Using Keywords - is it me but...
Hi,
I now have three medium size Capture One catalogs running in C1 12 on OS Catalina and I am trying to make friends with them all. However, I find the way keyword searching is implemented counterintuitive.
For example, one of my catalogs has 29,000 images. 503 of these have the keyword "Sophie" associated with them and I wish to view only these images. Now if I know the exact keyword then no problem I just type it in and the images are found. However, if I don't know the exact keyword then things get difficult. The good news is that at least entering "sophie" locates images with the keyword "Sophie" i.e. the search is case insensitive. I find it odd that entires it do not also filter the entries in the lists of Keywords, Camera lens etc
My list of keywords is a bit of a mess in that only a few are in a hierarchy this means that when I attempt to use the list I have to scroll to locate any keywords and this is difficult because it is easy to scroll past the target keyword. However, no matter what about the keyword library?
So moving down to the keyword library when I enter "sophie" it returns nothing - oops this search is case sensitive. I change my entry to "Sophie" and sure enough "Sophie" is listed under "Catalog Keywords". Great but now what? I can find no way of using my found keyword in the image filter, the find is a complete dead end. I have to remember the keyword and type it into the filter field, I can't even copy and paste. Who on earth thinks that this is useful to the end user". It seems a like wasted opportunity.
Or is it just me ?
best wishes
Simon
I now have three medium size Capture One catalogs running in C1 12 on OS Catalina and I am trying to make friends with them all. However, I find the way keyword searching is implemented counterintuitive.
For example, one of my catalogs has 29,000 images. 503 of these have the keyword "Sophie" associated with them and I wish to view only these images. Now if I know the exact keyword then no problem I just type it in and the images are found. However, if I don't know the exact keyword then things get difficult. The good news is that at least entering "sophie" locates images with the keyword "Sophie" i.e. the search is case insensitive. I find it odd that entires it do not also filter the entries in the lists of Keywords, Camera lens etc
My list of keywords is a bit of a mess in that only a few are in a hierarchy this means that when I attempt to use the list I have to scroll to locate any keywords and this is difficult because it is easy to scroll past the target keyword. However, no matter what about the keyword library?
So moving down to the keyword library when I enter "sophie" it returns nothing - oops this search is case sensitive. I change my entry to "Sophie" and sure enough "Sophie" is listed under "Catalog Keywords". Great but now what? I can find no way of using my found keyword in the image filter, the find is a complete dead end. I have to remember the keyword and type it into the filter field, I can't even copy and paste. Who on earth thinks that this is useful to the end user". It seems a like wasted opportunity.
Or is it just me ?
best wishes
Simon
0
-
There is a search box in the Filter tool. I have just entered "Oxford" in that, and now the only images I see are the ones with the keyword "Oxford" that I took on a visit there last week. (Or I can use the Search box on the toolbar to achieve the same effect.) So to isolate my Oxford photos (and perhaps add them to an album) is comparatively easy.
But I agree that this is not very user-friendly in that the Filter tool does not narrow the filterable items down to just the ones that apply to images taken in Oxford. I take a lot of bird photos. When I enter "Oxford" in the search box, the keywords for birds in the Filter tool include all the species in the session, not just the ones that were in Oxford.
I can do a bit better if I click the ... next to the Search box in the toolbar, by adding search criteria, so entering Oxford and heron gets me just the heron images I took in Oxford, and not the ones I took somewhere else. So it can be done, but it is a bit cumbersome.
(I used to use Media Pro for cataloguing, and one of the things I like about its keywords compared with Capture One was that adding and filtering keywords was done on the same list, whereas in Capture One I have to add keywords in the Keyword Library on the Metadata tab, but search for them in the Filters tool on the Library tab. I live in hope that the cataloguing features will be improved in later versions!)
Ian0 -
Hi Simon,
The Keyword Library tool is for managing the Keyword Library rather than finding words to search with or apply to an image.
The Keyword tool is for finding keywords that you wish to apply to the image (or possibly images) you have currently selected. Also to edit the current Keywords associated with the image. If you start to type in the Keyword tool's entry window you should be offered a list of potential matches for the known entries in the currently available libraries. The more characters entered the fewer "words" returned (usually - it will of course depend upon what you have in the libraries). When working with KW Hierarchies things will likely be a bit clearer when searching for a KW if one is using a consistently structured format for the entries. Later retrieval via search facilities will be across all levels of the hierarchy but finding the KW entry to apply expects to follow the structure for any entries initially found at the hierarchy level to which they apply. In that respect the results one may get from searching for Keywords in the Keyword tool has some potential for being confusing if "flexible" hierarchy concepts have been used.
The simple Search facility will take whatever you key in and try to match it to any available EXIF content including Keywords.
