My definition of DAM software is perhaps defined slightly more loosely than others. For me, DAM software is a product that allows you to maintain and find your images, music, fonts, and other digital assets. As a photographer, I tend to focus on managing my digital photo collection and doing things like applying metadata and creating client web galleries. For these actions, I tend to focus on using dedicated photograph management software (such as Idimager or Pro 2) but there are times when you just want to search for (and find) photos that are on your computer… and perhaps you don’t have keywords, tags or ratings already applied to them.

Recently, I needed to find a pink flower photo for a client whose poetry book I was working on. I knew I had attended a flower show a few years back but also knew that these images had not yet been keyworded (I know.. I know!) - I thought this was going to be a slow process for me, browsing for them manually or having to pull them all into my DAM application and exploring for it.

Luckily, I had recently received a message from a software developer who told me about a unique product his team had developed and was wondering if I would like to review it. He mentioned that it used a visual approach to finding images based on things like color and shapes… it sounded like a great idea and would be perfect for helping me to find the image I was looking for. Thus, here is my review of Photology - a unique DAM search tool that lets you find images visually wherever they reside on your system.

General Overview

From their website:

photology helps you navigate the flood of digital photos on your computer by finding photos using simple and intuitive filters like faces, sky, color, location, and time of day. no tags, no folders. it just knows.

The basic premise behind Photology is that users might not want to spend the time tagging, keywording and organizing photos but simply wish to find their photos based on items like color, date and whether the photo was taken during day or outside. In theory, this is a good idea as, in my example above, I was simply looking for a Yellow Flower… Let’s see how the software works.

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Hi everyone - just a quick note to mention that I have recently updated the product list thanks to a great comment/idea by Marion.  The Product list is now a table that shows all the products currently up for review, their review status, price and platform.  Thx again to Marion for this stellar idea.. and please keep the comments coming!

I’d also like to thank everyone for the “word of mouth” that I’ve been hearing feedback from.  The best way for me to generate traffic to this site is from folks like yourselves that read the reviews and tell others about them.  So, please continue to spread the word on forums and newsgroups.. I do greatly appreciate it!

Thx!

Reviewing DAM products takes a lot of patience… as soon as you finish one review, you are eager to get started on the competition and see how they compare. Having just reviewed Idimager, I immediately began work reviewing our next product: IMatch! I have spoken with many photographers that use either program and they are always comparing Idimager and IMatch to each other. So, here is my take on Imatch!

General Overview

IMatch is a technical photographer’s dream program. As with Idimager, IMatch has been developed and is supported by a single developer, Mario Westphal. The product contains a full suite of management features that let you organize and find your images fast.

Before getting into the detailed review, I do want to fully disclose that Mario did provide me with a press license for the software so I could test the features beyond the 30 day trial. As with my review of Idimager, I assure everyone that it did not affect my review of the product in any way. Ok, on with the review!

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As I speak to more and more photographers about DAM applications, I tend to hear the same thing - they want simple applications that run fast. Well, this next product seem to fit the bill and may be why it is a major player in many photographer’s workflow. What is the product you ask? Well, I’m proud to present you with a detailed review of Photo Mechanic.

General Overview

I try to keep on top of about 20 forums on a daily basis. Some are certainly more active than others and they run the gamut from scrapbookers all the way to professional photographers. No matter where I am, I see the same question asked over and over… “which product should I use to manage my digital assets?”. When reading responses from other users, it is amazing to see the number of different products that people recommend and it reminds me that what doesn’t appeal or work for one user, it perfect for another. One product I see mentioned over and over is Photo Mechanic (called PM from here on out… that’ll save some time!). PM is more of a photo browser than a true DAM application since no catalog is used to track XMP information. But, it has a lot going for it.. thus, here is my detailed review of Camerabits Photo Mechanic (ok.. one more time and then I’ll use PM).

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Hi there.. I wanted to apologize for not posting any reviews or information for a few weeks.  I’ve been really busy with my real life job(s) - taking photos and publishing books - so have had to put this other “hobby” on hold for while.

But - I am ready to get back on the horse as they say and jump right in with a review of Imatch!  So, stay tuned for it hopefully by next Weekend!

Thanks again for all your comments and for spreading the word about the site… it is really appreciated!

Having taken a week off after my lengthy Idimager review, I decided to jump back on the wagon and get right back to reviewing products. I randomly chose a product that I’ve been looking at for awhile now… so, please join me in welcoming my newest review… for Extensis Portfolio 8.51.

General Overview

Extensis provides the following description on their website:

Surprisingly affordable, Portfolio quickly handles the tasks of locating, organizing, archiving and publishing your digital work.

After reading this, I was on a mission to see how well the software held up to this statement when it comes to managing photographs. Now, I must admit, having just reviewed both Pro 2 and Idimager, any future DAM review will most likely be compared directly to these products. They both scored very well in my opinion with Idimager 4.0 being the best DAM product I have used to date. So, I was hopeful Portfolio would continue the streak of excellent DAM applications….

As you will see below, however, Portfolio falls a bit short of these applications in most categories and even though it shows promise, just doesn’t rise to the same level as Pro 2 or Idimager. Read on for all the details!

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Ok everyone.. are you ready? I’ve been asked the same question over and over by lots of folks since I started DAMRoundup: “when are you going to be doing a review of Idimager?”. My response is always… “Soon”. Well, I finally have pulled together the review and do hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed putting it together. So without further ado…. I present my review and thoughts on Idimager 4.0.

