Photo Indexing Software
Now that digital cameras have become ubiquitous, we no longer have the problem of having shoeboxes of photos stashed under the bed or on the closet shelf. Instead, we have folders and folders full of photo files, many of which have file names full of numbers that do nothing to tell us who or what is in those photos. The solution to this problem is a good photo indexing or photo management application.
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Purpose and Features
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Photo indexing software, also categorized as photo album software or photo organizing software, aims to help users organize and find their photos. Often this software also helps users view and share their photos in many ways, including sending them by email and creating slideshows. Additional functions may include photo editing functions and an interface that lets users easily upload photos to a specific photo sharing website that partners with the software manufacturer. Facial recognition is another feature that some photo indexing software has, giving it the ability to recognize and help the user find pictures of people by name.
Albums and Tags
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The two main features that help users organize and find their photos are albums and tags. Albums work the same way as a folder on a computer's hard drive, being a way to categorize photos. So a person might have photo albums for "Johnny's Birthday," "Halloween," "Christmas" and a "School Field Trip." Generally, each photo goes in one and only one album. Tags are a helpful way to find photos because they work across all of the albums. Tags can include a person's name, a season or an event. So you could search for pictures of Johnny and find them in any album; you could find summer photos of the vacation, the family picnic and the pool party; photos tagged "Christmas" would show up from every year, not just the most recent Christmas.
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Examples of Photo Indexing Software
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Mac users may find iPhoto a useful photo cataloging software. Windows users can take advantage of Windows Live Photo Gallery, part of the Windows Live Essentials online set of programs. Other examples include Picasa, a desktop application made by Google, and Corel's PaintShop Photo Express. Some full-featured photo editing software, such as Adobe Photoshop Elements, include photo album features (see "Resources").
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit attractive woman using computer image by Paul Hill from Fotolia.com
