Searching for complex queries is really easy in Pixa using the provided special searches.

Let’s make some examples to show how useful they are:

• Do you want to search all the blue images with icon size? Here is your search: “#t blue #t icon”
• Or maybe all the pictures with “PSD” extension without any user defined tag? “#e PSD #untagged”
• Or all the images that have the text “to check” in the notes and the title has not “completed” in it? It is as easy as “#n to check - #tt completed”

PRO TIP: Read more about Pixa’s special searches!

Get the best experience using Pixa in collaboration

If you work in a team and frequently have to share image assets with your colleagues - Pixa has some features you may like.

Dropbox

Live folders are your best friends in collaborative usage of Pixa. With Live Folders you can reference your work’s Dropbox without importing the images in the Pixa’s Library. Doing so all the changes you will make to the pictures will be automatically shared to your colleagues through Dropbox.

PRO TIP: You can open the files for edit from inside Pixa using the “Open With” dialog or pressing ⌘↩ to open the default associated program (that’s Photoshop for PSDs! :) )

Using Live Folders and Dropbox together will also ensure that all the tags and notes you’ll add to the images will be shared.

External Storage

If your company prefer to keep all the graphic resources together on an External or Network Drive - there is no problem for Pixa.

You can import the Folder on the External Disk you are interested in as a Live Folder and access to all your images in moments. Pixa will automatically detect disk availability so you will always have your files in your hands as soon as the Storage become accessible.

PRO TIP: If the External Storage is formatted in a file systems that support extended attributes (xattr) your notes and tags will be shared with your teammates as Pixa does on internal drives

Quick Export

Imagine that you have to show an image to an evaluator every 10 minutes but you don’t want to send the full PSD each time. With Quick Export you can send a compressed version through Dropbox or CloudApp in just one drag.

Simply configure your preferred cloud service in the Preferences and drop the Quick Export Item on the cloud icon. In a bunch of seconds you’ll have the link copied to the clipboard, ready to be pasted in Skype.

Don’t forget that you can customize Quick Export elements to better reflect your work habits. Just click on the Edit button above the Quick Export panel.

Easily import images from archives

Pixa provides a handy way to directly import images contained in ZIP and RAR archives.

Drop an archive under the Projects label and Pixa will import it like a folder.

If you prefer to import the images discarding the eventual folders structure, you can drop the archive inside the image browser and the content will be added in the displayed project.

Dragging, dragging everywhere!!

Some of those that at first sight can appear as simple buttons hide a drop functionality.

Let’s make an example. You can select any file and click the cloud button to have the image uploaded. Otherwise you can drag the image on it and achieve the same result.

Moreover if you drop a Quick Export item on the cloud button the result is absolutely what you’d expect.

The switcher between Projects and Tags on the upper left is droppable too. If you’ve found an awesome icon inside the blue tag and you want to add that image to your Inspiration project. It will be easy as:

• Drag the image over the Projects part of the switcher
• Wait for a second and smile
• Once the sidebar shows the Projects, drop the image over the Inspiration project

Do you want to create a new template? Just drop the picture on the Document button over the image browser.

Struggling to find the treasure you’ve buried in the yard?

You will love OpenMeta!

First something you probably already know: all the files you keep in Pixa’s Live Folders are searchable through Spotlight.

The surprise: you can search in Spotlight for tags and notes you’ve added to Live Folder’s images in Pixa.

Pixa embeds notes in the image’s information and adds tags as OpenMeta Tags so they’ll become searchable using Spotlight and sharable through Dropbox!

PRO TIP: Pixa imports OpenMeta too. So if you’ve added tags to your images using an external program (like one of these Apps) - they will be visible in Pixa.

Tired of renaming one file at time?

Renaming multiple images in Pixa is very easy: first select all the files you want to rename, then click on the “Multiple selection” label (inside the information panel) or use the shortcut: ⌥⌘R. You can now write the new name and press enter.

The images will be renamed using the name you provided, a trailing counter will be added (1, 2, 3 and so on) to keep the name unique.

Pixa sequentially renames images using the displayed order, you can sort images as you wish for a better result.

PRO TIP: The counter will be left-padded with zeros in order to have the same number of digits for each renamed image.

Do you use personal assets to start any project? Make them templates!

Pixa comes with a preset of featured File Templates to choose from. To use a File Template click on the document button in the Tool Bar or select “New File From Template” from the File menu.

Moreover, you can add your personal presets. Here is a list of beautiful templates we loved and we hope you will appreciate:

• iOS 6 GUI PSD iPhone 5
• iPad Mini Psd Vector Mockup

Adding a File Template is as easy as right-clicking an image inside Pixa and select “Save as Template” from the menu. Now customize your template name and description and… BOOM. Your template is ready to use!

Want to keep your work images separated from your personal photos? Living multiple lives? The “Multiple Libraries” approach is the one for you!

In the Preferences (⌘,), under the “Library” tab, you can find all you need to manage your libraries:

• Open a previously saved Library
• Create a new Library
• Move the current Library to a new location