Metadata and database questions

[flips]

Hi! I just bought ACDsee Photo Studio v4 for Mac. Looks good. (Main purpose, use it as a DAM.)

First question:
It seems easy to set/change tags, rating etc, but they are only stored in the database, not in the image files themselves or XMP sidecars?
(Is this changeable? Feels safe to have it stored in/by each image.)

Second question:
Since the database is important, where is it located (for automated backup),

And related to this (and maybe most important):
If a mount point/directory is renamed (by OS/app or server changes, OS reinstall etc), can I somehow update database accordingly? (So that I don't risk loosing tags etc.)

+ Can I manually trim/modify the DB, remove obsolete entries etc?

[flips]

As for storing metadata in files, I guess I can manually choose to "Embed Database Information in Selected Files".

Windows versions seems to have Database management option/tool, but not so on Mac?
(Except empty/optimize DB)

[david@acd]

Hi flips,

Welcome to the forum

You're correct that the "Embed Database Information in Selected Files" command will write the ACDSee metadata to the files/XMP sidecars. This needs to be done manually via the Tools menu (or, you could assign a custom keyboard shortcut via Preferences > Mouse and Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts).

The database is located at the following path:

~/Library/Application Support/ACD Systems/ACDSee/com.ACDSystems.ACDSeePhotoStudio (version 7.0).mediaDatabase


Currently, unfortunately there is no way "rebind" the database entries in the event a mountpoint/directory is renamed etc. I will review this with the product team.

Yes, you can remove obsolete entries from the database via Tools > Optimize Database. Select the desired Volume and then click the "Remove Orphans" button.

Best regards,
David

[flips]

Hi flips,
The database is located at the following path:
~/Library/Application Support/ACD Systems/ACDSee/com.ACDSystems.ACDSeePhotoStudio (version 7.0).mediaDatabase
...
Currently, unfortunately there is no way "rebind" the database entries in the event a mountpoint/directory is renamed etc. I will review this with the product team.

Thanks! :-)
I guess I could try a manual SQLite query/replace and reimport if the need should arise ...

But ... It seems there is no XMP support in ACDSee Photo Studio 4 for mac?
I'm trying to work on loads of images that I earlier tagged using XMP, but it seems ACDSee does not pick it up.
(I only see IPTC and EXIF in Properties.)

[david@acd]

Hi flips,

By design, ACDSee doesn't read ACDSee Tags (as well as ACDSee Keywords and Categories) when browsing files, even though they've been embedded in the files/sidecars using XMP.

To read the embedded XMP metadata, run the "Catalog Folders" command (found in the Tools menu) and navigate to the desired folder(s). Ensure the option "Import ACDSee organizing information (categories, keywords, tagged)" is turned on (by default, it is).

The reason for this is to help prevent another person's embedded organizational metadata from being inadvertently added to your database in the event they share photos with you.

Please give this a try and let me know if it works! If there's any trouble, please let me know what filetypes you're using and I can assist more.

Best regards,
David