A multipart question about the portability of iMatch

[photophart]

Apologies in advance if this topic seems silly, trite, foolish, or poorly thought out. I've only been using iMatch for a couple weeks.

It only took a few weeks for iMatch to become an essential part of my image processing workflow. I now find I can't work without it. Not a complaint but a tip of the hat to Mario's fine work. For several decades all of my image editing has been done on my very large, very elaborate desktop PC. During the spring and summer I travel a lot and will be gone from home for months at a time. My desktop PC will be shut down during this time but that's OK because all of the software I use for image editing is also installed in my laptop and when I leave I move all the relevant databases to the laptop and can continue working no matter where I am.

So the first question: will the iMatch license allow me to install it an my laptop as well as my desktop? I've already read in the documentation that the iMatch database will work from any location so I plan to put it on a dedicated portable SSD and take it with me.

Second question: Adding images to the database while it is on the laptop will no doubt work, but how might I go about moving those images from the laptop back to the desktop without confusing the database about where they are?

Third question: has anyone done this sort of thing by using a better idea/system than what I am planning to do? If so would you mind sharing your method?

Fourth question: My Thesaurus and thus my keyword library have become quite complex and I would like to copy them to the laptop to use while I'm traveling. Is the Thesaurus part of the iMatch database or does it reside elsewhere?

The seemingly endless, vertical nature of life's learning curve being what it is, I welcome any and all input including the critical kind.
Thanks, Mark

[Mario]

So the first question: will the iMatch license allow me to install it an my laptop as well as my desktop?

Yes. The licensed user can use IMatch on as many computers as he/she wishes. Provided that he/she is the only user.
Many IMatch users have more than one computer (desktop/notebook) and I'm not greedy.
See also: Legal Stuff

Second question: Adding images to the database while it is on the laptop will no doubt work, but how might I go about moving those images from the laptop back to the desktop without confusing the database about where they are?

You can use the integrated Pack & Go utility to transfer your database and settings between multiple computers comfortably and automatically. See Traveling with IMatch for general information about how to move IMatch and databases and settings between multiple PCs.

When you move your stuff back from your notebook to your desktop with Pack&Go, you only need to copy the images manually. This is not done by Pack & Go.

Tip: Keep the images you produce on-location in separate folders (don't mix them with existing images).

After you have copied the images back to your desktop and your database and settings using Pack & Go, IMatch will show the folders containing the new images as off-line (because it expects them on another disk). You can then use the Relocate command to tell IMatch where the images are on your desktop PC. It will update the database and bring the images back on-line. This takes just a few seconds.
See Off-line Folders and Files for all details about Relocate.

Fourth question: My Thesaurus and thus my keyword library have become quite complex and I would like to copy them to the laptop to use while I'm traveling. Is the Thesaurus part of the iMatch database or does it reside elsewhere?

The Thesaurus is part of your database. All your other settings 'move' with your installation and database.

Note: IMatch manages settings per-user / per-database / per-computer (and mixes of that).
If you use a different user name on your other PC (Windows log-in name different) and you want to use the same per-user settings on both computers, use the User Name Alias feature in IMatch.

IMatch by default stores per-user data under your Windows user name.  If you copy your settings to another computer where you log-in with a different user name, these settings will not be available to you. The Alias feature allows you to tell IMatch which user name to use for settings, independent from the log-in name you use in Windows. This makes it super-easy to work with the same user settings on multiple computers.

What you are planning to do is not uncommon. IMatch has all the tools and features to make this very comfortable.

[photophart]

Mario, thank you for the wonderfully comprehensive reply. I continue to be amazed at the capabilities of iMatch. It seems you've planned for things I would never have dreamed of. I've been a photographer quite a long time and I'm sorry I didn't discover your work until now. Countless headaches could have been avoided had I known about it.
Again, many thanks, Mark

[Mario]

Very good. Yes, IMatch is a mature and grown product.
I work closely together with my user base (via this community) to learn how people use it and what they need to improve their workflow.

Let us know if you have questions or need advice. Just post here.

The IMatch Help System is just a press <F1> away in IMatch. And very comprehensive.
The IMatch Learning Center contains free tutorial videos.

If you like IMatch, spread the word!
Others may also benefit from it, but don't know about it.
It is very hard (and expensive) to advertise these days. The big companies drown everything out with their massive marketing budgets.