[digiKam-users] Newbie digikam user has questions
Jim Kahnweiler
jim at jimkphoto.com
Mon Feb 25 20:25:17 GMT 2019
Thanks, Andrew. I'm at my day job, as I type. I'll have to get back to you
when I can work on DK at home.
I'm looking for a DAM that will catalog images in their current location on
my system. Then allow me to review-compare, rate, label, tag, keyword,
caption and add custom metadata to those files. The DAM should be able to
sort and find those files using a variety of search criteria. From my very
short experience, DK seems to be full-featured, but I am stymied by just
getting images into its database. I also need a DAM that will export a
selection of images, with metadata, to a PDF, with an easy hand-off to
Photoshop and Lightroom--using click and drag or open in... I've had these
features with MediaPro; Lightroom does some of them. I was exploring
digiKam for these purposes. I'm willing to purchase the right software, and
an OpenSource solution is a plus. I'm even willing to make a contribution
and help with development, if that's the price.
Thanks, again.
Jim
On Mon, Feb 25, 2019 at 2:42 PM Andrew Goodbody <ajg02 at elfringham.co.uk>
wrote:
> OK, here is, I think, where you need to understand how digikam works.
>
> digikam gives you a view onto the underlying file system. Every album is
> a directory in the collection. Every directory under the location you
> chose for your collection will show up as an album in digikam. Moving an
> album in digikam will move that directory in the file system. Albums are
> directories. Directories are albums. Directories under the collection
> are visible in digikam. Directories outside of the collection are not
> visible.
>
> If you want to add photos to digikam without making a copy and they
> exist outside of the collection directory, then you can add another
> collection. Or you can move those files to be in the collection.
> Importing images will make a copy of them. Importing is mainly used to
> copy files off removable storage such as your camera's flash card. I
> never use digikam myself to do this, but many folk do. I think that the
> metadata is not interpreted at this stage which is why your vertical
> photos are not rotated. So the new window is, I think, asking you which
> photos to copy into your collection.
>
> Does that help you at all?
>
> Andrew
>
> On 25/02/2019 18:38, Jim Kahnweiler wrote:
> > Thanks, Giles. I'm not enough of a codec person to understand your
> > reply. Do you mean that certain PSD files are not supported by digiKam?
> >
> > What about importing images from my Alaska folder but only see them
> > displayed in a new window, instead of the database. And, verticles not
> > rotated?
> >
> > Please let me know what to do.
> >
> > Thanks, again.
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Feb 25, 2019 at 1:11 PM Gilles Caulier <caulier.gilles at gmail.com
> > <mailto:caulier.gilles at gmail.com>> wrote:
> >
> > The PSD file without thumbnail is problably the source of the
> problem.
> >
> > There are a PSD thumbnailer in KF5 libraries that we use, but my
> > tests under Linux relevant plenty of time latency when i try to
> > render preview from PSD taken from the Web. Particularly, the points
> > below are importants :
> >
> > - It's a dynamic plugins for QImage loader, which are problematic
> > under MacOS. I think that i fixed the problem with next 6.1.0, but i
> > need to test more..
> > - The PSD codec code is given to read file only. This
> > implementation, not maintained by digiKam team exists by reverse
> > engineering. PSD is a closed format (thanks adobe to support open
> > standard), and of course the codec will not support well all
> > possible version of PSD.
> > - The PSD codec source code is not very well maintained as i can see
> > in code history.
> >
> > Best
> >
> > Gilles Caulier
> >
> > Le lun. 25 févr. 2019 à 18:49, Jim Kahnweiler <jim at jimkphoto.com
> > <mailto:jim at jimkphoto.com>> a écrit :
> >
> > Here's my reply. Thanks.
> >
> > The system blocked it because I had screengrabs attached. Here's
> > the link to see what problem I'm having. Are there any tutorial
> > files or videos?
> >
> >
> https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iejLB41WIct5YTvqtGjFx6xlRJOw1jBB?usp=sharing
> >
> > Thanks, again.
> >
> > Jim
> >
> > On Sun, Feb 24, 2019 at 3:17 PM Jim Kahnweiler
> > <jim at jimkphoto.com <mailto:jim at jimkphoto.com>> wrote:
> >
> > Thanks, Andrew for the reply. I removed DK and reinstalled
> > it. It doesn't take long, as I have nothing in it yet.
> > During install is checked a preference that points DK to my
> > Photos folder. The folder structure is displayed in the
> > screenshot I'm attaching.
> >
> > I wanted to work on the "Alaska" folder and loaded images
> > using Menu-->Import-->Add Images. When I select it the first
> > time after launch, the thumbnails loaded in the main window.
> > DK crashed and when I opened it again, the images were gone.
