Collections philosophy

[pajaro]

I realized I did not quite understand the philosophy of collections. Generally, I understand what they are used for. But what is the difference between flags, dots, pins and bookmarks. Do they differ in their function? Or are they just meant to define as many different groups of files as possible? I did not find anything about it in the Help file.

Thanks,

Pavel.

[jch2103]

Try a search for 'Working with Collections' in Help. Flags, dots, pins and bookmarks are stored only in the IMatch database (unlike Ratings which are XMP, stored in files or sidecars). As I recall, it's pretty much up to you as to how to use them (i.e., there aren't any 'standards' for use).

[JohnZeman]

In addition to what jch said, here are the differences.

With dots, you can only assign one dot (red, green, or blue) to each file.
With pins you can assign up to three pins (red, green, blue) to each file.
Flags are kind of like dots in that a flag is either set, unset, or cleared.

How would you use them?  Any way you want to.  For example you could use the red dot to indicate you used a Canon camera to take that photo.  Maybe assign all images taken with a Nikon camera to a blue dot.  And so on.

Like categories, collection assignments can be displayed on a thumbnail.

[pajaro]

Thanks a lot for your help. Still so many things to learn.

Flags, dots, pins and bookmarks are stored only in the IMatch database (unlike Ratings which are XMP, stored in files or sidecars)

I did not know that. It's good to know.

With dots, you can only assign one dot (red, green, or blue) to each file.
With pins you can assign up to three pins (red, green, blue) to each file.
Flags are kind of like dots in that a flag is either set, unset, or cleared.
Like categories, collection assignments can be displayed on a thumbnail.

Thanks, also important information.

[Mario]

See also the (fairly extensive) information about collections in the IMatch help. This topic explains the idea of collections, when to use them, how to use them and more. If you find something lacking, use the feedback link at the bottom of the help topic to comment.

[pajaro]

See also the (fairly extensive) information about collections in the IMatch help. This topic explains the idea of collections, when to use them, how to use them and more. If you find something lacking, use the feedback link at the bottom of the help topic to comment.

Thanks. I have actually read the information about Collections in the Help (I agree it is quite extensive) but somehow it was not clear to me what was the difference between the individual types, particularly between pins and dots - things that jch and John clarified. I will read it again and leave a comment if I still feel it would be helpful if it is explained in more detail.

[Mario]

IMatch is just giving you choices. If and which of the collections you use, depends on your workflow entirely.