digital asset management

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New: IMatch 2021.16.2

We’re happy to announce the release of IMatch 2021.16.2 and a compatibility update for our IMatch Anywhere product line.
See the detailed release notes for an overview of all new features, changes and bug fixes.

Highlights in this New Release

There are the most important enhancements and new features in the new edition of the digital asset management system IMatch from photools.com.

Favorite Enhancements

  1. Alt + left-click now triggers the “Goto” command, where available (folders, categories, collections, events, people).
  2. Event Favorites now have a primary action (add to Event) and secondary action (remove from Event). This only works if the Favorite was created for a file-based event.
  3. People Favorites now have a primary action (link to Person) and secondary action (un-link from Person).

Content-aware (Smart) Cropping for Design & Print

When you set the Batch Processor or Design & Print to fit an image into a specific size or container (e.g., fitting an image into a square container), cropping the image vertically or horizontally is usually required.

Both features offer multiple ways to align the image and to control where to crop, e.g. top/left or bottom/right.
This version of IMatch introduces a new Smart mode which tries to prevent relevant portions of the image from being cropped.

Consider the following example: Left side: Fill and Center. Right side: the new Fill Smart mode:

The image is automatically horizontally shifted to prevent the faces from being cropped.
This new option will be useful for situations where you process images with different arrangements and sizes in an automatic fashion.

Collection Performance

Performance improvements for collections when adding / removing files to/from collections, e.g. setting, removing or toggling a rating.
Under some conditions (and for larger databases), changing a collection by adding/removing files could take several hundred milliseconds (up to half a second), which could impact user’s workflows.

Map Panel – Support for Drag and Drop

You can now assign GPS coordinates to files by simply dragging the files from a File Window into the Map Panel.

LibRaw Update to support Olympus OM1 Raw Variant

Yes. Olympus introduced yet another proprietary RAW variant with their OM1 model.
And they don’t provide a WIC codec for their cameras, which means that WIC will support this camera only when Microsoft updates their WIC codecs…

LibRaw thankfully supports this new format in their latest version (not in their official snapshot release). We’ve decided to integrate this version into IMatch for timely support for the OM1 variant.

ExifTool and the new IPTC Mapping Guidelines

Updated ExifTool to version 12.41, released on April 7. 2022. Read the ExifTool release notes here.

IMatch and ExifTool now implement the IPTC Photometadata Mapping Guidelines version 2202.1.
See https://iptc.org/std/photometadata/documentation/mappingguidelines/ for more information.

New duration Variable formatting function

The new duration function calculates the difference between two timestamps in units and outputs the result. For example:

{File.DateTime|format:YYYY:MM:DD hh:mm:ss;duration:now,years,one year,$ years,less than a year}

This variable calculates the difference between the File.DateTime and the current date and time, and outputs:
one year, if the difference is more than 0 but less than 2 years,
n years, if the difference is equal or greater than 2 years, where n is the number of years, and
less than a year, when the difference is less than a year.

This variable can be used for a multitude of purposes, e.g. showing a “How long ago did I create this image?” in File Windows, Design & Print or other features.

New Workflow Categories

We have added two new categories to the IMatch Workflow Categories:
No Author (with the formula "@MetadataTag[creator,novalue]") and
No Headline (with the formula "@MetadataTag[headline,novalue]").

See the detailed release notes for an overview of all new features, changes and bug fixes.

Putting Some Smarts Into File Names

Using smart file names can be a key for successful digital asset management. Some users prefer to include dates in file names. Other users include project codes or use a globally unique file naming schema. Whatever naming schema you decide to use, IMatch has tools to make the job easier.

IMatch includes a powerful tool named Renamer. With it you cannot only rename files in smart ways, but also copy and move files, add folders on-the-fly, create automatic backups, and more…

The Problem

Cameras often use file names like _DSC12345.jpg, which are not really informative or useful. You cannot tell anything about the contents of the file by just looking at the file name. And, if you use more than one camera, you may even end up with duplicate file names. And that’s never a good idea.

Although the physical file name is not that important anymore when you use a Digital Asset Management (DAM) system like IMatch. But it’s always better to be able to work with your files properly outside of your DAM, e.g. when you upload files to your web site or send them out to clients or a printing service.

