Organizing with the Organize pane

The Organize pane is one of the most useful panes in ACDSee 12 as it provides so many ways to organize, sort, group, search for, and manage your files.

Categories

Categories are an easy way to organize your files into groups or hierarchies that make sense to you. When you assign a file to a category, you do not move the file from its folder or create an extra copy. Your categories can be simple or complex and use any names you choose. There are different icons to use for different categories to help you identify them at a glance. Once your files are in categories, you can search, sort, group, and find them by category.

One way to assign files to a category is to select and drag one or more files from the file list and drop them onto the category. Any file that is assigned to a category has a blue tab above its thumbnail in the File List. A file can belong to multiple categories, but it will only have one blue tab.

You can also use the Database tab on the Properties pane to assign multiple files to multiple categories with a few clicks.

Ratings

You can assign a numerical rating from 1 to 5 to your images and files. Once you have assigned ratings, you can search, sort, and organize your files based on the ratings, or a combination of ratings, categories, auto categories etc. A file can have only one rating. When a file has a rating, the number appears on top of the thumbnail in the File List pane.

Auto Categories

Most digital cameras create and embed information about the file as you take a photo. This information is called metadata and can include the name and model of the camera, the file size, shutter speed, camera settings used in the shot and much more. ACDSee 12 uses this information to create auto categories. When you click on an auto category, ACDSee 12 searches for images containing that metadata. You can select one or more auto categories to find files, for example, photos of a certain size, taken by a particular camera. You can also add to this data using the Properties panes.

Saved Searches

If you find yourself creating the same search criteria frequently, you can save the search to use again later. Saved searches appear at the top of the Search pane but they also appear in the Organize pane for you to re-run using a single click on the name or in the white check box of the Easy-select bar.

To create a new saved search from the Organize pane:

1. In the Saved Searches area of the Organize pane, click the New saved search icon .

2. The Search pane opens.

3. Enter your search criteria and then click the Saved searches icon .

4. The new saved search appears in the Saved Searches on the Organize pane and in the Saved Searches drop-down list of the Search pane.

Special Items

You can use Special Items to quickly view all of the images in your database and any uncategorized images. Select one of the following items:

• Image Well: Displays all images cataloged in the ACDSee 12 database. If you have a substantial image collection, it may take a few moments to gather all of the information.
• Embed Pending: Displays all the files whose database data has changed but has not yet been embedded in the files.
• Uncategorized: Displays any images cataloged in the database that have not been assigned to a category.
• Tagged: Displays all the tagged photos on the computer.

You can assign a rating or category to any type of file, but the options in the Special Items area only apply to images.

The ACDSee 12 database and embedded data

When you assign a file to a rating, or category, this information is stored in the ACDSee 12 database. If you choose to, you can also embed this information in each individual file, making it easier to relocate and share files, or retrieve the information from the file if you need to. As the database, information is always associated with a particular file. If you move or rename files using an application other than ACDSee 12 (like Windows Explorer) the link between the file and the ACDSee 12 database will be broken. If this happens, and you have embedded the information in each file, you can rebuild the database and retrieve all the information.

You can also use the Properties pane to add information to the ACDSee 12 database like captions, keywords and much more. Taking the time to assign categories and add keywords, notes, etc., makes it much easier to find and organize your files.

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.

Easy-Select bars

The Easy-Select bars are the indicators on the left side of the Folders and Organize panes. You can use the Easy-Select indicators to select multiple folders or categories, and display their contents in the File List pane. In the Organize pane you can also use the Easy-Select indicators to select combinations of categories, ratings, auto categories, saved searches, and special items. For example, you could display all your photos with a rating of 1 that belonged to the category People.

You can also use the Easy-Select indicators with the Selective Browsing pane.

When you use the Match Any/All buttons and the Easy-Select indicators together, the Organize pane becomes a powerful search tool for finding unique sets of files.

To use the Easy-Select bar:

In the Organize pane, select the indicator to the left of each item with contents you want to display. The indicator changes orientation to point to the item you have selected.

If you select a category, rating, or combination that does not have any files that match, the File List displays a message and shows no thumbnails. The quickest way to return to a folder with files, is to click Back.

To view organized files:

Select one or more categories, ratings, auto categories, saved searches, or special items. Files assigned to those classifications are displayed in the File List pane.

The Contents bar at the top of the File List pane displays whatever categories or items are currently selected. You can browse through specific categories, ratings, or items within specific folders using the Selective Browsing pane.

Match All Match Any

There are two Match All/ Match Any drop-down lists on the Organize pane; one at the top of the pane that affects categories and one that affects saved searches. You can use the Match All and Any options to affect the display of thumbnails in the File List in the following way:

• Match All: To be included, a file has to belong to all the categories or searches you select. So the file has to be in both or all of the categories or searches before it will display in the File List. Match All is more exclusive. You can use it to limit the number of files that display and narrow a search down.
• Match Any: To be included, a file can belong to any of the categories or searches you select. So any files in the selected categories or searches will display in the File List. Match any it is more inclusive.

Organize icons

	Category	Identifies files that have been assigned to a category.
	Ratings 1-5	Identifies file ratings.
	New Saved search	Opens the Search pane so that you can create a new saved search.
	Saved search	Displays the Save/Save As menu so you can save a search.
	Easy-Select indicator (selected)	Selects the category, rating, auto category, or other item for display in the File List pane.
	Easy-Select indicator (not selected)	Does not select the category, rating, auto category, or other item for display in the File List pane.
	Match Any/All	Controls the which images are displayed in the File List pane.

See also:

• Creating categories
• Assigning categories and ratings
• Setting the Organize pane options

Organizing with the Organize pane