Digital Photography Workflow
A digital photography workflow is the process you use to manage your images from start to finish. It starts with shooting and ends with final display, whether web or print. Everyone should develop a workflow that helps them repeat the process in an efficient and consistent manner. A good workflow should include a plan for handling the following steps:
2. Gather gear
3. Setup camera (image file, ISO, WB, timer, bracketing, exp comp)
4. Capture images
5. Download images
6. Delete unwanted images and rename images
7. Organize images into folders/albums to streamline future access
8. Sort, label, categorize images
9. Edit, size and save images for output
10. Organize and Backup images
Sample Workflow for Mac or PC (using Bridge and Camera Raw)
2. Gather gear: Decide if you will need a tripod, flash, lenses, backup cameras, umbrella, or any other gear or props.
3. Setup camera: Choose the highest quality jpeg image possibe, or raw file. Check your ISO, white balance and clear any special settings you may have used last time, i.e.: bracketing, self-timer, exposure compensation.
4. Capture images: Think outside the box for the unusual angle or back side, etc.
5. Download to a New Folder: Create a new folder in Pictures and label it with Year – Month – Keyword. Example: 2011 09 Bannack.
6. Organize in Bridge: Open folder in Adobe Bridge. Set up Preview window, and rotate vertical images, as needed (Go to Edit – Rotate).
7. Sort Best & Delete Worst: Assign 3 star rating to best images (Cmd 3). Delete unwanted images. Be sure you are sorting by filename, at this point (View – Sort – By Filename.)
8. Batch rename: (optional) Rename all images with Year – Month – Keyword – Number. Example 2011-09-Bannack-001.
9. Sort or Filter View by Rating: Organize all best images at the top. Go to View – Sort – By Rating. Or you may simply filter the view to show only the images rated 4 stars and above.
10. Sort Very Best: Assign 4 or 5 star rating to very best images, (Cmd 4, or Cmd 5) which will move them to the top. (Optional: Label images by colors to organize them into categories. This is useful to separate images of certain people, or for a client, etc.)
11. Edit Best Images in Camera Raw: Select one of your very best images and hit Cmd-R to open it in Photoshop’s Camera Raw editor. This will work with jpeg images in Adobe CS3 or later. This is a quick way to make non-destructive edits. The changes and images are stored in the same file, so it is no longer necessary to make multiple copies of the edited image. (To revert back to the original jpeg, open it in Camera Raw, then go to… )
12. Open images in Photoshop: (optional) From the Camera Raw window, hit open image. This will save your store your changes (and preserve the original data) in your file, as it also opens the image in Photoshop for further editing (such as adjustment layers or filters) and sizing. If you add any final edits in Photoshop, save the image as a .psd to the same folder, with the same name, so it stays next to the original.
13. Create folder(s) for final jpegs: Create folders to store edited images. For example: Create a Blog folder where you save all your sized-down images for your blog. Your full-size originals, images edited in camera raw, and edited psds will stay together in the main folder.
14. Run Action(s)/ Scripts to Prepare Images: To use images in a blog, Facebook, or to print, you will need to resize. Create Actions in Photoshop so you can do this quickly. (See Actions tutorial in Custom Images book.) Apply these recommended steps when resizing: 1. Flatten image; 2. Image – Image Size (check resample and select new size); 3. Signature Stamp (optional); 4. Save as a jpeg (Use Bicubic Sharper to downsize, and choose Maximum/Optimized jpeg).
15. Backup all images on an external hard drive. (Watch for a sale on Black Friday. You can now get 1.0 terabyte for around $50 or less)
ADVANTAGES OF THIS WORKFLOW:
1. All originals and .psd edits stay side by side, together in one folder for future comparisons and easy location
2. Using camera raw reduces the extra copies of edited images, because edits are stored within the original jpeg file, which saves hard drive space.
3. The filtered view will show only very best images, yet others are still in the same folder, if needed.
For Mac Users: Set Bridge (Adobe Photo Downloader) as your default for downloading photos DO NOT USE iPHOTO (It copies images and fills up your hard drive and it compresses images when you export them!) Follow these steps to up Bridge as your default method to download photos:
2. Insert SD card or USB camera cord into the computer. The Adobe Photo Downloader should open so you can download and view images in Bridge.
3. Use the Essential view in Bridge, then enlarge the Preview panel, and show the top part of the Metadata Panel to show f/stop and shutter speed.
4. View your images in Bridge and reshoot new examples as needed. Then have the TA check your images for grading purposes. Once, the TA checks them, you cannot reshoot, so be sure you get good examples before you have the TA check your work.
Export image out of iPhoto forever: Here’s the path to remove your photos from the iPhoto library package:
Finder > Pictures Folder > iPhoto Library (icon of 3 pix stacked on each other) > right click and bring up the contextual menu > Show Package contents > Originals folder, and if you want, the Modified folder (Sometimes it is under Master folder). Move these folders to another location on your hard drive. Then move the iPhoto library to the trash and empty the trash.
Method 2 For Mac: Switch from iPhoto to Image Capture:
This is one way to manage images on a Mac. Notice it does not use iPhoto, due to some quirky settings that are hard to deal with. For example, iPhoto makes duplicate copies of images in a main library which fills up your hard drive and it is difficult to pull images out of iPhoto to manually edit, copy and file. Hopefully, they will someday make iPhoto as intuitive as iTunes, because iTunes does not make four copies of every song if you have it in four playlists. It links back to the master file in the iTunes main library. At this point in time, Apple has not put much effort into making iPhoto a good system for photo management. Perhaps it is because they want you to purchase You can find many online discussions on this topic from irate Apple customers. Most of us who discover this problem, switch to Image Capture, which also comes on a Mac, and it allows manual photo management adequately.
b. Set this as your preferred method for handling images each time a camera is selected.
b. Select all the files and to a batch rename to change the file names with date and keyword
c. Select your best images and move them (not copy them) to a subfolder, named “Best,” inside the main folder of images. This will keep one copy of the original, but sort them nicely for future access of your best shots. You also still have all the others images from that photoshoot in your main folder, in case you need something else that is not in your “Best” folder. This way, you can also make a quick copy of your Best folder(s) to take with you on a flash drive, for doing a project elsewhere, without taking up too much time and space.
3. Backup your “Main” and “Best” subfolder immediately!
4. Once you start editing your images, always save those as psds with a new name in an “Edited” subfolder for future editing and alterations. Be sure not to save over your original images in the Best and main folder. Your jpeg versions of these images can also be stored in this “Edited” subfolder, but just make sure you use the psds to edit with, beacause each time you edit a jpeg, you recompress the file and lose more quailty.
5. Back up your “Edited” subfolder immediately!