Embedding Database Information 

The ACDSee Photo Studio 9 database stores image and media file information automatically when you browse your folders. This process is called cataloging. The database increases the speed with which you can browse your computer, and you can use the information stored in the database to sort, organize, search, and filter your images and media files.

Should you prefer to further safeguard your database information (for the rare event that the database becomes corrupted), you can embed the database information into the files themselves. Embedding database information in the files, in addition to the database, is a safe way to backup this data and make it easier to retrieve if needed.

To Embed Database Information:

  1. Select files from the File List pane.
  2. Click Tools | Metadata, and then select one of the following:
    • Embed ACDSee Metadata in Selected Files...
    • Embed ACDSee Metadata in All Files...
  3. Click Embed.

The Embed Pending Icon

In Manage mode, in the File List pane, the following overlay icon appears on the thumbnail of files which have ACDSee Metadata stored in the ACDSee database that has not yet been written to the file:

Right-click the file and choose either:

Embed ACDSee Metadata...

Writes the metadata to the file.

Clear Embed Pending Icon

Clears this overlay icon, but does not write the metadata to the file.

Embed Database Information Options

When embeding database information, you have a choice of what metadata is stored:

  • ACDSee Metadata, including categories, keywords, ratings, color labels, and other metadata.
  • ACDSee Face Data, including face outlines and names.

You can choose to write XMP sidecar files for file types that do not support embedded XMP (e.g., RAW files).

Viewing Files That Have Data to Embed

There is a quick way to view which files have data that needs to be embedded using the Embed Pending option.

To View Files That Have Data to Embed:

In the Organize pane, under Special Items, click Embed Pending.

All the files that have data to embed are displayed in the File List.

Retrieving Embedded Database Information

You can retrieve embedded database information by browsing to your images and viewing the embedded information in the Properties pane. If you simply browse to the folder where the files are located, some of the ACDSee Metadata is retrieved and written to the database. Categories and keywords, however, are not. To retrieve embedded category and keyword database information, you can use the Catalog folders command.

To Retrieve Embedded Database Information:

  1. Click Tools | Catalog folders.
  2. In the Catalog Folders dialog box, browse to and select a folder.
  3. Check Include subfolders if you would like to include the subfolders.
  4. Click Catalog.

See also: