Photo Database: How do I make one?

[Guest]

I am new to Access and have tried to understand how to make a database for my
digital phots which number in excess of 5000. I would like to be able to
search for images under a variety of headings. eg. people, friends, cultural,
cermonies, parties. I have a book but for what I want it is of no help. Does
anyone have such a database? I have tried numerous photo organizing programs
but none of them suit my stringent requirements. Thanks in advance for any
assistance anyone can give me.

 

[Guest]

Ooooops. I forgot to include some important information. Here it is: Win XP
Pro, Access 2000. Hope this helps.

 

[Mike Painter]

I am new to Access and have tried to understand how to make a
database for my digital phots which number in excess of 5000. I would
like to be able to search for images under a variety of headings. eg.
people, friends, cultural, cermonies, parties. I have a book but for
what I want it is of no help. Does anyone have such a database? I
have tried numerous photo organizing programs but none of them suit
my stringent requirements. Thanks in advance for any assistance
anyone can give me.

It's certainly doable but if a commercial program will not satisfy your
needs you need to first get a grip on what a relational database is, then
and only then sit down and decide how to implement it.
If it is just "people, friends, cultural, ceremonies, parties" then it is
trivial.

At the other end would be a program that let you type in a phrase "John and
Mary at house party 1998 after award ceremony" and later search for all the
pictures with "John" and "party" in them might be a bit more work.

You might also want to look at Google images and the new Google indexing
program for your machine.
Microsoft and IBM have also done a lot of work classifying images. Large
modeling agencies which might have 50000 or 500,000 pictures may have
solutions, at least they did 20 years ago using Pick based systems. I'm sure
they have been ported.

 

[Arvin Meyer]

I am new to Access and have tried to understand how to make a database for my
digital phots which number in excess of 5000. I would like to be able to
search for images under a variety of headings. eg. people, friends, cultural,
cermonies, parties. I have a book but for what I want it is of no help. Does
anyone have such a database? I have tried numerous photo organizing programs
but none of them suit my stringent requirements. Thanks in advance for any
assistance anyone can give me.

I store my images outside of the database with a pointer to them using the
Picture property of an Image control:

http://www.datastrat.com/Download/Picture2K.zip

MVP Larry Linson has an extensive website devoted to imaging here:

http://members.tripod.com/accdevel/imaging.htm

A list of some Microsoft articles can be found at:

http://www.mvps.org/access/forms/frm0030.htm

Stephen Lebans has numerous image utilities at:

http://www.lebans.com

and finally, an excellent ActiveX image control is available at:

http://www.ammara.com
--
Arvin Meyer, MCP, MVP
Microsoft Access
Free Access downloads:
http://www.datastrat.com
http://www.mvps.org/acces

 

[Joseph Meehan]

I am new to Access and have tried to understand how to make a
database for my digital phots which number in excess of 5000. I would
like to be able to search for images under a variety of headings. eg.
people, friends, cultural, cermonies, parties. I have a book but for
what I want it is of no help. Does anyone have such a database? I
have tried numerous photo organizing programs but none of them suit
my stringent requirements. Thanks in advance for any assistance
anyone can give me.

While you can use Microsoft Access for the job, I doubt if it is going
to be the best tool.

I use Photoshop Elements 3 that includes a photo database along with
advanced editing tools. Some people find that large collections, like your
5,000 may be a little inconvenient for Photoshop and use other programs. I
suggest stopping by rec.photo.digital newsgroup where there are a number of
photographers who will be happy to make suggestions.

A good well designed program is well worth the money and will have
features you can't have in Access. They will do everything you asked about
and much more you did not dream of.

 

[Charlie Hoffpauir]

I am new to Access and have tried to understand how to make a database for my
digital phots which number in excess of 5000. I would like to be able to
search for images under a variety of headings. eg. people, friends, cultural,
cermonies, parties. I have a book but for what I want it is of no help. Does
anyone have such a database? I have tried numerous photo organizing programs
but none of them suit my stringent requirements. Thanks in advance for any
assistance anyone can give me.

You really need to take a close look at Thumbsplus (www.cerious.com).
It does everything your say you need and a LOT more, and if you're a
real do-it-yourselfer, you can actually open it's database with Access
(since it uses the same database engine), and wirte your own queries,
reports, etc.
Charlie Hoffpauir
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~charlieh/

 

[Joseph Meehan]

You really need to take a close look at Thumbsplus (www.cerious.com).
It does everything your say you need and a LOT more, and if you're a
real do-it-yourselfer, you can actually open it's database with Access
(since it uses the same database engine), and wirte your own queries,
reports, etc.
Charlie Hoffpauir
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~charlieh/

I did not know that about Thumbsplus, which was one of the programs I
was referring to. Those who use it really like it. I see almost nothing
negative about it.

 

[(Pete Cresswell)]

Per Ken:

I have tried numerous photo organizing programs
but none of them suit my stringent requirements.

I'll second the other poster: ThumbsPlus.

I'd also opine that developing anything that even comes close to ThumbsPlus
would be a mini-career in itself..... thousands, not merely hundreds of
manhours.

 

[(Pete Cresswell)]

Per (Pete Cresswell):

I'll second the other poster: ThumbsPlus.

But, now that I think of it... maybe one of your requirements is storing the
photos the "right" way - in a DB. If so, TP isn't the answer..... but neither
is a JET backend. I'd think SQL Server, Oracle, or the like.

The problem I see with storing the photos outside of the DB (like I do....) is
that if a photo disappears, I'll never know it unless I actually try to access
that photo.