Need a Way to Pick Files

[TDKMate]

I'm scanning a bunch of 110 film negatives for a family member who is Not computer savvy at all. To help from them getting overwhelmed with the number of images, I figure I give them about 40-60 photos at a time to sort thru.

They want to sort by a typical 3 category method: Photos to keep and get printed out; photos to keep electronically only (on disk(s) for possible sharing); and the rejects.

Any ideas how to rate the photos on a basic Win 7 64 computer that is used only for emails, letters, some Web browsing?

I looked for a free, and Safe, image browser that can flag/rate photos but haven't found any; they all seem to have tons of unneeded / unwanted fancy features like editing and the like, but no ratings.
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[Megahertz07]

I use View NX2 from Nikon. It has a function to apply labels and then filters.
Nikon | Download center | ViewNX 2

 

[TDKMate]

I use View NX2 from Nikon. It has a function to apply labels and then filters.
Nikon | Download center | ViewNX 2

Thanks Megahertz07, I'll check it out.

 

[Callender]

The user could also just create a Flickr account using their existing email address and upload photos into three albums named by category then send you the link.

 

[TDKMate]

The user could also just create a Flickr account using their existing email address and upload photos into three albums named by category then send you the link.

Hi Callender. Sadly something like that won't work. I was being very literally when I said they are not computer savvy at all. They have a hard enough time at doing things they do all the time, if that makes sense...

 

[TDKMate]

Update: This is to share with others that may have a similar need. I figure that I'll just load up a thumbdrive with the files and sort them out with the owner on their computer. That'll save a lot of hassle right there. I found a fairly simple solution. It's not ideal, but it'll work. After a couple Google sessions I found a photo viewer with the two properties I was looking for: 1) the ability to tag files, 2) in a portable version so I don't load up their computer with software they don't want and won't use.

It's '<em>FastStone Image Viewer</em>' and can be found here:
FastStone Image Viewer, Screen Capture, Photo Resizer ...

The first minor drawback is that it has only one tag: the file is either tagged or not tagged. I would have preferred the typical three flags: reject, picked, unpicked. So I'll have to go two rounds of tagging, the first being to tag the rejects and then delete them. Then another round of tagging to pick out the images to print. All files other than rejected ones will be eventually transferred to disk for them.

The other minor drawback is that the program doesn't remember the tagged files after you exit the program. I imagine this is because I'm running the program as a portable so it doesn't keep a log of tagged files but I'm not going to install it to verify. The workaround is simple, though, as I'll do all the deleting and or file shuffling at the time of tagging. (All the image files will also be on the same thumbdrive at the time of tagging.)

Then I get to go thru the editing process on all the keepers

 

[strollin]

Since your latest proposed method is to sort the files along with the owner, why not create 3 folders on the thumb drive named, "Print", "Keep" and "Reject" and simply move them into the appropriate folder as you sort thru them?

To my way of thinking, the rejects should just be deleted but I can see separating them so the owners can have a 2nd look prior to actually deleting them.

 

[TDKMate]

Since your latest proposed method is to sort the files along with the owner, why not create 3 folders on the thumb drive named, "Print", "Keep" and "Reject" and simply move them into the appropriate folder as you sort thru them?

To my way of thinking, the rejects should just be deleted but I can see separating them so the owners can have a 2nd look prior to actually deleting them.

That's pretty much what I was thinking, strollin. I'll do a delete folder, but knowing these folks, when I offer to review it I'll get the standard response of, "I can't be bothered with that," LOL. That's not to mention that a large number of their shots are totally blurry, or the proverbial 'foot shot.'

 

[Callender]

Well I've been messing about with an old version of Wildbit that I have on my HD.

See: How to have "thumbs.db" file Created in a local photo directory

Help page: WildBit Viewer

I'm not using the latest version though.

So you can define custom thumbnail cache on external drive. I'm not sure how this would work if the external drive is moved to another machine that does not contain the original directories.

EDIT: I reckon if you load the program and photos on the same thumb drive and keep thumbnail cache on the same thumb drive it should all be transfer okay.


Anyway there's no tagging unless you want to manually edit metadata and I'm not expert on that.

You can assign ratings from 0-5 with colored lables.

Basics:

Set directory for thumbnail cache (if required)

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Switch to "Preview Mode"

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In "Preview Mode" use Tools > Ratings & Color Labels to apply to individual images.

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Swith to "Thumbview Mode" to see all Ratings & Color Labels displayed in right pane.

I've just added a few here.

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It might be a little long winded.

EDIT: To run the program it's best to avoid the .cmd shortcuts and use the exectuables in the directory named "bin"

C:\Portable Apps\Wildbit Image Viewer\WildBit Viewer\bin

viewer.exe is the main executable.

 

[strollin]

If you want a software package to manage the files, try this one: An Award-Winning Photo Editor: Feature-packed Zoner Photo Studio

It has the ability to assign ratings, colored labels and keywords to individual images. That should cover all the tagging you want/need to do.

 

[Barman58]

As adobe are the professional choice for image editing It's a little surprising that their Photo Manager is totally free ...

It’s True: Adobe Bridge CC Is Completely Free for Everyone, for Life! | ProDesignTools

 

[Callender]

Another: Irfanview Portable (must also install plugins)

In thumbnail view - highlight all relevant photos then right click to get the following:

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In "Keywords" tab - type the desired text for your tag then at the bottom of the window choose "Write"

The tag will be applied to all highlighted thumbnails.

Here's how tags display in Explorer. I've just tagged a few images here:

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As adobe are the professional choice for image editing It's a little surprising that their Photo Manager is totally free ...

It’s True: Adobe Bridge CC Is Completely Free for Everyone, for Life! | ProDesignTools

Thanks for the Adobe Bridge tip. I actually had it installed already included with Photoshop but never knew!

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