Before we learn how to share, let me show you a collection of categories for digital scrapbookers.  DigiScrapInfo nicknamed them organizing styles because digital scrapbookers had their own approach or style on how they wanted to organize their images.   Take a look at these examples, spread across 3 pages!

• Middle of the Road Organizing Styles
• Long Organizing Styles
• Simple Organizing Styles

These styles have been downloaded thousands of time to kick-start digital scrapbooker’s categories. 

The following method is a way to share the categories but now what images the categories are assigned to.  (This is what the organizing styles are at DigiScrapInfo.)

How to create a file of your categories:

1. Start Photo Manager
2. Select Database | Export | Database (In Pro 3: Tools | Database | Export | Database )
3. Select Next
4. Select Export database information to a text file:
5. Select only Include all category definitions
6. Select Next
7. In the Where do you want to export the data? box, select a folder to save it too
8. In the next box, name your fill.  You do not need to add an extension to the name, it will automatically add .txt.
9. Select Next
10. Select Next
11. Select Finish

This will create a text file that you can email to your family or friend.     The importing of these categories into their photo manager will only add to their existing categories and should not affect their organizing.  Once your family or friend receives the text file.  they basically do the reverse process:

Using a category text file

1. Start Photo Manager
2. Select Database | Import (Pro 3: Tools | Database | Import)
3. Select Next
4. In #1, Select Information from a text file, including any combination of keyword and category definitions and image information
5. In #2, Select where your category text file is saved.
6. It is fine to let it optimize database files after import
7. Select Next
8. Select Next
9. Select Finish
10. Select OK to allow Photo Manager to restart.
11. You should now have the categories that are listed.

Want to share your categories? 

Maybe you have a set of nature categories  like flowers, trees, water, etc.    Take the text file of your categories that you exported, compress it in a zip file, and upload online to some hosting site, and link to it here in a comment.  (Even though the text file is small, I recommend zipping it up so it easier for the user to download.  Browsers have a tendency to show text files and it makes it much more difficult to save it for the user.  The user should always unzip it before they try import the file in.)

The winners are:

matthewsmom with First times, first discoveries… for gold.

ctocusn with Goin’ fishin’ for silver.

Ofir with Into the Sea for bronze.

Check out all the Summer Vacation entries and take a moment to enter the current contest, Autumn has arrived.

We thank all the participants for sharing their inspiring work and hope you join the whole ACDSee team in saying congratulations to the winners!

1. In ACDSee Photo Manager, view your images and assign categories to the images. 
2. Select those images, and choose Database | Embed Database Information | In Selected Files.   This will write all your organizing information, including your categories, to the image file. 
3. Share these images with your family or friends.  (Email them, save to disc, or whatever method you prefer.)
4. Once the other person receives the images, they need to catalog the images to retrieve the categories assigned.  This process reads in all the organizing information that was embedded in step 2 above.  
   1. Choose Database | Catalog Files
   2. Choose the second choice of cataloging a specific folder.
   3. Click on Add Folder and choose the folder where the shared images reside. 
   4. Click on Advanced Options and verify that Import ACDSee organizing information (categories, keywords) is checked.
   5. Click on Next
   6. Click on Next and it will catalog the files and when done, click on Finish.

The user should see the images and any categories that were assigned to the shared images. 

Some ideas on using embedding & cataloging: 

• You have taken photos at a family reunion.  You have created categories for each family that attended and assigned the images to each family category.   Then share these images with the family.
• Categorize your scrapbooking digital kit and share/sell the digital kit with the categories already assigned.

Right click on a thumbnail you get ACDSee’s right menu (left screenshot)  Hold down the Ctrl key while right clicking on a thumbnail, you get Windows menu (right)

In the folders pane, to expand all the folders quickly, select the top folder and hit the * key repeatedly on the num pad keyboard until all expand.

The * key on the num pad technique works on categories in the Organize pane too!

If you have been playing with the different panes, resizing them, moving them, undocking them, the quickest way to get them back to normal is to go to View | Reset Layout

Hit F5 to refresh ACDSee.   This is useful if you have just saved a file to a folder ACDSee is viewing but it doesn’t show up immediately.

