Podcast "Tips from Top Floor", Imatch solution to questions raised.

[Aubrey]

I just listened to Chris Marquardt's "Tips From the Top Floor" podcast 832 "I Don't know"
https://tipsfromthetopfloor.com/2018/07/20/832-i-just-dont-know/
See timing on podcast

He was not able to satisfactorily answer the users requirements; he uses that "other operating system" (IOS)  so perhaps is not aware of IMatch!

One person is trying to find duplicates (time 07:55).... hmmm ,I think IMatch does this (does it find duplicate images with different file names?) 

Another is trying to set up an image library for a school with restricted access (time 14:13)... hmmm, IMatch Anywhere does exactly this, at a reasonable price. 

I've emailed Mario to advise him of a solution to both problems using IMatch and IMatch Anywhere.

Aubrey.

[Mario]

Yes, IMatch can find binary duplicates independently from the file name. It can also find visually similar images (e.g. images which copies which have been slightly cropped, rotated, color-corrected).

IMatch Anywhere has a built-in access control system. Like the big DAM vendors, just without the 5-digit annual cost 

[LloydWal]

Hi Mario, are there anywhere examples of what IMatch can actually do? I'm interested in seeing how well it works in reality.

[Mario]

Hi Mario, are there anywhere examples of what IMatch can actually do? I'm interested in seeing how well it works in reality.

Sure.

The IMatch Learning Center has many free video tutorials which explain the main features in IMatch and show how to use them: Installation, Creating the database, the File Window, working with Metadata and Keywords and more. These are all live video recordings of the actual product in use.

The IMatch Anywhere Learning Center shows how to install and configure IMatch Anywhere (for Admins) and how to work with the IMatch WebViewer (for users). Of course IMA also comes with a built-in help system (for installers / Admin and for users in the WebViewer).

The IMatch Help System explains every IMatch feature in detail, with workflow tips, examples and more.

Or course trying IMatch out with your own files is also a good way to see what IMatch can do. The free 30-day trial version allows you to do exactly that. After 30 days the trial version will open your database in read-only mode only, but continue to run otherwise. This should give you plenty of time to see for yourself.

Needless to say that I fully support the free trial version via my support email address and here in the community.
Let us know if you need help or tips for specific tasks you need to accomplish.

[ColinIM]

Hi Mario, are there anywhere real life examples of what IMatch can actually do? I'm interested in seeing one or more demonstrations of how well it works in reality.

(Excuse me Lloyd for 'extending' the words you used in your question  )

Mario, Lloyd has asked the same question that has intrigued me for years, but I do understand that for various reasons (commercial-in-confidence, legal constraints or simple privacy concerns) it may not be possible for you to describe exactly or specifically how your customers use IMatch.

On this Forum over the years we have been privileged to see glimpses of how Markus (@sinus) has used and expanded his use of IMatch for his food photography business (thank you Markus  ) but I would respectfully suggest that there's a big information vacuum yearning to be filled (or a 'hunger' waiting to be satisfied) about the variety of real life examples of IMatch being used to solve real world problems - with any size of database, large or small.

Once we have bought our own license for IMatch, and have then studied it and (after a while) have made it work for our own purposes, we can then use our imaginations to guess how it could be used in other situations ... but I bet there are a lot of people and companies using IMatch for 'digital assets' that many of us would not be able to guess about - and yet, if we did know about them, it could (I think) make us feel pleased and proud that we're using this same powerful and versatile 'tool', just for a different purpose.

I do accept that Lloyd's question (or my modified version of it  ) is a tough question to answer!

I wonder whether you could persuade one or more University-based IMatch Users (I'm guessing there are a few?) to write and share a summary with us of how they use IMatch to help in their area of research?

Yes, it would be a lot less easy for a busy, time-constrained 'company' to commit the time and resources to share their IMatch experiences with us, but (I think) such a 'demo' or 'summary' would be welcomed and applauded by a lot of existing and prospective IMatch Users.

I'll keep my fingers crossed 

[Mario]

Please understand that I don't reveal any information about my customers.

There is literally tons of information available out there about DAM usage in photography and other fields. Some even about IMatch.
Starting, perhaps, with Peter Kroghs's DAM book. A lot of the books and blogs out there are linked to Adobe products of course, but there are also software-neutral publications. In addition, all big DAM vendors have case studies - sometimes freely available via their web sites. Google is your friend for that.
And I'm sure the Adobe marketing department and Adobe product endorsers have published dozens if not hundreds of articles and posts over the years. In most cases, what you can do with the big DAM vendor products or Lr (the cataloging section) you can do with IMatch as well. Or even better.

Over the years users have shared information about their IMatch workflow here in the community. But only a part of the IMatch user base participates in this community, and then often only when they run into a problem or have a question. The majority of the user base is silent.

