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Capture One catalogs vs Media Pro: DAM Feature Comparison

Permanently deleted user
In another thread I asked about the differences between the Digital Asset Management (DAM) features of Capture One catalogs and Media Pro (I use Media Pro but have only limited experience with Capture One, and Phase One has not provided a comparison chart). The thread got derailed by comments about the two programs' interoperability, as well as tangential philosophical debates.

So I’m starting a fresh thread to keep the focus on my original question. And I'm adding a few new questions for CO users:
  • I've read that CO users are disappointed with CO catalogs. One user in the other thread reported that CO catalogs are slow. This issue might have been addressed with CO v. 11 which, according to reports on the v. 11 forum, is markedly faster than v. 10. Are there other reasons? Are there specific features that are missing? Is the disappointment due to usability, flexibility or stability? Or something else?

  • Do you find CO's catalog/session "paradigm" helpful or a hindrance for managing files?

  • [color=#BF00FF:1jfdm43u]For power users of both MP and CO: For features that both programs share, which program has the better (i.e., more usable/flexible/powerful) implementation of that feature? Why?


Below is my own analysis of DAM/cataloguing features of Media Pro SE and Capture One 10 and 11 (updated Dec. 4, 2017). Note: This is a draft, based on my incomplete knowledge of Capture One. If you see any errors, please let me know and I'll update the list. It is not intended to address interoperability issues between the two programs. It's strictly a summary of their cataloging features. Also, note that I'm a Mac user, so if there are differences in Windows, let me know. Edit: I'm adding notes about performance, usability, etc., as you provide them (if applicable).

*************

[color=#4000BF:1jfdm43u]DAM features shared by both Media Pro and Capture One (draft, possibly inaccurate; features might function differently)[/color:1jfdm43u]

  • Drag and drop importing

  • Drag and drop tagging

  • Selecting, rating and culling

  • Industry-standard IPTC metadata

  • Catalog Sets (= User Collections: Albums in CO)

  • Controlled vocabulary editor (= keyword libraries)

  • Hierarchical keywords [color=#000080:1jfdm43u](One user reports these are easier to create in CO)[/color:1jfdm43u]

  • Sync annotations with option to sync to XML sidecars [I think annotations are called "metadata" in CO]

  • Customizable preview size

  • Advanced Find/Search tool

  • Invert selection

  • Folder management

  • Update folders (= Sync folders in CO)

  • Reset paths (= Locate in CO)

  • Offline workflow

  • Batch file renaming

  • Batch file conversion (In CO some report pauses, delays or crashes - open Ticket)[/color:1jfdm43u]

  • ICC color profile support

  • Convert Image Files ( = Export variants in CO), with or without annotations/metadata, watermark (and in CO, custom JobName, ICCProfile, sharpening and resolution)

  • Light Table

  • Make/Run Slide Show

  • Make Contact Sheet

  • Make (simple) HTML/Web Galleries ([color=#800000:1jfdm43u]In CO, the gallery templates are simple, single page galleries that require re-entering text fields[/color:1jfdm43u]. See below for description of Media Pro's robust templates.)

  • Loupe feature ("Magnifier" in Media Pro)

  • Collaboration tools ("Notepad" in Media Pro and "Annotations" in CO v. 11)


[color=#4000BF:1jfdm43u]DAM features unique to Media Pro (draft, possibly inaccurate)[/color:1jfdm43u]

  • Support for multiple non-image file types

  • Custom catalog fields

  • Search across multiple catalogs. (In that sense it can catalog an unlimited number of items, beyond the 250,000 image limit of a single catalog.)

  • Find duplicate items

  • Find missing items

  • Send email attachment

  • Quick access to helper applications (other editors, viewers)

  • Set Capture Date

  • Set Author Details

  • Set Finder Properties

  • Sort by file property

  • Sort by place

  • Sort by annotation field

  • Show Union of Folder Hierarchies (to view contents of parent folder and its subfolders)

  • Transfer/copy files to another folder

  • Save Slide Show as Movie

  • Make (robust) HTML/Web Galleries (Media Pro's HTML templates are more powerful XML-based templates that can create multiple index pages for a single gallery; easily regenerated without having to re-enter text fields; customizable if you know HTML/CSS) [color=#800000:1jfdm43u](But code is old so doesn't support HTML 5 for embedded video)[/color:1jfdm43u]

  • Make Text Data File

  • Make XML Data File

  • Create Capture Sets (burst image groups)

  • Customizable View Options

  • Scripts (for bulk changes to database, annotations, etc.)

  • Convert Video/Audio Files

  • Ability to assign names to color tags


[color=#4000BF:1jfdm43u]DAM features unique to Capture One (draft, possibly inaccurate)[/color:1jfdm43u]

  • Smart Albums (albums created automatically via Filters) [color=#800000:1jfdm43u](But on Mac extremely slow behavior results if used for large number of images with unique metadata. Workarounds decrease usability of the Filter. Alternately, advanced search can be used instead with slight loss in user convenience.)[/color:1jfdm43u]

  • Quick create album or smart album from Filter or search query results (or both)

  • Option to auto sync metadata to XMP sidecar files

  • Option for Managed Catalog

  • Option to import with subfolder hierarchies/tokens

  • Option to assign metadata on import

  • Option to apply existing adjustments on import

  • Show/hide folder hierarchy [color=#800000:1jfdm43u](but unable to display all contents of a folder and its subfolders)[/color:1jfdm43u]

  • Cursor mode for assigning images to albums

  • Export album as catalog

  • Manage groups of versions/variants of same image [color=#800000:1jfdm43u](but if different variants of the same image are used in different Albums, CO will not display the preferred variant for each Album)[/color:1jfdm43u]

  • Unlimited number of images in a single catalog (Media Pro limited to up to 250,000) [color=#800000:1jfdm43u](But there are reports that CO catalogs become extremely slow with large numbers of images.)[/color:1jfdm43u]


[color=#4000BF:1jfdm43u]Uncertain (in Media Pro, but also in CO?)[/color:1jfdm43u]

  • Import/export catalog from/to XML

  • Extract Metadata
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Comments

19 comments

Date Votes
  • Graham Smith
    In theory C1 can catalogue an unlimited number of images, but Media Pro has an official upper limit, of I think 250,000.

    The upper limit was increased from 125,000 by Phase One, but I can't find it listed anywhere.

    Using the loupe on thumbnails in C1 is very useful, and not available in MP

    Cheers,

    Graham
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  • Permanently deleted user
    Thanks, Graham. I added them to the CO list.

    I'm not sure where this project is headed. Perhaps nowhere. I just wanted to be able to find evidence for my impression that Media Pro had more (or more flexible) DAM features than CO and to learn more about why CO users are not satisfied with its catalog capabilities. Is it the lack of certain features? Is it the performance? (I let my trial copy of CO lapse years ago since I didn't want to purchase it; otherwise I wouldn't be asking these questions. I suppose I could spend more time in the CO forum, but I had hoped a CO/MP power user would give me a summary of the main differences.)

    I don't want to get hung up on "feature count" if the features aren't useful (but certain features could be considered mandatory). Obviously performance, usability and stability are important, so I might have to tweak the nature of the list as I learn more.

    It appears that CO has a definite edge in "ingestion" features/options. Am I right to assume that Media Pro is more robust in the areas of searching, sorting and field customization?
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  • Eric Nepean
    Hi Syncrasy

    I think your list is pretty accurate overall regarding Capture One catalogs, here are a couple of comments

    Smart albums can be set up with a search query or a filter or both

    You can have COP sync metadata to XMP sidecar files. You can set it up for autosync, or on export or on import. The documentation is a little ambiguous.

