Reply To: How do you assign numbers to images within Adobe InDesign?

Nothing definitive here, but I would perhaps look into two things:

First, assigning keywords to the images via Bridge. If you already have a text database, that would be helpful as keywords can be imported given the right formatting.

Next, look at InDesign's Live Caption feature. Keywords are one of the many parameters it can use in addition to some text variables. Live Caption can also use Paragraph Styles. One tip, create a shortcut for assigning the captions.

All that being said, I've never built a catalog, 500 images would be a lot of keyword work, and maybe someone has a much better idea.

Bob