What to move to after iView Media Pro on Windows?

[cbimages]

I'm still using Win 7 and iView media Pro for my image catalogues. I'm trying to be proactive in anticipation of moving to Win 10 in the future, and I'm not sure the old iView will continue to work on Win10. iView was re-badged as Phase One Media Pro but stopped selling the software August 2018 and recommended migrating catalogues to Capture One. This is expensive and as I use Photoshop for editing, seems a bit of overkill.

 

I've found abeMeda, the Win version of NeoFinder. Wondering if anyone here knows much about it, or uses it? I'd appreciate any suggestions, but need to be able to migrate my iView catalogues into whatever I update to.

 

Thanks.

[M.Chapman]

If iView media Pro doesn't run on Windows 10 you could use free Virtual Machine software to run a copy of Windows 7 on your Windows 10 system which will allow you to continue using it. I'm using this method to allow me to run some of my old Windows 7 programs on a Mac and it works well.

 

Mark

Edited November 22, 2019 by M.Chapman

[Vincent Lowe]

Windows 10 has an option to run old software in 'compatibility mode'.  Right click on an icon, select 'Properties-Compatibility' then you can select from a drop-down list going right back to Windows 95.

 

I'm still using Lotus Smartsuite (WordPro, Approach and 123) and an old copy of Paint Shop Pro 7 which runs fine. I don't think you will have any problems running iView.

Edited November 22, 2019 by Vincent Lowe
Correction

[hdh]

As I am an open source fetishist, I use Digikam to organize my library. 

It comes for free and has quite some functionality, though I do not use the editor or raw conversion within, for this I use Gimp and Darktable respectively. 

Windows, Mac and Linux Versions are available. 

 

Not sure if you can import from iView, but digikam would read  information, including any tags, from the images on import. 

 

Here is an overview and a feature list :

 https://www.digikam.org/about/overview/

https://www.digikam.org/about/features/

 

If it fulfils your requirements it may be worth a test. 

[cbimages]

I hope not to have to move to Win 10 for a while (unless my laptop used when travelling dies) but the advice I "should" be able to continue to use iView is reassuring. Thanks for the advice, much appreciated.

[Graham]

I would recommend that you have a look at IMatch by Photools.com.  There is a significant learning curve to it, but it is incredibly powerful if you take the trouble to learn it, but it also works out of the box (as it were).  The developer, Mario, is very good about answering the most basic of questions and there is a supportive user forum.  Definitely worth a look, as far as I am concerned.

 

PhotoMechanic is also developing an asset management version.  It is still in beta, but I expect it will be very good once it is finished, and again the developers and other users are very supportive about helping via the user forums.

 

I don't know whether either of them will have Black Friday deals.  PhotoMechanic certainly did last year.

 

I would definitely look at migrating from iView sooner rather than later, and I agree that the Capture One asset management capabilities are not very good (as well as expensive).  Even if you keep iView going in the short term, the time will come when there will be file formats that it cannot read.  I have not used iView, but if it can save metadata as .XMP sidecar files, you will have no problem importing into either IMatch or PhotoMechanic.

 

Graham

[Vincent Lowe]

2 hours ago, Graham said:

I would recommend that you have a look at IMatch by Photools.com....

 

Graham

 

I second that - I've used it for years.  However, if CB isn't in a hurry it's probably best to wait a bit.  Mario is working on the new version and as he said in a recent post, - "Enjoy IMatch. If you like it now, you will adore it once you get IMatch 2020. So much exciting stuff in that new major release".

 

Note also the present version needs 64 bit Windows (7 or later).

[Graham]

If you decide to have a look at Photo Mechanic, they have announced a $20 discount from 27 November. I have not yet seen a discount offered for IMatch

 

Graham

[cbimages]

Thanks Vincent & Graham - IMatch is one I hadn't looked at. Will keep it in mind, especially the upcoming 2020 version, and will also check that I can import all my info from iView which is a must. Once it's released, I might run it in tandem with iView on  Win 7.

 

I don't want/need anything that includes processing, such as Photo Mechanic. as using Canon's DPP + Photoshop. But thanks again Graham.

[Graham]

Quote

 

I don't want/need anything that includes processing, such as Photo Mechanic. as using Canon's DPP + Photoshop.

Photo Mechanic does not include processing.  It is a super-fast file browser/ingester with all sorts of metadata and keywording facilities.  PM6 does not yet include a DAM/catalogue facility, but this is where PM6+ is heading.  All PM6 users can try out the PM6+ beta builds as they are released, but pricing for the upgrade to the PM6+ version, once it is out of beta, has not been announced yet. You would still need DPP or PS with either version.  Neither, for that matter, does IMatch include processing.  Like iView, both will help organise and find your images, but neither will process them.  Both will allow you to send your image to your chosen editor for processing.

 

Graham

[cbimages]

Thanks Graham, I hadn't looked closely enough, I read something about processing and "assumed". Sorry. I actually use DPP for prelim editing and processing and then finish in PS. RAW "keepers" and later on, processed files, are then put in their catalogues in iView. I also add backup locations of processed files (DVD number plus which backup drive) and all sales data in iView, which is why it's so important that I can migrate catalogues.

I will keep an eye on PM6+.

Edited November 28, 2019 by cbimages

[Marianne]

On 27/11/2019 at 19:06, cbimages said:

Thanks Graham, I hadn't looked closely enough, I read something about processing and "assumed". Sorry. I actually use DPP for prelim editing and processing and then finish in PS. RAW "keepers" and later on, processed files, are then put in their catalogues in iView. I also add backup locations of processed files (DVD number plus which backup drive) and all sales data in iView, which is why it's so important that I can migrate catalogues.

I will keep an eye on PM6+.

 

Thanks! I never thought to add the backup locations of my files in my catalog - what a great idea! Easy enough to add as a keyword to the files.