Extensis Portfolio - 8.5.3

This thing took over 36 hours (I timed it) to catalogue a DVD with over 25000 files, about 50% EPS illustrations and 50% pixel-based photos. The interface is clumsy, and you can't, and i can't believe this, drag and drop a folder or disk into the window.

Anyway, The MS version of the once fab iViewMediaPro did the disc in under an hour and I was able to drag the disc right into the main window. I mean, c'mon.

Isn't US$100 kind of high for a .5 upgrade? Geez, I bought Portfolio when it was Adobe's Fetch and have bought every upgrade all along. I just finished paying for Creative Suite 3 plus Fireworks CS3 upgrades and Lightroom, I have a US$100 roll of paper coming for our Epson 4800 tomorrow, and the printer needs five new ink cartridges at US$50-83 each (depending upon capacity), and I want to make sure I can afford the new CS3-Intel-compatible version of nik Sharpener Pro and the forthcoming Lucis Art Pro 5.

I don't think I can afford to keep up with all of this stuff. Maybe I'll hold off on Portfolio 8.5, at least for a while. I'm using 8.1.1.

I really loathe how I can't permanently disable that Folder and Gallery view stuff in a new Portfolio catalog. All I want is a single-paned window that lets me see as many 256-pixel thumbnails as possible. I know it's possible to disable these things on a per-catalog basis, but I'd like to be able to tell Portfolio to never give me those panes (pun intended) unless I ask for them.

No matter what Extensis does, I can't let go of Portfolio. I have 2600-2700 Portfolio catalogs on my boot drive. One might say that I depend on the program, though all I really do is put my work (original raw images, edited Photoshop images, some graphics created in other programs) into catalogs as I add them to my archived libraries. I use Bridge to browse the current stuff.

If Adobe would archive the information in Lightroom and/or Bridge about where the file is stored--an offline volume--and it would open my Portfolio catalogs, then I wouldn't have to keep upgrading this utility. I believe this utility cost US$50 back when it was Adobe's Fetch. [Who was Portfolio's first developer? Was it Adobe, or did Adobe purchase Fetch from another developer?) This is a good question for Matt Deatherage (www.macjournals.com).]

Another Portfolio gripe I have regards catalog conversion, upgrading old catalogs to work with newer versions of Portfolio. I have a bunch of old Portfolio catalogs that take too long and too many steps to convert. The problem is the index node size. For a utility as expensive as Portfolio, one should reasonably expect the latest and greatest new version to easily upgrade old catalogs, especially since the whole purpose of Portfolio is to make life easier for us digital asset managers.

I'm almost sorry about this long vent, but this comes on the heels of that nasty Suitcase 12.1.4-12.1.5-12.1.6 fiasco that cost me a few hours of twubble.

Still, even after griping all this time, I appreciate Extensis's efforts to continue to develop top-tier professional Mac software. I appreciate Michael Ninness, too, whom I believe might still be employed by Extensis.

Also, I really appreciate the fact that Extensis always offers thirty-day demos on its products. That's important when I recommend Extensis products to my clients. Lastly, I appreciate the free Portfolio browser. That's very handy to give to clients whom I know have no interest in the full version of Portfolio.

We appreciate all of the constructive criticism that we receive on the VersionTracker site.

As you can tell, we are continually working to improve Portfolio, and make your asset managment experience as painless as can be. As with any asset mananger, a little bit of planning goes a long way when organizing your most valuable work. To help you plan and organize your assets, we've created our Managing Your Creative Assets Best Practices Guide. Please download this document from our website:
http://dl.extensis.com/downloads/PF/EN/P/Portfolio8_BestPracticesGuide.pdf

We've also recently set up the Extensis User Forums. This is a good place to network with other professionals who are using Portfolio in their workflow. http://forums.extensis.com

And finnally, as always, we have free technical support available to navigate any bumps in the road you might hit along the way: http://www.extensis.com/support/

Thanks again for your comments.

Jim Kidwell
Technical Product Specialist
Extensis
http://forums.extensis.com

Imagine my disappointment. This update appears only to make the program work on the new Macs. New Portfolio versions have been consistently "2 steps forward and one step back". I finally upgraded from v6 to v8 after skipping v7 (because v7 lost some functionality I needed). Since updating to v8 I've been hoping for an update to fix some it's "one step back" issues and bugs.

Decent product with some excellent features, but the support is terrible.

I've been using Portfolio since it was Fetch (i am currently on v7), but there is always some annoying quirk that stops me wholeheartedly recommending it to others and always mystifies me when I read users who never seem to have problems. The current one with v7 is how it seems to ignore settings for importing thumbnails. Not only that, it erratically and stubbornly at intervals (why it changes I don't know) will only import/create tiny 64x64 pixel thumbnails. I have systematically gone through all the settings and it seems to have no effect. My conclusion? That it is intermittently useful but not to be relied upon.