Feature request Finder Tags

[Gary Small]

I don’t know if this is a lot of effort, but using Photo Supreme for (current) cataloging, one of the “synchronization” options is to write finder tags from the keywords. Graphic converter can do this as a separate workflow, but writing the finder tags when saving the xmp keywords would be a nice “feature”. It obviously allows limited metadata searching in the OS independent of photo software….gary

[Nik Bhatt]

It could yes. Finder tags are only strings (the colors are separately represented), so as long as no color is needed, it’s possible. However, it’s always tricky to write data when there is another application(s) that are also writing them. For example, if Nitro writes out tags, but then you add/remove some yourself in the Finder, what does it do – you don’t want the apps fighting with each other. By that, I mean, if Nitro writes out tags, and then you remove or add a tag in the Finder and then Nitro looks at the image again – the tags don’t match. Should it update them again, etc.? This is how simple features become complex ones with lots of knobs and switches.

• This reply was modified 2 weeks, 4 days ago by Nik Bhatt.

[Gary Small]

Thanks Nik, but your post today indicates that Nitro “supports” Finder tags in Tahoe. Have you posted any clarification on that? The cataloging software (Photo Supreme) writes finder tags as a synchronization option. I suppose the issue you described with changing those tags outside of Nitro or other PHOTO software could be an issue, but I simply see it as a “one way street” in terms of writing finder tags. The photo software doesn’t need to read or import them…but the option exits in the Finder to do a Spotlight search if one discontinues using a certain commercially branded photo software.

My case in point is moving away from Lightroom (a few years back) left me with a hierarchical keyword mess that took hours to untangle with other software (Photo Mechanic). Having finder tags would be a nice backup.

gary

[Nik Bhatt]

Nitro already supports Finder tags when using the file system. However, Apple made changes in Tahoe that I had to deal with.

If you tag an image in Nitro, it writes the tag to the Finder. If you tag in the Finder, the tag appears in Nitro. The tags and colors that Nitro uses are the ones you have set up in the Finder.

The app could write keywords as tags, but that would be a different feature which would not be using the tags you have in the Finder. My point is that the simple case is easy to do, but there are edge cases that get a little strange. For example, if you have a Finder tag called “Portrait” and it’s green. You keyword an image with Portrait. Do you want the green tag in that case, but the other keywords wouldn’t get colors assigned? I’m guessing yes, but I don’t really know.

[Gary Small]

Of course, leave it to Apple to muddy the feature with a new OS release. I’m not fully sure I think I understand your point about colors, but as long as “portrait” is still spelled “portrait” the Finder would (find) “portrait”. I know finder tags are weird because the system does not allow one to sort or alphabetize them (among other possible issues as you point out). While colors aren’t really that useful to me, I do note that when I add tags in the Finder, the colors default to the same color as previously used.

I DID see that I could (and did) “import” finder tags and see them displayed in the Info panel, but haven’t explored if it has any search functionality.

Thanks Nik.

Gary

[Author]

Posts