It’s too early to know for sure if giving up would be a better plan, but I’m having a helluva time with this IPTC software. So, I thought I’d pass on a few comments.
2010 update: MediaDex has been defunct since 2008. It’s now called Canto Single User. I don’t recommend it. If you’re looking for good IPTC software, try Photo Mechanic or GeoSetter.
All of you who have gone out in droves to download a trial of MediaDex, I hope you’re having a good time with it. I’m in a love/hate relationship. It’s the most un-intuitive software I’ve ever come across. It has a lot of potential though and I’m hoping that potential is worth $80. I like it because it has a clean and simple interface, it’s relatively stable and it handles all kinds of files besides graphics. I love it because it’s such a kick to make a simple breakthrough every few hours of trying. Some things don’t have any breakthrough moments. They simply need to be fixed.
MediaDex
It has a brick-wall face to it and no tool tips. There’s also a fairly useless help index as all the graphics that might be useful are too small to be seen. The text is precisely-written but it’s complex. Whoever designed this software has wired in a bit of a language problem. So it takes some serious time deciphering the terminology. Too many options can only be found in the standard menu instead of through icons, shortcut keys or right-click options. I spend a lot of time on my computer but rarely get a burn in my right shoulder. This software is such an ergonomic nightmare it’s put my neck out of joint.
However, I’ve gotten past all that and managed to import a few thousand files and get them categorized and keyworded. Don’t get me wrong, even with its problems it can be immensely useful. The warning is you may have to fight for it. There’s no email support, just a forum. So far, I’m batting about 10% on getting my questions answered.
In the meantime, curiosity got the better of me and I downloaded a trial of another cataloging software, iMatch. iMatch is a train-wreck, visually-speaking. It looks like it was built by a room full of people who forgot to have a meeting about what it should look like. Between the various limitations and splash screens the trial version is just plain obnoxious. Once you open it, don’t ever exit because it plays a 10 second count-down, every single time, on a really ugly screen telling you the reasons you should buy it. And they think this is going to motivate people?
iMatch
It has so many options it will make you dizzy. There are reams of icons but you’d need a magnifier to make out what they’re for. Whether it’s functional is hard to tell because there’s so much flak to get past to even begin. Every single thing you click on throws up a detailed tool-tip written in fine print that will make you blind in short order. It also gives the impression that you need their encyclopedia to use the software. Who knows, that may be true.
I did try to view my MediaDex-entered IPTC info there. Here it gets interesting. The iMatch IPTC window does not show categories and keywords at all. But hey! there’s a mini-HTML editor instead, so if you’re a programmer you can get in there and program it yourself! I’m nothing if not determined so I clicked on “Add a Row” and got a column instead. ‘Nuff said.
PDF 
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I find MediaDex working quite well now that I’ve gotten past my nail-biting, head-banging interlude. 3,806 files linked and fully indexed. About 15,000 to go. I’m in this for life. It handles 127 different file formats, even my OpenOffice documents, and has every field you could ever want for adding information.
I have seen various programs that advertise as being “fully IPTC-compatible”. It’s a bunch of baloney. What they mean is that they can write IPTC-captions to jpg’s, that’s it.