I'm working on a book project that needs to have three or four different photo editors view about 300-400 images, make their selections, and edit the group down to about 100-120 final images. These people are in different parts of the country.

At first I thought of creating a PDF and sending it out, but nixed that idea because there's no easy way to select ("check mark" an image). These people work on different systems, i.e. - PC vs. Mac. Then I thought, perhaps there's an easy way to do this either with the tools at hand, or inexpensively buy, to create a web gallery where people can log in, make their selects, and have those selects "stick", so I can talley up the votes/selections for particular images.

Anyone have anything or ideas that come to mind? I'd like to make this easy so they don't have to write anything down or send numbers/names. Just a little check mark that says it all, like when you tag in Lightroom or BreezeBrowser.

I also own Extensis Portfolio and ACDSee Pro2. Thanks.

Nemo

There are a number of open source software systems that may have application to your needs. One is drupal.org and http://coppermine-gallery.net/demo/cpg14x/ .

These both require some knowledge of setting up a server to use the software, etc. Both require the use of PHP and MySQL.

Drupal has a number of add on modules that may perform as you need. Keep in mind both of these products require some setup and installation. Being open source the cost for the software is free.

Here is a live example of a Coppermine site.

http://photo.alaskawebfactory.com/

Check out the documentation on Coppermine and their forum for suggestions.

Of course, others may know of some pay as you go systems that will perform the same functions without the need for installation. But if you are into website design, give either Drupal or Coppermine a try.

PhotoShelter can do this. You'd need to set up an account, but it doesn't need to be very large, as you could just upload small JPEG proofs to start. Once you've uploaded the files, you would create a Lightbox and Share it among several users. All the editors would need to create their own free login accounts, too.

Take a look at pa.photoshelter.com (that "pa" is for "personal archive" which is what you want.) You should easily be able to make do with a $10/month account (10 gigs total) or even the free 50MB account if the proofs are small enough.

You don't need Drupal or any other CMS for Coppermine. It will run standalone and it has a feature where users can post comments, or even mark it as a favourite.

It is easy to set up as a stand-alone app if you already have web hosting somewhere.