Calender-view

[frlindla]

Is calender-view available in Imatch 2020? Or plans for it? Like in Mylio.

[Mario]

Have you looked at the The Timeline View

[frlindla]

Yes I have looked at the timeline-view. Maybe I mixed with something else. Just wondered if you have any plans to develop this view further:)

[Mario]

The Timeline View is available in IMatch since version 5.
I'm not sure what you think is missing?

[jch2103]

I don't use Mylio, but here's what they discuss on their website: https://support.mylio.com/calendar-view/

[Mario]

I would suggest you work with Mylio for a while. It's, eh, a total different application for a totally different type of users. I worked with it for a day, mostly to learn how it deals with metadata  .
Then I've uninstalled it again.

The "calendar view" in Mylio looks flashy in the screen shots. Big Windows tiles for everything. A drill-down of sorts.
The IMatch timeline does the same, just uses a regular File Window to show the files in the timeline nodes.

I'm open to hear suggestions, as always, via the Feature Request board.

[sinus]

The "calendar view" in Mylio looks flashy in the screen shots. Big Windows tiles for everything. A drill-down of sorts.
The IMatch timeline does the same, just uses a regular File Window to show the files in the timeline nodes.

I'm open to hear suggestions, as always, via the Feature Request board.

Yep, Mylio has another approach, but quite nice, really.
Yes, the IMatch-timeline does the same, I think, but I do almost never use it. Hmmm, why not? I do not really know.
Maybe because finally it is a bit the same like I can see in the category-view or folder-panel (depending how it is organized).

Hm, if IMatch would show a completely other File Window ... I must think about it, about a Feature Request for other File Windows. 

[Mario]

Yes, the IMatch-timeline does the same, I think, but I do almost never use it. Hmmm, why not? I do not really know.

Different people use IMatch in different ways.
Some never use stacks. You use many stacks.
Some never use categories. You do.
Some users think about their images along a timeline. So the timeline allows them to see all images taken last year or in January last year with two clicks.
Many IMatch 2020 users use the new Events. You don't.
Many IMatch 2020 users use the face recognition feature. You don't.
...

The trick is to enhance what people are using. And to remove what people are not using to save time and resources.

Design & Print is one of the removal candidates, for example.
Looking at telemetry, only few users ever use it.
The Chart Panel is one of the panels that will go, too.
If only 1% - 5% of the users participating in telemetry use a feature, I consider removing it.

[sinus]

Yes, the IMatch-timeline does the same, I think, but I do almost never use it. Hmmm, why not? I do not really know.

The trick is to enhance what people are using. And to remove what people are not using to save time and resources.

Design & Print is one of the removal candidates, for example.
Looking at telemetry, only few users ever use it.
The Chart Panel is one of the panels that will go, too.
If only 1% - 5% of the users participating in telemetry use a feature, I consider removing it.

Of course you are right.
BTW, I had used events immediately, if had come some years earlier. 

But I have really created a good working category-folder - system for me, what is basically the same like the new events.
And that's why I'm in no hurry to take advantage of the events, because then I'm actually doing the same thing again that I already have.
But I will definitely look into it more, because the events are a cool thing.

The same goes for People. I have been building up a system for years, even with age (also dynamic thanks to your variables  .
But again, I will definitely take a closer look at this new people system, because it might improve my workflow.

About removal things, well, you have the power  and the knowledge from telemetry, what to remove.
And you know also, I think, how many users you have and how many users use telemetry.

And as a decision you can of course removal this and that. As long as you do not remove the whole IMatch, no problem for me ... 

[Mario]

I agree.

It makes no sense to invest time and resources into features nobody uses.
Better to spend the time to enhance features people use and to implement new features requested by a sufficiently large number of users.

I have plenty of enhancements (large and small) on my to-do list. And some large new features based on the IMatch graph introduced in IMatch 2020 (which is the base for the People and Event features). And of course the long anticipated File Windows and Views based on apps, which offers us some awesome new ways to visualize images, events, timelines, categories ...

[mopperle]

I'm also not using the Timeline for a simple reason:
As I understood the timeline is based on the file creation date. I have thousands of pictures digitalized from old analog material, so the creation date differs heavily fom the "real" date. Although in my case the real date is part of the file name, I found no way to move this part ina batch job to the Metadata. But maybe I missed something. Or maybe I have to play with the metadata templates.

[Mario]

The timeline does not use the file creation date.

It uses the global IMatch File.DateTime value, which is based on the EXIF/XMP "Date and Time Original" metadata tag. The same information you see in the Metadata Panel.
This is the date and time which is by default filled by the recording device (aka camera). If you scan your slides, you need to fill in this information by hand.

