Shutterstock Photographer Forum :: View topic - Image Management Software... What are you using?

crp · Joined: 26 Oct 2004 Posts: 338 Location: Colorado - USA

What software do you use to manage/track your images that you submit?

Presently, I'm without anything, and trying to get some ideas and pricing.
Obviously, I don't want to spend no $500 for something like this, and if there is something out there that is free to use, then that's even better.

crp

dougrhess · Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 156

I'm not aware of such a thing, but makes sense. Are there any you are aware of, regardless of price? I just want to see what the features are. Maybe a simple spreadsheet in Excel would work. You can put images in excell, so little thumnails of your photos would work, if identifying names aren't working (I'm made at systematicly naming my files).

crp · Joined: 26 Oct 2004 Posts: 338 Location: Colorado - USA

Did think of putting the images into excel, but it would seem that the size would be tremendous. Therefore becoming a chore to load.

Access I could write it in, but access don't handle images real well either.

I've came across several on the net here, but they range from $50 to well over $500.

Maybe I'll program a simple one to use.

dougrhess · Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 156

What are the names of the software you're thinking about?

I guess in excel you could also just include links to a photo on here, instead of thumnails. Not as good as having the image, but if the description doesn't jog your memory it will help.

TravelLight · Posted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 3:59 pm

Thumbs Plus Pro from http://www.cerious.com. We find it a lot better than the others we've tried, including the very expensive ones. The new Version 7 handles most RAW files, 16-bit and psd/eps/pdf via Ghostscript. The standard database is Access based, but it can be used with almost any ODBC/SQL setup, including MySQL and PostgreSQL.

Colin & Linda

Gurilla · Posted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 5:09 pm

I'm simply using the browse method in PS CS and folders.

I move the file from folder to folder as they progress.
EG.
ready: Ready to upload.
Pending: Uploaded not yet dis/approved
Approved and Disapproved

I now upload to 3 sites, so I work the files in a predetermined order from one site to the next so I now only need 1 file.

When it has finished its trip it goes into a collection folder and can be burnt onto a CD.

crp · Joined: 26 Oct 2004 Posts: 338 Location: Colorado - USA

I haven't tried thumbs+, have to look into it.
Otherwise, I'm pretty much in the same boat here as Gurilla, doing the image folder tracking. Seems to work for now.

Could get interesting here if I begin uploading to a few more though. Right now I'm only sending to about 4 or 5, so that's not too bad... Yet ;)

crp

apletfx · Joined: 07 Nov 2004 Posts: 3

I use Extensis Portfolio It is a lightweight program, cheep, and doesn't crash when the file DB gets large. I have several thousand images stored in it currently. I have also been using it for about 4 years. Not a complaint here.

Gurilla · Posted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 11:50 pm

RoachPhoto · Joined: 03 Dec 2004 Posts: 2 Location: St. Louis

I've been using FotoAlbum from Fototime for about 2 years now, and think it's great. It used to be free, but now is $25 or $30. I haven't found anything I like better, at ANY price.

fokuss · Joined: 04 Dec 2004 Posts: 51 Location: San Jose, CA. USA

A couple great ones to use are ACDSEE (I believe you can find it at ACDSEE.com or search on the web) and Photoshop album. The first one is one of the first image and file management softwares ever. I used to use it about 7-8 years or more ago when it first came out and before I had Photoshop. Both are very inexpensive (40-100$ max I believe). Better get somehting soon before your images pile up.

StuartE · Posted: Sun Dec 05, 2004 7:02 pm

I use Compupic Pro, from www.photodex.com - it is by far the fastest browser I've found out there... I use my own filing system, though, moving the files to a 'Shutterstock' directory, uploading from the main folder, with a 'to do' and a 'done' folder too... the key to a good filing system is to do it from day one... I've handled over 40,000 images in the past couple of years - can you picture going back and filing all those because you didn't need to at the start... :-)

Cheers,
Stuart

graphicsdude · Joined: 08 Dec 2004 Posts: 14 Location: PA

Here's an idea for managing image files and saves space on your hard drive.
I use a USB flash drive! What I did was set up file folders on my hard drive, A-Z as an example. When I first started doing this I took all of my image files and placed them into the proper folder name for that image, when I had all of my images in the correct folders, I up-loaded all of the folders and sub folders and contents to my flash drive. When finished, I deleted all of the images from the folders on my hard drive but, kept the folder names.
When I have more images or graphics I just place them to the proper folder on my hard drive and up-load to my flash drive to the proper folder.
Sounds hard but, it's not.
The cool thing about this method is that I can take my files with me and makes for a lot of space saved on the old hard drive.
The great thing here is if you do have a hard drive go down, you don't loose, you have a back-up!
The USB flash drive I use is the, SanDisk cruzer mini. Works well with older windows platforms 95 and 98. For Xp, just plug it in.
You can store from 128mb to 1gb depending on what size flash drive you get. A 128mb drive starts around $30.00 up to $90.00 for a 1gb drive. Most office stores carry this product!

mikechy · Joined: 07 Dec 2004 Posts: 18

Would there be any interest in having an app that runs in a browser, ASP( Application service provider) model where you can track which sites are you have submitted photos to and which have accepted and rejected your photos?

You'd basically enter the image, with an optional thumbnail associated, and use the tool to keep track where your images have sold. You could also enter keywords, titles and descriptions that you could cut and paste later when submitting the photo elsewhere.

Mike

GeneralE · Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2004 7:42 pm