The Advanced search facility - as used to create Smart Albums for example - offers multiple field search criteria and is case sensitive per field. It also provides for predefined Filters to be used in conjunction with the search field combinations. Typical Database Query Language type functionality.
In that context and especially for text fields like Keywords the "Contains" operator is particularly handy.
I hope this helps a little.
Personally I find the best way to optimise how one uses Hierarchical Keywords is to come up with a structure that looks like it could be applied consistently, use it and then assess whether it works for you. It really depends on whether you are keywording things that have widely recognised and mostly persistent and unchanging KW structures associated with them - Flora and Fauna for example - or things were the subjects and associated data can be somewhat variable and re-usable. Sporting events for example.
I write this based on experiences as a Windows user rather than Mac. However I would expect functionality to be the same on both platforms. Hopefully someone will chip in if it is different in some subtle way.
Grant0 -
I write this based on experiences as a Windows user rather than Mac. However I would expect functionality to be the same on both platforms. Hopefully someone will chip in if it is different in some subtle way.
As far as I know there is no difference between Mac and Windows on this.
Ian0 -
[quote="Ian3" wrote:
I can do a bit better if I click the ... next to the Search box in the toolbar, by adding search criteria, so entering Oxford and heron gets me just the heron images I took in Oxford, and not the ones I took somewhere else. So it can be done, but it is a bit cumbersome.
Hi Ian,
One though that occurs to me here is that it might be worth creating your "Oxford" search and making it a Smart Album, albeit maybe a temporary one.
The select it and the Filter Section in the library tool should only offer the keywords (etc.) found in the 'Album'.
When done, delete the smart album.
Do the same for Herons if you want quick options to discover contents by either identifier.
I'm sure you will have worked with that option already but thought it was worth mentioning in case others passing through the forum had not spotted the opportunity.
Grant0 -
[quote="SFA" wrote:
[quote="Ian3" wrote:
I can do a bit better if I click the ... next to the Search box in the toolbar, by adding search criteria, so entering Oxford and heron gets me just the heron images I took in Oxford, and not the ones I took somewhere else. So it can be done, but it is a bit cumbersome.
Hi Ian,
One though that occurs to me here is that it might be worth creating your "Oxford" search and making it a Smart Album, albeit maybe a temporary one.
The select it and the Filter Section in the library tool should only offer the keywords (etc.) found in the 'Album'.
When done, delete the smart album.
Do the same for Herons if you want quick options to discover contents by either identifier.
I'm sure you will have worked with that option already but thought it was worth mentioning in case others passing through the forum had not spotted the opportunity.
Grant
Thanks. Yes, I did consider mentioning smart albums, but I wondered if it might be too much detail.
Ian0 -
[quote="Ian3" wrote:
[quote="SFA" wrote:
[quote="Ian3" wrote:
I can do a bit better if I click the ... next to the Search box in the toolbar, by adding search criteria, so entering Oxford and heron gets me just the heron images I took in Oxford, and not the ones I took somewhere else. So it can be done, but it is a bit cumbersome.
Hi Ian,
One though that occurs to me here is that it might be worth creating your "Oxford" search and making it a Smart Album, albeit maybe a temporary one.
The select it and the Filter Section in the library tool should only offer the keywords (etc.) found in the 'Album'.
When done, delete the smart album.
Do the same for Herons if you want quick options to discover contents by either identifier.
I'm sure you will have worked with that option already but thought it was worth mentioning in case others passing through the forum had not spotted the opportunity.
Grant
Thanks. Yes, I did consider mentioning smart albums, but I wondered if it might be too much detail.
Ian
Possibly. However there is a neat one click option at the bottom of the Advanced Search definition window and that persuaded me that it looked simple enough to make it worth suggesting.
A fine balance perhaps but it should be OK. I think.
Grant0 -
Hi Both,
Thank you for your tips. What I was trying to ask is do you think that these aspects of the database UI are logical?
The tip to place images inside a smart album is useful and demonstrates the illogical illogical nature of the UI. Its a pity that such a large number of key strokes are required to create a Smart Album especially as the type filed has to be selected twice and doing so wipes the text entry. Why not provide a button that just creates a smart album named after the search text entry plus any other selections. The user can then edit it at a later date.
It would seem logical to me to filter both the images displayed and the keyword/ratings/tags as soon as an entry is made in the filter field. For example my catalog has two images that are displayed when I enter Oxford in the search field yet star rating counts remain unchanged showing counts for the whole catalog. It would seem a better UI and more logical to have all the information based on the filtered list i.e. zero 3 star images taken in Oxford rather than 512 from the whole catalogue (or group). It is hard to believe that this is a difficult thing to implement. Yet smart albums do not display image counts due to technical reasons.
best wishes
Simon0
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