What are folks using, i.e.:software, to manage their image files? I have read the DAM book and the cataloging program recommended most in that work was IView Media. However I have read that since it was purchased and revised it is not a robust and useful as before.
Adobe Lightroom here. More robust than I once thought. Before LR was released I used IView Media Pro until Microsoft bought them, I still have IView catalogs from pre-LR days.
The first time I tried lightroom I hated it--but Al Forns was so happy with it I gave it a second look and decided I liked it. The Luminous Landscape tutorial which sells for about $15 is a great way to get started.
*nod* I'm not generally a big fan of guide books for software (I think I just want to get down and start using it I think), but much of Lightroom's power is not immediately obvious. The best thing I did therefore was to buy a Lightroom book (in my case, "Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book for Digital Photographers" by Scott Kelby - but they are a number of others of course). It's amazing how much of the Lightroom isn't immediately obvious, but once somebody points you to look there, you realize quite how much it can really do. I'm still working on my overall flow and file management, but I learned loads from the book even though I'd been using LR for months. Some things I wish I'd known from day 1, as now I have to back and fix my misunderstandings if I want to work efficiently going forward.
Whatever solution you end up choosing, it's likely to be complex, so I guess my recommendation would be to make sure you have the time up front to learn about how things are supposed to work, so you can get the most out of your chosen software from the first day forward.
Also an Aperture user. Mac OS X only product though. If you plan on teaching courses you probably would want to look at Lightroom since it is cross platform.
Also, I should mention that Microsoft finally fixed all of the parts of iView that they broke in the process of re-branding Expression Media. It still does not have new features, but at least it is no longer missing what it used to have. Microsft has disappointed a lot of people with the way they mishandled that. Finding out that there was nothing new--like stacking--was almost heartbreaking.
Digital Asset Management
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