Keeping date and time information in the file name is doable, certainly. But that's why metadata was invented. To record such information in a standardized way, accessible for all applications. From Windows Explorer to Photoshop to IMatch to web sites and services.

See How IMatch uses Date and Time Information for more information.

Although in my case the real date is part of the file name, I found no way to move this part ina batch job to the Metadata. But maybe I missed something. Or maybe I have to play with the metadata templates.

This is super-easy do to.
You can use the TimeWiz or the Metadata Mechanic or a Metadata Template.
All can use a variable (file name) to fill one or more metadata tags.
You just need to extract the date and time part of your file name (whatever format you have used), format it into YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS and set the date and time tags.
Easy to setup, quick to do.
Setting the XMP date and time tags also moves your files into the correct spot in the timeline, allows IMatch to properly sort your files, find your files, filter your files etc.

[sinus]

And of course the long anticipated File Windows and Views based on apps, which offers us some awesome new ways to visualize images, events, timelines, categories ...

Ahhhh!!! That would be really cool!
IMatch is the best base ... and some new ways to visualize images (and text) from this base, yes, that would be cool!
The enhancements of IMatch seems never to end ... very good! 

[hluxem]

But maybe I missed something. Or maybe I have to play with the metadata templates.

The beauty of the time line is that you can have a mix of scans from different sources and arrange them on the time line in the correct sequence.
For me it worked best to scan images/negatives and slides and arrange them in folders accordingly to source.
If the time is encoded in the name it's fairly easy to add the date to the meta data. I set the following 2 fields:
{File.MD.XMP::photoshop\DateCreated\DateCreated\0}
{File.MD.XMP::xmp\CreateDate\CreateDate\0}
and use below expression. That obviously may need some modification depending on you name scheme and gets more complicated if only part of the date is encoded in the name.

{File.Name|substr:0,4}:{File.Name|substr:5,2}:{File.Name|substr:8,2} { File.Name|substr:11,2}:{File.Name|substr:14,2}:{File.Name|substr:17,2}-04:00

Another way is to collect all images from a certain time and sort by name. Then you can use the time whiz app to add a time stamp.
I use the incrementing time stamp method a lot. It allows to create a sort order for incomplete dates/times and I'm able to insert images later.

If only 1% - 5% of the users participating in telemetry use a feature, I consider removing it.

Please don't unless it really saves a lot of time or there is a major performance gain. 5 users out of a hundred sounds like too many too loose for me.

[Mario]

Thanks for your workflow tips.

Please don't unless it really saves a lot of time or there is a major performance gain. 5 users out of a hundred sounds like too many too loose for me.

If only 1 to 5 users out of 100 participating in telemetry are using a feature, it is definitely a candidate for removal (the feature, not the users).
Not immediately. If it requires no resources, it can stay in. Unless it causes bloat, work or is the only feature depending on a 3rd party library.

The user base for IMatch changes somewhat, and we need room for new features helping these users. Removing options, old unused features etc. is all part of the big plan.

[sinus]

But maybe I missed something. Or maybe I have to play with the metadata templates.

The beauty of the time line is that you can have a mix of scans from different sources and arrange them on the time line in the correct sequence.
For me it worked best to scan images/negatives and slides and arrange them in folders accordingly to source.
If the time is encoded in the name it's fairly easy to add the date to the meta data. I set the following 2 fields:
{File.MD.XMP::photoshop\DateCreated\DateCreated\0}
{File.MD.XMP::xmp\CreateDate\CreateDate\0}
and use below expression. That obviously may need some modification depending on you name scheme and gets more complicated if only part of the date is encoded in the name.

{File.Name|substr:0,4}:{File.Name|substr:5,2}:{File.Name|substr:8,2} { File.Name|substr:11,2}:{File.Name|substr:14,2}:{File.Name|substr:17,2}-04:00

I completely agree. Though I do use the timeline very seldom, I have seen this, what you say.
Like mopperle I do also have the date-time in the filename.

Has been proved for me a very good system. Because some software does change the correct date-file-fields from metadata. Or some software does not take the correct field and so on.
But if you have the date-time in the filename and specialy at the beginning, it works in all cases, at least for me.
Also the sorting is right, if in Window or on a handy or for backup or whatever.

And for scanned files, very easy to change the date (and hence the sort order).
And like hluxem pointed out, if we want put date-time into the correct metadata-field, with help of IMatch this is done very easy; I do this from time to time, just to have the fields correct. 
IMatch is really simply cool for almost everything. 

[jch2103]

I set the following 2 fields:
{File.MD.XMP::photoshop\DateCreated\DateCreated\0}
{File.MD.XMP::xmp\CreateDate\CreateDate\0}

One note on scanned image date/time tags: It can be useful to keep track separately of original date and digitized date. Among other things, that lets you track your progress in digitizing images.

