| Tri-CATALOG Q: What are the differences between Tri-CATALOG and Tri-CATALOG Lite?
A: Both applications allow you to index files and pictures (a thumbnail is created for each indexed picture).
Tri-CATALOG Lite only offers the basic functions. It is an affordable version aiming at a broader audience. It indexes the volume contents and allows you to easily find your files without being forced to insert your CDs on your computer and review the content of your CDs one by one.
Tri-CATALOG (full version) goes further. After indexing your volumes, you can comment your pictures, sort them into groups, create picture libraries, and so on. Tri-CATALOG features more functions than Tri-CATALOG Lite, it aims professionals and power users.
Both applications come in Mac OS and Windows versions. Q: Can I try Tri-CATALOG and Tri-CATALOG Lite before buying them?
A: Yes you can freely download a demo version of these applications in the "Download" section (Mac OS or Windows version). You can try both of them before choosing the one that you want to buy. Q: What is the minimum required configuration for Tri-CATALOG?
A: The Mac version of Tri-CATALOG 5 runs natively on Mac OS X. You can also run it on Mac OS 8.6 or Mac OS 9.x. If you are planning to use it with Mac OS 8.6 or Mac OS 9.x, check that the latest CarbonLib extension (available at www.apple.com) is correctly installed in your System Folder.
The Windows version of Tri-CATALOG 4 runs on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT 4, Windows 2000, and Windows XP. Q: After downloading Tri-CATALOG, when I double-click it, the Finder cannot open it, why?
A: Files available on our web site are compressed. Before using them, you must uncompress them with Stuffit Expander 5.5 or later. Stuffit Expander is a free application available at http://www.allume.com (be careful, you must download Stuffit Expander, not Stuffit Deluxe). Q: Stuffit Expander cannot uncompress Tri-CATALOG, why?
A: You must use Stuffit Expander 5.5 or later. If you are using an older version, you can download Stuffit Expander 5.5 or later at http://www.allume.com (be careful, you must download Stuffit Expander, not Stuffit Deluxe). If you are using Stuffit Expander 5.5 or later, an error has probably occurred during the download (the file is either damaged, or incomplete), you should download Tri-CATALOG again. Q: Tri-CATALOG rejects my serial number, why?
A: There are different versions of Tri-CATALOG. For instance, Tri-CATALOG serial numbers do not work with Tri-CATALOG Lite, and vice-versa. Tri-CATALOG for Mac serial numbers do not work with Tri-CATALOG for Windows, and vice-versa. Tri-CATALOG 3.x serial numbers do not work with Tri-CATALOG 4.x. You must install on your computer the version that you have bought. If you have not installed the correct version, you won’t be able to enter your serial number. Q: How many volumes can be indexed by Tri-CATALOG?
A: There is no limit, you can index as many volumes as you want. Q: What are the picture formats supported by Tri-CATALOG?
A: Tri-CATALOG can create thumbnails for pictures saved in these formats: PICT, JPEG, GIF, PNG, TIFF, TARGA, QTIF, SGI, FlashPix, BMP, ILBM, PCX, QuickDraw GX, and MacPaint.
It is also able to read thumbnails saved in Photoshop, Illustrator, EPS, XPress, AppleWorks, Canvas, QuickTime, FrameMaker, Studio Artist, Amapi, PhotoDeluxe, Persuasion, RIFF, and PICS files if they contain a thumbnail.
If you are working with other picture formats that do not seem to be recognized by Tri-CATALOG, feel free to send us one of your pictures by e-mail (
). We will work on that format and we may add it to the next Tri-CATALOG version. Q: Does Tri-CATALOG read the IPTC information associated to pictures?
A: Yes. For instance, open a picture in Photoshop, select "Information" in the "File" menu, enter some comments in the "Description" field (it is the only field used by Tri-CATALOG). Then, catalog the folder containing this picture with Tri-CATALOG. The comments typed in Photoshop, will automatically appear in the comments displayed for this picture in Tri-CATALOG. Q: Does Tri-CATALOG read the ID3 information associated to MP3 files?
A: Yes. For instance, open iTunes, select a music file, select "Get information" in the "File" menu, type the title of the song, the artist, the album and its comments (these four fields will be read by Tri-CATALOG). Then, catalog the folder containing this music file with Tri-CATALOG. The information typed in iTunes, will automatically appear in the comments displayed for this file in Tri-CATALOG.
