Synchronize Settings

[tstoddard]

I posed these questions in the thread on delimited keywords and I'm afraid they will not get answered there. That topic tends to draw a lot of interest and the conversation goes in too many different directions. I will try to be specific. What I really want to know about are the ramifications of combining certain synchronize settings.

Under "Write Settings" I have enabled both "Write Catalog label structure to IDimager ICS scheme" and "Always write Lightroom hierarchical keywords".

• 1. Is writing both advisable or not?
  2. If, under "Read Settings" I enable both "Read Lightroom keywords only (if available)" and "Read IDimager ICS scheme (if available)" will one take precedent over the other and is it advisable or not to have both enabled?

My reason for asking is this: I don't use Lightroom but I may decide to do so at some point so I thought it might be a good idea to write Lightroom keywords. It appears that Lightroom keywords include the hierarchy structure. If that is so, and PSU can ascertain my hierarchy from my Lightroom keywords, do I still need to write my structure to the ICS scheme?

[Hert]

You don't have to use Lightroom to write Lightroom keywords. Doing so is the better choice.

ICS schema is something different. It's more than just a catalog label structure, it's in fact a backup of the most significant catalog data. You don't *need* it, though it's good practice to have it. When using LR keywords, your hierarchies will at least be stored and recoverable.

Hert

[dickl]

I cannot address question one. I've always used default settings for write. It is important for the next point...

Using Read Idimager ICS Scheme is a performance issue if I recall. The only time I use it is if my catalog is corrupted, and I have to rebuild it from scratch by reimporting images. With Write ICS on, all of the information necessary to rebuild the catalog is in the image file. But if your catalog is fine, there is no necessity to re-read the ICS, and image reads take less time... Right Hert?

Dick

[Hert]

But if your catalog is fine, there is no necessity to re-read the ICS, and image reads take less time... Right Hert?

Very true Dick!

Hert

[Mike Buckley]

Tom,

I don't feel that your questions have been clearly answered, so I'll do my best to do so.

Under "Write Settings" I have enabled both "Write Catalog label structure to IDimager ICS scheme" and "Always write Lightroom hierarchical keywords".

1. Is writing both advisable or not?

Definitely advisable. The other thread that you mentioned explains in great detail why it's advisable to write Lightroom keywords to the image file. The reason to write the catalog label structure to the IDimager ICS scheme is advisable in my mind because doing so makes it possible to restore your catalog when all other methods fail. Though Hert points out that writing the catalog label structure to the ICS is not necessary so long as you write Lightroom keywords to the files, I think it's advisable for the same reason that you would wear both a belt and suspenders to ensure that your pants don't fall to the ground. It can never hurt to enable both settings.

2. If, under "Read Settings" I enable both "Read Lightroom keywords only (if available)" and "Read IDimager ICS scheme (if available)" will one take precedent over the other and is it advisable or not to have both enabled?

Under normal circumstances, you should not read the IDimager ICS scheme. You should reserve reading it only in the abnormal circumstance that you need to restore your catalog and have no viable backups. If you ever need to enable that setting to restore your catalog, you should disable the setting immediately afterward. Indeed, that advice is explicitly provided in the IDimager V5 Help screen but I didn't see it (perhaps I overlooked it) in Supreme's Help screen. You can see Hert's confirmation above that reading the ICS scheme requires a lot of time.

I don't use Lightroom but I may decide to do so at some point so I thought it might be a good idea to write Lightroom keywords. It appears that Lightroom keywords include the hierarchy structure. If that is so, and PSU can ascertain my hierarchy from my Lightroom keywords, do I still need to write my structure to the ICS scheme?

As mentioned above, doing so can't hurt.

[tstoddard]

You don't have to use Lightroom to write Lightroom keywords. Doing so is the better choice.

ICS schema is something different. It's more than just a catalog label structure, it's in fact a backup of the most significant catalog data. You don't *need* it, though it's good practice to have it. When using LR keywords, your hierarchies will at least be stored and recoverable.

Okay, so I gather that it is an acceptable practice to both write Lightroom keywords and ICS schema but what should my read settings be? Apparently, I don't need to read ICS schema unless I need to recover my catalog database, but is there any reason to enable the "read Lightroom keywords only" setting?

[Mike Buckley]

is there any reason to enable the "read Lightroom keywords only" setting?

If you do not use Lightroom to write keywords to the file, there is no reason to read them using IDimager. However, it can't hurt to enable that setting. If you do use Lightroom to write keywords to the file and want to them to be stored in Supreme's catalog, you absolutely must enable that setting.

Having said that, I strongly advise using only one program to write keywords to the file or a catalog. It's too easy to leave a step out of your workflow that will result in your Lightroom and Supreme catalogs not being the same.