Setting archive properties
Archive properties
Go to Archives > Create archive.
Name, Group, and Path
Depending on how you created the archive, the archive name and path may be filled in. You can change the archive name, if necessary. If the path is not already filled in, enter it manually or select Browse to locate the folder. When creating archives of network folders, we advise Windows users to locate the folder via the Network Neighborhood, as this ensures that FotoStation uses a UNC path to the files. This makes exporting the archives and sharing configurations between several workstations easier since FotoStation won’t have to rely on mounted network disks and drive letter mapping.
An archive is always assigned to a group. Archives belonging to the same group are listed under the same group header in side panels containing archives, given that group headers are enabled on the side panels’ properties page.
Archive type
Select the type of connection to the archive from the Archive type drop-down list. To connect to the local file system or the Windows network using UNC paths, choose File system.
To connect to Index Manager archives (supported with FotoStation Client only), select Index Manager from the drop-down list and either enter the path to the archive or use the Browse button (...) to locate the server and archive to which you want to connect. You need to know the server's hostname or IP address to connect. When you enter the hostname and the connection dialog will list all archives that are available on that server. You might be required to authenticate with a username and password.
Note: If your Index Manager server has been set up to use a port other than the standard port (7000), you need to specify the port number along with the hostname, for example: hostname:7001
A connection can also be made to a FotoStation archive over the Internet by choosing FotoWare in the list (FotoStation Client only). To locate the server, select the Browse button (...) and then enter the URL to the server. (For example www.servername.com - you don't have to worry about the remaining part of the URL.) By default, FotoStation attempts to connect as a Guest user, select Change Account to set your user account information for the server. A list of available archives is listed and you can select which one you would like to connect to, as shown to the right.
Finally, you can connect to an Archive Agent. FotoWare’s Archive Agent interface is an open standard for making document archives accessible from any other application. The archive agent interface also makes it easy for third-party applications to search in archives without writing interfaces to proprietary software. FotoWeb publishes an archive agent for each archive in the system, which makes it very easy for applications that integrate with FotoWeb to find files, get previews, and download these files. So in principle, the Archive Agent connection is the same as the FotoWeb connection, only that with the FotoWeb connection we can assist the user in finding an archive with the Browse function, as described above. For more information about the Archive Agent, please go to the Documentation area on the FotoWare website.
Archive connections that require authentication
Connections to Index Manager, FotoWeb, and the Archive Agent require user authentication. This information is stored in FotoStation to allow easy access to the archive in the future. To clear the login information for an archive (for example, to authenticate as another user), go to File > Log Out.
Tip: You can choose whether group headers are shown or not. Even if you decide not to show group headers, we recommend that you always assign archives to different groups since this makes it easier to manage the archives in Archives panels.
Making a secure connection to Index Manager using SSL
If your servers have been configured to use secure connections you may not be able to connect to the server over a non-encrypted connection. In this case, you must enter fwps:// before the hostname to indicate that you want to use TLS. Your server URL may, for instance, look like this: fwps://indexmanagerserver.domain.net
Alternatively, you can connect to the server using its assigned TLS port number to specify that you want to use a secure connection. For instance, assuming port 7001 is used for TLS, the string could look like this: indexmanagerserver.domain.net:7001
Additional archive properties
Automatic refresh: Enable this option to automatically update the view when files are added, modified, or removed from the archive.
Include subfolders: Enable this option to make FotoStation scan through all subfolders within the archive’s top folder.
Tip: When browsing an archive you can click the + icon next to the archive icon to list all subfolders within the archive. Then click one of the subfolders to display only the files within that folder.
Always apply this view type when archive is opened: Select this option and choose a view type from the drop-down list to set a default view type for the archive. FotoStation switches to this view type every time you access the archive. If this option is not selected (and therefore no default view type is set) FotoStation will apply the currently active view to the archive when it is opened.
Always apply this sort order when archive is opened: Select this option to make FotoStation sort files a certain way when accessing the archive. Choose a file sorting method using the dropdown list. If no default sorting method is chosen, FotoStation will sort the files in the archive according to the currently active sorting method.
Advanced archive properties
Set disabled actions: Select this option to disable access to certain actions when this archive is open. Then select the actions that you want to disable and select OK. The actions will be grayed out and inaccessible, but not disappear completely from the Actions side panel.
Set Autosearch: Select this option to make FotoStation perform an automatic search every time the archive is opened. All subsequent searches are performed within the search result of the original autosearch. Click on the button to create a search query. Refer to the Searching chapter to learn how to create advanced search queries. Performing an automatic search every time a large archive is opened can take some time. To utilize the full potential of this feature we recommend connecting FotoStation to an Index Manager search server, since Index Manager gives you added benefits such as synonym searching and word stemming.