Then, to easily search a music file by its title, artist, album, or comments, select "Search Files…" in the "Find" menu, click the "Type" tab, check the music icon box, click the "Size and Date" tab, type some comments in the "With comments" field, then click the "Search" button. Q: What is the average size of a Tri-CATALOG database?
A: The size of the database created by Tri-CATALOG depends on many parameters (if you do not scan pictures, the size of the database won’t be the same as if you had scanned the pictures). Here is an average example: a database containing 610 volumes with 2 million files and 215,000 pictures (with 96 x 96 pixels thumbnails) takes 515 MB on the hard disk. It means that the average volume that contains 3,280 files and 350 pictures only takes 845 KB. As you can see Tri-CATALOG is very efficient, it can store 350 pictures in 845 KB. Q: Are the Mac OS and Windows versions compatible?
A: Yes Tri-CATALOG 4 Mac, Tri-CATALOG 5 Mac and Tri-CATALOG 4 Windows work with the same file format. They can read and modify the same databases to work together (note that it is impossible with Tri-CATALOG Lite). Q: How can I eject a CD from Tri-CATALOG?
A: CDs are automatically ejected after being indexed. If you want to eject another CD from Tri-CATALOG, you can select its name in the "Volume" menu while pressing the Shift key. Q: I work with Mac OS X, some application icons are not displayed in Tri-CATALOG as they are in the Finder, why?
A: Check that the "Display custom icons defined in the Finder" box is checked in the "Display" tab in the preferences. Q: How can I quickly browse the whole list of indexed pictures?
A: Open a picture window, click the "By Mark" button, then click the "All pictures" line. Q: How can I set comments for many pictures?
A: If you wish to set the same comments for every picture, select these pictures in the picture window, then select "Edit Comments…" in the "Item" menu.
If you wish to set different comments for each picture, select the pictures in the picture window, then select "Edit Comments…" in the "Item" menu while pressing the Option key. Tri-CATALOG will ask you to successively type in the comments for each picture (tip: before using this function, open the information palette and the preview palette, then every time Tri-CATALOG asks you to type in some comments you will be able to see the information and the preview corresponding to that picture, it will be easier to describe it).
Read the manual to get more information about comments. Q: What do the blue question marks in the picture list mean?
A: When Tri-CATALOG scan a picture that does not contain any thumbnail, it displays a blue question mark. For instance, if the picture analysis has been aborted, Tri-CATALOG will display blue question marks for the last pictures that have not been analyzed. Also, if you scan Photoshop pictures that do not contain any thumbnail (because you have deactivated the thumbnail creation in Photoshop preferences), Tri-CATALOG will display blue question marks for these pictures.
If you prefer not to display these pictures in the picture window, uncheck the "Display every picture, even those without thumbnails" in the "Display" tab in the preferences. The number of displayed pictures in the picture window will be different after that operation, while the number following the volume name in the left list will remain the same (this number indicates the total number of pictures in this volume). If you prefer not to display blue question mark pictures while searching pictures, check the "Pictures with thumbnail only" in the "File" tab in the picture search window. Q: What do the red question marks in the picture list mean?
A: These are damaged pictures or pictures not recognized by Tri-CATALOG. Read the "Troubleshooting" chapter page 13 to solve this problem. To get more information, you can also send us one of these pictures by e-mail: Q: How can I share Tri-CATALOG data with other users?
A: If you want to exchange a few information (for instance, the file list of a CD), use the export functions. Tri-CATALOG can either create a text file (your friend will be able to open it with any word processor), or a Web page (your friend will be able to open it with any web browser). If you are working with Mac OS X, you can also create a PDF file. Read the manual to get more information about text, HTML, and PDF export.
If you want to exchange a few pictures, you can either create a picture library (your friend will have to download a demo version of Tri-CATALOG at www.tri-edre.com to read these picture library files, see the next question), or a Web page. If you are working with Mac OS X, you can also create a PDF file. Read the manual to get more information about picture libraries, HTML export, and PDF export.
Note that Tri-CATALOG export functions are also scriptable by AppleScript, it allows you to automate this process.
