Organizing with the Catalog Pane

The Catalog pane is useful panes as it provides many ways to catalog, sort, group, search for, and manage your files.

Categories

Categories are an easy way to organize your files into context-related sections. When you assign a file to a category, you do not move the file from its folder or create an extra copy. Your categories can be simple or complex and use any names you choose. There are different icons to use for different categories to help you identify them at a glance. Once your files are in categories, you can search, sort, group, and find them by category.

One way to assign files to a category is to select and drag one or more files from the file list and drop them onto the category. You can choose colored icons to identify your categories, and cycle through the available icons using the ] key. A file can belong to multiple categories, but it will only have one icon. For comprehensive categories management, use the Organize tab of the Properties pane.

People

The People group in the Catalog pane will display the names of individuals you have assigned in the Face Detection Pane in View mode. You can select a name to display all of the photos with that individual in it, provided that they have been identified using Face Detection. You can also set Face Search Options which allow you to choose whether to display assigned names, suggested names, or both using the settings menu (gear icon) in the top right corner of the People group.

Please note that Face Detection is only available for the 64-bit version of ACDSee Photo Studio Home.

Keywords

You can use keywords to organize your files into hierarchies. You can create and assign hierarchical keywords in the Organize tab of the Properties pane. You can add keywords to images quickly using drag and drop. You can also manage your keywords in the context menu, by using right-click.

Ratings

You can assign a numerical rating from 1 to 5 to your images and files. Once you have assigned ratings, you can search, sort, and catalog your files based on the ratings, or a combination of ratings, categories, auto categories etc. A file can have only one rating. When a file has a rating, the number appears on top of the thumbnail in the File List pane. Ratings can be managed in Assigning and Searching Categories and Ratings.

Color Labels

You can use color labels to catalog your files. You can use different colors to represent different stages of your workflow. As you review your photos or documents, you can assign color labels and rename them accordingly.

Auto Categories

Most digital cameras create and embed information about the file as you take a photo. This information is called metadata and can include the name and model of the camera, the file size, shutter speed, camera settings used in the shot and much more. ACDSee uses this information to create auto categories. You can search using auto categories to find images containing that metadata. You can select one or more auto categories to find files, for example, photos of a certain size, taken by a particular camera. You can also add to this data using the Properties panes.

Saved Searches

If you find yourself creating the same search criteria frequently, you can save the search to use again later. Saved searches appear at the top of the Search pane but they also appear in the Catalog pane for you to re-run using a single click on the name or in the white checkbox of the Easy-Select bar.

To Create a New Saved Search from the Catalog Pane:

  1. In the Saved Searches area of the Catalog pane, click the New saved search icon.

    2. The Search pane opens.

  2. Enter your search criteria and then click the Saved searches icon.

    3. The new saved search appears in the Saved Searches on the Catalog pane and in the Saved Searches drop-down list of the Search pane.

Special Items

You can use Special Items to quickly view all of the images in your database and any uncategorized images. Select one of the following items:

  • Image Well: displays all images cataloged in the ACDSee database. If you have a substantial image collection, it may take a few moments to gather all of the information.
  • Videos: displays all videos cataloged in the ACDSee database. This will return any video formats supported by ACDSee. If you have a substantial file collection, it may take a few moments to gather all of the information.
  • Embed Pending: displays all the files with database data that has changed but has not yet been embedded in the files.
  • Uncategorized: displays any images cataloged in the database that have not been assigned to a category.
  • No Keywords: displays any images cataloged in the database that have no ACDSee keywords assigned.
  • Unnamed Faces: displays all photos in which one or more faces have been detected but not named.

    • Please note that Face Detection is only available for the 64-bit version of ACDSee Photo Studio Home.

  • Auto-Named Faces: displays all photos with one or more faces that have been automatically named by ACDSee using facial recognition.

    • Please note that Face Detection is only available for the 64-bit version of ACDSee Photo Studio Home.

  • Suggested Names: displays all photos with suggested names using Face Search. You can use this item to quickly confirm or deny suggestions across your image collection.