> > I went to reimport them and they load as seen here. Note the
> > unrotated verticles and psd file that does not display; the
> > dng file does. When the thumbnail view window is selected
> > the menu bar changes.
> >
> > I found the setting to change the UI theme.
> >
> > Icons for the folders in the main window albums list seem to
> > be displayed properly for now.
> >
> > Thanks, again.
> >
> > Jim
> >
> >
> >
> > On Sun, Feb 24, 2019 at 1:36 PM Andrew Goodbody
> > <ajg02 at elfringham.co.uk <mailto:ajg02 at elfringham.co.uk>>
> wrote:
> >
> > On 24/02/2019 16:47, Jim Kahnweiler wrote:
> > > Hi, I just download and installed digikam on my Mac,
> > running Mojave. As
> > > a user using MediaPro for many years I have been
> > forced to search for a
> > > replacement because PhaseOne has abandoned the
> > software. DK is the most
> > > likely replacement. However, my initial experience
> > has been frustrating.
> > >
> > > I have several questions for which I can't find
> > answers. Can someone
> > > help me, please or provide a link to a tutorial that
> > will explain how to
> > > do what I want to do.
> > > 1) My first album copied the images to the database
> > location. Is there a
> > > way to create an album without moving files?
> >
> > To add photos that already exist on your HDD simply
> > create a collection
> > and make it point to the directory containing your
> > photos. It will not
> > copy those photos anywhere.
> >
> > > 2) The second album I created opened in a new window
> > and was not saved.
> > > No files were moved. The verticle images were not
> > displayed in a rotated
> > > view. And, I added the MIME preferences to recognize
> > tif, psd and
> > > dng format, but the application did not respond, so
> > thumbnails were not
> > > displayed.
> >
> > I have no idea what you did here. You will need to
> > explain exactly what
> > menu options you chose etc etc
> > If you have photos that are not displayed in the correct
> > orientation
> > then you may need to file a bug and provide the
> > developers with a sample
> > image. Auto-rotating images according to the embedded
> > EXIF data is
> > certainly supported and does work, at least most of the
> > time.
> >
> > > 3) Screenshots on the DK website show a dark
> > background, but I couldn't
> > > find a way to change from the default white
> background.
> > > 4) When I first launched DK, the icons in the sidebar
> > were solid, now
> > > they appear greyed-out.
> > >
> > > I see that v.6 is a .0 version, with new releases
> > scheduled for the near
> > > future. Would I find a more stable release if I
> > downgrade to v.5.8?
> >
> > I strongly suspect the issue is more to do with how you
> > are using
> > digikam, rather than any stability issues. This may be
> > because it uses
> > unfamiliar concepts that are not sufficiently intuitive
> > especially when
> > coming from other photo management applications.
> >
> > > I'm sure as I use the program more, I'll have more
> > questions.
> > >
> > > I appreciate your help.
> > >
> > > Thank you.
> > >
> > > --
> > > Jim
> >
> > Andrew
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Jim
> >
> > Jim Kahnweiler, Photographer
> > 5 Alewives Road
> > Norwalk CT 06850 USA
> >
> > 203-979-1507
> > http://www.jimkphoto.com <http://www.jimkphotographics.com>
> > jim at jimkphoto.com <mailto:jim at jimkphoto.com>
> >
> > It's not the camera; it's the photographer.
> > --Anonymous
> >
> > Use the right tool for the job.
> > --Folk Lore
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Jim
> >
> > Jim Kahnweiler, Photographer
> > 5 Alewives Road
> > Norwalk CT 06850 USA
> >
> > 203-979-1507
> > http://www.jimkphoto.com <http://www.jimkphotographics.com>
> > jim at jimkphoto.com <mailto:jim at jimkphoto.com>
> >
> > It's not the camera; it's the photographer.
> > --Anonymous
> >
> > Use the right tool for the job.
> > --Folk Lore
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Jim
> >
> > Jim Kahnweiler, Photographer
> > 5 Alewives Road
> > Norwalk CT 06850 USA
> >
> > 203-979-1507
> > http://www.jimkphoto.com <http://www.jimkphotographics.com>
> > jim at jimkphoto.com <mailto:jim at jimkphoto.com>
> >
> > It's not the camera; it's the photographer.
> > --Anonymous
> >
> > Use the right tool for the job.
> > --Folk Lore
>
--
Jim
Jim Kahnweiler, Photographer
5 Alewives Road
Norwalk CT 06850 USA
203-979-1507
http://www.jimkphoto.com <http://www.jimkphotographics.com>
jim at jimkphoto.com
It's not the camera; it's the photographer.
--Anonymous
Use the right tool for the job.
--Folk Lore
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