Using selective browsing

You can use selective browsing to browse for files that are located in a specific folder, assigned a specific date, and/or assigned to a specific Organize classification. By adjusting the selective browsing criteria, you can quickly include or exclude files from the File List pane, and view only those files you want to browse.

To get the most out of selective browsing, it is recommended that you catalog and organize your files in the ACDSee 12 database. The more information you enter for your files, the more helpful you will find the selective browsing feature.

To use selective browsing:

Open the Selective Browsing pane by clicking View | Selective Browsing. The pane appears on the left side of the File List pane.

Setting selective browsing criteria

The Selective Browsing pane is divided into three areas: Folders, Organize, and Calendar, each of which corresponds to the Manage mode pane of the same name. When the Selective Browsing pane is open, the Contents bar in the File List pane is replaced by the Selective Browsing bar, which lists all of the current browsing criteria.

When you add a folder, date range, or organize method to the Selective Browsing pane, ACDSee 12 excludes any files that do not match that criteria. You can add or remove criteria to narrow or broaden your results.

To add selective browsing criteria:

With the Selective Browsing pane open, do any of the following:

As each criteria is added to the Selective Browsing pane, ACDSee 12 searches its database for files in that folder, that match the date range, and are assigned to the classification, and displays them in the File List pane. You can then select those files and use the ACDSee 12 features to edit, share, move, and view them however you want.

You can also adjust or refine your criteria in the Selective Browsing pane:

  • To remove a selected criteria from the Selective Browsing pane, right-click any of the criteria, and then select Remove From Scope.
  • To exclude all of a certain type of criteria, click the bar above the list, and toggle the option to include that type in the scope. For example, to exclude the listed folders from the scope, click the Folders bar, and then click Include Folders in Scope. The folders you selected will still be displayed in the Selective Browsing pane, but will not factor in the results.
  • To remove all criteria of a certain type, click the bar above the list, and select Clear All.

The default behavior for categories in the Selective Browsing pane is to display files that match any of the categories listed. You can refine your results by choosing to display only those files that are assigned to all of the specified categories. To toggle between behaviors, right-click the bar above the categories you selected, and select Match Any or Match All.

Tips for selective browsing

When you add a criteria to the Selective Browsing pane, you are indicating that the files you want to browse must have that attribute. For example, if you select a folder in the Folders pane, then ACDSee 12 displays only files in that folder. If you select a rating in the Organize pane, ACDSee 12 displays only files assigned to that rating.

You can combine criteria to refine your selective browsing even further. For example, if you select a category and a date range, then ACDSee 12 displays only those files that belong to both the category and date range you selected. ACDSee 12 does not display items that fall within the date range unless they are also assigned to the correct category, and does not display files assigned to that category unless they also match the date range.

Hiding the Selective Browsing pane

You can use the Auto Hide feature to automatically hide the Selective Browsing pane and increase space for the File List pane. When the pane is set to auto-hide, it rolls away when you click outside it, leaving only an edge displayed. You can access the pane again by moving the cursor over the edge.

Using selective browsing