    • Please note that Face Detection is only available for the 64-bit version of ACDSee Photo Studio Home.

  • Tagged: displays all the tagged images in your file collection.

The ACDSee Database and Embedded Data

When you assign a file to a rating, or category, this information is stored in the ACDSee database. If you choose to, you can also embed this information in each individual file, making it easier to relocate and share files, or retrieve the information from the file if you need to. In the database, information is always associated with a particular file. If you move or rename files using an application other than ACDSee (like Windows Explorer) the link between the file and the ACDSee database will be broken. If this happens, and you have embedded the information in each file, you can rebuild the database and retrieve all the information.

You can also use the Properties pane to add information to the ACDSee database like captions, keywords and much more. Taking the time to assign categories and add keywords, notes, etc., makes it much easier to find and organize your files. Learn more about organizing using the Properties Pane.

ACDSee uses XMP to embed ACDSee Metadata into each file. Only some file formats and file extensions support XMP. These include GIF, JPEG, DNG, PNG, PSD, and TIF. In the case of these file formats, the ACDSee Metadata is embedded inside the file and so you can rename or move the file outside of ACDSee and still be able to retrieve the ACDSee Metadata. For formats that currently do not support XMP, including RAW and ABR, the ACDSee Metadata is written to a sidecar file that is stored in the same folder as its file. Because a sidecar file is separate from the file itself, you need to rename or move them together, or you could lose the ACDSee Metadata permanently.

Easy-Select Bars

The Easy-Select bars are the indicators on the left side of the Folders and Catalog panes. They look like this: . You can use these indicators to select multiple folders or categories, and display their contents in the File List pane. In the Catalog pane you can also use the Easy-Select indicators to select combinations of categories, ratings, auto categories, saved searches, and special items. For example, you could display all your photos with a rating of 1 that belonged to the category People.

You can also use the Easy-Select indicators with the Selective Browsing pane (View | Selective Browsing).

When you use the Match Any/All buttons and the Easy-Select indicators together, the Catalog pane becomes a powerful search tool for finding unique sets of files.

To Use the Easy-Select Bar:

In the Folders or Catalog pane, select the indicator to the left of each item with contents you want to display. The indicator changes orientation to point to the item you have selected.

If you select a category, rating, or combination that does not have any files that match, the File List displays a message and shows no thumbnails. The quickest way to return to a folder with files is to click the back arrow.

To View Cataloged Files:

Select one or more categories, ratings, auto categories, saved searches, or special items. Files assigned to those classifications are displayed in the File List pane.

The Contents bar at the top of the File List pane displays whatever categories or items are currently selected. You can browse through specific categories, ratings, or items within specific folders using the Selective Browsing pane.

Match All Match Any

There are two Match All/ Match Any drop-down lists on the Catalog pane; one at the top of the pane that affects categories and one that affects saved searches. You can use the Match All and Match Any options to affect the display of thumbnails in the File List in the following way:

  • Match All: to be included, a file has to belong to all the categories or searches you select. So the file has to be in both or all of the categories or searches before it will display in the File List. Match All is more exclusive. You can use it to limit the number of files that display and narrow a search down.
  • Match Any: to be included, a file can belong to any of the categories or searches you select. So any files in the selected categories or searches will display in the File List. Match any is more inclusive.

Catalog Icons

Category

Identifies files that have been assigned to a category.

Ratings 1-5

Identifies file ratings.

New Saved search

Opens the Search pane so that you can create a new saved search.

Saved search

Displays the Save/Save As menu so you can save a search.

Easy-Select indicator (selected)

Selects the category, rating, auto category, or other item for display in the File List pane.

Easy-Select indicator (not selected)

Does not select the category, rating, auto category, or other item for display in the File List pane.

Match Any/All

Controls which images are displayed in the File List pane.

To hide the icons in the Catalog pane, click Tools | Options, and then select Catalog. Uncheck the Show Icons checkbox in the Options dialog box.

See also: