys - did a great job of this and seperated out by camera and filetype. IDImager did a very good job of this although the configuration UI was not as clean as Breezesys - however it might have a few more options than Breezesys. IDimager started building catalog info upon import and verifying the images. Lightroom does file them by date buy you have no control over the naming. ACDsee only gives you filenaming not folder naming -that was a weak point in this important first step. Adobe Photoshop Elements gives you a limited set of folder options but you can get the folders in YYYY-MM-DD structures.
Viewing the photos in RAW format and output to other formats:
Lightroom Beta 2. Note that the quality (of the Beta) and performance may not be at production levels it is to provide a direction on how the product is moving. Lightroom(LR) can both View and manipulate Raw files to output other formats - and it can manage your images. Playing around with the interface you can make the image take up most of the space - there are four docking areas around the screen that can easily be set to hide themselves or not and the preview image takes up the realestate on the screen where it can - very nice. The user interface is really a strong point for LR. It gave the largest image on screen while still able to acces tools quickly.
CaptureOne(C1) - is really for the viewing and outputing of photos to other formats -- it is not a catalog by itself, which is why it was suggested in combination with Expression Media - but that leaves out the important Getting Photos - Expression deals with them after they are on disk. CaptureOne has a very good ability to show mutliple adjustments of variants, and workflow queueing of the images to be output. The adjustments are saved with its own folder off of a folder containting the RAW images - which is very handy and could be very helpful. CaptureOne does take a little bit of time to starup and present its "Library" display. You get to "Black and White" by dropping the saturation to zero, and then if you use the control keys of Ctrl+B and Ctrl+T - you can toggle the Browser and Tools off the screen and the image will take up the space. Lightroom does this more cleanly but you can get the same viewing space this way.
ACDSee does have tools for manipulating RAW images that are comparble to LR and C1 to output and it can catalogue all your images.
Adobe Photoshop Elements can view images in both RAW and JPG and gives you editing abilities for both - RAW can be saved as as a DNG (Adobe Digital Negative) - so no JPG here?
Bibble Pro - is a Raw converter - and it saves its file in the directory of the RAW image. I have looked for a Variations type of concept - but it does not seem to be evident as much as the CaptureOne is. It has "Auto Level" on - apparently by default - and it did a very good job on the images I looked at. The drawback - variations that seem to be possible with LR and C1 are blatantly missing from this package. One thing this package has that is not in others is the "straightening cursor" where you can draw your cursor along a line,and a grid shows up and it will adjust the image to that grid. Could be handy. It also has a "Black and White" plug in that can change your image to a black and white. Which you can achieve in CaptureOne by dropping the Saturation to zero.
All of these viewer manipulator programs have histograms and RAW processing abilities the best looking UI was certainly Lightroom, however there were some parts of the UI in the Manipulation that seemed placed out of the way too much. I would probably be happy with any of these.
Ability to categorize photos:
IDimager -- allows you to view your raw images but not manipulate them - it is truly the Image Catalogue software It did a good job on the importing to the right folders, and it allows you to cataloge and even identify a JPG as a subordinate image to the RAW image. For this area it seemed like a very good tool - it lacks the ability to manipulate the Raw images. - Which you can do with Photoshop or ACDSee or CaptureOne or LightRoom. IDImager gives you the ability to filter a folder by file type if it has multiples and you can even script a filter. IDImager gives you the ability to Import previews and thumbnails for a catalogue without storing the entire image on the computer - which allows you to recover the disk space. It also allows you to find versions and associate the images together. So, if you use a RAW processor and output an image - you can associate that as a version of the image, you can save a version for web,email, and print and a drag and drop for other versions (cropped etc) - if you do the work to size something for the web, or an email, or a print - you do not have to do it again if you use this. IDimager also allows you to set up for cascading meta data to keep the meta data for all of versioned images the same. There is also a concept of "Area tagging" people in a photograph - where the system will allow you to store a box with a persons name around their face that appears over the image - but is not part of the image. You can also do "Stacking" - collect images for a specific purpose - which do not have to be derivatives of the same image - lightweight collections and you select one thumbnail to represent the stack.You can filter to viiew by file type or your own filter criteria. It also reminds you to back up your catalogue -which is a reminder to save the work you have invested in building your catalogue. There is a calendar view to show you when pictures are taken, however the calendar is not as clean as the ACDSee version. This package however does the best job of managing images and versions of images and keeping a handle on what you have done with those images. This software certainly offers the most value in terms of organizing and manging the work you have already done.
