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## Creating and Managing Catalogs

This chapter describes how to create and modify Portfolio catalogs, including: adding items to a catalog; selecting cataloging options; adding information to items such as keywords, descriptions and custom fields; updating cataloged items; and creating and using Master Keyword lists. Also covered are catalog Access Levels and networking without a Server.

Tip: Most of the procedures in this chapter require Editor or higher level access to the open catalog.

For information on managing a Portfolio Catalog Server see Server Administration. For information on using Portfolio to find and retrieve cataloged items, see Viewing and Searching Catalogs.

### Creating Catalogs

To catalog items in Portfolio you “add” them to an open catalog—Portfolio then handles the cataloging automatically. You can add items to a new catalog or to an existing one. New catalogs created in Portfolio are initially empty.

This section shows you how to create a new, empty catalog; to add items to the catalog, see Adding Catalog Items.

Note: You'll notice that the Portfolio catalogs you create are automatically given a “.fdb" filename extension, even on the Macintosh. This is to ensure cross-platform access to your catalogs. Macintosh users who do not work in a cross-platform environment can delete the “.fdb" extension in the Save dialog when the file is named and saved.

Important: When a new catalog is created, Portfolio also creates a supporting file with a “.adm" extension; this file is placed in the same folder as the catalog. The “.adm” file is used to control file access in a multi-user environment. If you delete the file Portfolio will recreate it. Deleting the file in a multi-user environment can cause unexpected problems for catalog users.

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### Catalogs Palette

The new Catalogs palette in Portfolio 5.0 makes working with multiple catalogs easier than ever before. See the Reference section for a complete description of the Catalogs palette.

From the Catalogs palette can open catalogs and galleries, set default catalog(s) to open when Portfolio is launched from the user’s machine, open new catalogs to a default gallery or with all records displayed, instantly close all galleries in a catalog, and more—all from the handy Catalogs palette. All the options available on the Catalogs palette are shown in the table below.