Searching with Auto Categories
Auto categories can help you search for files. This is particularly useful if you tend to take a lot of photos, or if you share your pictures with others.
You will find auto categories in the Catalog pane below Labels. Double-click or click the plus sign (+) to expand auto category groupings. Double-click or click the minus sign (-) to collapse the auto category groupings.
Some auto category information is added to images by your camera. This could include camera make and model, white balance settings, focal length, and aperture. You can supplement that with information you think is useful such as the location, keywords or copyright. To do this, you can enter information in the Properties pane.
When you click on an auto category, ACDSee Home searches for images belonging to that category. For example, if you use more than one camera, you can use auto categories to search for pictures taken using certain camera models. All images captured with that camera model will display.
Below are some tips for searching with auto categories.
Identifying Commonly Used Search Categories
If you use certain auto categories in the Photo Properties grouping frequently, you can save time by adding them to the Commonly Used grouping. Some Photo Properties groupings are available in the Commonly Used grouping by default. You can add and remove as many auto categories as you want to the Commonly Used grouping.
To Add an Auto Category Grouping to the Commonly Used Grouping:
- Expand the Photo Properties grouping.
- Right-click the auto categories grouping that you want to add to the Commonly Used grouping, and select Add to Commonly Used. The grouping is added to the Commonly Used grouping.
It remains visible in the Photo Properties grouping as well.
To Remove an Auto Category Grouping from the Commonly Used Grouping:
- Expand the Commonly Used grouping.
- Right-click the auto categories grouping that you want to remove from the Commonly Used grouping, and select Remove from Commonly Used.
The grouping is removed from the Commonly Used grouping.
Refining Your Auto Categories Search
You can refine your auto categories search by selecting more than one auto category. For example, you can find images with a certain aperture and shutter speed. If you click the Easy-Select indicator beside the f/16 aperture auto category and the 1/30 s shutter speed auto category, ACDSee Home will search for images that belong to both of those auto categories.
When you select more than one auto category you can further control the search by selecting Match All or Match Any from the Match Any/All drop-down list at the top of the Catalog pane. If you select Match Any, ACDSee Home will display any images associated with the selected auto categories. If you select Match All, ACDSee Home will display only those images that are associated with all of the selected auto categories.
You can also refine your auto categories search by selecting a category or rating. For example, imagine that you clicked on the Photographer auto category and found over 1000 images. However, you only want to see the best images by that photographer. Click the Easy-Select indicator beside 1 in the Ratings area of the Catalog pane. Only the images by that photographer with a rating of 1 will display.
You can also use the Selective Browsing pane to refine your auto categories search. For example, imagine that you clicked on the Camera Model auto category and ACDSee Home displayed over 1000 images. However, you only want to see the images that you took on a specific date. Display the Selective Browsing pane by clicking View | Selective Browsing, then select the Calendar pane and select the appropriate date. Only the images taken with that camera model on that day will be displayed.