SwapNeat FAQ
If you are new to SwapNeat, or don't know what “tagging” is, we suggest you read this FAQ, so you'll get an idea of the terms used, and you'll know how SwapNeat can make your music and photo management tasks fast and fun.
- What is SwapNeat™?
SwapNeat™ is a set of software and Websites that allow users to organize and enjoy their photo, music, and video files in fast and fun ways.
We provide software tools for Windows, including SwapNeat Metadata Studio, that makes applying metadata fast and fun, and free developer tools to use the applied metadata in a variety of ways. We also provide a Website at swapneat.net for users and developers to discuss and share metadata vocabularies.
- Is SwapNeat an image editor or a media player?
No. SwapNeat is all about metadata, and is designed to be a companion product for other photo, music, and video tools. When you want to edit your images or music files, SwapNeat can launch your favorite image or music file editor, and when you’re done editing, you’ll return to SwapNeat to continue tagging.
SwapNeat has features to make the most of the metadata in the files, to create slideshows, photo albums and music playlists that work with your other photo, music, and video software, and even work with your portable music player or on a CD or DVD player. In short, SwapNeat will help you use your music and image files together in fun new ways.
- What is “metadata”?
Metadata is commonly described as “data about data”. A digital photo of your family at a picnic is a data file; the image could be described as “a photo of my family at a picnic”. This phrase is data that should be stored, and because the phrase itself is data that describes other data (the image) it is “metadata”.
Be sure to read our Metadata Primer for more information.
- What is “tagging”
“Tagging” is another word for “assigning metadata”. For music files, the text that describes the music (the name of the song, the name of the artist, the year the song was released, etc.) is stored in something called an “ID3 Tag”. The term “tag” is the basis for the term “tagging”, or the activity of assigning metadata to files.
- Why would I want to tag my files?
If your files are properly tagged, they are easier to find and organize.
You can use the tags to organize and name your files in sensible ways, so you can find them without having to remember exactly when you created the file or where you put it. Simply put, if your files are properly organized, if you can remember the file, you can more easily find the file, without having to use a search tool.
You can also perform sophisticated searches to find specific files quickly, and find many files that share similar characteristics.
Without tags, you’ll have to rely on memory, or do all your file naming and organizing manually.
- Can’t I just manage and find my files manually?
You certainly can try, and you might do pretty well for some time... but eventually, you’ll have too many files, or you won’t remember exactly which technique to use to name or move a file... then things start to get messier and messier until you have a real problem to solve.
If you use SwapNeat, it can help you out of this problem... and if you use SwapNeat before you have a problem, you’ll never have a problem.
Everyone uses a computer nowadays... but the skills for organizing ever-increasing amounts of data on the hard drive take years to develop. And with hard drives in the hundreds of gigabytes range, this is a lot of information for a computer user to manage. Then when you consider data on digital cameras or portable music players, CDs, DVDs, etc... well, you can see how managing data can be problematic.
Remember when you got your first computer. There were no files stored in the “My Documents”, “My Music” and “My Photos” folders, except a few sample files that came with the computer.
As you started using your computer, in the beginning, adding files to the hard drive was easy, and finding them in the “My Documents” folder wasn’t too difficult.
But as time goes on, the files build up. Hundreds of files in a single folder can be hard to deal with.
Admit it... sometimes when you’re in a hurry, you might not take the time to properly name the files so they can be identified easily later on.
For digital pictures, most digital cameras simply number the image files sequentially (like “PICT0001.JPG”, “PICT0002.JPG” etc.). The user has to pick a useful name to tell them apart. You may have even accidentally copied over a file like “PICT0001.JPG”, because another file had the same name!
For music files, there are media players that will retrieve the metadata for a given song or an entire CD from the Internet... but a lot of this data was entered by other computer users, who aren’t necessarily careful when they’re entering the data, (hey, they’re only human!) or perhaps they just don’t enter data the same way YOU would.
Aside from the data you generate yourself, over time, you’ll receive data files from friends as email attachments, or download files from the Internet.
The more data you have, the more difficult it becomes to find files when you want or need them.