    COP for Mac has a problem with the filter if you have more than 10000 images or so in your browser, the filter is visible or in use, and the values in one or more of the metadata fields is unique for every image. In this situation there is a long wait time after each keypress which gets rapidly worse with an increasing number of images. For 15000 images and one metadata field with unique values I see a hang of 23 seconds per click. There are tickets open, but this problem has existed for several releases; it may not be easy to fix. In the meantime the workaround is to use the filter only in the smaller collections (avoid All Images), and move the filter from the library tool tab to a lesser used tab or a custom tab.

    Some people have also noticed delays and pauses in the batch command. Others have had issues with crashes. I would check back after 10.1 is released ( I have no idea when) and see how the forum likes it, before switching.
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  • Permanently deleted user
    Thanks, Eric. I updated the list. I think metadata sync is already covered, except for CO auto sync, but check me in case. I assumed you meant batch file renaming, but did you mean batch process of images (e.g., conversion, variants)?

    Recap:

    Shared MP/CO features
    Batch file conversion (But causes pauses, delays or crashes in CO)
    Convert Image/Video/Sound Files (=Export variants), with or without annotations/metadata

    CO features
    Smart Albums (albums created automatically via Filters) (But on Mac causes extremely slow behavior if used for large number of images, especially if the images have unique metadata. Workarounds decrease usability of feature.)
    Quick create album or smart album from Filter or search query results (or both)
    Option to auto sync metadata to XMP sidecar files
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  • Eric Nepean
    [quote="syncrasy" wrote:
    Thanks, Eric. I updated the list. I think metadata sync is already covered, except for CO auto sync, but check me in case. I assumed you meant batch file renaming, but did you mean batch process of images (e.g., conversion, variants)?

    There is one feature which does batch renaming of images.
    Also, on output, you can convert the image to any of 8 file formats: 4 kinds of JPEG, TIFF, DNG, PNG, PSD

    [quote="syncrasy" wrote:

    Recap:

    Shared MP/CO features
    Batch file conversion (But causes pauses, delays or crashes in CO)
    Convert Image/Video/Sound Files (=Export variants), with or without annotations/metadata

    Having no experience and depth with video or sound in COP, I would say:
    Batch file conversion (Some report pauses, delays or crashes - open Ticket)
    Convert Image/Video?/Sound? Files (as Export variants), with or without metadata, Watermark, Custom JobName, ICCProfile, Sharpening and resolution
    Output Proofing is also available

    [quote="syncrasy" wrote:

    CO features
    Smart Albums (albums created automatically via Filters) (But on Mac causes extremely slow behavior if used for large number of images, especially if the images have unique metadata. Workarounds decrease usability of feature.)
    Quick create album or smart album from Filter or search query results (or both)
    Option to auto sync metadata to XMP sidecar files

    I would say:
    Quick create album or smart album from Filter or search query results (or both) (But on Mac extremely slow behavior results if used for large number of images with unique metadata. Workarounds decrease usability of the Filter. The Filter can be replaced by the advanced search, with slight loss in user convenience)

    Discussion
    The filter tool can in all cases be replaced by the advanced search tool.

    The advantage of the Filter tool is that for a small number (say <20) of search terms, it provides a quickly configurable filter function accessed by radio buttons connected to a complete list of all the available search terms.

    However, this quickly configurable functionality becomes less useful when as the number of search term increase, and becomes useless with 100s or more search terms, because searching the list of radio buttons now becomes additonal user workload. With 10's of thousands of search terms, the SW becomes unuseably slow.

    The advanced filter tool accesses the same data fields as the filter tool, and has a more flexible search configuration. However, there is no list of all the possible search terms; search terms must be typed in. (Much like most other applications of this type)
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  • Permanently deleted user
    Thanks, Eric. Updates made.

    I moved "audio/video" file conversion to MP since that appears to be unique to MP.

    I'm ignoring Output Proofing since that's more solidly in the image editing/printing realm, not the DAM/database realm.

