Dum Dum questions about keywords and google maps

[MelB]

Greetings-

I am using IMatch on a trial basis and I have questions that probably have been asked over and over again.

But here goes:

1.  Heirachal keywords.  Can I make my own?  I love bird photography and this is a category under "animals" but I would like it to be its own category.

2.  Does Imatch work with google maps?  Do you have to get an AIP key or something like that?

3.  I doing a trial using Photo Supreme.  Which program would be more user-friendly, Photo Supreme or Imatch?  This is an odd question to ask on an Imatch forum but I hope people can share their experiences, if they have any.

Many Thanks

SM

[Tveloso]

1.  Heirachal keywords.  Can I make my own?  I love bird photography and this is a category under "animals" but I would like it to be its own category.

You absolutely can create your own Hierarchical Keywords...and you can make changes to your Thesaurus to meet your needs.  Please see the Thesaurus Help Topic for more details:

https://www.photools.com/help/imatch/thes_basics.htm#

2.  Does Imatch work with google maps?  Do you have to get an AIP key or something like that?

Yes, IMatch works with several map providers, including Google.  An API Key is needed for Google.  Please see this knowledge base article for more details:

https://www.photools.com/imatch/api-keys-explained/

3.  I doing a trial using Photo Supreme.  Which program would be more user-friendly, Photo Supreme or Imatch?

I can't answer this, as I have no experience with Photo Supreme.  But while there is a learning curve to IMatch to be sure, I can't imagine there's anything better 

[Mario]

See also: Supported Map Providers

[rolandgifford]

1.  Heirachal keywords.  Can I make my own?  I love bird photography and this is a category under "animals" but I would like it to be its own category.

2.  Does Imatch work with google maps?  Do you have to get an AIP key or something like that?

3.  I doing a trial using Photo Supreme.  Which program would be more user-friendly, Photo Supreme or Imatch?  This is an odd question to ask on an Imatch forum but I hope people can share their experiences, if they have any.

I also primarily do bird photography.

I have used Photo Supreme since it was created and IDImager for a good while before that. I have recently changed from Photo Supreme to IMatch because PS had degraded to the point where (from my point of view) the performance is unacceptable. The last straw was a recent in a mid-version upgrade where the database remap took 48 hours with both database and images on SSDs. The response to my queries/complaints from Hert was basically 'tough, let it finish'. About 200,000 images. Everything was noticeably slower after that.

I have found IMatch to be far better and the support from Mario is simply in a different league. I rejected IMatch some years ago because I misinterpreted where data is stored. That was a big mistake on my part.

After the switch, using the Thesaurus, I have been able to migrate all of my home-grown bird species keywords into the correct IOC names. It wasn't an excessively time consuming process but would have been difficult/impossible before the switch. I imported the Thesaurus from a text file I created from the published IOC data, it wasn't difficult to do.

I use the Google Maps API which works very well (as it did with Photo Supreme). Be careful of the number of images you geocode if you take a lot of photos, you get 20,000 a month free (it looks like 40,000 a month but IMatch does 2 lookups per image). I have found that the number used is less than the number of images that I'm geocoding with IMatch, I assume there is optimisation of some sort not bothering to check for multiple images with the same coordinates.

[Mario]

you get 20,000 a month free

Please double-check with your Google account. The number of free requests per months may change (Google is currently bleeding money and they may reduce the free allowance).

IMatch does 2 lookups per image

This is because Google does not deliver location and elevation data in one request, other service providers do.

I assume there is optimisation of some sort not bothering

Yes. IMatch aims to be smart and if images are very close together, it does only one lookup for all images to improve performance and reduce cost.

[MelB]

Thank you all very much.  This is a nice community.

Embarrassing- Almost every question I asked was easily found soon after I posted the questions.

On other forums and articles, I have read that the support for the product is amazing.

I will continue with my trial.

Thanks again.

MB

[Mario]

Embarrassing- Almost every question I asked was easily found soon after I posted the questions.

Nothing to be embarrassed for.

IMatch is a pro-grade application with many features. Some easy, some more complex.
It will take some time to learn about them and to figure out which of the features you'll use and how.
Every IMatch user uses maybe 50% of the features included in IMatch. But different 50%

The IMatch Help System (just press <F1> anywhere in IMatch) and this community are here to help.
Workflow advise, tips, guidance for combining IMatch with other applications etc. are often given within a couple of hours after asking from other users using the same workflow and/or applications.

No dumb questions in this community. Don't hesitate to ask.

Tip: Keep the The 'Did You Know?'' App included with IMatch open in a panel while you learn your way around IMatch. The app offers tons of hands-on advice, tips & tricks and little know-how articles - very useful for new and occasional IMatch users.

It helps to print out the Keyboard Cheat Sheets. Because they list all frequently used command ans their keyboard shortcuts.

If you worked with less professional applications before or with applications which don't care so much about metadata (IMatch does!), the Metadata for Beginners help topic is well worth a read. It explains about metadata and how IMatch works with it. And why IMatch is so particular about metadata standards and keeping all the data you enter in standardized formats and independent from IMatch.

[MelB]

 
Thanks again.

for the map panel do you use F9 and P?  Or just one or the other?

Thanks again.

MB

[thrinn]

These shortcuts are a combination. Press F9 and P shortly after one another. (Or use the View -> Panels ... menu).

[Mario]

Thanks again.

for the map panel do you use F9 and P?  Or just one or the other?

Thanks again.

MB

See the How to Use Keyboard Shortcuts in the keyboard cheat sheet for the meaning of
<F9> + <P> (press both keys at once) and
<F9>,<P> (press the F9 key, release, press the P key).

