Import and link images in bulk

Learn how to import Photo/Audio-Visual records and link them to Object records.

Overview

You can create multiple Photo/Audio-Visual records and link them to Object records with the Import and Link Images tool. Any images that are already in Vernon CMS will not be imported again.

This process will also search for existing Photo/Audio-Visual records that haven't been linked and link them, if they can be matched to an Object record.

You can also import images and not link them to any records.

Before you begin

You must include the Object record's accession number or System ID in the image file name. You can only choose one option per import, so you'll want to be consistent with your file naming.

Note: If your filenames use some other naming convention, we might be able to write a preparser to enable you to use this tool. Please email support@vernonsystems.com.

If you have multiple images to attach to an Object record, you should use a unique character such as an underscore or hyphen to delimit the suffix from the accession number or System ID.

This is called the segment delimiter character. The delimiter tells Vernon CMS where the accession number part of the file name ends.

Example 1

In this example, the delimiter is _ (an underscore), and the suffixes are front and back.

2018.5_front
2018.5_back

Example 2

In this example, the delimiter is - (a hyphen), and the suffixes are 1 and 2.

2002.1-1
2002.1-2

This delimiter must be different to that used between accession number segments. For example, 2011_6_detail could cause problems.

Steps

Go to the Tools menu, then Imaging, then click Import & Link Images.
In the Image Directory field, click the Browse button to find the image folder. The system will look in the selected folder and subfolders. You can optionally untick the Include Subfolders checkbox.
Make sure Link images to Objects is selected.
Select either Accession Number or System ID, depending on what number your image file names contain.
Optional: Select Link as Primary Image. If you're importing multiple images for an object, the last new image in your folder will be the primary image.
Optional: Under Filename Mapping, map the file names:
1. If all the file names include a common prefix, enter it in the Filename Prefix field.
2. If the file names have a suffix (such as _detail or _a), then in the Filename Suffix field, enter this code:
  *'_'0X
  
  The code tells the system to ignore everything after an underscore in a file name. If necessary, replace the underscore with your specific segment delimiter character (for example, a hyphen).
3. If your image file names use a different segment delimiter character to your accession number format (for example, 2011_6 versus 2011.6), then complete these steps:
  1. In the Map From field, enter the segment delimiter character in your image file names. In this example, you would enter an underscore (_).
  2. In the Map To field, enter the segment delimiter character in your accession number. In this example, you would enter a full stop (.).
Optional: Enter a Brief Description and Publication Status for the Photo/Audio-Visual records. This data will be added to all the new records created by this import.
Click Display Matches. A report will run, giving details of image files unable to be matched to Object records. The report will also tell you how many matches were found.
Close the report and look in the Matches Found table. Check that the correct image files have been matched to the right Object records. You can optionally remove any rows from the Matches Found table that you don’t want to import.
Click Create. All the images will be imported and linked to the Object records. This could take a few minutes if there are a large number of images to import and link. Once finished, the Photo/Audio-Visual records and Object records will display in a browse list.

Tip: If this is an import you're likely to run again using the same image directory and/or mapping details, you can save the configuration. Enter a name in the Name field and click  Save. To open a saved configuration, open the Import & Link Images tool and type ] (a right square bracket) into the Search bar and press Enter. You can then select it from the list of configurations. (Import configurations are not saved in Portfolio.)