If you have an existing set of images, then you can use the Import feature to get those image in your catalog. To import your images simply click the "Import" button in the main application toolbar.
Once you click the Import button a dialog appears, and in this dialog you can select one or more folders of images that you'd like to import to the catalog. You can select multiple folders by holding down the [Ctrl] key while clicking each folder that you want to import. In the upper tree you select the folder and then set the import option. These options are:
Import sub folders too |
By selecting this option you instruct IDimager to also import all folders that are inside the selected folder
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Create thumbnails on import |
By selecting this option you instruct IDimager to create thumbnails during the import process. It is recommended that you enable this option.
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Store meta information to catalog |
By selecting this option you instruct IDimager to read existing meta information like Exif, IPTC, XMP etc to the catalog. It is recommended that you always enable this option, as it will ensure that the images that you read to the Catalog will have their existing keywords migrated to catalog labels.
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Create import session label in Auto Catalog section |
Select this option if you want to create a entry in the catalog labels of your catalog. This will allow you to quickly retrieve all images from this session afterwards.
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Create labels from folder names |
IDimager Pro Only: IDimager can create catalog labels from your folder names and assign these to the imported images. You normally use this when you currently have organized your images in a folder structure that contains folder names that identify the content of the folder.
Valid options are:
Never; No catalog labels will be created for folder names
Only lowest folder; A catalog label is created for the lowest folder in the path hierarchy only. E.g. an image stored in folder D:\Photos\Nature\Vancouver will create and assign the catalog label "Vancouver"
Full folder structure; A catalog label is created ror each folder in the path hierarchy. E.g. an image stored in D:\Photos\Nature\Vancouver will create and assign the catalog labels: "Photos", "Nature", and "Vancouver"
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Mark import folder as |
IDimager Pro Only; You can optionally assign a folder marking to the folders that you import. By doing so you can quickly step to that folder when this folder has work left to do.
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Once you have configured the dialog you click <OK> to start the import process. The import process will start.
As you start the import process, you can follow its progress in the Process Activity Panel. You can access this panel by clicking on the blinking counter icon in the lower right corner of the Collection Viewer (below the thumbnail area).
The Import process runs in the background and you can continue to work in IDimager while the process is running. As your images are being imported, IDimager will:
1. Create database entries for each image found in the specified folder
2. Import the existing metadata from the image (Exif/IPTC/XMP) and store them in the database
3. Create metadata search entries in the database
4. Create thumbnails, and optionally previews, for the images and store them in the database
5. If there are pre-existing keywords in the metadata of the images then those are converted to catalog labels
The import process is handled in a background process, which means that you can continue to work in IDimager (Professional Edition only). During the import process IDimager will:
1. Create catalog entries in the database
2. If specified, a thumbnail will be created and stored in the thumbnail database. Also, if you have configured IDimager to use stored previews (Tools | Options | Image Viewing | Advanced | Store previews in database), a preview image will also be created
3. If you have enabled "Store meta information to catalog", the metadata is imported to the database. This includes:
a. Exif information
b. An XMP block is created for the image if not available yet, and it is initialized with existing Exif and IPTC information
c. If existing XMP and/or IPTC keywords are available, then catalog labels are created for the keywords and assigned to the image
d. Each XMP property is stored to the database for extensive searching (if "Tools | Options | General | XMP Sync Settings | Allow extensive meta searching" is enabled).
The import process can be canceled at any time by clicking the 
button at the right of the progress item in the Progress Activity panel. When you cancel the import process you can restart it again afterwards by clicking the Import button for that folder again. IDimager will then quickly skip passed all the images that were already imported and continue where it left off.
After the import process has completed you can use the Catalog Explorer to browse through your images.
You can start multiple import processes for different folders concurrently. To do this, simply click again on the "Import" button to start a new import process.