[PandDLong]

I trialed many options a couple years ago - including Photo Supreme.  Photo Supreme, iMatch and one other (don't recall the name) made my short list and I did a deeper dive on them.

At first, I was leaning towards Photo Supreme due to its simpler user interface.  I went pretty far down the Photo Supreme choice and had much of the documentation printed to help me learn.

I turned towards iMatch for two key reasons:
    1. Adherence to industry standards and NO proprietary metadata (future proof)
    2. Greater flexibility and capability  (opportunity for improved processes and productivity)

So, I spent a bit of time learning the iMatch basics (Mario's videos were useful) and once I had figured out the basics, it became the obvious choice for those two reasons.

Very happy with my choice.

Michael

[rolandgifford]

Please double-check with your Google account. The number of free requests per months may change (Google is currently bleeding money and they may reduce the free allowance).

This is because Google does not deliver location and elevation data in one request, other service providers do.

Yes. IMatch aims to be smart and if images are very close together, it does only one lookup for all images to improve performance and reduce cost.

I'm impressed with the optimisation of calls. Photo Supreme doesn't optimise (in an attempt to stay within the initial post). Does IMatch also not do the altitude call if the option has been set to preserve the current altitude value? I have only recently set this having discovered that reverse lookup may alter the altitude setting against an image.

I am very careful not to exceed Google limits having done so once accidentally. The cost of doing that mounts up at an alarming rate. I have found Google to be very good about communicating any changes.

They allow the entry of two types of quota:
A monthly quota which is simply a warning and allows the creation of trigger emails, 50% of budget and the like. When I went over the monthly allowance it was because I assumed this was a fixed quota.

The second quota is a fixed daily quota. Going over this results in an error in IMatch.

Recently I have discovered their monthly billing page which tells me how many calls I have used and what it will cost, with and without the free allowance. I now use this instead of quotas, but still have several monthly quota emails set as a backup in case I forget.

[Mario]

I am very careful not to exceed Google limits having done so once accidentally.

I see it like this: You are using hardware, software and services provided and paid for by Google. For free.
IMatch allows you to access these without showing you ads or forcefully slowing down your access.

Google offers free 1,000 (?) requests per month. And charges only 1.5 US$ per 1,000 API calls you make (500 geocoded images free, 1.5 US$ for each additional 500 images  - in the case of IMatch).
If you need to reverse geocode more than 500 images per month, you are a 'heavy' user and should pay a couple of bucks to recoup the costs.
Google spent literally hundreds of millions (sic!) of dollars (plus annual maintenance) to built the database the reverse geocoding results are fetched from. And they give us a certain amount of free lookups per month for free. Which is nice.
500 images per month is quite a lot and unless we take photos all over the place, it should cover 100% of the typical usage costs for most people.

I, for example, shot most of my images in about 30 venues/places over the year. I have all of these spots stored as IMatch locations and hence I don't use Google or any of the other services at all for most of my shootings.
I let IMatch find the best matching location and things get done automatically. Location assigned, GPS coordinates standardized, keywords added etc.

If cost is relevant to you, maybe consider donating a substantial amount to GeoNames.org and then use their service for free for some time. Google offers good quality for a moderate price. Same for Bing and HERE, depending on your needs.

[sinus]

In order to avoid the limit of Google, where I would have to pay, I do the following (I think most people here do):

If I take say 300 photos at one place.
Then with only 1 image selected I use the IMatch map and Google to determine the location. Afterwards, I do the auto-reverse in IMatch and then have the important GPS data in the metadata fields.

Now with this image I do now copy all relevant metadata field to all other 299 images.
With this, I believe, I use only 1 image, what Google does count for my limit. 

And like Mario, for some places, where I do often take pictures, I have the GPS-Data already in IMatch and can also use them without the need for Google.

[rolandgifford]

Google offers free 1,000 (?) requests per month. And charges only 1.5 US$ per 1,000 API calls you make (500 geocoded images free, 1.5 US$ for each additional 500 images  - in the case of IMatch).
If you need to reverse geocode more than 500 images per month, you are a 'heavy' user and should pay a couple of bucks to recoup the costs.

If cost is relevant to you, maybe consider donating a substantial amount to GeoNames.org and then use their service for free for some time. Google offers good quality for a moderate price. Same for Bing and HERE, depending on your needs.

Google charge half a cent per call and offer a free $200 per month credit. 20,000 images per month assuming two lookups per image as I said (40,000 if you don't do the altitude call if the flag is set to not change it). They presumably see this as good business, they are a long way from being a charity.

If some other provider had a fixed price/charge scheme for 'heavy' users so that  lookups weren't limited in some way I would consider that. Most of my photos are of birds taken while travelling internationally in places that I have never been before and will generally never return to. You have mentioned in another thread the target audience of different lookup providers and some other could well give me better results.

The set location functionality within IMatch is very good but inappropriate to my use.

[Mario]

The 200US$ is a one-time only bonus, after the first sign-up, unless I'm mistaken.

[rolandgifford]

The 200US$ is a one-time only bonus, after the first sign-up, unless I'm mistaken.

Every month for me, I've been using them for years

They may have changed their rules since then and I'm on a legacy contract, I don't know that.

[Mario]

Right. Just read

For each billing account, for qualifying Google Maps Platform SKUs, a $200 USD Google Maps Platform credit is available each month (which resets the first day of each month, at midnight Pacific time), and automatically applied to the qualifying SKUs.

on https://developers.google.com/maps/billing-and-pricing/billing

I mixed than up with their one-time 300$ sign-up credit.

Not sure what a qualifying SKU is, but it sounds basically everyone is qualifying. At 200 dollars per months free, users can do a lot of free map loads and geocoding requests. Should be more than sufficient for normal use.