Awesome alternative
The dedication to the Apple aesthetic is what really makes me love where the developer is headed with this product. What I still long for is integration to both read from IPTC/XMP keywords and ratings, and to have a path to update them. While being able to do so from in PixlPath would be nice, I’d be fine with XMP sidecar generation where I can use EXIFTOOL to update the actual images. Whatever works for the overall vision. I do want to see the ratings/keywords from images read from the media however so I don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Overall though, the best potential of any app I’ve seen.
Response from developer
Thanks for taking the time to write such a thoughtful review. You'll be pleased to know that metadata editing in the macOS version, powered by ExifTool, is currently in beta and should be ready in the coming weeks. Because other apps behave very differently, I'm still refining how PIXLpath merges keywords stored across different fields (IPTC Keywords, XMP Dublin Core Subject, XMP Lightroom Hierarchical Subject), and how to store them in a way that other apps will recognize predictably. Once editing is in place, syncing will expand to support writing ratings and tags to an asset's embedded metadata and/or an XMP sidecar. The current Finder Label Sync will be consolidated into a single syncing utility: Catalog Ratings → Embedded Ratings Catalog Tags → Embedded Keywords Catalog Labels → Finder The absence of honoring embedded ratings at import was largely a chicken-or-egg problem: once PIXLpath reads and applies embedded ratings to a catalog's rating system, users naturally expect changes made in the app to sync cleanly back to the files. Updates are on the way.
Useful cataloging software that frequently adds new feaures
The developer continues to refine both the interface and the function, and the app becomes incrementally more useful and generally stable with each iteration. In my workflow it has now become a good substitute for the long-mourned demise of MediaPro—it's stil not quite as powerful an ally in quick organization for that defunct title, but it has come closest of the myriad image cataloging and file organization programs I've used over the years, and I find I can rely on it to make quick work of organizing the visual assets of a new project and keep to a tight schedule. I have no doubt the developer will keep working towards a more useful and usable program based on all the positive changes.
Update:
The developer reached out to me and offered to help trouble shoot the app, and he also updated it independently to address what he thought might be the issue. It works much better and the issue seems to have resolved—I can now open catalogs with thousands of items with no trouble.
Old review:
I find that working with catalogs with more than a 5 or 6 dozen images bogs the software down, and that it somehow loses the thumbnails with greater frequency the larger the catalog gets—it ends up necessitating rebuilding the thumbnails only to lose them over and over. I tried making the thumbnails as small as possible and it doesn't help. It ends up being useful for organizing images in a small way, but its limitations are frustrating even as its design is clean and inviting.
Response from developer
I appreciate your review updates and I'm glad you're finding the app useful! As always, feel free to reach out if you have any requests. ------original reply-------- I just released an update that modifies how previews are cached, which may address the issue you're experiencing. While I wasn't able to replicate the problem on my end, I believe it could be related to using system temporary storage for unsaved catalogs. The update is in version 1.4, and the release note highlights: "Optimized thumbnail caching to avoid relying on system temporary storage, reducing the risk of issues when disk space is low, and improving recovery of unsaved catalogs after a reboot." If you encounter any further problems, feel free to reach out to me directly at hello@pixlpath.com. I push out updates quickly whenever an issue is reported.
Beautifully Minimal
Every photographer should have this
Only good for small catalogs
The developer reached out to me and offered to help trouble shoot the app, and he also updated it independently to address what he thought might be the issue. It works much better and the issue seems to have resolved—I can now open catalogs with thousands of items with no trouble.
Old review:
I find that working with catalogs with more than a 5 or 6 dozen images bogs the software down, and that it somehow loses the thumbnails with greater frequency the larger the catalog gets—it ends up necessitating rebuilding the thumbnails only to lose them over and over. I tried making the thumbnails as small as possible and it doesn't help. It ends up being useful for organizing images in a small way, but its limitations are frustrating even as its design is clean and inviting.
Response from developer
I just released an update that modifies how previews are cached, which may address the issue you're experiencing. While I wasn't able to replicate the problem on my end, I believe it could be related to using system temporary storage for unsaved catalogs. The update is in version 1.4, and the release note highlights: "Optimized thumbnail caching to avoid relying on system temporary storage, reducing the risk of issues when disk space is low, and improving recovery of unsaved catalogs after a reboot." If you encounter any further problems, feel free to reach out to me directly at hello@pixlpath.com. I push out updates quickly whenever an issue is reported.
