Software to take notes on images

[Mori]

Hello all,

Research help: can you point a software doing the following :

Raw material: a bunch of jpg files, each being a photograph/scan of a page of a document

I'd like:
1) to take notes on the images, but without altering the original images
2) to tag the images with keywords (e.g., names of units, or places, or officers)
3) to generate an index with these keywords. Somethink like "Paris, see images 35, 46, 59"
4) to make a single index even if the jpg are spread across different folders

Thanks for any idea.

Mori

[Bertill622]

Hi Mori!
Yes there is a way to do this in Microsoft Excel (or Libre Office free download).
Step 1. Give each document, photo, drawing, map, etc a description, example: photo Cherbourg 622 1943 interior 001.
Make sure that the description is placed in a single cell. In the cell on the right side of your description (tags) you create a hyperlink pointing
to the document, photo, etc.
Step 2. Make sure that all documents, photo, etc. are located in the same folder.

Then to search for any tag ot tags, use Ctrl + F.
A small search window will appear on your screen, type in the tag you are looking for and push enter.
Then the files you are looking will appear high lighted on your screen.

So if you type in 622, all the files with the tag 622 will appear.
If you type in Cherbourg, all the files with the tag Cherbourg will appear.
If you type in Cherbourg 622, all the files with the tags Cherbourg 622 will appear.

If you run out of space on your first tab (page) open a next one on the under side.
Rename the tabs as you like, for instance; Norway, Denmark, etc.

When building a database like this don't forget to save your entries!

I started building a database like that 8 years ago on German fortifications, airfields, etc in Holland and it contains
more than 9500 entries and it works perfect. (But this kind of recording of my research is not finished yet and I doubt
that I will ever be able to complete it. But that work will be carried to the next generation.)

Best regards,
Bertill.

PS. Yes you can use different folders, just make sure the hyperlink points to the item in that particular folder and put all your
subfolders in a main folder including your data base.

[Mori]

Thanks Bertill,

I hadn't thought of that, it's stimulating. One positive feature is you don't have to create/maintain a list of tags, since anything typed in the description is a tag.

One limit comes to my mind: if, when reading the text on the image again, you want to add keywords, you must go to excel, find the right line, modify the cell. That's probably cumbersome, isn't? More than casually typing the (new) word directly on the image.

Still, the excel way is a good step forward.

Mori

[Bertill622]

Hi Mori!
If you want to add or remove or change your tags on a particular document, photo, etc, no problem, just make sure that your hyperlink
points to that particular file (save changes).
It is not cumbersome to modify a file, add or remove a tag. All in all it is a lot of work, that is for sure, but once you started you will find that you are
building a database you can modify to your own needs. But that is the case with building every database, using Excel, Access, etc.

Best regards,
Bertill.

[Bertill622]

Hi Mori! Just reading this topic again and I have some input.

If you want to put the information on the photo, document, etc, make a copy of the original.
For all the copies with your text (tags) , use paint.net free download, you can place lines, arrows, text, etc in it, give these their tags.
Place every file in a sub-map , your tags must be the name of the sub-map. Make sure in the index that the hyperlink in the cell next to it, point to the subject you are looking for, once again description, tags.
If you find some new information on that particular file, just copy/paste that in the sub-map. And save your changes!
In the same sub-map you can place the original photo, document, etc.
You can very easely protect these sub-maps from overwriting (read only).
We call it a sub-map, but sub-folder means the same thing.

Best regards,
Bertill.

[Mori]

I'll reply to myself: I eventually found a software with a note-taking function. It's Adobe Lightroom.

There is a bit of an overkill in using such a software for this only function. Yet I couldn't find anything else, and this Lightroom works just fine.

[Hoplophile]

You might want to use presentation software (such as PowerPoint or Keynote) to create albums of pictures, with the information typed into the presenter notes. Most presentation software packages have a light-table function that will allow you to look at, and organize, many pictures at once. They also have "find" functions that allow you to find text in the presenter notes.