1. Keywording in Aperture is clunky at best. But it is do-able, and can be done without road-blocks, though not frictionlessly.
2. _Everyone_ has different uses and expectations from keywording. You must refine a system that meets _your needs_.
3. Search this forum. There have some excellent posts about applying keywords.
4. Here is a semi-comprehensive ( 😉 ) list of ways to apply keywords. Consider each of them as you develop your system.
- - Use a keyboard shortcut to put the focus in the Add Keyword box, and use that field's auto-complete.
- - Drag from the Keyword HUD
- - Type in the Keyword field in the Info Inspector (_no_ auto-complete)
- - Lift and Stamp from one Image to another
- - Use Buttons in the Button Sets that show on the Control Bar
And here's what I do:
- I determined what I would use keywords for (what groupings I would need to retrieve). I created those keywords.
- I have Button Sets for each group of commonly applied keywords. I keep these groups under 20 keywords each (that is as many as can be shown at a time).
- I use the keyboard shortcuts {comma} and {period} to cycle though my Button Sets.
- I separate all keywords into groups, and nest them in the Keywords HUD. I _never_ apply a "group parent" keyword to an Image.
- I keyword by Project. When the Images in a Project are keyworded, I mark the Project "Keyed" (in the Project Description field).
- I limit my Projects to one "shoot". In practice, this means that there are rarely more than 50 Images in a project (and never more than 150), and usually all the Images in a Project will share one or more keywords. There are easily applied.
- I apply keywords that are shared by many Image within a Project first, starting with the most-used. Of course, this is not "rigorous", but as a working strategy it reduces my time keywording.
- I apply keywords for commonly photographed individuals separately, using a Button Set.
- I keep the Images sorted by time. After applying the initial "broad" keywords (e.g.: genre, time of day, location, color {important for my work}), I go from Image to Image, in order, and apply _any_ keyword to all the subsequent Images that should have it in the Project. So when I get to "Dolphin", I ⌘-click[-and-drag] all the Images in the Project that I want to keyword with "Dolphin", and I apply it at once. Then I am done with "Dolphin" and do not have to apply again in this Project. (This is what Phosgraphis recommends. IME, it is _much_ faster to select all appropriate Images and apply one keyword than it is to select all appropriate keywords and apply them to one Image.)
- I use only capitalized keywords, and only type then with non-caps. This way I can tell in an instant when I have mistakenly applied a keyword that is not already in my fully-developed keyword list.
- I developed my own keyword list. Keywords are for _you_ to help _you_ find _your_ Images. I don't think like you. You don't think like me. (And I am not in and will never be in the stock photo business.)
- Fwiw, I do not drag from the Keyword HUD. I can type faster than than I can find, click, drag, drop. (I use the Keyword HUD to manage my keywords, but otherwise don't show it.)
HTH,
Kirby, still using Aperture.