The Solution

The IMatch Renamer tool enables you to create consistent and descriptive file names – automatically, when new files are indexed by your database, or later at any time. Whether you use simple numerical file names or you include additional information like date and time, a project code or even metadata like title or job id is up to you.

Some Examples For File Naming Conventions

_DSC12345.ext This is the file name format used by most digital cameras today. Each image file gets a sequential number and the prefix DSC (Digital Still Camera). A leading underscore is added if the file is in the Adobe RGB color space.
2015-08-01_12345.ext This file name consists of the year-month-day the image was taken, plus a sequential number. This format is pretty common because the file names are not only descriptive but also ensure that the images are sorted by date in software like Windows Explorer.
P8781-00121.ext
P8781-20150801-00121.ext
A file naming schema which uses a project code (P8781) and then a 5-digit sequential number which identifies each file in that project. The second variant also includes the date and time.

The Renamer has a special project code feature which prompts you to input a project code automatically.

20150801-usa-new-↵
york-890.ext
A file name which consists of a date stamp, the country and city name where the image was taken and a sequential number. File names like this are great when you travel a lot.

The Renamer can construct such file names from the location metadata in the image automatically.

Project_Location_Lab_Cond_↵
20150801100501_001.ext
A file name how it is often used for files created in research projects. Each file name contains important information about the object(s) shown in the image.

The Renamer can construct such file names automatically by accessing both metadata stored in a file and global variables, e.g., the project name or the location and lab data.

Your naming convention make be based on one of these examples, or you create your own unique way of naming files. The Renamer in IMatch is flexible enough to handle (almost) everything you can come up with.

The IMatch Renamer

To rename files, select them in a File Window and then bring up the Renamer by pressing <Ctrl>+<F2>. The Renamer has a comfortable user interface which allows you to produce file names by adding one or more steps. There are steps to:

[list_font icon=”check-square-o” list_item_1=”add date and time in various formats” list_item_2=”add plain text and IMatch variables” list_item_3=”converting the case of file names” list_item_4=”including selected parts of the original file name” list_item_5=”replacing or delete text” list_item_6=”removing (leading/trailing) digits” list_item_7=”adding unique or sequential numbers” list_item_8=”copying and moving files” list_item_9=”creating folders on-the-fly, even with names based on variables” list_item_10=”prompting the user to enter a project code when he renames files” list_item_11=”…”]

While you add or change steps, the embedded preview allows you to see the resulting file names. No changes are made to the file system, the Renamer merely simulates the rename operation. It also checks for and indicates duplicate file names you may produce with your steps.

Example: Date and Sequence Number Format

The Renamr user interface.
The user interface of the Renamer.

In the screen shot above we create file names in the format: YYYY-MM-DD-nnnnn.ext format. At the bottom of the dialog box you see the source file name and destination file name. If you rename more then one file, you can click on the Preview… button to see the resulting file names for all files.

Example: Including the ISO Country Code and City Name

To create the more complex YYYYMMDD-Country Code-City Name-sequence number format explained in the table above, we just need a few more steps:

The File Renamer: Renaming files using county code and city name

The first step adds the date in the YYYYMMDD format. Then we add a – and the ISO country code. We follow up with another – and then the name of the city. The country code and city name are retrieved directly from the XMP metadata of the file by using the corresponding IMatch variables. The final two steps add yet another – and a 5-digit sequence number. For the sample image used for this demo, the resulting file name is: 20140321-USA-New York-28190.jpg.

See the Renamer topic in the IMatch help system for numerous additional examples and tips & tricks.

Important: Buddy and Sidecar Files

Most of the RAW processing software in use today (and also image editing software, audio and video processing tools) produce sidecar or ‘buddy’ files for each file you process. A typical example are XMP files which contain the XMP metadata for your RAW fies. If you have a _DSC12345.RAW file, the XMP file will be named _DSC12345.XMP.

RAW processors or image editing software also create a variety of other files with settings, configuration data or history info for each image you process in these applications. Sometimes these files are in the same folder as the image, sometimes in sub-folders.

