Why and how do I categorise media items in FTM?

Media Categories are used by Family Book Creator (FBC) to define if media items should be included, and how they should be used and handled, in a book, e.g. images and PDF documents.

Why categorize media files?
How to categorize media files?

Why categorize media files?

FTM allows the assignment of one or more categories to a media item. The categories allow you to easily search for media, because you may select to view media items sorted by media category. Using media categories allows the grouping related files. You may want to have event categories (e.g., Weddings, Birthdays) and categories based on item types (e.g., Portraits, Group shots, Buildings, Headstones).

Family Book Creator utilizes media categories for the following:

Resize images
(Is there a way to increase the size of images listed inside photo album sections?)
Limit the number of images included
(How to reduce the number of images displayed in a book?)
Include media elements in PDF (Portable Document Format) file format
(How do I include PDF files as media items in a book?)
Include content from word processor documents
Specify which image should be used in the middle of a Family Chart
It is possible to include wedding pictures that are linked to marriage facts or relationships embedded in the middle of family charts if you are using Microsoft Word for page pagination. They are not included if you are using OpenOffice Writer. If there are multiple photos attached to the marriage fact, or if you wish to embed a photo that is not attached to the marriage fact, it is necessary to mark the photo that should be used by adding the photo to the custom media category FBC_FamilyChart_Center.

How to categorize media files?

Media categories used by FBC are not predefined in your Family Tree Maker (FTM) database, but you can create media categories on your own from the Media Detail panel. More than one category may be assigned to a media file.

Categorize single media files

To categorize single media files:

Select in FTM the media item to which you want to assign a category and open the media details view.
(Right click with the mouse on the media item to open the context menu, Select 'View Media Details...' to open the Media Detail view)
In the Information panel, click 'Edit'. The categories dialog box opens.
Select one or more categories to assign to the file. If the category you want is not listed, you can click 'Add' to create the new category.
When you have finished, click 'OK'.

Categorize multiple media files

Since FTM 2014 it is possible to categorize multiple media files at once:

In FTM, open the 'Media' workspace then click the 'Collection' tab.
Select the media files to which you want to assign one or more categories. You can Shift+Click to select a range of items or Ctrl+Click to select multiple, non-contiguous items. The key combination Ctrl+A allows to select all media elements at once.
Click the Media menu > 'Categorize Media...' or select 'Categorize Media...' from context menu after using the right mouse button.
The 'Categorize Media' dialog box opens.
Select one or more categories to assign to all of the files. If the category you want is not listed, you can click Add to create the new category.
When you have finished, click 'OK'.