    Regarding CO Filters: My first reaction to anyone trying to create a filter with more than 20 attributes is that they probably are wasting their time. Just make an Album and add items as needed. Then again, I don't use CO so I could be wrong.

    I wouldn't want Advanced Search to include a list of search terms. Free-form text search is standard for any good search tool (so it can search through all the text in the database, including long captions, etc.).

    Thanks again.
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  • SFA
    [quote="syncrasy" wrote:
    Thanks, Eric. Updates made.

    I moved "audio/video" file conversion to MP since that appears to be unique to MP.

    I'm ignoring Output Proofing since that's more solidly in the image editing/printing realm, not the DAM/database realm.

    Regarding CO Filters: My first reaction to anyone trying to create a filter with more than 20 attributes is that they probably are wasting their time. Just make an Album and add items as needed. Then again, I don't use CO so I could be wrong.

    I wouldn't want Advanced Search to include a list of search terms. Free-form text search is standard for any good search tool (so it can search through all the text in the database, including long captions, etc.).

    Thanks again.


    Just out of interest ....

    If you are not using C1, or indeed seemingly planning to use it based on a comment in one of the other threads, what is your motivation for this exercise?

    As for search engines - yes, free format text can be very powerful but also very noisy. When you are looking, for example, for a single post and the only search term you can think of to connect to produces 1000 to review it could be considered powerful but not effective.

    Likewise of the only term or word you can think of has been eliminated BECAUSE it mainly produces just noise and eats bandwidth (potential an important consideration even on a local machine for performance issues) you also lose effectiveness.

    This, inter alia, is why keywords (or tags or whatever one may wish to call them) can be so useful when well defined applied. Sadly "well defined and applied" may required significant effort and is a rare discovery even in fully curated systems like on-line sales catalogues.

    The question for many photographers is, of course, whether time expended now to accurately describe and tag all work, rather than just the items that may have been sold on and have required to the work to be done as part of the sale, is worth it in case on is asked to find something in 20 years time.

    There is no single answer to that question. It is also application agnostic.


    Just my opinion of course.


    Grant
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  • Permanently deleted user
    [quote="SFA" wrote:
    If you are not using C1, or indeed seemingly planning to use it based on a comment in one of the other threads, what is your motivation for this exercise?


    As I stated earlier, my main motivation is to find out if my assumption that "Media Pro is superior to CO catalogs" is supported by objective evidence. I thought a feature list would be an objective measure and a good place to start for making comparisons. The idea was to see how the programs compared "on paper" assuming performance is not an issue. Given the complaints I've read about lack of reliable CO catalog speed/performance in actual practice, perhaps Media Pro's "superiority" is due as much to its speed and stability (i.e., better code) as its presumed feature advantage. But if speed/performance/stability were not an issue, I am still interested in knowing if comparable features are equally usable in either program, or if there are design differences that favor one program over another. I'm also interested in learning from CO users whether the catalog/session paradigm is helpful or a hindrance to file management.)

    Another motivation is to prepare for a possible change in PO's future software offerings. I've long advocated for stand-alone (editor-agnostic) DAMs, so my preference would be for PO to improve/modernize Media Pro and provide a slim "LE" version of Capture One—editor only, no catalog. (Wasn't there an LE version of CO at one point?) I would hate to see Media Pro disappear without its unique features being adopted by CO (particularly if CO's performance issues are not resolved). By documenting Media Pro's unique features (and assessing whether they are still useful), I will know what to lobby for in the event PO drops Media Pro.

    [quote="SFA" wrote:

    As for search engines - yes, free format text can be very powerful but also very noisy. When you are looking, for example, for a single post and the only search term you can think of to connect to produces 1000 to review it could be considered powerful but not effective.

    Likewise of the only term or word you can think of has been eliminated BECAUSE it mainly produces just noise and eats bandwidth (potential an important consideration even on a local machine for performance issues) you also lose effectiveness.

