From Sheryl Frisch sfrisch@calpoly.edu Cal Poly

Summary:

1. Data is entered using customize "Creator", "Image", and "Work" panels in Adobe Bridge CS3 and Photoshop CS3.
2. Export data to an Excel spreadsheet using two different templates:
   1. Export all or choose specific fields.
   2. CSU template that works with the WorldImage database.
3. The data will be exported as text file, proofed in an Excel spreadsheet, and then imported into EmbARK . Prior to the import  of data, image records are created in EmbARK by “acquiring” the image files.

Notes:

• Scripts were written in Javascript and placed in the Adobe Bridge Start up folder.
• GUIs were created to facilitate the import and export process and are part of the scripts.
• The Adobe Library files had to be modified so that the scripts could "talk" to the panels.
• The custom Photoshop panels were created awhile ago using MetLab, a free metadata software from Poundhill, that allows you to customize a panel.

Full description:

Initially image data is captured by student assistants directly from the source. As it moves through the workflow it is cleaned up, prepared for our database (EmbARK) and ultimately formatted for the Web Kiosk.

What we did was customize the “File Info” panels used in Adobe Bridge CS3 and Photoshop CS3. We created three panels, “Creator”, “Image”, and “Work” and they follow the VRA core more or less. We don’t have enough resources to support cataloging a complete core record for each image so we focus on a brief record. The student assistants enter image data into the panels using Bridge. Going from the database where the work records reside and then writing the data into the image file, would be more expedient. In the future, we will be able to do this as well once our workflow is more developed. At present however, we’re not fully supported on the database end of the process, and students working in the database would bring additional problems.

Once the data has been entered in Bridge we can then export it as a text file.  The text file is opened with Excel and the data is given a final review. It is saved as a text file and then imported into EmbARK.

Currently we have two formats for CS3. In the first, we can

select either all or specific fields to export. The second is a CSU template that works with the WorldImage database. The CSU export template adds additional columns for

data required for the WorldImage database and populates the fields that were filled in by

the student during the initial data capture. This way, correct data is only entered once and is moved around. Data that was not entered properly is cleaned up and imported back into the image files. The filename is the key field. Creating an export for the VRA Core that would work in a similar manner is possible in CS3.

To accomplish all of this, scripts written in Javascript were created by a student assistant who is a computer science major. They are placed in the Adobe Bridge  CS3 Start up folder. GUIs were created to facilitate the import and export process and are part of the scripts.  The Adobe Library files had to be modified so that the scripts could “talk” to the panels. The panels were created awhile ago using MetLab, a free metadata software from Poundhill.

For our purposes, the data is imported into EmbARK via Excel and then linked to the image files. Some programs can display the metadata once the images are imported (Media Expression, formally iView, and possibly Portfolio). Gallery Systems was working on this feature for EmbARK, but I think they have dropped it.

We just started looking into Adobe Flex. We’re customizing it to use for the initial data capture as it will be more flexible for the students than Bridge. It looks like a fantastic tool.  We will still need to import the data into the image files using Bridge.

Although there’s probably another program out there that can do that.