What Makes IMatch Unique?

[Mario]

Dear Users,

I consider adding a "What makes IMatch unique?" section to the press page on www.photools.com.
So an interested journalist or blogger can immediately see what makes IMatch unique (sic!) and why she/he should consider reporting or blogging about it.

What would YOU say makes IMatch unique? Why did you purchase it (thanks)?
Let me know below.

Thanks to all who've already commented.

[Jingo]

What makes IMatch unique to me is the care and dedication you provide to the software and ultimately to your user base.  I purchased it because the product handles metadata in the RIGHT way, is easy to use yet very powerful and offers lots of flexibility.  Oh.. and did I mention the amazing support!?!?

[frankdarwin]

Why I bought IM:
I had several products in use before and was somehow always satisfied with them. But just always only somehow.

Then I learned about IM and became curious.
The first tests showed very quickly that IM outshone all previous products in terms of functionality and user interface.

I am just a dedicated hobby photographer. But even for me, the performance such as face recognition, people management and GPS functions was so convincing that I decided to abandon my previously used application and migrate everything to IM.
Furthermore, the documentation more than convinced me!

I was aware of the time involved, but I accepted it.
As the result has shown, it was time very well spent.

But it was not only the functionality of IM that convinced me.
During the first tests, of course, questions of understanding arose.
So I published my problems and questions in the community.
From experiences with other support systems I was prepared for longer response times.

Then came the big surprise.

I found out that I had to wait only a few hours for an answer to my questions! And these answers were all very qualified and helpful. Not like in so many other forums, where there were often only unhelpful comments to my posts.

If the functional reasons had not already been decisive for my decision, I would also have switched to IM only because of the outstanding support!

[BanjoTom]

I came to IMatch in the early 2000s, not only to manage my own digital images, video and audio, but also to try to deal with a great variety of other digital assets for the University of Kentucky's Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine.

IMatch offered a way to deal with metadata, enabling  quick and organized retrieval of many Microsoft application files (Powerpoints, spreadsheets, Word files and research databases), all this on behalf of the attending doctors and a rotating group of resident physicians, each studying there for five years.

IMatch was the most capable DAM I could find, and it impressed me from the start with its combination of affordability and versatility.  Through the years of my involvement, IMatch has only grown more and more capable as a Digital Asset Manager.  In fact, the speed and transparency of its developer's perpetual and dedicated efforts to make constant improvements, along with his peerless support (abetted by that of a large international online forum of users) make IMatch uniquely responsive to the needs of photographers, videographers, genealogists, historians, physical and social scientists of all sorts, and many more. 

In my opinion, IMatch stands alone. 

[Damit]

I am making a list; checking it twice! When I fully have a grasp and something adequate, I will post on the thread. The support is awesome, but IMatch is unique in so many ways beyond that!

[loweskid]

I came to IMatch because of the Categories feature, which is still (I think) unique to Imatch.  In the early days of digital photography I remember lots of reports of raw files being corrupted when writing keywords/metadata so I wanted something that I could use to organise my files without 'touching' the raw files in any way - IMatch was the answer.

[Tveloso]

I can only echo what an incredibly outstanding product IMatch is.

If I had to pick just two (of the many) unique things about IMatch, I would say:

• The ability to write Apps
  IMatch is already so incredibly feature rich right out of the box.  But that it also offers users the ability to create their own Apps to solve very specific problems, that (the user thinks) the native features maybe don't address, is uniquely valuable.
  
  Some users may not have the skills to leverage the power of IMatch Apps, but IMatch can bring even these users along, if they really want to learn about this...(thanks to the extraordinary Help System)

• The extraordinary Help System
  I don't know that I have seen any documentation as thorough and detailed as the IMatch Help System.
  
  To the contrary - in other software, the context sensitive Help for check box such and such, might simply say something like "this allows you to turn feature such and such on and off".  What?!
  
  The Help in IMatch really explains things.  Thoroughly.
  
  And in the area of Apps, the Help is an outright education!

[sinus]

Phew, a lot of things, I try to write the most important stuff for me, though I am quite sure, I will forgot some interesting stuff.

- the balance between powerful DAM and price.
- The possibilities to work with categories and the collections
- it is also wonderful that one can write one's own apps or/and take over foreign ones quickly
- fantastic possibilities for printing images and text (D&P)

- then very important the personality of Mario, which includes the support. I don't know Mario personally, but his way of dealing with his users in the forum is impressive. He takes every kind of problem (no matter how trivial) seriously and tries to help. And very, very quickly.