    This, inter alia, is why keywords (or tags or whatever one may wish to call them) can be so useful when well defined applied. Sadly "well defined and applied" may required significant effort and is a rare discovery even in fully curated systems like on-line sales catalogues.

    The question for many photographers is, of course, whether time expended now to accurately describe and tag all work, rather than just the items that may have been sold on and have required to the work to be done as part of the sale, is worth it in case on is asked to find something in 20 years time.

    There is no single answer to that question. It is also application agnostic.

    Just my opinion of course.

    Grant


    I don't think we disagree. A DAM should have several options for finding images (search, keywords, tags, virtual sets, etc.) to accommodate the wide variety of uses (commercial, assignment, art/personal, stock, archival, etc.). By the way, when I say "search" I mean "Boolean-style advanced search" that allows a user to use multiple search attributes to reduce the noise. Media Pro has this. I assume CO does too. (It's funny that you mention tracking photo sales... that's one feature that I wish Media Pro had so I wouldn't have to resort to using a separate database to track sales, licenses, etc.)

    My sense is that Media Pro currently offers more flexibility than CO because MP has a few more DAM features (custom annotation fields, etc.) and a more neutral database paradigm (vs. what I see as a "workflow paradigm" in CO, geared toward assignments/projects). Is that a valid interpretation of their DAM differences at a high level?
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  • Robert Edwards
    [quote="myotis" wrote:
    In theory C1 can catalogue an unlimited number of images, but Media Pro has an official upper limit, of I think 250,000.

    And Media Pro can search across multiple catalogs even if they are not open. In that sense it can catalog an unlimited number of items.
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  • Permanently deleted user
    C1's lack of stacking for arbitrary images (it can only stack variants of an image, not other images) is one reason I haven't made a switch from Lr to C1.

    A couple more:
    • You can't move an image from one album to another - you must copy it and then delete it.

    • You can't assign names to color tags - perhaps you'd like green to mean 'ready to print,' but don't want to commit that to memory (that's what computer databases are for).

    • It might just be me, but I can't seem to rename a keyword and have that change show up on all other images sharing that keyword.

    • I would really like a field in the metadata aspect ratio (4x5, 11x17, etc) that could be used as a filter.
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  • Permanently deleted user
    [quote="roberte" wrote:
    [quote="myotis" wrote:
    In theory C1 can catalogue an unlimited number of images, but Media Pro has an official upper limit, of I think 250,000.

    And Media Pro can search across multiple catalogs even if they are not open. In that sense it can catalog an unlimited number of items.


    Thanks, Roberte. I've edited my Media Pro feature list to reflect this subtlety.
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  • Permanently deleted user
    [quote="BobRockefeller" wrote:
    C1's lack of stacking for arbitrary images (it can only stack variants of an image, not other images) is one reason I haven't made a switch from Lr to C1.

    A couple more:
    • You can't move an image from one album to another - you must copy it and then delete it.

    • You can't assign names to color tags - perhaps you'd like green to mean 'ready to print,' but don't want to commit that to memory (that's what computer databases are for).

    • It might just be me, but I can't seem to rename a keyword and have that change show up on all other images sharing that keyword.

    • I would really like a field in the metadata aspect ratio (4x5, 11x17, etc) that could be used as a filter.



    Thanks, Bob. I've added the ability to assign names to color tags to the Media Pro feature list. I'm surprised CO doesn't have such a simple, yet extremely useful, feature.
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  • Permanently deleted user
    I read in another forum that in order to apply a single annotation (e.g., Description/Caption) to multiple images in Capture One, you must use a fairly convoluted process: enter the Description for one image using the Metadata tool, open the Clipboard adjustments tool and make sure only the desired annotation is checked and that all the other metadata options are unchecked, choose copy, select the other images, then apply the Description from Clipboard adjustments.

    (In Media Pro the process is simpler: select all the images, enter the text in the Description/Caption field, then save changes.)

