I’m working at a large non-profit org and would like to find a tool to allow our in-house clients to review possible photo choices from a library of both purchased stock images and photos taken by us.
Are there any such tools anyone here recommends?
I’d want something where we could upload a large number of files to a repository, then be able to tag and organize the images, put them in different folders representing the various programs the non-profit runs. The tool would also, ideally, be able to filter the large database of images based on tags. Or allow us to offer 3 image possibilities to a client by giving them a link to a folder or tag set that would display their options. Maybe even give them a way to select their favorite (give it a new tag of “First choice”?).
Thank you for any help or suggestions. Does Adobe Lightroom do this? Allow you to tag, organize, share? Another option that has been suggested is Zenfolio, but that doesn’t seem to me to have sufficiently robust organizing tools, but I could take another look at it.
Lastly, this cannot cost more than probably US$75-100/year. Is there anything that fits these criteria that people here have found useful?
What you’re talking about is Digital Asset Management (DAM). There are a number of DAM platforms out there. One system that I am familiar with is Salsify. It’s a pretty deep experience and is probably more than you need (and probably more than you want to spend). I have to believe there are lighter and less expensive options out there. Maybe someone else has experience. In the mean time, you can do your DAM research.
At my 2nd to last job, I signed up a client with an account at Smugmug.com for something very similar to what you described. It worked quite well and was reasonably inexpensive. The difference with them is they wanted to share high-res photos with the public. Just checked, and it seems they’re still using it. Click the browse link in the upper right-hand corner to see how they’ve broken their photos into categories.
If you’re looking to find something even cheaper, Google Drive might even work.
Adobe Bridge isn’t a very powerful program, but you can use it to do all the things you listed. The sharing can be done using the Contact Sheet feature, which puts thumbnails of the selected images on a multi page pdf or jpg, and you email that attachment to the client. Much easier for clients to deal with that than it is for them to learn how to power-use a new piece of software. If you’ve already got an Adobe subscription, it’s included.
Air is something we just switched over too. Looks great, integrates with internal communications softwares like slack, and provides all the features you want and more.
it can get a little pricey, but from what I understand the basic usage is relatively affordable.
