Open Source Cataloging Program

[BMP - Bob McSwain Photography & Creative Services]

After much DAM research, evaluation, and deliberation I chose to use MS' Expression Media 2.   If the current internet speculation is correct, it looks like MS is abandoning the product. 

I really like it's capabilities.  It is a database program for media, not a media program that tries to be a database.   

After a great effort and investing lots of time, I can now find almost any image quickly.  Since I am running Win7 and EM2 works well on it, I probably have 5 years before migrating to WIN Ver xy.z  and expect that EM2 will not work on WIN Ver xy.z!   At that point all my DAM cataloging will be for naught.

So ...  some questions:

1.  Has anyone started an effort to create an open-source (GPL, etc.) media cataloging program using open applications and databases?  Having it in any way tied to a company/corporation potentially could/would yield the same situation I am currently in.

2.  Just how much DAM information can be stuffed into the IPTC and EXIF fields within the picture file. By having the keywords, categories, etc. stored within the picture (not sidecar files) might make the end user's efforts permanent.

Thanks for your time.
Bob

[peterkrogh]

Bob,
There are open source solutions, but none are really easy for most users to implement.
I'd stick with EM2 until there is a reason to switch (stops working on your OS or there is a better program to switch to.)

You can export all the work you do in EM 2 back to the files, except GPS tags.
Peter

[natevw]

1.  Has anyone started an effort to create an open-source (GPL, etc.) media cataloging program using open applications and databases?  Having it in any way tied to a company/corporation potentially could/would yield the same situation I am currently in.

I have been dreaming about writing photo organization software for years. I had been resisting the urge, but plan to soon let myself finally make prototypes again.

Because I'd like to encourage other developers to join (and so I won't have to do any development for Windows or the App Store) I've been planning on making at least the core database and specification open source. Unfortunately, I've not found enough money in just being passionate about what I'm building, so I will need to figure out some way to have it associated with and help bring income to my little shareware company.

I'm most interested in syncing between multiple devices/services, and letting all sorts of developers build new ways to interact with photos on top of the platform. What sort of goals are you trying to solve?

regards,
-Nathan V.W.

[peterkrogh]

Nathan,
The holy grail, for me,  is a an affordable image database that can be shared with multiple users over a network simultaneously. It should be able to read and write embedded metadata, and let each user have their own information associated with each image.
Peter

[Dick Holtman]

Since you are running under Windows, why not give IdiImager a try.
I know it is not Open Source, but using a good program saves a lot of time!

Also take in account how big the effort is of migration from Expression Media to the new tool and much infomation can be imported.

For IdiImager other users have walked the path already: http://wiki.idimager.com/index.php?title=How_to_Migrate_from_iView/Expression_Media_to_IDimager

[maurizio]

Hi, I am a newbie in this forum and I found this thread very interesting.

1.  Has anyone started an effort to create an open-source (GPL, etc.) media cataloging program using open applications and databases?  Having it in any way tied to a company/corporation potentially could/would yield the same situation I am currently in.

Yes. We are working on an open source DAM, that can be used over the web by many users at the same time. It is based on Django (a web framework written in python), MySQL, ExtJS (a rich javascript library) and Exempi (XMP library).   It is named Notre-DAM and the acronym is supposed to mean "our DAM" i.e. a free platform that can be used by a group of users and can be fully customized in order to fit their needs.   More information (and a demo)  is available on www.notre-dam.org .  Or just have a look at this short video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMehvlhOPFY

2.  Just how much DAM information can be stuffed into the IPTC and EXIF fields within the picture file. By having the keywords, categories, etc. stored within the picture (not sidecar files) might make the end user's efforts permanent.

The best would be to embed the metadata in the XMP block inside the resource file. As far as I know, EM should support XMP, but I don't know whether it supports XMP embedding too. A few years ago, with IDImager, I could restore virtually all my image catalogue just extracting the XMP from my backup-ed image files after a disk failure.

Kind regards,
Maurizio

[maurizio]

Since you are running under Windows, why not give IdiImager a try.

I agree with Dick. I am using IDImager since a few years for my own images (~20000) and I'm quite happy about it. Before making a choice, I evaluated several competitors (iMatch, Lightroom, iView/ExpressionMedia, ACDSee, Photoshop Elements, Picasa, ...) but IDImager came out to be the better.

Kind regards,
Maurizio

[peterkrogh]

Maurizio,
Notre-DAM loks really interesting.I don't have a Linux box to test it on, but it could be worth trying to find one, after the next release is out.

Please update here when that happens.
Peter

[george]

Hi Peter,

I don't have a Linux box to test it on.

You don't need one.  The developers have made available a VirtualBox image of Ubuntu with Notre-DAM already installed:

http://www.notre-dam.org/NotreDAM/VBoxImage.html

--George

[maurizio]

Hi Peter,
sorry for my late reply.
As George says, you can use the Virtual Box. Otherwise you could try the online demo. If you email me I can create you an account to access most DAM capabilities.

Actually, Notre-DAM was initially designed for a multi-user environment. For this reason it has to be installed on a server, so Linux was a natural choice for us.
However, we are planning to develop a desktop version of Notre-DAM (based on Adobe AIR, so we will not have to recode everything). This will provide 2 considerable advantages: (1) multi-platform; (2) direct access to file system. Moreover, this should enlarge the user target of Notre-DAM covering also some desktop and personal users.

Kind regards,
Maurizio