If you want to exchange a whole volume that has been scanned by Tri-CATALOG, ask your friend to download a demo version of Tri-CATALOG at www.tri-edre.com (he will be able to read up to 5 volumes with the demo version), and send him your files (the files created by Tri-CATALOG are saved in the "Volumes" folder located in the same folder as the Tri-CATALOG application). If you want to exchange more than 5 volumes, or if you want to share Tri-CATALOG data in a professional context (for instance, if you are a photographer who wants to distribute CDs with photo thumbnails), you can buy the Distribution Pack (see the Distribution Pack question hereinafter). Q: How can I send a picture library to a friend?
A: Ask you friend to download a demo version of Tri-CATALOG at www.tri-edre.com (Mac OS or Windows version, it does not matter). Thanks to this demo version, he will be able to open your picture libraries.
If you are planning to send your picture library to a Windows user, add ".lim" after your library name. Otherwise, Windows won’t be able to recognize this file as a Tri-CATALOG picture library. Q: What is the Distribution Pack?
A: It is a software bundle that contains one licence for Tri-CATALOG Mac OS, one licence for Tri-CATALOG Windows, Tri-CATALOG READER Mac OS (unlimited redistribution licence), and Tri-CATALOG READER Mac OS (unlimited redistribution licence). This bundle costs US$ 299. It has been created for professionals. For instance, if you are a photographer, you can use Tri-CATALOG to index your pictures (index them, sort them, comment them, and so on), then burn a Mac/PC CD with Tri-CATALOG READER (Mac OS and/or Windows version) and your Tri-CATALOG database (copy the "Volumes" folder created by Tri-CATALOG). Then you are allowed to distribute and/or sell as many copies of this CD as you want (as long as it only contains Tri-CATALOG READER, not the full Tri-CATALOG version). You can also do the same thing on the Web (distribute Tri-CATALOG READER Mac OS and Windows to browse your pictures). Thanks to Tri-CATALOG, your customers will be able to browse your pictures, read their comments, and so on. The READER version does not allow them to edit the volumes (they won’t be able to remove your comments, delete pictures, and so on). Q: I would like to install Tri-CATALOG on several networked Macs to make them browse and edit the same database, how can I do that?
A: Volumes are usually saved by Tri-CATALOG in the "Volumes" folder that is located in the same folder as the Tri-CATALOG application but you can replace this folder by an alias linked to a folder located on a server. If you do that on every Mac, each Tri-CATALOG will read and save its information in the same folder as the others.
Each Mac will be able to browse the scanned volumes, scan new volumes, edit them, and so on. If someone indexes a new CD, this CD will be saved in the folder located on the server. Then, this CD will be available to the other Tri-CATALOG users. However Tri-CATALOG is not a client/server application, it has not been designed to handle simultaneous modifications on the same data, you cannot define users and privileges. Usually people scan their CDs on one computer and browse them from other computers (on these other computers, you can select "User Mode…" in the "File" menu and check the "Read Only" box to prevent users from modifying and removing the volumes).
If you are working with a very large number of CDs, or if your network is slow, instead of saving your volumes in one folder located on a server and browsing the volumes over the network, you can save a copy of your volumes on each computer and use an automatic synchronization application to group your volumes on the server and then redistribute the new volumes to the other computers. Thanks to this method, each computer reads and saves the Tri-CATALOG volumes on its local hard disk. It is faster than browsing and saving the volumes over the network. Our backup solution, Tri-BACKUP, can do that (it is an automatic backup/synchronisation application). You can download Tri-BACKUP on our web site and give it a try. Q: My computer is slow, how can I speed up Tri-CATALOG?
A: Select "Settings" in the "File" or "Tri-CATALOG" menu, click the "Display" tab, uncheck every box, then check the "Display every picture, even those without thumbnails" box.
Open a picture window, select "Unsorted" in the "Sort Mode" submenu in the "Edit menu". Then, click the "Thumbnails" button (thumbnails display is faster than list display), deactivate the information display, and deactivate the proportional display (these two buttons which are located on the top right corner of the window, should not be on, read the manual if you need help).
Open the picture search window, select "Unsorted" in the "Sort Mode" submenu in the "Edit menu". Q: My computer is slow, how can I speed up volume analysis?
A: Select "Settings" in the "File" or "Tri-CATALOG" menu, click the "Scan" tab. Then, uncheck the "Read application version numbers", "Read compressed files content", and "Read MP3 files information" boxes. To improve volume updating speed, check the "Quick volume update" box.
