Kathleen
09-02-2009, 03:52 PM
What is ACDSee?
ACDSee is a database program that can help you organize your digital images - photos, elements, backgrounds, any type of digital image! You tell ACDSee things about a digital image, and then based on that information it will help you find it in the future. You tell ACDSee about your digital files by creating tags about them, based on your own organizing system.
Here is a real world example. This is an element from Meryl's KayButler Page Kit.
http://cdn-2-service.phanfare.com/images/external/1466784_1419796_79849409_WebSmall_3/0_0_e8a458d9624db9c5d3bcd97d8335053a_1
In my organizing system, I would like tag with multiple tags:
Designer Meryl Bartho
Store DSP
Heart
Fastner
In the future, if I went to look at all my hearts, this would be one that would come up in that search. Having multiple tags for an element can help you narrow your search. You decide what type of categories you want to create (what are you always looking for), and tag elements accordingly.
What about these golden rules?
The good thing about ACDSee is that it can be really intuitive to get started with. Unfortunately, this can be a bad thing once you get comfortable with it and want to make changes. ACDSee is VERY particular about how it works and where it expects to find things. If you change things in a way that is unexpected, you will not be happy with the results. So to try and save a few headaches, I want to share a few Golden Rules!
(1) Don't move things outside of ACDSee (for example, in Windows Explorer)!!! A few times you REALLY NEED TO REMEMBER THIS RULE: (a) your hard drive is too full, you want to move everything or some things to CD or an external hard drive (b) you want to do some house keeping on your hard drive, and put things in a more logical place (c) you have a new computer, and want all your stuff and organizing on the new computer. If you want to move a few things around, you can do it in ACDSee, just drag and drop in the folders pane. I don't suggest doing this with a lot of folders! Think of it this way ... you organize things in your house, and create a list of what the item is, and where it is located. Your toddler comes along and moves something while you aren't looking. The list still says it is in a specific location, but it isn't. The list is no longer going to be able to help you find the item that was moved.
(2) Back-up often. Especially if you have recently made a large effort to tag and organize.
(3) Optimize regularly, but not before you back-up. Optimizing cleans up the database, and generally makes it work more efficiently. Occasionally, optimizing can corrupt your database, so before you optimize, make a back-up (it takes very little time to do this, so what are you waiting for?).
(4) If you aren't absolutely positive about how to do something, ASK FIRST!!!
(5) There are some great resources available at DigiScrapInfo (http://digiscrapinfo.com/). A few of my favorite tutorials:
Taking a Tour of ACDSee Photo Manager by video (several videos, and THE BEST introduction) (http://digiscrapinfo.com/joomla/acdsee-photo-manager/tutorials/110-taking-a-tour-of-acdsee-photo-manager-by-video)
Speed Tagging with Krisit (the best way to get your stash tagged!) (http://digiscrapinfo.com/wordpress/2008/01/22/speed-tagging-with-kristi/)
Different Organizing Styles (http://digiscrapinfo.com/joomla/acdsee-photo-manager/organizing-styles)
Backing up your ACDSee database (http://digiscrapinfo.com/joomla/acdsee-photo-manager/tutorials/120-backing-up-your-acdsee-database)
Optimize your ACDSee Database (http://digiscrapinfo.com/joomla/component/content/article/53-using-features/198-optimize-your-acdsee-database)
Using Export or Import Feature to transfer Databases to other computers (http://digiscrapinfo.com/joomla/acdsee-resources/acdsee-photo-manager/common-questions/52-updating-or-transferring/189-using-exportimport-feature-to-transfer-databases-to-other-computers)
ACDSee is a database program that can help you organize your digital images - photos, elements, backgrounds, any type of digital image! You tell ACDSee things about a digital image, and then based on that information it will help you find it in the future. You tell ACDSee about your digital files by creating tags about them, based on your own organizing system.
Here is a real world example. This is an element from Meryl's KayButler Page Kit.
http://cdn-2-service.phanfare.com/images/external/1466784_1419796_79849409_WebSmall_3/0_0_e8a458d9624db9c5d3bcd97d8335053a_1
In my organizing system, I would like tag with multiple tags:
Designer Meryl Bartho
Store DSP
Heart
Fastner
In the future, if I went to look at all my hearts, this would be one that would come up in that search. Having multiple tags for an element can help you narrow your search. You decide what type of categories you want to create (what are you always looking for), and tag elements accordingly.
What about these golden rules?
The good thing about ACDSee is that it can be really intuitive to get started with. Unfortunately, this can be a bad thing once you get comfortable with it and want to make changes. ACDSee is VERY particular about how it works and where it expects to find things. If you change things in a way that is unexpected, you will not be happy with the results. So to try and save a few headaches, I want to share a few Golden Rules!
(1) Don't move things outside of ACDSee (for example, in Windows Explorer)!!! A few times you REALLY NEED TO REMEMBER THIS RULE: (a) your hard drive is too full, you want to move everything or some things to CD or an external hard drive (b) you want to do some house keeping on your hard drive, and put things in a more logical place (c) you have a new computer, and want all your stuff and organizing on the new computer. If you want to move a few things around, you can do it in ACDSee, just drag and drop in the folders pane. I don't suggest doing this with a lot of folders! Think of it this way ... you organize things in your house, and create a list of what the item is, and where it is located. Your toddler comes along and moves something while you aren't looking. The list still says it is in a specific location, but it isn't. The list is no longer going to be able to help you find the item that was moved.
(2) Back-up often. Especially if you have recently made a large effort to tag and organize.
(3) Optimize regularly, but not before you back-up. Optimizing cleans up the database, and generally makes it work more efficiently. Occasionally, optimizing can corrupt your database, so before you optimize, make a back-up (it takes very little time to do this, so what are you waiting for?).
(4) If you aren't absolutely positive about how to do something, ASK FIRST!!!
(5) There are some great resources available at DigiScrapInfo (http://digiscrapinfo.com/). A few of my favorite tutorials:
Taking a Tour of ACDSee Photo Manager by video (several videos, and THE BEST introduction) (http://digiscrapinfo.com/joomla/acdsee-photo-manager/tutorials/110-taking-a-tour-of-acdsee-photo-manager-by-video)
Speed Tagging with Krisit (the best way to get your stash tagged!) (http://digiscrapinfo.com/wordpress/2008/01/22/speed-tagging-with-kristi/)
Different Organizing Styles (http://digiscrapinfo.com/joomla/acdsee-photo-manager/organizing-styles)
Backing up your ACDSee database (http://digiscrapinfo.com/joomla/acdsee-photo-manager/tutorials/120-backing-up-your-acdsee-database)
Optimize your ACDSee Database (http://digiscrapinfo.com/joomla/component/content/article/53-using-features/198-optimize-your-acdsee-database)
Using Export or Import Feature to transfer Databases to other computers (http://digiscrapinfo.com/joomla/acdsee-resources/acdsee-photo-manager/common-questions/52-updating-or-transferring/189-using-exportimport-feature-to-transfer-databases-to-other-computers)