How to create a cheap (free) secure photo database?

On three separate occasions, teams I have worked with have had a need to develop a photo database so they could rapidly find photos shared among a team. Each time, we explored a number of vendors; however, cost for databases have been a factor. Additionally, the time to load photos into the database was another limiting factor. After a little brainstorming, we developed an answer that we would like to share with you. Here are factors we considered:

• Cost
• Speed to locate a photo
• The ability to search for photos based on title or metadata
• Scalable for new users and photos we included

Here is the solution we developed.

Software requirements:

• Google Desktop
• DropBox (optional) sharing a physical drive is also an option
• Microsoft Pro Photo Tools

Procedures:

1. Either share a physical drive with all team members through a local network, or create a share using Dropbox.
2. Install Google Desktop on all team member computers, and configure it to ensure it indexes the new shared drive.
3. Upload photos into the new shared drive. You can update the photo meta data using Microsoft Pro Photo Tools.

Tips:

• Give your photos meaningful names.
• Update the metadata for the photos. Microsoft Pro Photo Tools will allow you to batch update photos.
• Learn how to filter your Google Desktop searches.

The speed with which Google locates photos is stunning. Our team is very happy with the solution, and the cost is also something to smile about.

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