JLB, Although we all have our own opinions of various software programs, I must disagree with your assessment of Photoshop, at least version 10 and 11, the latest ones.
The main thrust of this thread was around file structures for ease of finding various files from the masses of files we tend to accumulate. Tagging is another way of accomplishing the same thing. Photoshop allows tagging, including batch tagging, of photos. It also has great facial recognition and facial tagging, which does a pretty good job (yes, there is some manual work required) of tagging the people in photos. Then, one can find photos by any combination of keyword tags, and/or 'people tags'. In my view, it's an excellent organizer. Before rejecting it, I urge anyone considering Photoshop to download the free trial and see for yourself. Also, be patient, it is fairly complex to learn, the trick is to use just those small parts that you need for organization at the beginning and gradually get into more complex functions. I hope I'm not going to be ruled off topic, as Photoshop has been discussed in Webinars and Geoff's digital imaging book (I think), but it isn't really a Legacy add on. So, this thread may be stopped soon. Paul Gray -----Original Message----- From: JLB [mailto:j...@jgen.ws] Sent: March-17-13 6:39 PM To: LegacyUserGroup@LegacyUsers.com Subject: Re: [LegacyUG] Organization of Photos, Scanned Documents and etc. Photoshop Elements, IMO, is very good for editing photos. The Organizer (the other half) is very poor. In particular in regards to tagging. You can add keywords in the Organizer. And captions, I think. Everything else (locations, copyright, source, object name and all the other IPTC fields) can only be done one photo at a time through the File Info window accessible only through the Editor. It's quite a nonsensical arrangement. The mapping feature in the Organizer is also pathetic. There's no batch-mode either. I could go on for hours about how much I dislike it. I did use it many years ago and tried a couple of trials since then hoping it had been improved. It seemed to be the best there was until I found something better. And I was so relieved to find something better. Photo Mechanic, as well as GeoSetter and XnView can be used for adding metadata as well as other functions that differ from one to the other; the first two also handle GPS. GeoSetter is particularly good at that. None of them is an 'organizer' per se. In other words, you're working on the images wherever they already exist on your computer. Which is good because if you move them around or rename them you can still find them. (Another yuck point about APSE Organizer; it creates a linked catalog.) XnView and GeoSetter are both free. Photo Mechanic is a free trial. I would suggest trying all of them and having a look. Once you establish a work flow with them or one or two of them you'll find what you prefer. Try Photo Mechanic when you've got time to enjoy the trial. The others don't matter since you can have them forever. XnView also has a portable version if you're into PortableApps. http://portableapps.com/ About not linking files to Legacy - I did link them at one time. From where I started to where I am now I probably moved or renamed files about 20 times. By the time I got to 15,000 source citations with images attached, relinking them to Legacy had gotten really tedious. One day I knocked myself up the side of the head about my stupidity in that regard. The filing system I use now makes it really easy to access files anywhere and anytime in a variety of ways, generally quicker than I can click through to them inside Legacy. Linking files to Legacy seems to me a make-work project with zero benefits. I link individual pictures because I like to print them out in reports. But only one per person. If I really want to get serious with photos I can easily search them and create things outside Legacy like collage or focused PDFs. There are so many ways of being creative with images and I really don't see Legacy being the place for it. Of course, all data is extracted from each record and entered into Legacy and sourced. ----- JL Beeken JLog - simple computer technology for genealogists http://jlog.jgen.ws/ On 3/17/2013 4:55 PM, Sentz wrote: > JLB > > Just getting back to you after reviewing your powerpoint presentation > on MRINs...interesting how your thought process evolved. I may > incorporate some of your ideas as I formulate my new computer filing strategy. > > I have been considering purchasing photoshop Elements software. Would > you know the advantages of using photo mechanic software instead > Elements? > > Understanding LTools, Geosetter and XnView and what they do is on my > list. At this point, I don't have that many individual records and > haven't had difficulty finding multimedia files. > > Also, if I am understanding correctly, what is your thinking about not > linking any images to Legacy, or just 1 photo for an individual. It's > interesting to hear that some others only link some images, but not > everything, which makes sense. Do you link any census images at all? > Or do you just enter the census data? > > Cathy Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyusers.com/ Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyfamilytree.com/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp Follow Legacy on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/LegacyFamilyTree) and on our blog (http://news.LegacyFamilyTree.com). 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