Image Catalog User Guide

Image Catalog. Updated 27 January 2005.

Please ensure you are viewing the latest version of this file at http://www.windsurfnow.co.uk/imedit/ImageCatalogGuide.html

Warning - This program has not been tested on Linux.

To run this program, see imedit.

Introduction
Access to Program
General Usage
File Formats
Catalogue File Format
Restrictions
Further Notes
Conditions of usage
Feedback

Introduction

If you have a digital camera, you will quickly acquire a large number of photos. These pictures are of little use unless you can quickly find the picture you want.

This program maintains a list of your photograph files. It allows you to type in two short lines of description, which will help you locate the files in future.

The program shows small preview images of 10 pictures at a time, and allows you to move between them.

You can view a larger version of the pictures, and see a description of the file properties.

You can call the Image Editor to view the pictures in detail, or you can COPY the data to any other program which supports copy and paste.

You can add new photos to your catalogue, or remove existing photos.

You can generate thumbnail images for all the images in your catalogue.

You can run the Image Printer from within this program, but it is better to run the Image Printer separately.

Access to Program

For access to this program, you need to install a recent version of the Java environment. See Java Update. Then just click on the link at imedit.

The Image Cataloguer requires access to all the files in the catalogue. For this reason, it requires you to grant it privilege when you first call it. It is configured to require Java 1.4.

This program has NOT been tested on Linux. As it uses filenames directly, this version may NOT work on Linux.

The information on this page is also available from within the Image Catalog program.

General Usage

You start out without a catalogue file.
Add files to the catalogue using File / Add Pictures.
Right click an image, and type in a description, then move to another image.
Save the catalogue file as a "TXT" file (e.g. PhotoCat.txt).
Next time, open the catalogue file when you enter this program.

File Formats

This program accepts images in EXIF, TIF, BMP, JPEG, PNG and GIF formats. Not all variants of all these file types are supported. Digital cameras often generate image files in EXIF, TIF or JPEG formats.

The last part of the filename should be 'TIF', 'BMP', 'JPG', 'PNG' or 'GIF', in either case.

Format of Catalogue file

You may not need to change the catalogue file yourself, but the format is simple, so you can change it if you wish. You might also wish to use a text editor to find particular photos in your collection.

Each line of the file begins with a letter, followed by a space. Some of the line types may not appear if they are not needed.

L The 'location' of the files in the catalogue. E.g. "E:". There is at most one L line for the entire catalogue.
R The 'root' directory of the following files. Excludes any path information included elsewhere.
D The 'directory' containing the file.
F The last part of the file name, excluding any directories.
X A line of description relating to the file. There may be two of these lines.

Restrictions

Only a few image file formats are supported.
This version of this program has not been tested on Linux. It will probably NOT work on Linux.
There are no facilities for re-ordering the items in the catalogue, but you can edit the catalogue file yourself if you wish. Remember to make a copy of the original file before making changes.

This program is programmed using Java.

It is not necessary to be connected to the internet when running this program.
Please ensure that you always have a recent release. This program is subject to continuing development.
Please let me know of any problems which I can rectify, or suggest any extra facilities which you would find particularly valuable.

Conditions of usage

This program, the documentation and all associated materials are copyright to the author.

I hope you find it useful, and that you enjoy using it for the purposes for which it is intended.

If you use my software to generate pictures and publish them on your web site, I would appreciate it if you would acknowledge by publishing a link to my site.

The user accepts all risk for any damage which may be caused by the malfunction of this software or otherwise. The program should be used in accordance with the laws of any authorities which may claim jurisdiction.

Feedback

I would be interested to hear about your experience in using this program, including any suggestions for improvements. Please send any comments and problem reports to