04-14-2012, 01:27 AM

(wasn't sure to post in here or OS X section)

I recently got a Power Mac tower to work on for digital art, and have a question regarding folders.

As a digital artist, I am trying to find software that will act as a visual library of reference images that I can store thousands of images in. I wanted a program that had a "folder tree structure" that becomes more and more specific. But these programs do not store images, they access the machine to pull up images.

So my question is: Would it be harmful or hindering to the computer to have folder upon folder upon folder holding hundreds, possibly thousands of images? I am not sure of any other way to create a refined and organized library of reference images. I would use iphoto, but it does not have the "tree" style of organization.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

04-14-2012, 01:38 AM

I am looking to get a program for my mac that will store and organize thousands of photos. But it can not be a general photo storer like iPhoto, it must be a very specific organizer that can create layer upon layer of specific categories. As a digital artist, I have a lot of reference photos for drawing, but I need a program in which I can section off and store specific things. For example, it would need to be like this:
Vehicles -v
... planes -v
........ military -v
.............U.S.

I just need a program that will act as a "tree" style library that I can modify into different levels of specifics.

Thank you for any suggestions.

04-14-2012, 02:23 AM

Let's keep posts of the same subject together instead of spreading them between two forums. You'll receive more answers that way. I moved and combined both of your posts here.

Thanks.

04-14-2012, 12:24 PM

My apologies, one topic lead to another and I thought I might as well would ask.

04-14-2012, 01:29 PM

I think ACDSee may do what you want, but don't know if it runs on PowerPC Macs. You might look at them.

04-14-2012, 01:45 PM

There are several options for you:

1. Photo Mechanic
2. acdsee Pro
3. Adobe Bridge *part of Photoshop suite*
4. Adobe Lightroom
5. Apple's Aperture

I'm sure there's more, but those are at the top of my head.

Doug

04-14-2012, 11:58 PM

Thanks for the replies. What do you think about having a lot of folders. Would it be bad to have a bunch of folders holding hundreds of images?

04-15-2012, 01:38 AM

Originally Posted by kevintk

Thanks for the replies. What do you think about having a lot of folders. Would it be bad to have a bunch of folders holding hundreds of images?

Nah, not at all. In fact, this is how I work. Though, I work strictly from an external hard drive. I've got my main external HD hooked up to my Airport Extreme (router) via USB. I use Lightroom, and for the most part I've already got parent folders as well as nested ones with pre-made names such as say... People>friends>family; Places>U.S.>NY> Boston: Europe>Asia; Jobs>Weddings>*clients names* ; Headshots;

You get the picture. And if a new category or sub category happens to arise, I can create the new folder upon import of my new photos. For example, if I'm doing a job for a client such as say a maternity shoot, then during import, LR lets me create a folder right before the import. So I'll name it and that's that. I personally LOATHE having a piece of software dictate every aspect of the source location, and this is why I'll never use a strictly database driven photo organizer such as iPhoto.

So go ahead and create as many folders and sub folders with as many photos in each of them as you'd like. It's not a problem. Just watch out for HD space! That's why I strictly use external drives and leave my internal drive nice and empty. Keeps things running quite fast!

Doug