    Of course enter/copy/apply is useful for multiple annotations (Media Pro has Metadata Templates for this), but for single annotations this is unnecessarily cumbersome. Is that really how CO works for single annotations?
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  • SFA
    [quote="syncrasy" wrote:
    Is that really how CO works for single annotations?


    Not necessarily.
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  • Eric Nepean
    [quote="syncrasy" wrote:
    I read in another forum that in order to apply a single annotation (e.g., Description/Caption) to multiple images in Capture One, you must use a fairly convoluted process: enter the Description for one image using the Metadata tool, open the Clipboard adjustments tool and make sure only the desired annotation is checked and that all the other metadata options are unchecked, choose copy, select the other images, then apply the Description from Clipboard adjustments.

    (In Media Pro the process is simpler: select all the images, enter the text in the Description/Caption field, then save changes.)

    Of course enter/copy/apply is useful for multiple annotations (Media Pro has Metadata Templates for this), but for single annotations this is unnecessarily cumbersome. Is that really how CO works for single annotations?


    I use a slightly different process to change many images, and I find it very efficient once you get used to it:
  • Select all the images to be changed

  • Select one image (this becomes the "reference image")

  • Edit the Description/Caption/Metadata fields for the reference image using the Metadata tool

  • Click on the arrow in the Metadata tool to copy the metadata fields to the clipboard.

  • The clipboard automatically opens. On the first operation, all the not empty fields are auto selected - on subsequent operations, previous settings are remembered

  • Select the fields you wanted pasted. You can select an empty field, if you want that field cleared on all the images

  • Click "Apply"


    • Shortcuts
    • If you want every field copied and pasted immediately, shift-click the arrow

    • If you want every Metadata field copied to the clipboard, no dialog, option-click the arrow
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  • Permanently deleted user
    [quote="Eric Nepean" wrote:
    [quote="syncrasy" wrote:
    I read in another forum that in order to apply a single annotation (e.g., Description/Caption) to multiple images in Capture One, you must use a fairly convoluted process: enter the Description for one image using the Metadata tool, open the Clipboard adjustments tool and make sure only the desired annotation is checked and that all the other metadata options are unchecked, choose copy, select the other images, then apply the Description from Clipboard adjustments.

    (In Media Pro the process is simpler: select all the images, enter the text in the Description/Caption field, then save changes.)

    Of course enter/copy/apply is useful for multiple annotations (Media Pro has Metadata Templates for this), but for single annotations this is unnecessarily cumbersome. Is that really how CO works for single annotations?


    I use a slightly different process to change many images, and I find it very efficient once you get used to it:
  • Select all the images to be changed

  • Select one image (this becomes the "reference image")

  • Edit the Description/Caption/Metadata fields for the reference image using the Metadata tool

  • Click on the arrow in the Metadata tool to copy the metadata fields to the clipboard.

  • The clipboard automatically opens. On the first operation, all the not empty fields are auto selected - on subsequent operations, previous settings are remembered

  • Select the fields you wanted pasted. You can select an empty field, if you want that field cleared on all the images

  • Click "Apply"


    • Shortcuts
    • If you want every field copied and pasted immediately, shift-click the arrow

    • If you want every Metadata field copied to the clipboard, no dialog, option-click the arrow


    If I'm not mistaken, your process is essentially the same as the process I had described (your Step 1 just comes earlier). The shortcuts appear potentially useful, and I'm sure one would get used to the process, but I can't help but think that it's a kluge (a function implemented in a crude manner), presumably owing to the fact that C1's core purpose is image processing and the DAM/metadata functionality is an afterthought. (Having to edit the metadata for an arbitrary "reference image" prior to applying the same metadata to multiple images is not necessary in a tool where the DAM is the core purpose—or only purpose as with Media Pro.)