If you double click on the image and open the viewer.  Hit the F key to switch to full-screen and hit F again to return back to the Viewer tool.

Do you have any favorite shortcuts or tricks in ACDSee that you use frequently?

To start, let’s make sure we can see the Image Basket.

1. Go to View | Image Basket.  The image basket will appear underneath the thumbnails in the main ACDSee window pane.
2. Start browsing your images and drag & drop them into the Image Basket. 

Once your images are in your Image Basket, you can do many things with them.

• You can drag & drop them into another software to work with them
• You can do any type of ACDSee function on them such as email, batch resize, etc.
• Another tip is can generate a text report about the images.
  • Select the images in the image basket.
  • Go to Database | Export | Generate File Listing (Keyboard shortcut:  Ctrl-G)
  • This will produce a text file with information.  The information can be customize by going to Tools | Options, File List Tab, Details View & click on Choose Details & select which fields you would like shown in the report.

Tips: 

• The Image Basket starts empty each time you start ACDSee.  Thus the Image Basket will be not be saved when you close ACDSee.
• To remove images, from the Image Basket, I like to go to Edit | Remove from Image Basket (Keyboard shortcut:  Alt-x)  By doing it this way, it doesn’t feel like you are deleting the images from your hard drive.  (If you hit select an image & hit delete key,  it prompts you to remove them from image basket or delete them from the hard drive.  You then need to make sure you choose remove from image basket and not delete.)

1. First you need to download the Ghostscript plugin and run it.   Install AFPL Ghostscript 8.53 for ACDSee 7.0 and greater, download and run gs853w32.exe.
2. To verify that all is working:
   1. go into Tools | Plug-ins | Plug-in setting
   2. Verify the Select ID_PS.apl has a checkmark and then select it and choose Properties 

   3. You should see that the Ghostscript has been detected.
3. Your thumbnails of your pdf will show the first page of the pdf:  and if you double click on a pdf, it will show the pdf in full viewer, and you can browse to each page.

In addition, you can do more things with PDF’s.

You can convert a PDF to images.   Each page will turn into an image.  Here’s how:

1. Select the PDF file
2. Select Tools | Convert File Format
3. Select JPEG and select Next
4. Select where you would like the images to go and select Next
5. Select Convert all Pages and Split.  This will create a separate image for each page.
6. Click on Start Convert.  You will end up with an image for each pdf page.

You can also create a multi-page PDF file of images:

1. Select a 1 or more images
2. Select Create | Create PDF
3. Here you have a choice to create a PDF slideshow or a PDF file.  I like to choose Create one PDF containing all images.
4. The next window allows you to add more images and reorder the images.  (Drag the images around to reorder them.)  When done, select Next
5. Select where you want to create the pdf file and the name of the file, then select Next
6. Click on Launch PDF to view the newly created PDF file.

How you backup really doesn’t matter as long as you DO IT.  A backup means that images or files reside on another “source” which might be an external hard drive, CD/DVDs, online backup services, etc.    The method you choose is really what you are comfortable with but lets give you few ideas of ways to backup.

CD/DVDs/Blu-Ray Media 

• Advantages:  This is fairly easy to do and most computers have a disk burner.  People are familiar with burning disks.  Many type of disks are inexpensive.  If you take the disks out of your home and bring them elsewhere you protect from home catastrophe (fire or flood.)  
• Disadvantages:  It is time consuming to burn discs and many people don’t label the disks so finding the backup can also be time consuming.   You also need to remember periodically to make the backup disc!

External Hard Drives  

• Advantages:  The drives are fairly inexpensive and easy to use.  Many External Hard Drives (EHDs) come with software to automatically backup your images so it can be automated or there are many free tools to automatically backup to EHD. 
• Disadvantages: Unless you have 2 EHDs and can take on off-site (out of your home) you won’t be protected from home catastrophe.  EHDs seem to have a higher failure rate (a physical drop of the EHD can make them unusable.)