When you rename an image file, it is important to rename the sidecar and buddy files as well. Otherwise you may break the ‘link’ between the image file and the sidecar files which can have dire consequences.

The Renamer cooperates with IMatch’s unique file relations concept and thus ‘knows’ about buddy and sidecar files – even if these are not indexed by your IMatch database. The Renamer automatically ensures that buddy and sidecar files are renamed together with the image file.

File Names in Digital Asset Management

The Renamer tool in IMatch enables you to create descriptive and consistent file names. It offers easy features to include date and time, arbitrary metadata, text and automatic numeric sequences in file names. By using the embedded preview you can test your rename results without making changes to the file system. The Renamer also cooperates with the unique file relations feature in IMatch to automatically rename buddy and sidecar files when the corresponding image is renamed.

The File Window displaying multiple keywords per row.

Tune Your File Window Layouts

The File Window in IMatch can be customized in many ways using file window layouts. You have full control over whether you use a thumbnail or a tabular layout and over the data to be included for each file.

File window layout customization in the digital image management system IMatch.

This know-how article explains some tricks which you can use with custom templates in conjunction with variables.

See the File Window Layouts help topic in the IMatch Help system for a full overview of all available features and many examples.

Custom Templates and Layouts

When creating a custom layout, you usually just pick the IMatch data elements and metadata tags to display in the file window. Maybe also change the font size, alignment or color. This already gives you a lot of control over the data you see for each file.

Even more options are available when you switch the layout element to use a custom template. This allows you to use IMatch Variables and all related functionality, plus a subset of XAML formatting to control font sizes, colors and other aspects of the output.

You can use custom templates for each of the four headers and 8 footers, mixing them freely with standard elements. In the following example we configured Header 2 left to display the XMP headline. We also changed the font size and the color:

The File Window Layout Editor
The file window layout editor.

The resulting file window layout displays the contents of the XMP headline tag under the file name, in a bigger font and a orange color:

Screen shot of the file window.
We could use any other variable, or multiple variables in the template. Whatever is needed to produce the output you want.

Displaying Lists

Some variables return lists of elements, e.g., the XMP hierarchicalKeywords variable or the Categories variables. IMatch separates list elements with the list separator character configured for Windows (usually ; or , ) . This results in values like “vacation;summer;family;holiday;Hawaii”.

IMatch offers a wide variety of variable functions, which allow you to manipulate the results of variables. By using the replace function, we can replace the default list separator ; with something different.

For example, if you want to display each keyword in a separate row, replace the ; with a line feed {lf}:

{File.MD.hierarchicalkeywords|replace:~;=={lf}}

Note that we use the short code for the variable instead of the full variable name ({File.MD.XMP::Lightroom\hierarchicalSubject\HierarchicalSubject}). The output is identical, but using the short code makes it easier to read.

To make room for the keywords, we increased the height of the footer to 120 pixel. If there are more keywords than there is room in the thumbnail panel, IMatch automatically crops the excess keywords.

The File Window Layout Editor showing the template for the custom footer.

The resulting file window layout displays the keywords assigned to the file in the footer, with one keyword per row:

The File Window Layout with Keywords.
A file window layout which displays XMP hierarchicalSubject values (keywords) in a ‘one keyword per row’ layout.

 

An Alternative: Let It Wrap

The approach to put each keyword on a single line may be a waste of screen space when you increase the thumbnail size. In this case there is likely enough room to fit multiple keywords per row.

To allow for that, we replace the ; separator with something like ,<blank> (a comma followed by a SPACE character). This allows the file window layout engine to fill the available space, automatically wrapping at the SPACE to create additional rows as needed. This variable

{File.MD.hierarchicalkeywords|replace:~;==, }

yields the desired result:

The File Window displaying multiple keywords per row.
The same file window, but with larger thumbnails. This makes room to fit multiple keywords per row. The layout engine in the digital asset management IMatch automatically re-formates the keywords to fill the available space, wrapping into separate lines as needed.

Displaying IMatch Attribute Data

Attributes allow you to create your own database inside the IMatch database. They are used to store custom data for each file, independent from the file format or the supported metadata. Attributes are great for purposes like keeping notes per file, submission tracking, billing, etc.