Then you know what happens... eventually, you have a hard disk full of data that you can’t find, so you have pictures you never look at, music you never listen to... the data just sits there.
- Why would I want to use SwapNeat?
SwapNeat makes tagging fast and fun, and helps you name, organize, find, and most importantly, enjoy your files. SwapNeat will help you bring your valuable files back into your life.
- Doesn’t my media player and photo editor have tagging tools?
Yes, but the question says it all: those products are media players or photo editors. They’re not designed from the ground up to be tagging tools.
SwapNeat is a tagging tool. It’s not an image editor or media player. It won’t fix red-eye or add reverb to your music file.
It will give you great search results and will help you create fantastic playlists and slideshows.
SwapNeat is designed specifically to make music and photo tagging fast and fun. No other software is as powerful and flexible for tagging, and using SwapNeat will enhance your enjoyment of other software, by making your files easier to find and enjoy.
- Are “tagging files” and “managing metadata” as boring as they sound?
If you don’t use SwapNeat to manage your metadata, and use metadata to manage your files, these tasks really can be very tedious and time-consuming. SwapNeat makes metadata management fast and fun.
- How does SwapNeat make metadata tagging FUN?
SwapNeat is designed to make tagging easier than ever.
SwapNeat allows you to share and download common tag vocabularies so you don’t have to do a lot of tedious typing.
You use SwapNeat TagSets that focus on keywords suitable for the files you’re working on right now. You don’t have to bother will every tag you’ve ever used: just the ones you need are presented.
SwapNeat Metadata Studio includes the revolutionary “TAP interface”, which guides you to create tag vocabularies that you’ll never outgrow, and helps you tag your files accurately and thoroughly, with a few clicks of a mouse.
Using The TAP interface, you don’t have to think about which keywords to use for each file. You are guided through the process so all you have to do is just click the best tag for the file you’re looking at or listening to. Lots of tags are provided for you, and for your custom tags, you only ever have to enter a tag once, then, you just click the tag button to tag your files.
With other tagging tools, the more you use them, the slower it gets and the more effort it requires. With SwapNeat, it gets faster and easier the more you use it!
If you’ve used the tagging features of other media players and image editors, you know how tedious they can be... the TAP makes tagging fast and, yes, even FUN! Once you get started, you’ll see how much fun it actually is. For more information, see the Features pages on this Website.
- Is my metadata stored in a special database, or is it embedded right in the file?
SwapNeat uses open standards to store the metadata right in the file itself. A special file is also written out as a backup of the data stored in the file, but most importantly, the data is stored inside, and carried with, the original data file.
Other tagging programs store the metadata in a proprietary database... that means you have to use that particular program, forever, if you’re going to be able to access the metadata.
- Is SwapNeat Metadata Studio a “Web 2.0” app?
No. “Web 2.0” usually refers to interactive programs that run inside your Web browser, where the data is stored on the server rather than on your local file system.
SwapNeat Metadata Studio is a client-side Windows application, that connects to the SwapNeat Community using standard Internet communication methods. You tag files that are accessible directly on your local computer: on the built-in hard drive, on memory sticks, or on other computers on your local network.
- Do I have to upload my files to a Web server to tag them?
No. You do not have to upload files to a Web site to use SwapNeat. You do not tag files that are stored on a remote Web site or file-sharing site. You use SwapNeat Metadata Studio on your local PC to tag local files.
The tags are embedded in the files, so when you upload them to the Web, the embedded tags will go with the file, but you never have to upload files to tag them with SwapNeat.
- Are my files moved or changed by SwapNeat Metadata Studio?
No. SwapNeat Metadata Studio will only move or change files if you tell it to.
When you install SwapNeat Metadata Studio, you will be asked which files you want to manage. The files are scanned in place, and the embedded tags are “discovered”, but the file is not changed or moved.
Of course, when you tag files, the tags are embedded in the file, so the file is changed by adding tags, but the data (the photo or music or video data being tagged) is not altered.
- What are “standards”?
The best way to define “Standards” is by listing a few examples.
