All PhotoLib‚Ñ¢ images are stored in an image database called the PhotoLib‚Ñ¢ Catalog. The catalog is on the PhotoLib‚Ñ¢ CD (or alternatively on your hard disk) and can be accessed with the Aldus Fetch Browser utility.
The Aldus Fetch Browser
The Aldus Fetch Browser is a special version of the full Aldus Fetch software product. It has the same functionality as the full product except that you cannot build a new catalogue or modify and change a PhotoLib‚Ñ¢ catalog. If you are interested in the full Aldus Fetch product please contact us.
For a detailed description of the Aldus Fetch Browser please read the documents in the folder "Fetch User Guide" in the "Documentation" folder. Here is only a short summary of often used functions and some tips and recommendations.
You can either work in the "Text List View" Mode or in the "Thumbnail View" Mode. Double click on "Thumbnail View" or "Text List View" in the upper right corner in order to switch from one mode to the other. The "Thumbnail View Mode" is best for browsing the result of a search or a selection of images in the Pasteboard Window.
To select a range of thumbnails press SHIFT and click on the thumbnails.
To select multiple single thumbnails press Ô£ø and click the thumbnails.
To display information about a selected image press Ô£ø-I.
To display an image double-click on the thumbnail.
With Ô£ø-M you copy selected images to the pasteboard. After you have finished selecting images view the selected photos in the pasteboard with Ô£ø-B. With Ô£ø-R you switch back to the "Gallery" window.
You may store a selection of images in your personal project. Use "Save as Project..." in the "Item" menu . With "Open Project..." in the "File" menu you reload a project into the pasteboard.
Once you have decided to use certain images in other applications it may be advisable to copy these on to your hard disk. The menu item "Copy original" will do that for your selected and highlighted files.
Searching for photos
One of the most important functions of Fetch is Find. You can display the Find window by selecting "Find" from the "Search" menu, by double-clicking "Search" at the upper edge of the "Gallery" window, by clicking the "Find" window or with Ô£ø-F.
You should normally only use the "starts with" or "matches" settings. These allow the use of the catalog index and are therefore reasonably fast. The "contains" and "ends with" settings would cause a sequential search on the CD of the entire database which could take hours. You can stop such a search by pressing Ô£ø period.
Please read the following chapters to obtain a good understanding of the structure of the PhotoLib‚Ñ¢ image database and catalog as well as of the keywords used.
There is one other method to search for images. In "Text List View" mode and in the image information window you will find the list of keywords for a particular image. By double-clicking on a certain keyword all images containing that keyword will be found. The "File" menu item "Catalog Info..." displays a complete alphabetical list of all keywords in the catalog. Using the scroll bar you may browse this keyword list and by double-clicking a certain keyword all images containing that keyword will be found. In such way you may navigate yourself through the database without having to try or to know certain keywords.
If you are intending to use a certain complex search criteria repeatedly you can store and recall such a search using "Define" in the "Search" menu.
The PhotoLib‚Ñ¢ Catalog - Overview and Structure
We have tried to provide you with extensive search capabilities by recording a large number of keywords. But we can only strive to improve without ever reaching perfection.
Your comments how to improve the image database are very much welcome.
Keywords fall into various categories:
Main Theme Keywords are in capitals and correspond to the main groupings of images in the database:
One image may contain several Main Theme Keywords.
Images on a PhotoLib‚Ñ¢ Volume CD are stored in folders corresponding the main keywords.
