Image Database Software | Test
iMatch is developed and supported in
Germany, but is available exclusively in
English for US$65. Essentially a conventional
single-user image database solution, it can
also give networked users read-only access to
your assets. It also provides a basic built-in
image editor and a range of image export
options.
Our file import test produced average RAW
recognition results but better than average
results for standard photo formats. The
software had trouble rendering thumbnails
for many of our sample RAW files, although it
was still able to open some of the files
themselves. We had no issues importing
common RAW formats.
iMatch has comprehensive file
management functionality that includes
efficient batch renaming, and also offers a
range of virtual management functions
(such as categories) for organizing large
collections of images. We really liked the
binary search tool, which enables you to findduplicate images even if they have different
names. The search tools can also be used to
find different image versions that are
visually identical.
All in all, iMatch has better search
functionality than Lightroom, offering
searches that cover predefined periods of
time (from ... to) or places that are a certain
distance from a named location. Users who
are familiar with the way databases work can
also define their own comprehensive search
criteria.
Keywording is also one of the program’s
strengths, and you can adapt the system to
your own requirements using a range of
thesauri. However, Lightroom, with its
versatile view and sorting options, is better at
finding images within collections that haven’t
been effectively keyworded.
GPS support is rudimentary, with neither
built-in maps nor a proper interface to an
external service. There is no face recognition
functionality.iMatch is only available as a 32-bit
application, but worked very smoothly
during most of our test, producing fast
full-screen previews. It only slowed down
when importing our test folder of exotic file
formats. Like Lightroom,iMatch doesn’t
automatically write changes to XMP
metadata straight to the image file, and
saves them initially to the database only.
You have to make sure that any changes
have been replicated to your image or
sidecar files, especially if you access your
images using other applications too.
iMatchis a useful asset management tool,
but its relatively poor user interface and
missing getoagging and cloud interface
make it less interesting than some of its
contemporaries. The manufacturer is
currently working on a non-public beta
version 5 to replace the current 3.6 version,
and the fact that it there will be no version 4
leads us to think that the new release will
contain a lot of improvements.Photools iMatch 3
TheiMatchviewer functionality is better than that offered by many of its rivals,
making the program a great choice for creating image presentations