[Mees Dekker]

Chart panel will go too? Does this mean the Statistics panel?

That would be a set back for me. I don't use it very often, but when I do, it gives me very useful information. So, please keep it.

[Jingo]

And of course the long anticipated File Windows and Views based on apps, which offers us some awesome new ways to visualize images, events, timelines, categories ...
ancements of IMatch seems never to end ... very good! 

You just KNOW I am all over this change... will really re-unify the look/feel of the entire application and allow us to do so many things right in the file window!

[jch2103]

Chart panel will go too? Does this mean the Statistics panel?

That would be a set back for me. I don't use it very often, but when I do, it gives me very useful information. So, please keep it.

I agree. It's not something that's needed very often, but very useful when it is. There aren't very many (other) ways of looking at one's data like this. Presumably it doesn't need many resources to keep it.

[Mario]

Chart panel will go too? Does this mean the Statistics panel?

That would be a set back for me. I don't use it very often, but when I do, it gives me very useful information. So, please keep it.

I agree. It's not something that's needed very often, but very useful when it is. There aren't very many (other) ways of looking at one's data like this. Presumably it doesn't need many resources to keep it.

Have you tried the Statistics App instead? Maybe this does what you need?

[Mario]

You just KNOW I am all over this change... will really re-unify the look/feel of the entire application and allow us to do so many things right in the file window!

Don't get your hopes too high up just yet. Remember that IMatch File Windows can handle insane number of files. This won't be possible with an app.
Which does not mean users don't try or expect it. This is also data volume and performance critical so advanced concepts like observers and web workers need to play with this.

There is also the issue with sort profiles, the commands available in the File Window, interaction (potential) with the Filter Panel etc.
How much to implement in IMatch to support the apps, how much left for the apps. Plain JS class library? Vue library? Proper Vue single-file components? Which would require a full stack with WebPack etc. which would prevent most non-developers to use it...but it would also make working with this very elegant and easy...

All this must be thought out, handled in some predictable way so the app developer (me, for starters) and the user knows what to expect and how things will behave.

[jch2103]

Have you tried the Statistics App instead? Maybe this does what you need?

Both useful, but the Statistics app gives stats on the entire database rather than a specific scope, unless I missed something.

[sinus]

You just KNOW I am all over this change... will really re-unify the look/feel of the entire application and allow us to do so many things right in the file window!

Don't get your hopes too high up just yet. Remember that IMatch File Windows can handle insane number of files. This won't be possible with an app.
Which does not mean users don't try or expect it. This is also data volume and performance critical so advanced concepts like observers and web workers need to play with this.

I am not sure, if such an app like the timeline of Jingo we can also call a kind of "File Windows".
But I tried 7'000 files just now (just for fun) with that App and it worked really fine, not super-quick, but once on screen (after 30 seconds), it was done.
And for specific things one wants not work or play with the whole DB, but with a fraction of it.

And what I have seen, what Jingo made, I think, such things like a view as in Mylio would be not a big problem for Mario to create with IMatch.
And other cool display - views.
I am not sure, but I think, if we want display some stuff in a cool way to show it other people, we want not use all files, but only a fraction.
Like displaying a wedding with a interesting view for the people. Or a birthday, vacations and so on.

Of course it is not the same, but with Design & Print you would not print all files (unless you have only some hundrets images), but for a birthday-present you want show maybe only 10 images, but in a big size.
And for a photobooklet you want show maybe 4 images on one page.

I am not sure, if I understand, what you talked about (do a lot of interesting things with file window).
IMatch will give us still a lot of new things in the future, I think. 

[Mario]

But I tried 7'000 files just now (just for fun) with that App and it worked really fine, not super-quick, but once on screen (after 30 seconds), it was done.

This is exactly one of the problems. 7,000 files is virtually nothing.
I have a dynamic, drill-down timeline view in the lab (implemented as an app). This app has to deal with the entire database, so you can see the years on the top-level, drill-down to quarters, months, weeks etc. Just like the timeline, just using "tiles" with representative images for each level.

All this is doable and works well.
The tricky part is the lowest level, where you see the actual images and suddenly have 20,000 file records to manage instead of one year, 12 months or 52 weeks. This can be done in an app, but requires clever programming.

Of course once the tech is there, it is very easy to make it look good.
But, consider this: In reality, how often do you look at year or month tiles? Not often. You wan to see the actual images. The year/month/week levels are merely for organization, to quickly reach, see and work with the actual files. And this is what the Timeline View in IMatch already does.

