Customer stories


ImageTracker

Let's See What Develops

For professional photographers, the job isn't over when the shutter clicks. Taking the picture is only the beginning. There's more than enough to keep organized -- from the names and places, dates and camera settings that document the details of each picture to the many complex details that go into the day to day operation of a working business. It's a lot of work. But what if keeping all that information organized was as easy as a few clicks of the mouse? That's the idea behind ImageTracker Pro, a new software tool built around FileMaker Pro, the award-winning database software application from FileMaker Inc.

ImageTracker got its start with Marianne Carroll, a FileMaker FSA Developer who's also an amateur camera buff, and who's developed database projects for photography pros. "One of my clients is Brenner-Lennon Photo Productions, a Long Island professional photography studio," Marianne explains. "They had looked for something that would help them organize and run their studio, and when they couldn't find what they wanted on the market, they realized they'd have to develop it themselves."

Brenner-Lennon Photo Productions turned to Marianne for the hands-on FileMaker Pro development work, and as the application took shape they realized they had something with value, not just to their own operation -- but a tool that could be used by photography professionals everywhere: a one-stop organizational tool that not only tracks images for specific jobs but also attaches them to the overall Invoicing and Job Tracking process. A tool that from the click of the shutter to the payment of the client's bill, monitors and documents each job from invoice management, accounts payable and receivable, to all the other financial facts and figures that loom so important behind the lens.

The result? ImageTracker Pro - due for commercial release in the fall of 2002. But even before the release of this exciting new product, Marianne notes that plans are moving forward for an even more powerful version -- due largely to the impressive new Image Capture feature in FileMaker Pro 6! "When I saw the Image Capture capability in FileMaker Pro 6, I thought -- wow, what can we do with this?" Marianne recalls. "I looked at ways we could extend the possibilities of what we'd already developed, and came up with a new module called ImageViewer."

ImageViewer is designed especially for high-performance, high-demand digital photographers -- who take lots of pictures and need to record a lot of information about each one. "I've created a module that lets them import direct from the camera into their mobile computers and into the ImageViewer module, where they can tag it immediately with the job number and all the necessary metadata, preview it, and decide if they want to upload it to their central ImageTracker system. If so, they can log onto ImageTracker using their ISP and upload the picture -- and all the information that goes with it." Eighteen fields of information go along with each photo in this system -- documenting every essential fact a photographer would want to know.

Marianne sees the new ImageCapture feature within FileMaker Pro 6 as potentially a real time-saver. "With ImageCapture you'll have the ability to download from your digital camera directly into a FileMaker Pro database. In just one step -- you get the images to the folder of your choice and the ability to track the material in a database. It'll be a really great advantage in terms of digital photography."

The digital wave is well underway among professional photographers, and technology is continuously moving forward. " As many photographers make the move to Mac OS X, which is required for the features in FileMaker Pro 6 we are addressing," says Marianne, "but our excitement over this truly demonstrates the added power and efficiency the combination of OS X and FileMaker Pro 6 brings to any photographer who is in the digital world. We're just beginning to see the possibilities -- and it's only going to get better!"



Contact information

Contact Info for Customer:

Marianne Carroll
FSA Developer/Product Development and Technical Support
ImageTracker Inc.
212-927-1750
macarroll@earthlink.net


Filemaker Contact:

Kevin Mallon
Public Relations Manager
FileMaker Inc.
408-987-7227
kevin_mallon@filemaker.com
http://www.filemaker.com


Overview
  • Helping photographers on the cutting edge of digital imaging stay organized -- that's the goal of ImageTracker, an exciting new FileMaker Pro-based software tool.
Industry
  • Creative Services
  • Creative Markets
  • Small Business