RobertVA said:
I've never heard of Windows Explorer having the capability of filtering the
files visible in its window based on properties other than the binary (set /
not set) system and hidden properties. You will probably need some other
program to acomplish that. Note that making your collection dependendent on
a particular application to view it might make your media incompatable with
future operating systems.
You would want to use the TIFF format for conversion to other formats since
repeated load then save cycles with a jpg file WILL gradually blur the
image. Probably best convert to TIFF at the first opportunity, burn the
files to a CD-R or DVD, use a water solluble marker to label the media and
store the media in a dark place which woun't be subject to high tempretures
or humidity. Some tests have shown that CD-Rs may last longer if they are
not inflicted with adhesive labels. If you want to improve the appearance of
your photos through operations including, but not limited to color
correction work with copies of the early generation files and store in TIFF
format until you are ready to convert to the final format required for the
media you want to use for your presentation. Remember: The media,
espeacially CD-Rs, is CHEAP, It doesn't cost much to make one CD with early
versions of the scanned images on one, color corrected cropped versions with
support for computer viewing on anouther, and a VCD (Video CD) or DVD to
play on the DVD player on the family TV (check DVD player package and manual
for VCD compatability - and test the first one). And TEST the media (CD or
DVD) immediately after you produce it to make sure the files are readable.
Some consumer DVD authoring applications allow you to produce a slide show
with menus resembling the scenes menus in commercialy produced motion
picture DVDs. Some of these aplications allow you to group you photos into
"scenes", add background comentary or music and create a DVD that can be
played all the way through or played in sections selected with the DVD
player's remote control menu buttons. Check the programs specifications when
you shop for one.
The system and hidden properties are stored as part of the file system. The
keyword property is probably stored within the file itself and would depend
on support of each individual file format.
Many thanks. For now we will use the file name to describe the contents and
use the wildcards "*" and "?" to extract groups.
I have just remembered that the upcomming "Windows longhorn" op system will
have good database facility and I will wait for that (about 2 years away.)
I keep the masters on a streamer tape (Seagate Travan 40gB), so as to copy
sets onto DVDs when I have finished.
Also, in the WindowsXP search, there is a section in the "advanced search"
called "change files & folders search behavior" and this involves "enble
indexing service" which then goes on about "queries"; but I don't understand
it yet.
I am using Photoshop to trim, crop, copy, annotate etc., and I hope this
won't compromize future viewing of these photos.
I have a very good scanner (a Canon 9900F) with is very fast, and which has
plastic inserts for scanning the wierd-shaped negatives. For 35mm work I
have a dedicated Minolta slide/35mmNeg scanner.