It would be easy to produce something that looks good in a screen shot or on a web site. Which is nice from a marketing and buzz perspective. But has very little use in the real world.
IMatch Anywhere WebViewer has a very nice dynamic timeline, which allows you to navigate along the time axis and zoom in on images taken within months or days. But it is not used very often.
All the user wants is to quickly see the files taken from a specific month, a number of weeks or days.
To find photos of a vacation. A birthday party or some event.

And with the Events concept in IMatch 2020, you can easily group files by date ranges. An entire year. A vacation. A research project. A birthday.

[sinus]

But I tried 7'000 files just now (just for fun) with that App and it worked really fine, not super-quick, but once on screen (after 30 seconds), it was done.

This is exactly one of the problems. 7,000 files is virtually nothing.
I have a dynamic, drill-down timeline view in the lab (implemented as an app). This app has to deal with the entire database, so you can see the years on the top-level, drill-down to quarters, months, weeks etc. Just like the timeline, just using "tiles" with representative images for each level.

I see, very interesting and sounds cool.

But, consider this: In reality, how often do you look at year or month tiles? Not often. You wan to see the actual images. The year/month/week levels are merely for organization, to quickly reach, see and work with the actual files. And this is what the Timeline View in IMatch already does.

Hmmm  maybe I am an alien. I think the other side round.
I want see a month tiles very often. 
If I have done an event (like a studio-session, a wedding, a birthday...) I want not see all the time all pics. Would be boring and not necessary, and I know them (in my memory).
I want see ONE representing image, exactly like your new event has a "master-image" for an event. If I want see all, I can do it.

But maybe you are right, and most of the people think like you pointed out. I do not know this.

I have written now for 1/2 hour more, but finally I have deleted it.
Because it is difficult to explain and maybe I see some things really the wrong way.
I have to think about this more. 

[Mario]

If I have done an event (like a studio-session, a wedding, a birthday...) I want not see all the time all pics. Would be boring and not necessary, and I know them (in my memory).
I want see ONE representing image, exactly like your new event has a "master-image" for an event. If I want see all, I can do it.

This is exactly what IMatch Events to.
You can group files and represent them with a cover image. And this even dynamically, based on a date range, a folder, categories or fully manual. Very easy, very effective.

[sinus]

If I have done an event (like a studio-session, a wedding, a birthday...) I want not see all the time all pics. Would be boring and not necessary, and I know them (in my memory).
I want see ONE representing image, exactly like your new event has a "master-image" for an event. If I want see all, I can do it.

This is exactly what IMatch Events to.
You can group files and represent them with a cover image. And this even dynamically, based on a date range, a folder, categories or fully manual. Very easy, very effective.

Very true and yes, Events seems to be cool.

[Jingo]

If I have done an event (like a studio-session, a wedding, a birthday...) I want not see all the time all pics. Would be boring and not necessary, and I know them (in my memory).
I want see ONE representing image, exactly like your new event has a "master-image" for an event. If I want see all, I can do it.

This is exactly what IMatch Events to.
You can group files and represent them with a cover image. And this even dynamically, based on a date range, a folder, categories or fully manual. Very easy, very effective.

Very true and yes, Events seems to be cool.

Events are quite nice... for me - I can search dynamically with keywords to find images.  But - my family... it is super simple to just point them to the Event tab and they click one and voila... quick and simple. 

[frlindla]

Much interesting to read here! My point to mention Mylio is the way this program present the photos in a calendar, very nice view. But it seems from what is written here that there are many plans to invest even more in new ways to view photos in Imatch. Really cool! Like that:) And I really look forward to upgrade to Imatch 2020 to use the Events-view!

[sinus]

But I tried 7'000 files just now (just for fun) with that App and it worked really fine, not super-quick, but once on screen (after 30 seconds), it was done.

This is exactly one of the problems. 7,000 files is virtually nothing.
I have a dynamic, drill-down timeline view in the lab (implemented as an app). This app has to deal with the entire database, so you can see the years on the top-level, drill-down to quarters, months, weeks etc. Just like the timeline, just using "tiles" with representative images for each level.

Maybe for some Apps, working with say 5'000 or 10'000 files would be more than enough.
I mean, if one buys a software for a timeline or for a slideshow or of anther cool design, nobody (I think) would create a slideshow with 7000 images.
Maybe it would even not work.

Hence if there would be an App in IMatch, like your pinboard-App, what offers a completely new kind of make visible images with a cool layout, that would be very interesting for some users.
Just my 2cents.

[frlindla]

I have been thinking more on this. Wouldn`t it be cool to use two screens and have events in a calender-view on one screen and the second screen could show the photos when you clicked on an event?

[Mario]

Just move the Viewer to your second monitor so see images. IMatch can show up to 8 images in parallel in the Viewer.