Changing my workflow or not?

[JoeHolzwurm]

Hello,

I have to decide if I should change my workflow with IMATCH 5 or not. Perhaps someone here in this forum has some ideas, informations or what ever which could influence my decision.
I used IMATCH 3 since a lot of years and my workflow was the following:

• I import the photos into IMATCH
• I allocate the photos to different IMATCH categories which are organized in a big tree of categories and subcategories (3-4 levels)
• A special script did write the categories into the IPTC category field, the lowest categories (lowest level) were written into the IPTC keyword field and some other informations (caption, author,...) were written into the corresponding IPTC fields. (Script: IMatch-IPTC-Skript3)
• IMATCH did import automatically some EXIF and IPTC fields into IMATCH properties.

Now the script does not work any more and I do not know how to transfer this script for IMATCh 5. This is the reason why I want to reassess my workflow.
Is this a good workflow or is there another workflow which became possible by IMATCH 5?

I am happy for each answer and idea.
Joe

[sinus]

Hi Joe
I am in the same boat ... well, not exactly, but a little bit.

Import: I will do the same, new images I will flag automatically

Renaming/moving: I will do this with the new renamer, a file will get a new name, like
20140626-1821-236392-s-coo-firmenlauf.nef
and will create a folder, based on the date.

Cats: I will also put the images into different cats. In IM5 we have the data-driven cats, so I will do some cats with data-driven (automatically), for example the client, what is already in the filename

Metadata: Instead the old iptc I will write the description and so on into the xmp.

Keywords: I will do it with the keyword-panel, and they will appear automatically as @keywords in the categories

Attributes: I will use also the new Attributes, instead the old properties.

Yep, for transfer some fields from metadata and exif I will use the import-script from IM5 to do this. 
I am not sure now, if I will use a lot of Attributes, I guess, a bit the same like IM3.

Then I will use the power of versions, and stacking in IM5. Specialy stacking will help me a lot, I think (though I have not tested it yet very well).

Generelly, I think, I will use not a lot scripts in IM5.

[Mario]

Both can be done via a purpose built-script, but I would not go that way.

A special script did write the categories into the IPTC category field, the lowest categories (lowest level) were written into the IPTC keyword field and some other informations (caption, author,...) were written into the corresponding IPTC fields. (Script: IMatch-IPTC-Skript3)

If you mean legacy IPTC when you say "IPTC", just don't. IIM3 IPTC has been abandoned several years ago. Don't update them directly. For new files the MWG and IPTC recommendations are to not create legacy IPTC records at all. Only XMP metadata. IMatch does this by default.

If seems that you have a 'backwards' workflow. You enter metadata as categories, and then try somehow (with a script) to get the data out of your categories into the metadata - where they belong anyway.

In IMatch, the standard workflow (if there is such a thing) is to edit metadata in the Metadata Panel. And to edit keywords in the Keyword Panel. When you write back the metadata to your files, IMatch updates the XMP record and optionally also updates the legacy IPTC record in your files.

The Metadata Panel has many features which avoid to much typing. The thesaurus can be used to setup names and captions and to recall them later simple. Many other features as well, including controlled metadata update for thousands of files: Select thousands of files, enter an author, and IMatch updates only the author in all files. You can update massive amounts of files in very short time that way.

If you want to categorize your files by metadata like author you can create a data-driven category. Whenever you add, change or remove the author tag of one of your files, the category will reflect that.

To add, edit, update, change etc. keywords, the beat tool is the Keyword Panel in IMatch. It has many features which make editing keywords for individual files or entire batches a snap. The special @Keyword category will mirror the keywords in your files automatically.

When IMatch "flattens" keywords (transforming them from the hierarchical keyword model IMatch uses internally to the flat (no hierarchy) keyword model used by legacy IPTC and XMP) you can control which level of your keywords gets written to the file. For example, if you have a keyword layout like

WHAT
  |- Persons
    |- John

You can tell IMatch to write only "John" as a flat keyword. The hierarchical keywords in XMP will always be written full hierarchical.

IMATCH did import automatically some EXIF and IPTC fields into IMATCH properties.

There is a script named "Import Metadata into Attributes" which can do this for you. But why do you mirror metadata in Attributes? IMatch 5 keeps all metadata cached, so there is no performance problem. IMatch 3 could only access legacy IPTC/EXIF data when the image was on-line. IMatch 5 has the info always available. Usually you use Attributes in IMatch 5 for other purposes as metadata which is in the database anyway.

[sinus]

Mario,
I am sure, such informations from the master himself  are for some users (including me) very helpful - although almost all in the help-file.

One of the really good thing about the whole IMatch-world is the fact, that your support is outstanding and the support of the users as well.

[JoeHolzwurm]

Hello Mario,

I wrote my workflow I used in IMatch 3. I expected that there will be another way in IMatch 5 and this is the reason for my post.
It's hard for me to write and read in English and I did not understand everything of your post. I will have to read it several times and try to understand it.
I did not know that IPTC data is no longer used and only XMP data should be used. Who did define that?

I used to select more than one photo to allocate categories and I did that with the old Assign panel. This was a fast way to allocate data and with the script I wrote those categories for all new imported photos into their IPTC keyword field.

Now everything is changed and I do not see the way through the jungle...

[Richard]

I did not know that IPTC data is no longer used and only XMP data should be used. Who did define that?

My understanding is that the IPTC Standard was turned over to Adobe and thus XMP.

[Mario]

I did not know that IPTC data is no longer used and only XMP data should be used. Who did define that?

The IPTC committee controls the IPTC metadata standard. Several years ago they abandoned the old IPTC (IIM) standard and instead created a new set of IPTC fields to be stored in XMP records. The IPTC also created tools and custom panels for Adobe Photoshop and LR (not for other software, which already tells a lot).

Like IMatch 3, IMatch 5 imports existing legacy (old) IPTC data into the matching IPTC data in XMP automatically. You will see all your old data for which IPTC/Adobe and the Metadata Working group have setup a old IPTC -> XMP IPTC mapping. In IMatch 5 you usually only edit XMP data, and IMatch 5 makes sure that the data ends up in the right XMP and (optionally) IPTC fields.

I have written lots on that in the IMatch help so I don't repeat all that here.