About the ACDSee 12 database

The ACDSee 12 database stores image and media file information automatically when you browse your folders. This process is called cataloging. The database increases the speed with which you can browse your computer, and you can use the information stored in the database to sort, organize, search, and filter your images and media files. You can also backup, restore, and share database information.

You can store cached thumbnail previews, and add or edit the following information for each image or media file on your computer:

  • Categories
  • Notes
  • Keywords
  • Authors
  • Dates
  • Ratings
  • Captions

You can also choose to exclude folders from the database, and keep the contents of those folders separate from your other images and media files.

ACDSee Photo Manager Info About the ACDSee database

When you add database information to a file in ACDSee 12, the file is linked to the database. If you then copy, move, or rename your files using programs other than ACDSee 12, such as Windows Explorer, the link to the database is broken and this can cause the loss of database information.

Embedding database information in files

If you edit or add database information, ACDSee 12 automatically tracks these changes and adds the new data to its database. When you next close ACDSee 12, the Embed Database Information in Files dialog opens and offers to embed the new data into the changed files themselves. Embedding database information in the files as well as in the database, is a safe way to back up this data and make it easier to retrieve if you should need to.

For example, once you have created database information about a file, the file is linked to the database. If the file is moved using Windows Explorer, or any application other than ACDSee 12, the link will be broken. If the link is broken but you also embedded this data in the file itself, you can rebuild the ACDSee 12 database using the embedded data in the files.

When the data is embedded in the files, you can use ACDSee 12 to rename, move, or copy the file—even to another computer—and the database information transfers with the file.

To embed database information in a file when you are prompted:

  1. Do one of the following:
    • To embed data in files that are on a network, select the Include Network Drives check box.
    • To write the information to a sidecar file if the file format does not support embedding inside the file, select the Write sidecar files for formats that do not support embedded XMP.
    • To accept the current selection in the dialog and have these options happen automatically in future, select Do not ask me this again.
  2. Click Yes to embed the data in the files. A progress bar appears, followed by the Embed Summary Report dialog that lists the following:
    • Items Selected: Indicates the number of files that you selected.
    • Items Processed: Indicates the number of files actually that were processed. (If you selected files that did not need to have date embedded, this number may be different from the Items Selected.)
    • Succeeded: Indicates the number of files that had data embedded.
    • Failed: Indicates the number of files that, for a variety of reasons, could not have data embedded. (To see the Error Log, click View Errors.)
  3. Click Close.

To embed database information at any time:

You can embed data in files at any time.

Click Tools | Embed Database Information, and then select one of the following:

  • In All Files: Embeds data for all files.
  • In Selected Files: Embeds data for any files that you have selected.

ACDSee Photo Manager Info About the ACDSee database

ACDSee 12 uses XMP to embed database information in each file. Only some file formats and file extensions support XMP. These include GIF, JPEG, DNG, PNG, and TIF. In the case of these file formats, the database information is embedded inside the file and so you can rename or move the file outside of ACDSee 12 and still be able to retrieve the database information.

For formats that currently do not support XMP, including RAW, PSD, ABR, the database information is written to a sidecar file that is stored in the same folder as its file. Because a sidecar file is separate from the file itself, you need to rename or move them together, or you could lose the database information permanently.

Viewing files that have data to embed

If you want to see the files that have data that needs to be embedded, there is a quick way to list them using the Embed Pending option.

To view files that have data to embed:

In the Organize pane, under Special Items, click Embed Pending.

All the files that have data to embed are displayed in the File List.

Retrieving database information that is embedded in files

If you simply browse to the folder where the files are located, some of the database information is re-written to the database.

The safest way to retrieve all the database information, is to click Database | Catalog Files. Then the following applies:

  • If the files are GIF, JPEG, DNG, PNG, and TIF formats, all the data will be-written to the database.
  • If the files still have their sidecar files in the folder, and they still have the same file name, the database information is re-written to the database.
  • If the files have become separated from their sidecar files or renamed, their database information cannot be retrieved and will be lost.

See also:

About the ACDSee database