I'm not quite sure which kind of information you're e after. Managing and organizing digital photos and other assets is what DAM software does. Your workflow may be vastly different from my workflow...
Some users never use the Renamer, for others it's the first or second step in their workflow. Some users have never used the Batch Processor, others use it daily. Some users prefer categories over keywords, others don't use categories at all - except for data-driven categories or the workflow categories. Some users just want something better than Windows Explorer to organize their files. Others need a separate DAM because their RAW processor / image editor offers nothing in this area.

I don't collect information about how IMatch users work with the product. That's why I'm thinking about adding some telemetry to IMatch. To learn more about which features are used, and which are not.

I know that the big players employ people who's only job is to talk about their products in all social channels. Generate blog posts, tutorials, answer questions in various communities (and I guess in many cases ask questions first) I don't have time to come up with this kind of marketing blub, or to produce 'user stories'. Or to gather/pay photographers and other people to endorse IMatch and write about it in their blogs or on their web sites.

If somebody wants to share how he/she uses IMatch or his/her workflow in this community - be my guest. Or just link to your blog. I'm happy about any IMatch-related info on the web.
In the mean time, I will work to get IMatch Anywhere 2018 out of the door.

[Jingo]

I think there are many different levels to how users go about using IMatch to manage their assets... and I am avoiding saying "images" because IM can do SO much more!   In the past, there have been users that used IM to manage their MP3 music library as sort of a "jukebox" to search for and find music to play... neat!  I even wrote a quick MP3 app to do a "proof of concept" to see how easy it would be to store a playlist and allow users to play songs directly from IM (search the app forum - it's there someplace!).

I've also read about folks using IM to manage their PDF files, office documents and other project assets across an organization...

Personally - I use it to only manage personal Photos from my over 30 years of photography... and it more than suits my needs!  If interested, I'm happy to share my workflow as well.

[sinus]

...
I've also read about folks using IM to manage their PDF files, office documents and other project assets across an organization...

Personally - I use it to only manage personal Photos from my over 30 years of photography... and it more than suits my needs!  If interested, I'm happy to share my workflow as well.

And I even do our bills with IMatch, produce (Design&Print) and manage them.  ... the first time, that it is a bit of fun creating bills. Normally very boring.

[sinus]

Hi Colin

Thanks a lot for your flowers! 
I use a bit time to read your post and think about it, later maybe I write about it.

[ubacher]

I find it comes naturally to store non-image documents together in Imatch. There is usually some documentation
when doing some projects - text, emails, pdf's, To-do lists etc. I keep these together with the images and I categorize them with
an "Administrative" category.

Just recently I started to also store my GPS track logs (gpx files) together with the images I took on that track. Imatch makes it
possible and easy!

Music I keep in a separate database but I find keeping it is a "different kettle of fish". I never get around to set Imatch up specially for
music files - just not enough time/interest.

[sinus]

I think Colin has touched on a few points that I find interesting. Not least for this reason I recently wrote a post to compare different users
(https://www.photools.com/community/index.php?topic=8225.0)

If I have a special car (I personally am far from being a car freak), the desire to compare the vehicle with other users, to discuss problems and to see how others have prepared the car, what colour, what wheels and much more automatically arises over time. This is one of the reasons why there are so many car clubs.

I experience a similar feeling when I work with IMatch. I would be interested to know how other users use IMatch, what workflow they have, what Layouts they use and much more.
That is why I am interested, if a user shows us his/her Layout or apps in use.

But as Colin touched a bit, maybe it is difficult to find users who want to tell something.

What LloydWal is looking for, however, are real examples, maybe an online database to try out!
Or even descriptions of real solutions by photographers, architects, musicians, historians or whatever.

Either way, IMatch is a really very good DAM that offers a lot, a lot and you can (almost) solve every problem.

[Mario]

Users who want to share some insights into their workflow and how they use IMatch should post in the

Workflow Board in the FAQ group. This is a good place for sharing ideas, tricks and other content.

[Aubrey]

Yes, IMatch can find binary duplicates independently from the file name. It can also find visually similar images (e.g. images which copies which have been slightly cropped, rotated, color-corrected).

IMatch Anywhere has a built-in access control system. Like the big DAM vendors, just without the 5-digit annual cost 

We got a mention in Tips from The Top Floor  edition around 19th October 2018 (was there an uptick in access to photools.com around that time?  ).
https://tipsfromthetopfloor.com/2018/10/19/845-half-a-terabyte/ (around 7:30 into the podcast)

I mentioned all the duplicates that IMatch can find, in response to a question on digital asset management
(https://tipsfromthetopfloor.com/2018/07/28/833-blood-moon/)

Aubrey.

[Mario]

Thanks for getting the word out!

No unusual spikes around October 19th. But if a few dozen users of that podcast would check out photools.com it would not cause much of a spike.
But this is not unusual. There is a reason that all web-marketing related measures use '1000' as the smallest measure. Less than 1000 page views / impressions / clicks is not considered as anything worth considering.