- I found his handling of metadata and especially keywords (with synonyms) to be outstanding, even though others may have caught up there.

- the help system, which I have always found very good, with many pictures and many examples. In the beginning I printed it out and read it x times, in a café or during a break at work or especially at night 

- and last but not least, I think, the users here in this forum are very helpful and they give also a lot of advices, if we have a problem. Or ideas. And it is one of the most friendliest forum, what I know 

I couldn't say EXACTLY WHY I bought IMatch. Because in my case it is the sum of some fantastic possibilities the programme offers.

[Ger]

I installed IMatch in 2005. Some things were important from the start, some became obvious over the years. The small list below can easily be extended, but these are the most important IMatch features:

Open
It's very easy to export all data in different flavors. It's easy to manipulate certain data off-line (e.g. in Excel) and re-import the end result

Apps
Programs can be generic, but also tailored to your specific needs. I have several apps to structure my workflow and to do smaller and bigger other things. (when IMatch 5 (?) was released, it was for me the reason to learn Javascript)

Help and Support
The Help system is very detailed and complete; the support in the forum is fast and to-the-point. Mario takes pride in providing excellent support (a unique selling point - compare to many other companies!)

Metadata
Mario often calls it a metadata-mess, but using IMatch as the only system allowed to touch metadata, problems are seldom seen

Privacy
IMatch (Mario) respects privacy and makes this a priority in many elements in IMatch, but also in the user forum

Updates and new versions
Updates are plenty; they include not only bug fixes but many enhancements... and they are free. New versions are only released with truly new functionality - and this new functionality functions. (That said, I do not use the most recent enhancements, face recognition and events. But it was never a reason to not upgrade)

Attention for detail in the user interface (and the vast list of configuration options)
User menus are versatile and user-friendly. Very often there are different ways to enter information, suited for a wide variety of users and needs. Just one example (there are many): the thesaurus (with its synonyms, links) is not only available for keywords, but all other fields can benefit of lookup lists. Keywords can be entered in many ways with the keywords panel



I probably miss out on a few goodies, but others will fill in the gaps I'm sure

ger

[stefanjan2]

I'm an enthusiastic amateur photographer. Quite technical but probably only need and use a small proportion of the functionality in imatch.

Having progressed through Lightroom, ON1 to DXO Photolab (with Affinity, Topaz, Nik) I needed a way of getting my large photo library under control. I worked with Adobe Bridge for a while and while it was quite good I came up against some hurdles which encouraged me to look at other DAM software.

I first tried Photo Mechanic but didn't really like it. I then tried imatch which while it seemed overkill for me and quite a steep learning curve it did seem capable of doing everything I wanted. What convinced was the help I got from Mario and the community often within minutes of posting a question.

Initially I made things complicated by turning on the bells and whistles but I have found my own much simpler level now.

The most important for me in no particular order is:

- Search engine (I find myself using keywords less and less and rely on folder naming, description and headline)

- Functionality round the file window, viewer, selections makes it really easy to cull, rate and label images.

- Importing images from SD card by dragging onto an import folder and then using renamer to move the files into a YYYY, YYYY-MM-DD ¦ subfolder which I can then rename with a brief description.

- The favourites panel which makes it easy for me to select photos and send them to Photolab or other app.

- Image batch processor which allows me to set up templates to create files in sub folders for web, facebook, email etc.

- The print module which I struggled with at first but getting there

- The support and help from Mario & the community. Most things I try to do seem to have a solution in imatch

[mopperle]

Came to IM about 10years ago:
- not only for Pros, but also semi-pros and hobbyists
- extrem flexibilty (sometimes too much )
- continous development
- quality
- support

Many other software devs deliver one or more of those items, but none delivers all of them in such an excellent quality

[monochrome]

IMatch was the only application that didn't force a storage solution on me. I could keep my photos & stuff anywhere I wanted in any folder structure I saw fit - and IMatch would just work. It was the only app that did the one thing I wanted, and did it damn well.

[beeellecee]

I have tried nearly every DAM. The uniqueness of IMatch is that it is the only one where I actually feel in control of my own images and files. IMatch allows the user to define their own workflow and is unobtrusive. IMatch is a thing of beauty!

[DigPeter]

Mario is unique - his dedication and quality of his support.