You can store any number of Attribute records per file. The corresponding variables return all values for a given attribute in a list semicolon-separated, just like the XMP hierarchicalSubject variable we used in the examples above.

In a recent post in the photools.community, a user asked how he can display this data in the file window. There may be multiple records per file, and each record may have multiple attributes.

For this example, we use a typical submission tracking Attribute Set. The IMatch user keeps track of which stock photo agencies (or web sites) he has submitted a file to, the state of the submission and the revenue. In the IMatch Attributes Panel, this looks like this:

The IMatch Attribute Panel
A submission tracking Attribute Set in the Attribute panel. Click for a larger view.

See the Attributes topic in the IMatch help system for detailed information about the IMatch Attribute database. The Submission tracking is used there as an example as well.

The file used in the screen shot above has 3 attribute records, each keeping data about one submission. If you want to display this data (or some of it) inside the file window, you can use the same method described in the keywords example above: You use a custom template for the file window layout, and control the data to display with IMatch variables.

But how to deal with the multiple records per file? When we just use the variable

{File.AT.Submissions.Client}

IMatch returns a list of all values for the Client Attribute, separated with a semicolon : DaguckstDu Stock Fotos;Bright Eyes Stock Photography;Whoa! Stock. The same happens for {File.AT.Submissions.Amount}: 280,00 $;450,00 $;250,00 $. Not really helpful. We would like to see the client, the date the file was submitted and how much money we made from it next to each other, in the same row, somehow.

The Trick: Indexing Variables

To achieve this, we use the index variable function, which allows us to access individual elements (aka records) in the variable. For example:

{File.AT.Submissions.Client|index:0}

returns the name of the Client from the first record (variables start counting at 0). With index:1 we get the second record, and so on. Now, after making some experiments in the awesome Var Toy App which is included in IMatch (see the App Panel and the IMatch help), we created this:

{File.AT.Submissions.Client|index:0}↵
{File.AT.Submissions.Date submitted|format:YYYY-MM-DD;index:0}↵
{File.AT.Submissions.Amount|index:0}

We use three variables to access the Client, the Date Submitted and the Amount attributes. With index:0 we tell IMatch to return only the first record. The resulting output is:

DaguckstDu Stock Fotos  2015-04-06  280,00 $

which is exactly what we want. Now, we just duplicate this variable group a number of times to access the 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4th record (we assume that we don’t sell each image more than five times):

{File.AT.Submissions.Client|index:0} {File.AT.Submissions.Date submitted|format:YYYY-MM-DD;index:0;prefix:(;postfix:)}{File.AT.Submissions.Amount|index:0;prefix: : }

{File.AT.Submissions.Client|index:1} {File.AT.Submissions.Date submitted|format:YYYY-MM-DD;index:1;prefix:(;postfix:)}{File.AT.Submissions.Amount|index:1;prefix: : }

{File.AT.Submissions.Client|index:4} {File.AT.Submissions.Date submitted|format:YYYY-MM-DD;index:4;prefix:(;postfix:)}{File.AT.Submissions.Amount|index:4;prefix: : }

Each of these variable groups produces one row in the file window. If a file has only 1 or 2 records (or none), IMatch automatically suppresses the output of the remaining variables., no rows are emitted. Which is of course exactly what we want.

We used the prefix and postfix functions to add ( and ) around the date instead of just adding them as literal text. This means that the parentheses will not show when the variable itself is suppressed.

This may look a bit complicated, but it really isn’t. It’s just variables, but with a neat twist in order to create this advanced example. To give this a try, we created a tabular file window layout and the five groups of variables from above to a custom template:

The digital image management system IMatch upports file window customization.

Each submission is displayed with the name of the client, the date of the submission and the amount of money created from that submission. Awesome!

Summary

File Window Layouts in IMatch enable you to control the data displayed in the file window. You can easily control the attributes or metadata to display, and also choose font sizes and colors.

If you need more advanced layouts, or you want to have fine control over the data to display, and how this data is formatted, you can use custom templates. In combination with IMatch variables this gives you a lot of options to work with.