Working with Catalogs

An ImageViewer catalog is a collection of image file previews, file information, comments, and keywords. Catalogs enable you to store vast amounts of data about images without having to have the images themselves present. Once a catalog is created, it is much faster at displaying the image information than accessing each image directly. Some of the actions you can perform with a catalog include:

• Creating a Catalog File
• Opening Catalog Files
• Adding Files to a Catalog
• Removing Files from a Catalog
• Changing the Catalog Display
• Changing the Catalog File View
• Creating Catalog Sublists

Creating a Catalog File

Any image file or list of image files can be converted into a catalog file using the Save List As option. Use Open in the open file dialog to open a single file and Choose to open an entire folder of files. Once it becomes a catalog, you can add additional image files, their comments, and keywords to the list.

To Create a Catalog File:

1. Open an image file.
2. Choose Save List As > Catalog from the File menu.
3. Enter a catalog name.
4. Click Save.

NOTE: Catalog files are automatically saved at every add or delete of an image file.

 

Opening Catalog Files

You can open catalog files exactly as you do with image files. The difference is that the data stored in the catalog file is displayed in the window, not the actual images.

To Open a Catalog File:

1. Select Open from the File menu.
2. Choose a catalog file.
3. Click Open. 

NOTE: Opening image files always uses the information stored within the file when displayed.

 

Adding Files to a Catalog

You can add files to a catalog using the List > Add option.

To Add a File to a Catalog:

1. Select Add from the List menu.
2. Choose an image file.
3. Click Open.

TIP: You can also use drag-and-drop to add image files to a catalog file.

NOTE: Catalog files are automatically saved at every add or deletion of an image file.

 

Removing Files from a Catalog

You can remove files from a catalog that are no longer required.

To Remove a File from a Catalog:

1. Select a file in the catalog.
2. Select Remove from the List menu.
3. Click Remove to delete the file from the catalog.

TIP: You can also use drag-and-drop to remove image files from a catalog file.

NOTE: Click Remove and Don't Ask Again to disable this confirmation alert for this session only.

 

Changing the Catalog Display

The Catalog window offers these different means of viewing the image files stored in the catalog file. These include:

• Gallery
• Gallery Small
• Icon
• Text
• Image

To Change the Catalog Display:

1. Select the display option from the View menu.

   OR

2. Click the display option icon in the window's toolbar.

   

   OR

3. Select the display option from the window's Display popup menu (located in the lower-left corner of the window).

   

 

Changing the Catalog File View

You can view individual image files in several different view scales. These views range from 25% to 1600%. When a view option is selected, the currently selected image is immediately displayed in the window at the view scale chosen.

To Change the Catalog File View:

1. Select the desired view option from the View menu.

   OR

2. Select the view scale option from the window's Display popup menu (located in the lower-left corner of the window).

   

 

Creating Catalog Sublists

You can can create new lists from the files in the current catalog. These are known as sub-lists. By selecting one or more image files, you can create a new custom catalog consisting of these selected files.

To Create a Catalog Sub-list:

1. Select one or more images in the catalog list (use Shift-click to select multiple images).
2. Select Build Sub-List from the List menu.

   OR

3. Double-click an image(s) to add it to the sub-list.
4. Save new catalog.

NOTE: If more than one image is selected all images are added to the new sub-list.