The JPEG data format, used to store images taken by your digital camera, is a standard data format for digital pictures, which was developed by a “standards body” known as the Joint Photographic Experts Group.
The way music is stored on a Compact Disc, and the physical structure of the disc itself, is a standard that was jointly developed by Philips and Sony.
A manufacturer or software developer can use the published information about the standard to create devices and software that will allow their device to use the same data format as other devices.
So, when you take a picture with your digital camera, it is stored on the memory card (which is also based on a standard) in JPEG image format. Then, when you copy the JPEG image file off your camera (by plugging your camera into the USB port, another standard), the operating system can find the files and bring them into the computer. Then, software that understands the JPEG standard can be used to preview it on your screen, include it in a Web page, or edit it in your favorite photo editor.
You can use an audio CD in car stereos, in a portable CD player, your home entertainment unit, your computer’s CD drive. All those devices can use the discs that comply with the “Compact Disc” standard.- What does “standards-based” mean?
When software developers talk about “standards”, often they’re referring to the data formats used to store, transmit and interpret data.
When a software developer refers to their program as being “standards-based” (like SwapNeat is), it means that they have chosen to develop the software in such a way that the data it generates will be compatible with established recognized standards, so other existing software that works with that standard can work with the data.
For example, you can use SwapNeat to enter ID3 metadata into an MP3 file, and that metadata will be displayed when you play the MP3 file on your computer with your media player software, and also on the screen of your portable MP3 player, because SwapNeat adheres to the MP3 and ID3 standards.
Without standards, this would not be the case; you’d have to use a particular piece of software to access or play your music files... just imagine what portable music would be like if every company that made portable music players required a DIFFERENT music file data format?
SwapNeat adheres to standards. Metadata that SwapNeat inserts into files has been tested to be compatible with lots of other applications. A list of tested applications is available on our Website.
- Can I use other software to access these embedded tags?
SwapNeat stores metadata in each file in a way that can be read by other applications.
You may have heard of “ID3 Tags”. They are used for storing metadata inside MP3 files. You may also have heard of “EXIF”. This is how digital cameras store information about the photograph, right in the digital photo, when the picture is taken. You can create your own comments and store them in the file as well.
When the metadata is stored in the file, when you send the file to a friend, the metadata is carried with it, of course. Photo, music, and video files have standard ways to store metadata. Leading software vendors including Adobe, Microsoft, Apple, Corel, and others, support standards-based embedded metadata.
SwapNeat provides free tools for third-party developers to extract metadata from files. They can then use this metadata in a variety of ways to create custom output formats, or convert the metadata to a format usable by their product.
- Can I share my metadata with friends?
Yes. When you share a file, because the metadata is part of the file, you’re sharing the metadata. SwapNeat provides free add-ons for Windows that lets your friends see and interact with the metadata embedded in the files you share.
Your friends can download the free tools that provide Windows Explorer integration, and command-line access to the embedded metadata.
- Can I share my tag vocabularies with other SwapNeat Metadata Studio users?
Yes. You can share the set of keywords you use to tag your photo or music files, so you and your friends can all use the same keywords. So if all the members of your family use the same keywords, and share photos with one another, then, when you search for files, you can easily find the photos taken by anyone in your family, because you’re all using the same “lingo”.
You can download other moderated tag vocabularies for subjects of interest to you, and you don’t have to do the work of making up all the tags yourself. You can participate with other SwapNeat users from around the world to create a set of keywords for specific subjects, using tags you all agree on... for photos of celebrities, astronomy, plants, collectibles, etc.
SwapNeat supports multi-lingual tag vocabularies! Users from around the world can contribute a “language pack” for any tag vocabulary, then use their own language to tag their files, but still be compatible with the moderated tag vocabulary. If you receive a file from someone who used a different language pack, you can still search in your own language, and you’ll find the right files. For example, if you collect pictures of house cats, and search your file library for the English word “cat” you would also find files containing the French word “chat” and the German word “katze”.
- How do I share tag vocabularies with other users?
In order to share tag vocabularies with other users, the first thing you need is a SwapNeat ID.