ACDSee can allow you to build your own categories and associate the categories to multiple images. It also gives me a calendar view of when photos were taken - which is a familiar look in the Photo Album that I had used before. ACDSee can also recognize a disk that has images that are stored on external media and import them to be cataloged. ACDSee will use the Serial number of a disk - as long as it is not a multisession disk, that way it can recognize the disk.(Be sure you have something to match what it sees on the outside of your disk). A weakness for me with ACDsee is that it always shows you the variations - so if you have a RAW, JPG and a processed RAW - you may see them all at the same time. You do not get the versioning of IDimager.
Expression Media - is designed to manage the media that is on your computer - it only gives an option to import to its media folder - and it looks like it will be a folder for todays imports not by photo date. It is designed to tag any kind of media file on your computer so that you can find it. It will allow you to view but no manipulate images. You can buld custom catalogues and as many as you want. This again did fine in seeing things that other programs had put into correctly named folders by photograph taken date.
LightRoom - does have a catalogue system and you can create additional catalogues. You can enter key words and find photos very quickly while typing keywords you have entered.
Adobe Photoshop Elements can categorize - but my simple Place of a State and subcategory of a location in that state - would not work here so it is a bit limited. There is a feature that if you have a photo of a person, you can get the persons face to be extracted as an icon for the tag.
My Plan from this Research:
For having all the features needed - the only one that had the tools right and the way that I liked them was Lightroom. However if you are still shooting any JPGs -it is the wrong tool. You would probably not use this to manage offline images either.
I can get all of the basic features needed by purchasing the Breezesys downloader, and ACDSee to manage and output images for under $100 before July 26, and for $164 after which is still about half the cost of LR. The Calendar UI can even go down to the hours within a day to select the images - on a grid that looked like a calendar - that was a nice touch. But the versioning capacities of IDimager is missing from ACDsee, asand the cacading meta data abilities of IDImager.
It would be a huge overlap of functionality to have IDimager and ACDSee - the plus for IDimager-file naming, versions, area tagging, verifying of images, adding copyright into the import, and an ability to read Lightroom tags into its catalog. The cost of $129 for that without an image processing would either have to be paired with CaptureOne or Bibble to get to raw processing and that brings that combination up to $260 for todays prices - which then makes Lightroom a more competitive tool. Capture One's ability to create processing instructions in its own folder and to identify the output folder, combined with IDImage ability to find versions by EXIF data makes it a very strong combination.
I felt the Expression Media was more for managing a lot of other file types - and it could manage your photos too. I felt that it did not fit my needs for getting the images the way I felt was needed. For my photography needs Expression Media might not be right - but for other types of work it might be outstanding.
I love the Lightroom UI - ablsolutely great - but for JPG (which I will still include) it is not really going to manage those.
IDimage, and its abilty to filter to filetype-and import,and do versioning and backups - really is the best tool for managing images for me.
I have not taken a raw image and processed that image through all of the RAW processors and compared the output. That takes ink and more time. Bibble claims to have fewer artifacts in conversion to other formats than Adobe's camera Raw 4.2. This idea of "not all raw converters are alike may have some valid items of interest - however due to time constraints - I cannot compare that aspect of this issue. I really need to focus on the managment of the images themselves.
To combine both LightRoom and IDIMage might be a great combination however one of the most expensive options.
I like CaptureOnes ability to create and save variations of processing instructions into its own folder, and to identify an output folder, which in a workflow gives me the abilty to create outputs, and to have IDImager associate the versions correctly based on the EXIF data of those output versions. That gives me a lot of capability and if I ever decide on Lightroom - the work there can be imported into IDimager too.
So that last combination, might be my starting point. I do think eventually I might invest in LightRoom, however the plan I have laid out here is what I think I will go with for now.