File markers: File markers are visual indicators on thumbnails and previews that can be used to identify files that meet certain criteria. For example, an indicator can be used to show that a file has been printed or contains notes. For more information, see Configuring File Markers chapter to learn more.
File filters: File filters are used to control which file types FotoStation should include or exclude in the thumbnail view. The filter can be turned off completely, or you can choose between three predefined filters in the dropdown menu: The Default file filter excludes executables, windows thumbnail files, text files, and temporary files. The Basic image filter includes JPEG, TIFF, EPS, and PSD files while excluding all other file types. The Images and media files filter includes all the aforementioned image file types as well as GIF and bitmap formats, MP3 files, ASX, MOV video clips, and Windows media audio and video formats. You may also modify the filters or create a custom filter from scratch by changing one of the unused filters. Please refer to the Configuring File Filters chapter to learn more.
Select metadata editor: Use the dropdown list to choose the default metadata editor to use when you work with files in this archive. The chosen editor will be used for all functions involving use of the text editor in the archive. You can of course still change editors using the text editor menu, unless this functionality has been disabled by the system administrator. If you choose to <Use default> FotoStation will remember the last used editor for different functions. For example, the editor last used for adding metadata to several files may be different from the one used for captioning single files.
Choosing an archive icon
If you would like to add a custom icon to an archive or an action you can do so by clicking on the Select icon button. FotoStation comes with a number of included icons that you can choose from. You can also import your own icons if you have for instance purchased icons from a collection or made your own using icon creator tools. To do so, click on the Import button as shown in the screenshot above and choose the icon files that you want to add to your configuration. When imported into FotoStation, the files are converted to png format and stored with your active configuration. Typically FotoStation is set up with a per-user configuration, which means your icons are stored in C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\FotoWare\FotoStation\Configuration\Archive Icons.
These icons can also be used for FotoStation's Actions.
If you back up your configuration these icon files will also be included in the backup set.
Setting archive-specific permissions
Select More options... to can set additional permissions related to how you browse and add files to the archive in FotoStation.
Allow subfolder browsing: By enabling this option, FotoStation displays a little + symbol next to the archive that you can use to expand the subfolder structure inside the archive and browse the contents of individual subfolders. You can also right-click in the subfolder structure to create additional subfolders, or to rename or delete subfolders.
Allow to edit metadata: Select this option to allow users to edit metadata on assets in the archive. If metadata editing is disabled globally it may override this setting, which is per-archive.
Allow file delete: By default, users are allowed to delete files in the archives, However, by changing this option you can make it impossible for users to delete files.
A note about deleting files: Files that are deleted from local drives are put in the system's Recycle Bin/Trash. Files that are deleted from a network volume are deleted immediately.
Allow saving and dropping files in this archive: If you do not want users to be able to drop files into the archive or to save files in the archive using e.g. actions, you can disable the saving of files in the archive here. If your archive is an Index Manager controlled archive, you can specify one of the index document folders here to tell FotoStation where it should store the files.
Automatically create new subfolder: When his option is checked, FotoStation will create a new, unique subfolder inside the path specified above every time files are dropped into the archive. Disable this action if you do not want to create subfolders inside the specified folder.
Exclude sidecar (XMP) files from drag and drop: By enabling this option you can prevent FotoStation from delivering any sidecar files associated with the file you're dropping during drag and drop operations.
Treat Wave (.wav) files as audio annotation to photo: If you've made audio recordings on your digital camera, these will have the same name as the photo they belong to, only stored with the extension .wav. By treating these files as annotations, you can play back the recording by selecting the Play icon on the photo in the thumbnail grid.
Allow to edit image: When enabled, all image editing operations are allowed in the archive. When disabled, the following operations are unavailable to the user:
- Open file (from the context and program menus)
- Open in Photoshop
- Image menu options Recolor, Resize and Rotate on disk
Important: When image editing has been disabled using the setting described above, images can still be edited using FotoStation's Actions. To further control which actions are available in a specific archive, we recommend revising the Disabled Actions setting described previously in this topic.
Setting drag and drop properties for the archive
When dragging and dropping files, either between archives or to an external application such as Windows Explorer or the Mac Finder, FotoStation will by default always move files between folders on the same volume. Files dragged between volumes will by default be copied. You can use the Ctrl key (Option on the Mac) to toggle between copy/move in such operations.
However, if you want to prevent drag and drop operations from moving files from their original location, you can disable the moving of files altogether on a per-archive basis. Simply open the More options... dialog and disable the option Allow to move in Drag and Drop operations. FotoStation will then never allow users to move files when they are dragged from this archive.
By default, XMP sidecars will be included in drops to the desktop or external applications. This can be overcome by enabling the option to Exclude sidecar (XMP) files from drag and drop.
Note: Drag and drop operations between archives in FotoStation always include the sidecars since excluding them can potentially lead to metadata becoming 'detached' from the asset they belong to.