Images and thumbnails questions

[SLOW]

Hello--

I am running XP Pro, with Access 2007. I have several folders, each with
hundreds of image files-- most of these are photo .tifs.

I would like to make a database that contains the file names and key
information about each file (date it was taken, what it is a picture of,
etc.). I want this database to be searchable by users, who will be prompted
to enter criteria for specific attributes ("The photo(s) you are looking and
from what year(s)? _____________"); users must be able to answer in plain
language-- the users cannot be required to enter any code or anything other
than responses to prompts.

I want this database to display representations (thumbnails) of the photos,
without featuring the whole photo. The database should also provide the link
for each photo, so the user can click it to see the original.

Here is what I have tried:

- I attached the photos to each table entry; obviously, this makes the
database swell up quickly, which won't work-- I have less than 100 entries in
the table, and I'm pushing the halfway mark to the Access size limit.

- I tried to enter the images as OLE links. This resulted in the form
displaying the actual link itself, instead of a depiction of the photo
("A_Photo1.tif").


I do not want to convert all the photos to BMP; I need the level of detail
..tifs offer, and the sheer timesuck negates the utility of using a database.
Is it possible to do what I'd like, or is Access the wrong tool for this?

Thanks for any help you can throw my way.

 

[Ed Robichaud]

Have you looked at the free app, Picassa? It does all the tasks you
described.

 

[SLOW]

Have you looked at the free app, Picassa? It does all the tasks you
described.

Thanks, Ed-- looks like a nifty tool.

You seem to be familiar with Picassa...I could not find a couple answers to
some questions I have about it, when I looked through their online pubs.

- Is it functional in a networked setting? It seems primarily designed for
desktops and local hard drvies.

- Is there a way to share out a Picassa selection of photos to specific
users on the network? It looks like the only sharing method is web-based, and
I don't want to either release the data into the wild, nor give Google my
proprietary content rights.

Thanks again!