Meta information is information about information; in this case information about your images.. The most ideal way to store meta information is by storing it inside the image itself using international standards like XMP or IPTC. However, some image formats just don’t allow this kind of information to be stored inside the image. For those images, IDimager will store the meta information to so called sidecar files (separate file next to the image file itself). These sidecar files have the same name as the original photo, but use the XMP extension (e.g. IMG_2455.PEF will get a meta file called IMG_2455.XMP). Image formats that store embedded meta information are JPG, TIF, TIFF, DNG, PSD formats, and optionally some of the RAW formats (need to be enabled in the options dialog).
When you enter meta information with IDimager then that information is stored inside the image or as a sidecar file. Besides this file storage, IDimager also caches the meta information to its own catalog database. By doing so, IDimager allows you to search images fast because the application won’t have to open every image to check its meta info. The database also allows you to search for meta information for images that are currently “offline”, like backup CDs.
This means that IDimager will only search for meta information for those images that are imported to the database. If you have entered the meta information using IDimager then you won’t have to worry about this because it will be cached automatically. If you have images that were described with a third party application, you will have to import the meta information to IDimager’s catalog database. Do this by selecting one or more thumbnails. Then right click on a selected thumb and select “Synchronize XMP/IPTC -> Synchronize catalog and image”. You can also click the XMP button that appears when you hover the mouse over an unsync'ed image.
Once your meta information is cached, you will be able to search through it using IDimager’s meta information search feature.
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Tip!
I'd also like to point out that you can browse through your metadata in the Catalog Explorer by expanding the "Metadata" branch (IDimager Pro only). |
To search for meta information, click the Search button in the application’s main toolbar or press [Ctrl]+[F].
IDimager allows Boolean wise searching. This means that you can combine several search conditions using “AND” and “OR” operations to form a combined search query. Every line in the search dialog is called a “condition”.
Every condition has the following fields:
Condition parameter |
Click the drop down button to open the possible search parameters. You can select any of the available meta-input fields you normally use for meta-data-entry. The fields in the meta-data-editor can be custom selected so the parameter options presented can change as soon as you change the meta-data editor’s layout.
Select the parameter you want to search for. |
Condition type |
Select the type of condition you need it to be. Possible values are:
Equals Not Equals Contains Sounds Like (only IDimager Pro Edition) Does not Contain Starts With Does Not Start With Ends With Does Not End With Is Empty Is Not Empty Greater Than Smaller Than Greater Than Or Equal To Smaller Than Or Equal To
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Condition value |
Enter the condition’s value. This can be any possible text or numeric value
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Join operation |
If you need more than one condition line then you can create a new one by selecting a Join Operator. Possible operators are “AND” and “OR”
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Once you have entered your search condition, you can click OK to start the search.