User Guide

ACDSee Pro 3 User Guide
names you choose. There are different icons to use for different categories to help you identify them at a glance. Once your files are
in categories, you can search, sort, group, and find them by category.
One way to assign files to a category is to select and drag one or more files from the file list and drop them onto the category. Any file
that is assigned to a category has a blue tab above its thumbnail in the File List. A file can belong to multiple categories, but it will
only have one blue tab.
You can also use the Database tab on the Properties pane to assign multiple files to multiple categories with a few clicks.
Ratings
You can assign a numerical rating from 1 to 5 to your images and files. Once you have assigned ratings, you can search, sort, and
organize your files based on the ratings, or a combination of ratings, categories, auto categories etc. A file can have only one rating.
When a file has a rating, the number appears on top of the thumbnail in the File List pane.
Auto Categories
Most digital cameras create and embed information about the file as you take a photo. This information is called metadata and can
include the name and model of the camera, the file size, shutter speed, camera settings used in the shot and much more. ACDSee
Pro uses this information to create auto categories. When you click on an auto category, ACDSee Pro searches for images containing
that metadata. You can select one or more auto categories to find files, for example, photos of a certain size, taken by a particular
camera. You can also add to this data using the Properties panes.
Saved Searches
If you find yourself creating the same search criteria frequently, you can save the search to use again later. Saved searches appear
at the top of the Search pane but they also appear in the Organize pane for you to re-run using a single click on the name or in the
white check box of the Easy-select bar.
To create a new saved search from the Organize pane:
1. In the Saved Searches area of the Organize pane, click the New saved search icon .
The Search pane opens.
2. Enter your search criteria and then click the Saved searches icon .
The new saved search appears in the Saved Searches on the Organize pane and in the Saved Searches drop-down list of the
Search pane.
Special Items
You can use Special Items to quickly view all of the images in your database and any uncategorized images. Select one of the
following items:
Image Well: Displays all images cataloged in the ACDSee Pro database. If you have a substantial image collection, it may
take a few moments to gather all of the information.
Embed Pending: Displays all the files whose database data has changed but has not yet been embedded in the files.
Uncategorized: Displays any images cataloged in the database that have not been assigned to a category.
Tagged: Displays all the tagged photos on the computer.
You can assign a rating or category to any type of file, but the options in the Special Items area only apply to images.
The ACDSee Pro database and embedded data
When you assign a file to a rating, or category, this information is stored in the ACDSee Pro database. If you choose to, you can also
embed this information in each individual file, making it easier to relocate and share files, or retrieve the information from the file if
you need to. As the database, information is always associated with a particular file. If you move or rename files using an application
other than ACDSee Pro (like Windows Explorer) the link between the file and the ACDSee Pro database will be broken. If this
happens, and you have embedded the information in each file, you can rebuild the database and retrieve all the information.
42