Every operating system has to be capable of
managing files. If you can’t remember where
you saved a file, you can find it using your
system’s indexing service, which is basically a
kind of built-in database. The Library function
introduced with Windows 7 makes it possible
to create virtual collections of files, regardless
of where they are physically stored. In view
of this kind of functionality, you may be
wondering if there is really a need for
separate database software to manage your
image files.
The answer lies in the sheer size and
complexity of many people’s photo
collections, which demand smart, high-end
search and administration functionality to
make them manageable. Dedicated software
is also required for managing ratings and
geodata. Using image database software is
more complex than merely relying on your
system’s built-in tools when you first start, but
makes life simpler in the longer term. And, if
you want to make your data available to
multiple users, there is no alternative to using
a database anyway.What Do You Want From
Your Software?
The days of image database software that is
limited to managing, archiving and viewing
files are well and truly over. Nowadays, manyimage processing tools are integrated into
database programs and, conversely, many
image processing packages also include
caching, cataloging and search functionality.
Even simple image viewers support
thumbnail caching, and RAW converters such
as Adobe Lightroom or Apple Aperturehave
their own built-in cataloging tools.
Today’s photographers have a wide range
of options to choose from when it comes to
getting a grip on their photo collections. The
first question to ask when selecting your
software is, “What do I want to do with it?”Single-user Solutions
Most image databases are desktop tools,
designed for installation on a single user’s
computer and based on simple back ends
such as SQLite, that don’t have built-in user
rights functionality. There are also a number
of tools available that use proprietary
database formats. Whichever tool you choose,
most single-user database packages do a
good job of hiding the complexities of their
inner workings from the user, which makes
them extremely user-friendly.
It is not usually possible to make the
images stored in a single-user database
available to other users, although some do
allow you to store catalog data on a network.
However, it can still be quite tricky to manageeach user’s read/write permissions. Programs
such as Aperture, iMatch and Lightroom
belong in this category and allow a parent to
givefamily members access rights on the
home network. However, if you want to give
the rest of the world access to your images,
this will usually have to be done via a
conventional cloud interface.
These applications procvide sufficient
basic output and Internet download
functionality for many users, and their real
strength lies in simple access to the host
computer’s file system, which makes it much
easier to use other tools to process images.Multi-user Solutions
If you want to give multiple users full access
to your images or manage your digital assets
via the Internet, you will need to use a
server-based solution. Canto’s Cumulus and
the cloud-based eyebase mediasuite system
are popular multi-user solutions that don’t
necessarily require the use of a server
operating system, although they are better
suited to use in large-scale computing
environments.
While single-user solutions are often
based on proprietary catalog formats,
server-based products tend to use more
popular formats such as InnoDB, MySQL, SQLImage Database Software | Introduction
WAN/CloudLANDatabaseMost single-user image databases give only one user full
access rights. Other users can access your images, but will
only have read permission. Aperture,LightroomandiMatch
work this way.Database Basics