Searching files by something other than filename?

[munckee]

Anyone know if this is possible? I'd like to be able to put my photos on an external drive and tag them with keywords. Is there any way to make them searchable in this manner in some way other than putting those keywords in the filename? Will finder search the comments on a file, or can it be made to?

Edit: found the "spotlight comments" function. Seems to be exactly what I'm looking for.

 

[PkennethV]

If you use Aperture or Lightroom then Spotlight will also search the metadata. May be a littile expensive for just this purpose, but if you already use it then that's an option.

 

[apfhex]

If you use Aperture or Lightroom then Spotlight will also search the metadata.

iPhoto too!

 

[aj98]

Anyone know if this is possible? I'd like to be able to put my photos on an external drive and tag them with keywords. Is there any way to make them searchable in this manner in some way other than putting those keywords in the filename? Will finder search the comments on a file, or can it be made to?

Edit: found the "spotlight comments" function. Seems to be exactly what I'm looking for.

You should be able to add comments to a file that either finder of spotlight can read....

Tedious if you have lots of files, but...

Right click the file, get info.

there should be an editable comments box.
Anything entered there should be retained when you close the get info dialog.

 

[jwkay]

You should be able to add comments to a file that either finder of spotlight can read....

Tedious if you have lots of files, but...

Right click the file, get info.

there should be an editable comments box.
Anything entered there should be retained when you close the get info dialog.

If you want to add the same comment to multiple files, a simple Automator action can help you. Just "Get selected Finder items" and "Add Spotlight comments to Finder items" (show action when run). I've got this in my Finder's right-click Automator menu. Very useful at times.