General Overview

Idimager is a fully fledged DAM application in every sense of the word. Written and supported by a single developer, Hertwig van Zwietering, the product contains just about every asset management feature that both amateurs and professionals need to organize and utilize their photo collection. Before getting into the detailed review, I do want to fully disclose that Hert did provide me with a full version of the software so I could test the features beyond the 30 day trial. While I am most appreciative of this generous gesture, I assure everyone that it did not affect my review of the product in any way. Ok, with that bit of info out of the way…. let’s get on with the review!

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Hi… just wanted to submit a post to let you all know that a new review is coming soon.  I have been hard at work putting together a review for Idimager and it should be posted within the next week… Stay tuned!

I thought it would be nice to take a look at a tool that while not technically a DAM application, is very helpful in managing a specific subset of IPTC/XMP photo data: GPS Coordinates. Not only is this application quite useful and well put together.. but this gem is actually freeware! So, without further ado, here is my review of Geosetter.

General Overview

I ran across a mention of Geosetter while reading some posts on one of the various Photography forums I frequent on a daily basis. It was hidden in a post that mentioned how some very nice software is coming from German developers lately. I decided to hit the link and see for myself… and I am very glad I did!

Geosetter is (as described on the company website):

“a freeware tool for Windows for showing and changing geo data of image files (e.g. images taken by digital cameras).”

And, this is exactly what the software is used for - adding GPS data into the Exif/IPTC and XMP areas of your digital images. Now, I can clearly see the usefulness of this and think this will be the next big thing that most camera vendors start (some already do) incorporating into all their cameras (SLR and compact combined). Armed with this info in the exif of every photo, DAM applications will be able to extract the data and show you exactly where that American Avocet photo was taken. Imagine looking through your database at a Lady Slipper flower and being able to find it in the same spot years later by using the GPS data. Good Stuff.

Well, until the day this is a standard feature, you can either:

• buy a GPS receiver, manually track the GPS coords for each photo and then enter the data manually into the XMP of the photo
• use a tool that syncs the GPS receiver data with the date/time of each photo to enter the data
• or buy a dedicated hotshoe GPS receiver that will add the data to each photo as it is taken.

All 3 options are fine for future photos.. but how do you get all that data into your current photo collection quickly and easily? Well.. I’ll be using Geosetter to do this job… let me tell you why.

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Hi there… as promised, here is my first detailed DAM review. In this episode, we take a look at Pro 2 which is a DAM application by ACDSee geared towards the professional photographer. So… here we go!

General Overview

ACDSee Pro 2 Photo Manager (herein called Pro 2), is touted on their website as:

“…the most powerful software platform for viewing, processing, editing, organizing and publishing your photos.”

This certainly caught my attention and therefore, I downloaded and installed the 30 day demo and started exploring and playing. Now, I should mention that I’ve been a fan of ACDsee for a long time having used their photo “manager” back when it was nothing more than a Windows photo viewer for Windows 95 (ie: ACDsee 1.0). Over the years, I continued to use the product but eventually moved away from it as it gained too many functions that weighed it down as a simple image viewer (I had discovered Irfanview…). So, as I waited for the demo to download, I was hopeful that this newest product would still contain the quickness of that simple viewer along with the advanced functionality needed by digital photographers to manage their growing collections… I am happy to say that (for the most part) Pro 2 delivers on both of these wishes.

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Just thought I would post a few items as I continue to set-up the site. I have been informed that site visitors were unable to leave a comment on the posts.. whoops! I have fixed this so now anyone that wants to can leave a comment on a post (thx for pointing this out to me!).

Also, I will be creating a chart/table similar to what exists over at Impulse-Adventure but with some different categories and options - anyone with ideas, please let me know! I used Impulse-Adventure’s chart for years but it seems to be not maintained any longer so I thought a similar chart here would be beneficial for everyone.

Finally, I’d like to invite anyone out there with experience (or passion) with a particular product to send me info about your experiences and likes/dislikes. I would love to have some other folks help me out by posting “guest” reviews… this would help balance things out by providing different points of views from users with differing levels of expertise and experiences… if you are interested, please contact me Here.

My first review will be coming on Sunday… I will be providing a review of ACDsee Pro2 - a nice way to start things off. Stay tuned.. and please let me know other things you’d like to see at DAMRoundup.com!

Main ACDSee Pro2 Screen

I thought it might be a good idea to list the products that I know about and consider DAM applications. Now, these products will range from photo browser to full featured DAM but I thought it was important to at least provide a comprehensive list of the products I’m aware of (and in most cases have used). Without further ado.. here is the list in no particular order:

* price does not include competitor upgrades or discount/coupons available

If you can think of any I’ve missed (and I’m sure there are a number of them), please leave a comment and I’ll update the table… Thx!

Thanks for stopping by.. My name is Andy and I am a photographer and book publisher who is obsessed with DAM or Digital Asset Management applications.

Since moving to digital photography about 5 years ago, I have switched between all the major catalog programs on the market.. at least twice! I’m still on the look for that all-in-one application that has a logicial, easy to use GUI, runs quickly and efficiently and is feature rich!

Recently, while running a few hundred Google searches for DAM products, I realized that there weren’t many sites on the internet dedicated to providing in-depth reviews of these products and the few that are there are woefully out of date. So, I welcome you all to The DAM Roundup!

Every couple weeks, I will provide an in-depth review of a particular DAM application. I will be using the latest Demo or Retail Version of the product available and will post detailed reviews with screenshots and possibly video walk-throughs. I am familiar with the general feel of most of the DAM products on the market, but will retest them all since new versions are constantly released with new features and bug fixes.

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