rshammaa wrote:
Good suggestions all but as I suspected no elegant solutions.
I agree, but you are asking for something difficult, given that many Smart Albums have at least one other filter parameter beyond "whole Library" and a single keyword -- and those "simple" Smart Albums can be easily identified in the Smart Album name. (I have set up a lot of these for specific keyword groups, e.g.: "Landscape, Sunrise, Sunshine, Maryland", or "Howard, Smiling, Head", or "Biopsy, Dyed, Negative".
You could also use the keywords in any single Image in the Smart Album to deduce the Smart Settings. And you can see the keywords for a single Image in either the Browser or Viewer Metadata Overlays, in the Metadata Tooltip, or in the Info Inspector.
Aha! -- I have re-read your OP and now understand what you are asking: is there any way to see at a glance, in the Filter HUD or Smart Settings HUD, which keywords are checked? 😎 I'm sorry I didn't get this right away.
There is not (that I know of). There should be. Perhaps a little tick-box to "Show selected keywords". Imho, you should suggest this to Apple. Including a link to this thread may help.
I do something that you may find helpful. Instead of using the Rule "Keyword" in the Smart Settings HUD, I use multiple instances of the Rule "IPTC" set to "Keywords" "is". I think I started doing this when I setting up some large databases with hundreds of Smart Albums and I, too, was frustrated by how hard it was to trouble-shoot as I went along. Afaik, as long as you spell the keyword correctly, the IPTC Rule "Keywords" "is" returms the exact same Images as the Keywords Rule with that Keyword checked. As a general guideline, I use the Rule "Keywords" for ad hoc work, but use multiple instances of the Rule "IPTC" set to "Keywords" "is" when creating a designed database. In addition to providing an instantly comprehendible account of the keywords being used for the Smart Album, this allows one to easily toggle individual keywords on/off.
Two more things as long as we are this far along:
- If you are setting up a database that is already designed, the "Duplicate Smart Album" function is a great time-saver.
- If you are designing or refining a database, using the Keywords Rule along with already-set IPTC "Keywords" Rules can let you quickly work though some possibilities.
Again, HTH.
--Kirby.