Shared photo management

[Don.Key]

Folks,

We are switching our small family / company network to macs, there are 3 people using total of 6 workstations/notebooks for day-to-day tasks.

We have a fairly large library of images, private and business, about 500 gig of jpeg files. This library is often used simultaniously by several users and is located on the file server in well structured directory tree, browsing of images was done with help of ACDSEE (http://www.acdsee.com). New images are added by simply copying new files to appropriate directory.

When someone went traveling he just copied directories / images which would be needed to his/her notebook.

How can we replicate this environment under OSX? Is there anything like ACDSee for OSX?

I looked into iPhoto, it is very nice but afaik not capable of multiuser usage, expecially simultanious one. What about Aperture?

Thanks

Don

 

[Eraserhead]

iPhoto is certainly unsuitable, I think this would be better in the pro-photography forum, Lightroom might also be suitable as well as Aperture.

Also what are you running the files off, is it a server?

 

[Don.Key]

Also what are you running the files off, is it a server?

Yes, currently they are on Server.

Which, by the way, is another story. Server is FreeBSD / Samba based box with 6tb of Raid6 storage (All those porn movies must go somewhere heh).

I must setup file sharing and.... roaming profiles (I think it is called portable user directories)

Ihhhh.

 

[ChrisA]

Folks,

We are switching our small family / company network to macs, there are 3 people using total of 6 workstations/notebooks for day-to-day tasks.

We have a fairly large library of images, private and business, about 500 gig of jpeg files. This library is often used simultaniously by several users and is located on the file server in well structured directory tree, browsing of images was done with help of ACDSEE (http://www.acdsee.com). New images are added by simply copying new files to appropriate directory.

Why do you have to move the file off the server. Just keep doing as you've done and leave them there if you are hapy with your current system.

However keeping images in a set of folders is kind of primitive. What happens if you want to quickly searck for all the images that contain a given person and export them to a CD. Do you have any way to search?

The trouble with all of Apples software is that it assume a single user. Aperture is good at this but I don't think it allows multiple users to by in the database at the same time. There is some better "asset management" software that would be ideal for your use. But why not simply do nothing if you are happy now.

 

[Maui]

I recently moved to Macs, bringing along a jpg library of about 25,000 files. At first I thought I would take the plunge and give up my carefully designed folder/file system. I put everything in iPhoto and spent some time adding keywords. But, there were too many posts about corrupted library files with very large collections. And, I'm still wed to that folder/file system I have been using for 10 years.

Here's my current plan:

(i) I ditched iPhoto and bought Aperture instead. I will use Aperture to handle the workflow for all new files, and I now always add keywords. But, I leave everything in the folder/file structure. Aperture supports this handily.

(ii) I shoot everything in raw now (Nikon D70s, soon upgrading to a D200).

(iii) For browsing -- my ACDSee replacement -- I use Xee. Great app.

(iv) Over time, during a boring football game or whatever, I will start to go back and add keywords to my old photos.

I don't have your multiple user issue.