Origin Keywords indicate the source or copyright holder of a photograph:
KA Kagema
SA The Stock Advantage
CPOD Cantrall PhotoOnDisk
TO Various Tourist Organisations
IBM International Business Machines
APPL Apple
DEC Digital Equipment
EPSON
SBB SBB Swiss Railways
SANDOZ
PDISCx PhotoDisc Inc. (x indicates the volume and folder)
Special Theme CDs
You can order PhotoLib‚Ñ¢ high-resolution images on Special Theme CD-ROMs. These are identified with the following keywords:
PL_BG1 Backgrounds 1 PL_PD1 Business & Industry
PL_CO Computing PL_PD2 People & Lifestyle
PL_T1 Travel 1 PL_PD3 Backgrounds & Textures
PL_T2 Travel 2 PL_PD4 Science & Technology
PL_T3 Travel 3 PL_PD5 World Commerce & Travel
PL_T4 Travel 4 PL_PD6 Nature & Wildlife
PL_T5 Travel 5 PL_PA Plants and Animals
PL_PS Painting & Sculpture PL_BG2 Backgrounds 2
These keywords allow you to view all images on a Special Theme CD before ordering. The keyword is also the order number for a Special Theme CD.
Keywords
Other keywords describe the image content and related (associative) words.
Countries are in capitals (ENGLAND, FRANCE).
Dominating colours are often added as keywords.
Images with portrait orientation contain the keyword "vertical". Other images are not identified by a special keyword.
Upper or lower case has no impact on searching. The search is case unsensitive!
Searching for PhotoLib‚Ñ¢ Images
We recommend you to start a search for certain images with a fairly wide search criteria using "starts with". If you enter 'car' you will also find 'cars', 'carriage', cartridge', 'cart', 'carbon' and more. If you use "matches" 'car' you will not find 'cars'! Normally do not attempt to use keywords which will find you precisely the one image you are looking for. Use criteria which will select between 40 and 150 photos. You can then quickly browse these, copy some to the pasteboard and continue searching by using keywords you found in these images. It is alsways advisable to use keywords from the database rather than using your own words which you do not know whether they are used in the database.
You will gradually develop experience and technique to find the desired photographs faster.
You can also look for images using the following method. Click "Catalog Info..." in the Fetch "File" menu. Browse and scroll the alphabetical list of keywords. It tells you how many occurances a certain keyword has. This helps you to determine whether to look for all images with a certain keyword. Double-click the keyword to display these images.
PhotoLib‚Ñ¢ File Structure
PhotoLib‚Ñ¢ Images on a PhotoLib‚Ñ¢ Volume CD are stored in the "IMAGES" folder. There are subfolders corresponding to the Main Themes.
Images are generally only stored in one place (folder). There are some exceptions to this rule in the PDISC1 to PDISC6 folders. As there is some duplication of images in the various Special Theme CDs we have chosen to present these accurately in the corresponding folders.
Image file names fall into these categories:
aaaannnA.JPG These images can be ordered individually in high-resolution format. aaaannn is the order number.
PDv_nnn.JPG These images can only be ordered as Special Theme CD. PDv is the order number for the CD. v (1 to 6) is the Volume Number.
POv_nnnA.JPG These images can be ordered individually in high-resolution format. POv_nnn is the order number.
Converting PhotoLib‚Ñ¢ Images
You can import PhotoLib‚Ñ¢ images directly into programs supporting JPEG format. Adobe PhotoShop is such a program. We supply you with a JPEG plug-in for PhotoShop 2.0. Other programs can read PICT or TIFF format. Once you have found images you wish to use in other programs you should use the Picture Decompressor Program supplied (or another program such as Adobe Photoshop) to convert the images into PICT or TIFF format.
You may also use the clipboard to copy and paste into other applications. Make sure that you change the memory requirements of the Aldus Fetch Browser to 6500 KB to enable this feature. Click the Aldus Fetch Browser icon and type Ô£ø-I. In the information window you set the memory assignment.
Using the clipboard you can also copy parts of an image. Once you found an image display it by double-clicking it's thumbnail. Using the mouse you draw a rectangular selection on screen which you copy to the Clipboard. You can paste this selection into most other applications.
WARNING! Once you have decompressed a PhotoLib‚Ñ¢ Image do not compress it again (for example using QuickTime)! JPEG and QuickTime Compression is "lossy compression". Each successive time an image is compressed and decompressed information will be lost and the image will deteriorate. Always start processing from the original PhotoLib‚Ñ¢ file. The initial compression does not result in any visible quality loss!
