Searching with auto categories
Do you have hundreds, possibly thousands, of images? Do you use more than one camera? Do different members of your family share cameras? Or do you have images on your computer that were captured by friends and family? If you answered yes to any of these questions you should consider using auto categories to search for images.
You will see auto categories in the Organize pane, below Ratings. Double-click or click the plus sign (+) to expand auto category groupings. Double-click or click the minus sign (-) to collapse the auto category groupings.
Some auto category information is added to your images by your camera. For example, cameras will record information such as the camera make and model, the white balance settings you used, the focal length you used, and the aperture. You may want to supplement that information with the city, province/state, or country in which you captured the images, as well as keywords or copyright. You can do this using the Batch Set Information tool or by manually entering information in the Properties pane.
When you click on an auto category, ACDSee 12 searches for images or belonging to that category. For example, imagine that you use more than one camera. You can expand the Photo Properties and Camera Model groupings, then select the category representing your camera model. All images captured with that camera model will display. Similarly, imagine that your brother captures a lot of images and sends them to you. You can expand the Photo Properties and Photographer groupings, then select your brother’s name from the list of photographers. All images captured by your brother will display.
Below are some tips for searching with auto categories.
Identifying commonly used search categories
If there are certain auto categories in the Photo Properties grouping that you use frequently, you can save time by adding them to the Commonly Used grouping. Some Photo Properties groupings are available in the Commonly Used grouping by default. You can add as many auto categories as you want to the Commonly Used grouping, and you can easily remove any grouping from the Commonly Used grouping when you no longer need them.
To add an auto category grouping to the Commonly Used grouping:
- Expand the Photo Properties grouping.
- Right-click the auto categories grouping that you want to add to the Commonly Used grouping, and select Add to Commonly Used. The grouping is added to the Commonly Used grouping.
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It remains visible in the Photo Properties grouping as well.
To remove an auto category grouping from the Commonly Used grouping:
- Expand the Commonly Used grouping.
- Right-click the auto categories grouping that you want to remove from the Commonly Used grouping, and select Remove from Commonly Used.
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The grouping is removed from the Commonly Used grouping.
Refining your auto categories search
You can refine your auto categories search by selecting more than one auto category. For example, imagine that you are learning to combine aperture and shutter speed settings to properly expose images in a variety of lighting and you want find images taken at specific settings. If you click the Easy-Select indicator beside the f/16 aperture auto category and the 1/30 s shutter speed auto category, ACDSee 12 will search for images that belong to both of those auto categories.
When you select more than one auto category you can further control the search by selecting Match All or Match Any from the Match Any/All drop-down list at the top of the Organize pane. If you select Match Any, ACDSee 12 will display any images associated with the selected auto categories. If you select Match All, ACDSee 12 will display only those images that are associated with all of the selected auto categories.
You can also refine your auto categories search by selecting a category or rating. For example, imagine that you clicked on the Photographer auto category and found over 1000 images. However, you only want to see the best images by that photographer. Click the Easy-Select indicator beside 1 in the Ratings area of the Organize pane. Only the images by that photographer with a rating of 1 will display.
You can also use the Selective Browsing pane to refine your auto categories search. For example, imagine that you clicked on the Camera Model auto category and ACDSee 12 displayed over 1000 images. However, you only want to see the images that you took on a specific date. Display the Selective Browsing pane by clicking View | Selective Browsing, then select the Calendar pane and select the appropriate date. Only the images taken with that camera model on that day will be displayed.
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