New user questions

[HPDN]

Hi!

Just beginning to look at Daminion and whether it will work out as my DAM. Just for personal use, voluntary projects for churches and missionaries etc. Only I need access, so at the moment just trying out standalone - although I'll go past the 15000 very easily and so will either upgrade that way or get the server version.

 

I have a few questions as I'm still playing with the system.

 

1. .svg and photoshop files (.pat, brushes etc.) - is there anyway to catalogue these in the system (even with a plugin) and if so would it be with a thumbnail or placeholder?

 

2. If I keep some files on an external hard drive, would it be better to have a separate catalogue for these rather than include them in a main catalogue with some items on my laptop and some on the external hard drive?

 

3. If I start with the standalone and then transfer to the server version, will there be any issue transferring the catalogue? Or is it kind of irrelevant anyway if the tags have been synced back to the files, as I can just start a new one?

 

4. If I upgrade to the server version rather than standalone with more images (for the faster speed and auto re-scan etc.), is there any issue with doing this on a single laptop, single user? Would I install both the server and client on the machine, and does this cause any issues?

 

5. Lightroom integration. I currently use Lightroom for all my personal photos (and intend to continue to do so as I need the editing capability) - none of my stock images / clipart / digital scrapbook elements / vectors etc. are in LR. I was intending to keep the two completely separate, but am thinking if I want to find an image that maybe including everything in a single search would be good. In that case I could just catalogue the lightroom images with Daminion without moving the files (and having ensured that LR has saved all metadata to the files). I realise this will show just the unedited versions, but are there any other issues I should consider? Will the large DNGs cause a problem for Daminion? Is there any way to get the person keywords in LR to match up to the people section of Daminion, although that may be more of a LR forum question.

 

6. Linking EPS, AI and jpg. If I have an equivalent jpeg, EPS and AI, do people use the linking or grouping facility for this - or do people just keep one of them. Would it be possible to filter later by links - ie, find only EPS with an equivalent jpeg (this could be either to delete jpegs or to flick through their suggested uses quickly).

 

7. Max catalogue size. I have a lot of small files - web buttons, old clipart, scrapbook elements etc. These add up quickly - is there a max capacity for the catalogue at which point performance is degraded?

 

Sorry for all the questions - I'd rather stick to one best plan from the beginning than change with extra work!

 

Thanks

[Sedat]

Hello!

 

 

 

1. You can manually add those unknown file types to the import filter.

Go to "Catalog" -> "Import Filters...". You can then import these files but they will shown by default with a question mark thumbnail.

But you can change this also as described in the following tutorial:

https://daminion.net/...arch_highlight1

 

2. Well, I see no reason to split that into different catalogs. If you will import all files into one catalog then you can e.g. better search for files.

 

 

3. You don't even have to sync the data cause you can directly import local catalogs into a shared-catalogs.

On shared-Catalogs just click on "File" ->"Import from local-catalogs".

 

4. You can safely install client and server on one machine.

 

5.

In that case I could just catalogue the lightroom images with Daminion without moving the files (and having ensured that LR has saved all metadata to the files). I realise this will show just the unedited versions, but are there any other issues I should consider?

None I could think of so far.

 

 

Will the large DNGs cause a problem for Daminion?

No

 

Is there any way to get the person keywords in LR to match up to the people section of Daminion...

You can import any metadata which is not imported by default into Daminion by using the import from CSV file feature.

There you can select the peoples tag from Lightroom and redirect that tag into the Daminion peoples tag.

http://help.daminion...via-a-csv-file/

 

 

6.

Linking EPS, AI and jpg...Would it be possible to filter later by links.

sorry but currently you can't filter for linked items.

 

7.

...is there a max capacity for the catalogue at which point performance is degraded?

We have users with more than one million items in just one catalog and they are still happy with the performance.

[Murat]

1. Native support for SVG will be available shortly in the public beta version. Support for other formats can be added via Catalog > Import Filters menu

 

2. Keep in mind that Daminion can't search across multiple catalogs at once. So it make sense to store files within a single catalog. However in case of the external drive you need to relink your root drive each time when your external drive will be plugged in under a different letter.

 

If you'll store your second catalog in your hard drive then you'll be free from the second issue, but can't search via 2 catalogs at the same time.

 

If you could move all your files to the main PC's hard drive this would be an ideal variant.

 

3. You can import your local catalog to a server one without problems. But this is the time-consuming process (~1 sec per file). So I recommend you to start with Daminion Server version from the beginning if you plan to switch to Daminion Server in the future.

 

4. You need to install both Server and Client on the same PC and all should work smoothly.

 

5. You can import all your files into Daminion and use it to manage your photos and their tags and keep LR as a RAW editing tool. Daminion can reflect LR's keywords and metadata. But LR's keywords will be mapped to Daminion's keywords, not to Daminion's People.

 

6. We plan to add a versioning feature in the future. But with current Daminion version you can group or link them (don't know which way is better, depends from your workflow)

 

7. Daminion Server works well with large archives (> 1 million files). Standalone version works slowly when a number of files will be more than 200k files.

[HPDN]

Thank you both so much for your answers - it's really, really helpful. I think that covers everything for now, so will keep playing with the system over the next few days.

 

Just to clarify on question 2. If I put it in a single catalogue (for better searching) with some of the files on an external hard drive, and I decide (such as on a trip) not to have the external hdd attached, will the fact that there are missing items in the catalogue stop the rest of it from working?

With relinking the root drive due to different letters, is it possible in the future to skip the disk letter. It doesn't matter to me - but I know that GoodSync has arranged so that you can re-attach a hdd and it just skips the letter part, in case that can work here too.

 

 

Will versioning be in 4.5 or further down the track?

 

Thanks so much :)