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Creating and Assigning Hierarchical Keywords

You can keyword your files in a hierarchy and maintain these groups in the Keyword tree. Select the Organize tab in the Properties pane to create, rename, delete, and move your keywords.

Creating Keywords

To Create Keywords:

In the Properties pane, located to the right of the File List pane, do one of the following:

Right-click Keywords in the Organize tab, and then select New Keyword.

Type a keyword into the field of the Keyword group and press Enter.

To Keyword Files with Existing Keywords, Do One of the Following:

Select one or more files, then drag the keyword onto them.
Select one or more files, then check the box next to the appropriate keyword.
Select one or more files, then right-click the keyword. Select Assign items.
Select one or more files, then drag them onto the keyword.

To Establish a Hierarchy, Do One of the Following:

In the keyword field, type the lesser or more specific keyword, followed by the less than symbol, followed by the greater or more general keyword.

Example:

Owl < Bird

or

Madrid < Spain < Europe

Right-click an existing keyword, then select New Keyword. The new keyword will automatically become a child to the existing keyword.

When assigning multiple keywords to a file, it is important to note that separating keywords with commas will not generate a hierarchy.

Managing Keywords

To Manage Your Keywords:

Select a keyword in the Organize tab, and do one of the following:

To unassign a keyword from a file, right-click the selected keyword and select Remove Items or uncheck the box.
To edit the keyword, right-click the selected keyword and select Edit.
To delete the keyword, right-click the selected keyword and select Delete.
To edit the keyword tree, click and drag the keyword to other parts of the tree.
To duplicate a keyword, right-click the selected keyword and select Copy, then Paste where desired.
To merge duplicate keywords, click and drag one keyword into the other.
To create a keyword from an existing category, click and drag the category into the keyword tree.

Creating Quick Keywords

In order to keep your keywords organized and streamline your workflow, you can use quick keywords by creating a group of related keywords that hold an association for you. This is ideal for keywords you would like to be easily accessible, rather than buried in the hierarchical tree. You can create multiple groups and choose between them based on the photos you are viewing at the time. You can also add these keywords to your tree.

Example:

Italy

Florence Venice Lake Como

Rome Milan Verona

Genoa Bologna Naples

To Create Easy-Access Quick Keywords:

In the Keyword group, on the Organize tab, select Manage Quick Keywords from the drop-down menu. The Quick Keywords dialog box opens.
Click the Save button and choose a name for your set. Click OK.
Enter up to nine associated or commonly-used keywords into the open fields. To create a hierarchy within a field, use the pipe key. Example: A|B|C.
Click OK.
Apply keywords from your set by selecting a file and clicking the applicable keyword from the Quick Keywords Table.
A dialog will open asking if you would like to create this keyword. Click Yes. The keyword will be added to the tree. If you specified a hierarchy in the keyword set, the parent keyword will appear in the tree with the child under it. The text of the keywords in the table will change color to indicate that the keyword is assigned to the currently selected files, and will display in italics if assigned to only some (but not all) of the currently selected files.