Your SwapNeat ID is free, and is used to uniquely identify your tag vocabulary as belonging to you. You can register for your SwapNeat ID from within the SwapNeat Metadata Studio program, or on the Register page of this Website.
You can share your tag vocabulary via the swapneat.net community Website, privately with specific other SwapNeat users, or publicly for everyone to use.
You can export your tag vocabulary from SwapNeat Metadata Studio and email to another SwapNeat user, or put it on a floppy disk, CD-Recordable disk, or a USB memory key.
See the Features section for more information on sharing.
- Do I have to sign up for a SwapNeat ID to use SwapNeat Metadata Studio?
In short, yes; so you can:
- share your tag vocabularies
- access swapneat.net community forums
- download and contribute to moderated tag vocabularies
and so SwapNeat can:
- distinguish tag vocabularies from one another
- streamline the product activation process
- identify users as having an activated copy of SwapNeat Metadata Studio.
More information on the benefits of having SwapNeat ID is available at swapneat.net.
- Do I have to be connected to the Internet to use SwapNeat Metadata Studio?
No. SwapNeat Metadata Studio requires a valid SwapNeat ID, and to obtain a SwapNeat ID, Internet access is required, but most of the features of SwapNeat Metadata Studio will work without an Internet connection.
If you want to share your tag vocabulary, SwapNeat Metadata Studio must connect to the Internet to verify your SwapNeat ID on swapneat.net, which it will use to digitally sign your tag vocabulary file. Without an Internet connection, the tag vocabulary can not be signed, and therefore can not be imported into SwapNeat Metadata Studio on other computers.
Of course, in order to get the most out of the community at swapneat.net, and for the easiest way to download new tag vocabularies and software updates, being connected to the Internet while running SwapNeat Metadata Studio is recommended... but you don’t need to be connected all the time, or have a high-speed connection. You can download files onto a different computer, and bring them over to your SwapNeat computer on a floppy disk, CD-ROM or USB memory key.
- Can I use SwapNeat Metadata Studio on a computer with no Internet connection whatsoever?
SwapNeat Metadata Studio can be installed, activated and run without an Internet connection on the computer on which it is installed.
In order to run SwapNeat Metadata Studio, a SwapNeat ID is required.
In order to obtain a SwapNeat ID, an email address is required so SwapNeat can send to the user:
- the SwapNeat ID verification email, that activates your SwapNeat ID.
- the activation code which removes the 30-day time limit on SwapNeat Metadata Studio.
Another computer that has an Internet connection can be used to register for a SwapNeat ID, and the information that is emailed to the user can be transferred to the computer where SwapNeat Metadata Studio is installed.
- What can I do with my files once they’re properly tagged?
No matter what file type, one of SwapNeat’s most useful features will help you reorganize and rename your files, so you know exactly what they are and can find them easily on your hard drive, without having to use SwapNeat or any other program to find them. Just browse your hard drive in Windows Explorer and you’ll be able to find the file you want easily.
Other features depend on the type of file.
For images, you can create slideshows, which you can burn to CD or post on the Web. You can create easy-to-use Web galleries of photos, that you can put up on any Website you like; you can email a Web gallery to a friend, that they can view on their computer, even if they aren’t connected to the Internet. You can integrate information from your global positioning system with your photos to plot them out on a map!
With music files, you can find songs to suit a particular mood, or special occasion... or even create a playlist for an exercise session that starts slow for a warm up, picks up speed for your peak level, then slows down again for a cool down period... you can even arrange a playlist based on the mood of the songs, to help take you gently from a blue mood to a cheerful one!
- How much does SwapNeat cost?
SwapNeat Metadata Studio is fully-functional for thirty days after installation, at no charge.
After thirty days, access to swapneat.net will continue, and certain features of SwapNeat Metadata Studio will continue to function in a limited capacity. All features are unlocked immediately when an activation code is purchased and entered. An activation code is purchased via the swapneat.com Website for $49.95 US. Note that this is not an annual fee: it is a one-time fee to gain unlimited access to all the features of SwapNeat Metadata Studio and the SwapNeat Metadata platform.
