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Software for organizing photos
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Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Nov 12, 2007 at 12:41 PM
Randall,
I have a similar project in mind, though the number of slides is in the hundreds, not thousands. I have been looking for a low-cost slide scanning solution, but have not found one. I would be grateful if would let me know which scanner you use to scan your slides. (Or if anyone else has a low-cost slide scanner in mind…)
Thank you.
Steve Z.
Posted by Bob Mackreth
Nov 12, 2007 at 02:01 PM
I’ll add another vote for ACDSee.
I have thousands of image files also, and used ULEADS Photo Explorer for years, reasonably content. Part of the PhotoImpact image suite, it comes bundled with many scanners and offers basic image organizing capability, with a thumbnail interface and some rudimentary editing tools.
ACDSee was featured on Bits du Jour a couple of weeks ago, so I grabbed the opportunity, and am very glad I did. It’s far more powerful than what I’d been using, with tagging, annotating, cross-referencing capabilities, and so on. Wish I’d bought it years ago.
Incidentally, I would definitely recommend PhotoImpact as an image editor. It offers near-PhotoShop power at a fraction of the price.
Posted by Chris Thompson
Nov 12, 2007 at 05:08 PM
I strongly recommend taking a look at Adobe Lightroom. It’s a little pricey, but if you’re trying to manage a big photo library with both tagging and editing, its workflow is fantastic.
Posted by Randall Shinn
Nov 12, 2007 at 07:02 PM
Thanks for all the suggestions. I’ll take a look at the programs suggested.
A wrinkle in my situation is that my wife is a professional artist who uses photography in the process of designing her pieces, as well as documenting them, and she is currently under contract to write a book (including photographs) about her technique. So whatever direction I go is likely to involve “professional” equipment and software.
So, to answer Steve’s question, for slide scanning we will likely go with something like the Nikon Super CoolScan 5000, which runs around $1,000. Nikon makes less expensive scanners as well. If you can get one with Digital ICE4, it helps clean up old slides..
My wife uses Adobe Photoshop all the time, so we will definitely take a close look at Adobe Lightroom. Because Adobe designs their products for professional design studios, they seem overpriced for individuals (IMHO). But I have emeritus academic status, and students and faculty can order Lightroom for as little as 20% of its list price. But I will survey all the suggestions before making a final decision.
Randall Shinn
Posted by Ken
Nov 12, 2007 at 07:09 PM
Stephen Zeoli wrote:
>Randall,
>
>I have a similar project in mind, though the number of slides is in the
>hundreds, not thousands. I have been looking for a low-cost slide scanning solution,
>but have not found one. I would be grateful if would let me know which scanner you use to
>scan your slides. (Or if anyone else has a low-cost slide scanner in mind…)
>
While I love Nikon slide scanners, their software leaves me with mixed feelings. A good alternative for scanning software is Ed Hamrick’s VueScan. His program works with a large number (and I mean a LARGE number) of scanners and its worth considering as an alternative.