I’ve just updated to 1.9.1 from 1.8.1b (been too busy recently to update to 1.9) and find that 1.9.1 doesn’t properly display the majority of my collection of .jpg images (nearly 3000 paintings and sculptures all stored in the database folder).
Specifically the images appear but only as large thumbnails rather than at their full size (while the info box shows the correct URL to the stored image in the database folder it only displays the database size and not the file size)
A simple example of Fuseli’s ‘The Artist Moved by the Grandeur of Ancient Ruins’:
In DevonThink 1.8.1b the image is shown in its proper 567 x 710 pixel 72 dpi aspect and the info box lists it as having a database size of 25 kb and a file size of 76 kb while in DT 1.9.1 the image is shown much smaller (no pixel size is given) and only the database size of 25 kb is given.
Any ideas?
(I’m a bit reticent to experiment as I have thousands of hours of work invested in my database…)
Since I still haven’t received a response concerning my question above I decided to try rebuild the database using this command in 1.9.1.
The result: ALL record of the problematic images disappeared entirely from the database (though they remained in the Files folder of the database folder).
My god. This is disconcerting to say the least.
For the moment I’ve gone back to a backup which I made to a firewire disk before I began the rebuild operation and 1.8.1b.
I’m a novice about images and DEVONthink. Although I’ve got lots of digital camera images, I had not previously tried DT to mange them.
But a few minutes ago, I dragged in two images, with preferences set to store them in the database Files folder.
One was a TIFF file, size about 11 MB. The Info panel correctly shows that file size, and shows “size” as 18 KB (I suppose the latter is the size of the thumbnail file in DT).
The second was a JPEG file. For this one (a much smaller image I had used in a Web slide show), “Size” is 19 KB, “File” is 37 KB.
Using the Vertical Split view, when I selected the big TIFF file, it didn’t look much larger than did the JPEG file. Then I discovered that when I open (double-click on) each of these files, the resulting view window automatically sizes to fit the actual image size OR the maximum size that can fit on the computer screen. (It will display actual pixel size if possible, but scale down the image if there’s not enough screen room – as was the case on my 16" TiBook screen for the big TIFF file.) Interesting.
Although your database rebuild didn’t produce the expected results, I expect that the database Files folder still contains all of your 3000 or so images.
For future imports of images, check your database Preferences for Import > Images. Make sure they are set to create a thumbnail of imported images (nice in the Icons View, to easly select images). Make sure imported images are to be stored in the database Files folder. (I don’t know how the prefs were set when you did the rebuild.)
Beyond than, I’ll have to defer to DT tech staff to provide advice on your database.
thank you for your reply. While I don’t post here regularly I do regularly read and appreciate your contributions (and the contributions of others) to this forum. I’ve been using Devonthink every day – all day for about a year and a half now and it is without a doubt the most used and USEFUL application that I have owned in my 16 years as a Mac user. It is pure gold, worth much, much, much more than its price tag and I have come to depend on it heavily.
Concerning your remarks: I have always imported images into the database folder and have always had my preferences set to create a thumbnail image. I’ve just checked by opening up the database again in 1.9.1 and see that the my preferences there are identical (thus the database was rebuilt with those preferences).
I agree with you that the size attribute shown in the info panel probably represents the thumbnail size (stored in the database proper) while the file size attribute must represent the size of the external file.
As I mentioned in my first post in 1.8.1b both attributes are shown, whereas in 1.9.1 the file size is missing – even though the URL to the file in question is shown. What I find incredibly disconcerting is that after rebuilding in 1.9.1 the ‘thumbnail only’ files don’t show up at all in the database (even though – as you said – they still reside in the files folder).
In my opinion the fact that the files that don’t show up at all in the database means they are effectively forgotten or lost even though they still exist on your harddisk. No one can be expected to go one by one through several thousand files to see if they still are referenced in the database.
To a user such as myself this ‘rebuilding’ behaviour of 1.9.1 is scary and sobering.
This rebuilding behaviour is actually not a bug because DT can’t find the original images anymore (and therefore just displays the internal thumbnail for example)
The reason for this is that v1.9.x drops support for the combined URL/path field of DT 1.0-1.6 as this was causing more problems than solving them (and as probably 99% of the users aren’t effected by this modification).
However, you could stuff/zip the 10 database files, upload them to ftp://ftp.devon-technologies.com/incoming and I’ll fix this issue (by using DT Pro and a simple script).
I will upload my zipped database to your server now.
I’m still wondering though why some (the majority) but not all of the .jpg’s in my Files folder lost their reference to their original files?
Surely there are other users here who use Devonthink to store .jpg’s and .gifs dragged from their web browser (I use iView MediaPro to store my digital photos) and who might experience the same anomaly?
Surely they should be warned?
Once again, Christian I’m a huge fan of your work. Devonthink is a stupendous application, which I promote to others every chance I get. I cannot thank you enough for creating it.
One last point however: not only do I invest a lot of time in building and browsing my database – I am also very selective in what I add to it. As my database grows (and I’m sure I echo the sentiments of many users here when I say this) I value rock solid reliability MUCH MORE than new and added features (and am willing to pay for this).
Information can be discarded but should never be lost.
This rebuilding behaviour is actually not a bug because DT can’t find the original images anymore (and therefore just displays the internal thumbnail for example)
To be clear and properly report what is happening:
For the files in question it is before rebuilding that DT 1.9.1 only shows the internal thumbnail. After rebuilding it doesn’t show anything at all (which is the scary and disconcerting part).
I’ve only just started with DT this past few days but I’ve been using iVew MediaPro for several years to catalog my archives of illustration and reference–now spanning over 80 discs and I’d guess several thousand images. I’m curious what advantage DT might have over iView in cataloging images.
I use DevonThink to group information that belongs together but comes in different formats (html pages, text files, .jpgs, .gifs, .pdf files, quicktime movies, sounds, my own notes).
Most of my work involves a great deal of web research. DevonThink allows me to capture on the fly, store, organize and browse this research in a very intuitive fashion (I love the serendipity of the See Also button – especially when browsing images).
I have two iView MediaPro databases – one to store my own digital photographs and another to store documentation of my projects (I’m a artist).
I see the two programs fulfilling two different functions. YMMV. I originally switched to iView MediaPro because I didn’t like how iPhoto played ball with my files. I find iView MediaPro a good image archiver.
I use and LOVE DevonThink for its – in my opinion – much broader and richer capabilities. A DT database is more than an image archive. It’s a knowledge base and as such it suits my needs perfectly.
Yup.
I’d just hadn’t thought yet about how DT might be used with images. I know my ideas about how to use DT will evolve as I discover more about the program and how it will fit into my workflow.
I do wish iView had a way to import images &/or pages directly from the web. But when I’m looking for reference for an illustration I’m usually just grabbing as much as I can find to sort through later. There are times a site might have other information I need to be accurate or spedific (for instance, which versions of which tanks were used on either side back in Iraq War I). In that case I’ll bookmark the site, use Save in Safari, and also drag the text to my reference folder–just to be sure. I like to keep reference for my projects together in the final archive, so even with this example, I’m not sure I’d used DT.
But, I’m still working under the demo hours, so who knows how that might change in a few months time, especially if I can figure how DEVONagent fits into the scheme.