Table of Contents

Image Search

Not only can the StudioLine search engine be used to find a specific image, but it can also be used to collect images from various folders which match a certain theme. The Image Archive “Search” function collects all matching images in a temporary “Search Results” folder. Searches are based on the content of image tags (“Descriptors”). By making extensive use of descriptors and entering detailed descriptions, you will be rewarded with much more relevant search results.

You can quickly search for images just by entering words into the “Quick Search” edit field of the Menu bar. After pressing the “Return” key, StudioLine starts to search for the requested image in the currently opened Image Archive folder and all subfolders.

To start the advanced search, click the “Search” button in the album view of the Image Archive Pane.

In the “Search Image Archive“ panel (see below), you can enter search criteria and also limit the search to certain descriptors and folders.

By default, the entire Image Archive will be searched. Use the folder list on the right to restrict the search to any folder. The “Search in” field will show which folder is currently selected, or “\” for the entire Image Archive.

The drop-down list “Include Descriptors” allows you to specify which image tags are used to find the search argument. From the drop-down list, select “Choose…” to open the “Choose Descriptors” panel. For an even more targeted search, check the “Advanced Search” button in the “Search Image Archive panel.

Here you can define complex search criteria, for example, locate all pictures that mention “Portugal,” except those that mention “Lisbon”.

Time Spans

You can use the advanced search options “Date between” or “Time between” by clicking on their respective boxes, and using the drop down menus to define the time span. You can then chose if your images are to be found based on their File-, Exif-, or Modification date. Choose one of the three from the dropdown menu “use descriptor”:

  • Search by Exif Date
    This option includes images based on the creation date as recorded by the digital camera. You’ll quickly find sunset photos from last year’s vacation.
  • Search by File Date
    This option includes images based on the day that they were copied to your computer. This can be helpful for scanned and other images that lack Exif information.
  • Search by Modification Date
    This option includes images based on the date when they were last edited. This is an excellent way to locate images that you recently have been working on.

Search and Replace

The panel “Search Image Archive” is also used to perform a global change against the descriptors of several images. This feature could be used to standardize spellings or abbreviations for certain terminology, for instance.

  • Type the word or phrase to be replaced into the field “Search Argument”.
  • Click the “Replace” checkbox. Below, type the replacement text.

The replace is “case sensitive” – the search argument you typed must use the same combination of upper and lowercase letters as the text you are trying to replace.

Managing Your Search Results

Matching images are arranged in a temporary Image Archive folder called “Search Results”. This special purpose folder will be discarded as soon as a different folder is opened via the album view of the Image Archive Pane. The found images can be viewed as a slide show, printed, emailed, exported, or used in a web gallery. You can permanently save any such search collection of theme-related images.

  • First, open the StudioLine Explorer “Image Archive“ and navigate to a target folder for your images, or create a new one. (You could also rightclick on “Image Archive” in the album view of the Image Archive Pane and choose “New Folder” from the context menu).
  • Click the “Select All” button on the toolbar, or press “Ctrl+A”, to select all images in the search results.

For the next step you have several choices:

  • You may simply want to retain the search result for now so that you can process them at a more convenient time. In this case, press and hold the “Alt” key while dragging the images from the search results to the target folder. New shortcut objects are created in the target folder, but all pictures remain at their original locations. This also guarantees that the shortcut objects will always use the same descriptions, filters, image tools and settings as the reference images at their original locations. Remember, if you ever delete any of the images in their original locations, the shortcut object will be removed as well.
  • If you are trying to process the search result pictures with different descriptions, filters, or tool settings, then press and hold the “Ctrl” key while dragging the images from the search results to the target folder. Copies of all search result picture objects are created in the target folder. Any work performed against the image copies will not affect the pictures at their original locations. However, thanks to the underlying StudioLine database technology, no extra disk space is required for duplicate physical images.
  • If you are trying to reorganize your pictures, drag the selected images from the search results and drop them into their target folder. The pictures will be moved from their original location to the target folder.

Image Archive Filter

The Image Archive Search function finds images from multiple folders and places them into a single temporary Results folder. In contrast, the Image Archive Filter finds the searched images and displays them in the folders in which they can be found, via a Results folder tree in the navigation pane.

Filter Criteria

To search using the filter function, select “Image Archive Filter” from the menu in the Quick Search Bar.

The “Image Archive Filter” window will open. Choose the type of Descriptor you want to filter from the dropdown menu. You can select any of the specific User, System, Exif, or other descriptors by clicking on the root descriptor and then navigating to the specific descriptor.

Then choose the comparison operator. The dropdown menu allows you to scroll through approximately ten choices. Finally, enter your unique value (word or set of words) for the search and click “OK”. StudioLine will look through all descriptors for the search criteria and display the results as a folder tree in the navigation pane.

You can use the button Show without folder tree at the top of the Image Archive Pane to show the searched images contained in the folder tree without having to manually open the folders. (See: “Viewing Folders with Subfolder Content” earlier in this manual.) If you click on the “Results” folder“, you will see ALL of the images from your search in the Image Archive Pane to the right.

The folder tree shows an eye on it to indicate that you are in the Show without Folder Tree mode. You can also click on the individual folders to just see the images from those folders. In this search, different versions of the same image have been selected.

If you want a more targeted search, go back to your Filter Settings button. This will open your Image Archive Filter window again, where you can combine multiple criteria for an advanced search.

Choose a Descriptor

Choose a comparison operator from the second drop-down list. For example the “contains” comparison will look for a partial match. It will find images where the entered value can be found anywhere in the chosen descriptor, even as part of a word. In contrast, the “equals” comparison will look for images where descriptor content matches the entered value character for character with identical lengths. Comparisons are not case sensitive – upper and lower case letters are treated the same.

The third field has a dual function. You can either enter a search value or use the drop-down list to choose from values that appear in the Image Archive for the chosen descriptor.

All three drop-down menus define the filter criteria. After selecting or entering press the “OK” button for StudioLine to start filtering. The tree view in the Image Archive Pane will show only those folders containing only the matching pictures.

Combining Criteria

By combining multiple filter criteria, you can narrow or widen the search. Open the Image Archive Filter and set up a first filter argument as discussed above using the descriptor, comparison, and value field.

To widen the search, click the button “Include More Pictures.” To narrow the search, click the button “Restrict the Search.” Pressing either button will display a new row to define an additional search criteria A hit counter displays the number of matches so far. You will be able to define a total of 20 filter arguments.