Online Backup Tools 

• Advantages:  This method doesn’t require you to buy additional hardware or media.   It also doesn’t require much expertise because many online backup tools are very simple to use.  This method can be automated so you don’t have to remember to do it.  Data is preserved off-site to protect from home catastrophe.   An additional benefit is data can possible be accessed via internet from other than your home computer.
• Disadvantages:  Most services require a monthly or yearly subscription fee.  (Intro plans maybe free but you might find that its not enough space to backup all your images.  Intro plans are great to try out the service and see if you like the tools.)   If you don’t have a good internet connection, this method might not be viable.

Online Photo Sites 

• Advantages:  This is very similar to Online Backup Tools except they specialize in images.  Your images can easily be shared with family and friends.  You choose your best ones to upload and thus your best ones will be backed up.     
• Disadvantages:  Make sure you choose online photo sites that let you retrieve the large original image files.  Some sites require a fee to let you have access to the originals or via mailed disk.  (Places such as Shutterfly.com burn a disk for $9.99.  Flickr and Smugmug)

Print your Images  
Although this method isn’t a true digital backup, having a hard copy of your best images will preserve them for people to view. 

• Advantages:  You can enjoy viewing your prints in the traditional way.  
• Disadvantages:   You probably won’t print all of them, just the best images.  Cost of printing can be expensive if you print a lot of them.  It won’t be as easy to make copies of them or duplicate them as having them in digital form.

Many times part of the meltdown process begins with the parents. Always eager to help, they bring all kinds of stuff to the studio they think will keep the kids lively enough to take a nice portrait, but subdued enough to sit in a studio in front of a camera. Everything from loud rattles to talking Elmos, squeaky toys to Nerf balls.

Your clients arrive at the studio with excitement and anticipation. The energy is usually very high and that one perfect shot is about to take place. Finally, after about fifteen minutes, everyone is ready to start. Posing is a bit of a challenge with Mom and Dad trying to prop up the smallest ones to keep them from toppling over. Here we go! Your first shot goes off and the parents have an uncontrollable urge to clap hands, shake rattles, and speak in loud, high-pitch voices while contorting their bodies-what we like to call “twist and shout.” Let the meltdown begin … the effect this behavior often has is the opposite from what it was intended and suddenly you have kids everywhere but where you want them.

So here is the tip: Controlling children’s shoots starts with Mom and Dad. Inform parents prior to the session and during the session that they don’t need to “Twist and Shout” because the children get scared and early meltdowns will (usually not might) occur. Encourage them to support and entertain the children calmly, because often kids will mimic their parents. Wild gyrations often inspire the same, while calm but pleasant voices help limit little ones’ tendencies to act out their impulses.

1. First go to Filter By | Uncategorized and this will turn on a filter.  A filter will only show select images.  By setting it to Uncategorized, it will only show images that have not been assigned to a category.
2. In your folders tree, select one or more folders.  The images shown are all the ones you have not assigned a category.

You can see that it is showing 278 items (see status bar in bottom).  When I turn off the Filter By (Filter By  | All) it shows 283 items.   So that means I only have assigned categories to 5 images and have a more work to do on these folders.

TIP:  When done, always remember to turn off the Filter By.   Go to Filter By | All to turn it off.

If you look at the Filter By menu, you can filter by specific categories, uncategorized or by rating.   So you can use this to your advantage to find things.

When I store my digital kits, I put my purchases for the year in one folder.  So I choose Filter By | Categories | Previews and then select all my folders in my 2008 bought folder, I can view all previews that I purchased in 2008.

Remember, if you use Filter By, always remember to turn it off by setting it to All otherwise you will not see some of your images.

The winners of the Home Photo and Layout Contest, Fun with Daddy, are:

arbib with 1st Ocean Exploration for gold.

JFBinMass with Sharing a bite with dad for silver.

heritagemyway with Hugs & Laughter for bronze.

Check out all the Fun with Daddy entries and take a moment to enter the current contest, Summer Vacations.

We thank all the participants for sharing their inspiring work and hope you join the whole ACDSee team in saying congratulations to the winners!