To organize your portfolio of digital images, you can either create a folder structure to store all your digital image files, or you can utilize image management software. Such photo organizing software typically utilizes a database to store information about each image. This allows for quick image searches without the need to read the original image files. This can dramatically improve search speed and efficiency.

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1 - Use the image file browser to view images in folders

fotoARRAY offers a convenient and efficient solution to manage your digital image assets on Windows. The program has an image-file browser that lets you view any image stored in your computer without importing them into a database. To explore one or more folder  (and optionally sub folders), all you need to do is click on the folder items to select them. An efficient way to browse through your files is by opening multiple folders at once, which will all be shown together in a single, organized view.

2 - Use fotoARRAY as catalog based photo organizer software 

fotoARRAY maintains a database with all the important image metadata where it also stores the thumbnails.

Importing images into this database makes it easy to find pictures, view images, select certain photos and use them in your design projects. Instead of searching through individual files, you can browse through your entire collection and choose the images you need.  This also works, if the original image files are on a drive, which is not connected to the computer.

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fotoARRAY is a photo organizer, that focuses on the images rather than the metadata. It has a simple and fast interface that allows easy access to any picture in the collection. It also supports copying and syncing with other programs for editing and developing images. It does not want to lock you into its own system, but give you the freedom to use the perfect tool for each task you need to do with your photos.

It implements a powerful filter tool: If you know the date a photo was taken on, you can type in the data into the filter box. You can also type in multiple dates or only parts of dates, such as the 1.7 of every year.

fotoARRAY was designed to not only manage digital images but also present photos in an engaging way. So from the first line of code, it was designed to provide intuitive access to the stored images. To change the selection of images, one click is enough most of the time. If you want to add or remove images to the view, press CTRL and click on items in the albums, keywords or timeline panel.

Albums

While a photo can be just in one directory on the harddrive,  it can be in multiple albums at the same time. This makes it easy to use the same photo in an album of a vacation and of a special event. With fotoARRAY, you can identify which collection an image belongs to by displaying a specific color or symbol alongside the image in the grid. This unique feature makes it easier to organize and manage your photos.

Keywords

Like albums, keywords can be freely assigned to an image (with optional symbols and/or color display). They make it easy to select a subset of images from the main set, preselected by an album. They are best suited to mark images from different subjects.

Color-labels

Color labels in combination with filters are useful to create sub collections of images with just a click. 

With the time linepanel

The timeline lists a label for all years, months and days a image in the selection was taken. You can click on one or more labels to only display the images which were taken on the respective dates.

Using the filter dialog

With the filter dialog, you can easily create advanced filters to evaluate different types of metadata in your image collection. This includes file names, rating levels, color labels, and even the camera used to capture the image. This functionality allows you to easily sort and organize your images based on specific criteria so you can quickly find the photos you need. You can filter photos by date with ease. Simply input a range of dates you'd like to filter by, and the system will display all photos taken during that time. This feature is particularly useful for organizing your photo collection and quickly finding photos from a specific date. It is also possible to specify a part of a date, such as every 1.7. each year.

Using the filter toolbar

The filter toolbar can be customized by adding some of the most frequently used filters for quick access. This is a great feature that can save you time when working on your project. Simply choose the filters and add them to your toolbar for easy access. With this option, you won't need to go through the filter dialog every time you need to use a filter, making your workflow much smoother.

By dragging and dropping images on the grid

If you drag and drop images from a particular folder into the photo grid, the photos that have the same name as the images you have chosen will be selected. With this feature, you can effortlessly assign a color-label or rating to images that have been previously chosen by other programs.

Unlike "pure" image management software, fotoARRAY includes a variety of methods and ideas for exchanging image data with other programs that perform specific tasks, such as RAW development. We want to give you the freedom to use the program you prefer for developing the images, or to choose between different programs depending on the work you need to do. We also listen to the needs and ideas of our customer base to implement further tasks.

Start a program with the image(s) from a submenu or button

In addition to opening an external program with an image file, fotoARRAY can also copy the image and parameter files to a different directory before launching the specialized program.

Drag & drop on other program

You can not only drag&drop images from the display grid on a different program, you can also specify which data is inserted there. This can be the thumbnail image, the original image or a version of your image from a subdirectory or a linked directory.

Copy and Paste in other program

Also with this feature you can select which data should be copied. If you don't have the original images because the hard drive with them is not with you, you can still use the thumbnail image.

Display photos in a grid, the "Array" view

The grid view presents various display modes, among which the "row" mode stands out for its ability to automatically adjust the image size to optimize space utilization. This feature allows users to enjoy a visually appealing and streamlined view without worrying about manual resizing. 

Display photos one by one, zoomed mode

fotoARRAY can also display the images one by one. You can use a hotkey to quickly switch between grid-mode and the single image display.  Just type Ctrl+F1 to temporarily hide the side panels.

• Instant slide show (F1)
• Single image view (space)
• Compare and modify view (F3)

fotoARRAY includes a module that can adjust a photo within certain limits. For this purpose, a color correction, an exposure setting, contrast and saturation as well as a tone curve can be adjusted for the image afterwards. Layers containing either a straight or radial gradient can be used to apply the image changes only to certain areas of the image. Through this simple system, photos can often be enhanced. In no case is the original image altered. Only a recipe is applied, which can be changed at any time. The image processing is part of the comparison view which can be opened using the function key 3 [F3].

Export the images like viewed to JPEG or PDF

To export the images as they appear on the screen, you have the option to save them in either JPEG or PDF format. This is a handy feature which allows you to share the layout with others while maintaining its original appearance.

With "Broadcast" fotoARRAY includes a tool to share images and other data with mobile deviced. You can download images to your smartphone and send files to your desktop computer. You don't need to download an app or create an account to use this feature. Additionally, there's no need to rely on cloud services to share images. As long as your visitors are connected to your local WIFI network, they can access this function. It's a hassle-free way to share images with your guests. 

You can use fotoARRAY also create a HTML image gallery which you can upload to a web presence. To do so fotoARRAY uses a powerful template based system, which allows it to modify the layout of the web pages.
(Some of this features required the paid license of fotoARRAY)

Most versatile is the possibility to copy a set of files into a special project directory where you can edit the files. If required you can link the edited version in this directory to an album so they are displayed and/or used within fotoARRAY.