    I wonder what SFA meant when he said this process is "not necessarily" the only way. Are you aware of a simpler method?
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  • Eric Nepean
    [quote="syncrasy" wrote:
    [quote="Eric Nepean" wrote:
    [quote="syncrasy" wrote:
    I read in another forum that in order to apply a single annotation (e.g., Description/Caption) to multiple images in Capture One, you must use a fairly convoluted process: enter the Description for one image using the Metadata tool, open the Clipboard adjustments tool and make sure only the desired annotation is checked and that all the other metadata options are unchecked, choose copy, select the other images, then apply the Description from Clipboard adjustments.

    (In Media Pro the process is simpler: select all the images, enter the text in the Description/Caption field, then save changes.)

    Of course enter/copy/apply is useful for multiple annotations (Media Pro has Metadata Templates for this), but for single annotations this is unnecessarily cumbersome. Is that really how CO works for single annotations?


    I use a slightly different process to change many images, and I find it very efficient once you get used to it:
  • Select all the images to be changed

  • Select one image (this becomes the "reference image")

  • Edit the Description/Caption/Metadata fields for the reference image using the Metadata tool

  • Click on the arrow in the Metadata tool to copy the metadata fields to the clipboard.

  • The clipboard automatically opens. On the first operation, all the not empty fields are auto selected - on subsequent operations, previous settings are remembered

  • Select the fields you wanted pasted. You can select an empty field, if you want that field cleared on all the images

  • Click "Apply"


    • Shortcuts
    • If you want every field copied and pasted immediately, shift-click the arrow

    • If you want every Metadata field copied to the clipboard, no dialog, option-click the arrow


    If I'm not mistaken, your process is essentially the same as the process I had described (your Step 1 just comes earlier). The shortcuts appear potentially useful, and I'm sure one would get used to the process, but I can't help but think that it's a kluge (a function implemented in a crude manner), presumably owing to the fact that C1's core purpose is image processing and the DAM/metadata functionality is an afterthought. (Having to edit the metadata for an arbitrary "reference image" prior to applying the same metadata to multiple images is not necessary in a tool where the DAM is the core purpose—or only purpose as with Media Pro.)

    I wonder what SFA meant when he said this process is "not necessarily" the only way. Are you aware of a simpler method?

    No, but I haven't really looked.

    I have used this proceedure quite a bit, (had to copy Metadata and keywords for several hundred image files) and, contrary to popular opinion, I'm quite happy with it.

    In my opinion, it's versatile on the first copy action, and efficient on the subsequent copy actions.
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  • Permanently deleted user
    [quote="Eric Nepean" wrote:

    In my opinion, it's versatile on the first copy action, and efficient on the subsequent copy actions.


    Yes, I can see that it would be very efficient for subsequent copy actions of multiple metadata fields if you anticipate the need. But I was originally referring to direct "single field" metadata entry for multiple images where no subsequent use is needed or anticipated. I can see the value of a clipboard copy but I wouldn't want it to be (apparently) mandatory for all metadata entry. In Media Pro I have the option to save a metadata template for later use, but most of my metadata entry is "once and done" (select all images, enter metadata, save).
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  • Eric Nepean
    [quote="syncrasy" wrote:
    [quote="Eric Nepean" wrote:

    In my opinion, it's versatile on the first copy action, and efficient on the subsequent copy actions.


    Yes, I can see that it would be very efficient for subsequent copy actions of multiple metadata fields if you anticipate the need. But I was originally referring to direct "single field" metadata entry for multiple images where no subsequent use is needed or anticipated. I can see the value of a clipboard copy but I wouldn't want it to be (apparently) mandatory for all metadata entry. In Media Pro I have the option to save a metadata template for later use, but most of my metadata entry is "once and done" (select all images, enter metadata, save).

    If you consider the use case where ones starts with a set of images with all the metadata fields empty, and one wants to fill them each with the same data in the same fields, then difference between your ask and what COP has is really only one "shift-click":

    One must do these steps anyway:
    • Click on the first image (to select the images to be changed)
    • Shift-Click on the last image
    • Enter data in the Metadata fields

    The extra work is this:
    • Shift-Click on the arrow (copies data to the other selected images)
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