IPTC 2

It's too early to know for sure if giving up would be a better plan, but I'm having a helluva time with this IPTC software.  So, I thought I'd pass on a few comments.

All of you who have gone out in droves to download a trial of MediaDex, I hope you're having a good time with it. I'm in a love/hate relationship.  It's the most un-intuitive software I've ever come across.  It has alot of potential though and I'm hoping that potential is worth $80.  I like it because it has a clean and simple interface, it's relatively stable and it handles all kinds of files besides graphics.  I love it because it's such a kick to make a simple breakthrough every few hours of trying.  Some things don't have any breakthrough moments.  They simply need to be fixed.


It has a brickwall face to it and no tool tips.  There's also a fairly useless help index as all the graphics that might be useful are too small to be seen.  The text is precisely-written but it's complex.  Whoever designed this software has wired in a bit of a language problem.  So it takes some serious time deciphering the terminology.  Too many options can only be found in the standard menu instead of through icons, shortcut keys or right-click options.  I spend alot of time on my computer but rarely get a burn in my right shoulder. This software is such an ergonomic nightmare it's put my neck out of joint.

However, I've gotten past all that and managed to import a few thousand files and get them categorized and keyworded.  Don't get me wrong, even with its problems it can be immensely useful.  The warning is you may have to fight for it.  There's no email support, just a forum.  So far, I'm batting about 10% on getting my questions answered.

And then, here comes the shock.  I assumed IPTC keywords entered here would automatically show up in the keyword field of other IPTC software.  Adobe Elements, for instance.  Simply not so.  It works for jpg's.  It does not work for bmp's, tiff's or psd's.  Is this a limitation of Adobe Elements?  Over there it says keywords can be entered through the Organizer.  Different kind of keywords, I guess.  Are there different versions of IPTC?  If I only use MediaDex for all of my cataloging and searching forevermore, does it matter?   

In the meantime, curiosity got the better of me and I downloaded a trial of another cataloging software, iMatch.  iMatch is a train-wreck, visually-speaking.  It looks like it was built by a room full of people who forgot to have a meeting about what it should look like.  Between the various limitations and splash screens, the trial version is just plain obnoxious.  Once you open it, don't ever exit because it plays a 10 second count-down, every single time, on a really ugly screen telling you the reasons you should buy it.  And they think this is going to motivate people?


It has so many options it will make you dizzy.  There are reams of icons but you'd need a magnifier to make out what they're for.  Whether it's functional is hard to tell, because there's so much flak to get past to even begin.  Every single thing you click on throws up a detailed tool-tip written in fine print that'll make you blind in short order.  It also gives the impression that you need their encyclopedia to use the software.  Who knows, that may be true.

I did try to view my MediaDex-entered IPTC info there.  Here it gets interesting.  The iMatch IPTC window does not show categories and keywords at all.   But hey! there's a mini-HTML editor instead, so if you're a programmer you can get in there and program it yourself!  I'm nothing if not determined, so I clicked on "Add a Row" and got a column instead.  'Nuff said.

07 Dec 2007

I now have MediaDex-keywords showing up in Adobe on tiff's and psd's and jpg's, but not bmp's or png's.  I don't think there are different kinds of IPTC.  It is afterall a standard.  But different programs have differing abilities to read and write it.  For instance, tagging=IPTC keywords in Adobe Elements, but they will not translate to MediaDex keywords.  This is a real pain, and all I can figure is that Adobe wants to keep their tagging function proprietary, as it appears they've locked that field down.  Better to stick with MediaDex for working as they don't put any such limits on usage.

 *** Dec 18 update: Tags in Adobe can be written to photos (jpg's, tiff's and psd's only) by using the "Write Tags and Properties Info to Photos" option in the File menu of the Organizer.  This will fix what otherwise appears to be an incompatibility problem with other IPTC-reading software.  

I find MediaDex working quite well now that I've gotten past my nail-biting, head-banging interlude.  3,806 files linked and fully indexed.  About 15,000 to go.  I'm in this for life.  It handles 127 different file formats, even my OpenOffice documents, and has every field you could ever want for adding information.

I have seen various programs that advertise as being "fully IPTC-compatible".  It's a bunch of baloney.  What they mean is that they can write IPTC-captions to jpg's, that's it.  

JL