If you do not want to scan pictures, uncheck the "Analyze picture files" box in the "Picture Scan" tab. If you want to only scan some pictures, for instance if you only want to scan PICT and JPEG pictures (ignoring other pictures), check only these boxes in the "Picture Scan" tab. The analysis will be faster.
To speed up picture analysis, check the "When possible, use thumbnails already saved in files" box. Instead of creating its own thumbnails, Tri-CATALOG will try to read the thumbnails saved in these files (for instance, files created by Photoshop already contain a thumbnail). The analysis will be faster but some applications create low-quality thumbnails, the quality of these thumbnails is not as good as those created by Tri-CATALOG. Q: My computer is slow, how can I speed up file and picture search?
A: To speed up file and picture search, sort your volumes into categories (select "Sort Volumes…" in the "Catalog" menu to create categories and sort your volumes). Then, in the search window, click the "Path" tab and use the "In the volumes" popup menu to focus the search on one category. The search will be faster since Tri-CATALOG won’t have to search unnecessary volumes.
To speed up picture search, activate the picture search window, and select "Unsorted" in the "Sort Mode" submenu in the "Edit menu". Q: My computer is slow, I would like to edit many marks and comments, how can I speed the modifications up?
A: To speed up modifications, close unnecessary windows. If two files windows, five picture windows, the information palette, and the preview palette are opened, Tri-CATALOG will have to update these windows after every modification. If you are planning to edit comments or marks of many files, close unnecessary windows to speed up comments and marks modification. Q: I have problems with Tri-CATALOG 5, why?
A: First, check these 5 points:
- Check that your computer can run Tri-CATALOG: Tri-CATALOG requires Mac OS 8.6 or later.
- If you are using Mac OS 8.6 or Mac OS 9.x, Tri-CATALOG needs the CarbonLib extension. Open the System Folder, open the "Extensions" folder, click the "CarbonLib" extension, select "Get Infos…" in the "File" menu. If the CarbonLib extension is older than CarbonLib 1.4, you may have problems. You should better download CarbonLib 1.4 or later from www.apple.com ("Support" section) or www.tri-edre.com ("Technical Support" section, "Tri-CATALOG" page). It improves the stability of Mac OS X applications.
- Then, to detect damaged files, select "Update Index…" in the "Catalog" menu. After that, select "Clean-up Catalog…" in the "Catalog" menu, check the "Detect damaged files", and click "OK".
- If you are using Mac OS 8.6 or Mac OS 9.x, increase the memory allocated to Tri-CATALOG in the Finder "Get Infos" window (it is useful if you are planning to scan large picture files).
- If you are not using the latest Tri-CATALOG version, you can download it in the "Download" section. Q: An error occurs while scanning a volume, why?
A: A damaged picture may crash your computer when Tri-CATALOG tries to open it. To determine if a damaged picture is at the origin of the problem, remove this volume in Tri-CATALOG, select "Settings…" in the "File" or "Tri-CATALOG" menu, click the "Picture Scan" tab, uncheck the "Analyze picture files" tab. Then, scan again this volume. If it works fine, it means that a damaged picture was the cause of your problem. The next question explains how to solve this kind of problem. Q: Tri-CATALOG crashes while scanning pictures, why?
A: The picture file that Tri-CATALOG was reading is either damaged, or not recognized by Tri-CATALOG.
When you open Tri-CATALOG after the crash, if it knows which picture is at the origin of the problem, it asks you to restart the analysis ignoring this picture. If Tri-CATALOG does not display this dialog when you open it after the crash, to determine which picture is damaged you can write the last picture name displayed at the top left corner of the progress window on a note pad. Then, you can open this picture from the Finder and see if it is damaged. You can either it move it to the Trash (if it is really damaged), or keep it. If you prefer to keep it, open Tri-CATALOG, search this picture, select it, select "Edit Mask…" in the "Item" menu, mask it, and finally scan again this volume with picture analysis enabled. Since you have masked the picture, Tri-CATALOG won’t try to open it therefore it won’t crash.
Usually any application trying to open a damaged picture crashes but you can send us your damaged picture by e-mail (). We will see how it is damaged and we will try to make Tri-CATALOG detect this kind of damaged picture before opening it.
If you are using Mac OS 8.6 or Mac OS 9.x, increase the memory allocated to Tri-CATALOG in the Finder "Get Infos" window (it is useful if you are planning to scan large picture files). | |
