digital workflow hints and tips

Digital workflow hints and tipsMark Wilson, Olney Camera Clubhttp://www.markwilsonphoto.co.uk/http://www.markwilson.it/

Digital workflow?• What’s that then?

It’s about process!• Think back to the traditional (wet) darkroom:

– Film Developer Stop bath Fix bath negatives/transparencies file

– Enlarger Photographic paper (dodge and burn, tint, etc.)– Or slideshow– Or Scan and follow digital workflow

• Digital darkroom is the same– Images Disk Photo management software Metadata

(tags, etc.)– Apply adjustments Digital prints/slideshow/web

There is no “right” approach• I’ll talk tonight about some of the

tools that I use in managing my images

• Maybe some of it will be useful for you?

Some things to talk about• Basic workflow• Software• Backing up your images• Sharing your work online

BASIC WORKFLOW

Example workflow

Image management

Raw conversion

Digital negatives (original raw images and/or .DNG)

Image editing

Edited images (.PSD)

Final images (.JPG)

Raw images with sidecar (.XMP)

SOFTWARE

Which platform?• Mac or PC?– It doesn’t matter– Both are just tools – a means to an end

• Macs are not infallible (despite what Apple might tell you)

• Windows is well-known and well-supported• Linux may be an option for those who are

technically competent

Things to know• Windows and Mac OS X both have photo-

management applications– iPhoto– Windows Live Photo Gallery

• No need to install Canon/Nikon software to get pictures off your camera– Windows and OS X can both access cameras via USB– Many computers have built-in card readers– Adobe Camera Raw is free and can handle most raw

conversion

On my machine• Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5.8 (Leopard)• Image management and editing: Adobe Lightroom 2• Raw conversion: Adobe Camera Raw• Image editing: Adobe Photoshop CS4• Image management: Adobe Bridge CS4• Noise reduction: Noise Ninja plugin for PhotoShop• Upload to online services: Flickr Uploadr• Bulk file renames: Renamer4Mac• Screen calibration: Spyder3Utility• Film scanning: Nikon Scan 4• Tethered image capture: Lightroom Tether, Sofortbuild• Other: EXIFtool

Demonstration

BACKING UP YOUR IMAGES

Backups• Golden rule:– No image “exists” until it’s backed up in

at least two places (three places?)

• Hard disks are inexpensive– But as we store more data on them, the

chances of failure increase

• Your images are priceless

A cautionary tale• Several thousand images stored on two

hard disks attached to the same computer• Nightly backup from one disk to the other• User error resulted in wiping both disks

clean• Panic ensued – irreplaceable images of

young children appeared to be lost!

A cautionary tale• Stop! Do not attempt to write to those disks– Sleep on it!

• Some Internet research turned up a $99 software package that examined the disk and found all the files – they were still there, just not accessible

• Different solutions for Mac and PC• Full story at

http://www.markwilson.co.uk/blog/2007/05/recovering-data-after-destroying-the-mac-os-x-partition-table.htm

What can you do?• Don’t rely on local backups!– Burglary, house fire, user error – could all result

in lost data

• Backup to a second hard disk and keep it off-site– Store it with a friend or family?– CDs/DVDs have a limited life (so do hard disks

that are not used)

• Use Internet backup services

Internet backup services• Not just the photo sharing sites but a place to store files

online• Various options:

– Windows Live SkyDrive – 25GB space free from Microsoft– Mozy - $4.95/month for unlimited storage– Dropbox – more expensive but more options– Jungledisk – PAYG pricing using Amazon.com web services– There are others too

• Uploads may take a long time (days, weeks, months!) – photographers have many GBs of files

• Some sites offer the ability to backup/recover by shipping physical disks

Data recovery• Memory card errors

– Not all memory cards are created equal– High end brands (e.g. Sandisk, Lexar) may provide

software with the memory card (see http://www.markwilson.co.uk/blog/2007/08/recovering-images-from-a-compact-flash-card.htm)

• Failed external hard disks– Often the disk inside is fine, but the USB-SATA

connection is damaged. It may be possible to access the disk in another enclosure, or installed directly inside a PC and recover the data

SHARING YOUR WORK ONLINE

Choosing an online service• I use Flickr (now owned by Yahoo!) but

there are others options too:– Windows Live Gallery (Microsoft)– Picassa (Google)– Facebook (urgh!)– Photobox

• Think about online privacy as well as potential copyright infringement

Why I use Flickr• Huge site with lots of functionality, backed by Yahoo!

– Unlikely to disappear

• Granular control over access:– Some images visible to all– Other images for friends, or for family– Able to issue guest passes

• Can mark images as copyright – or issue a Creative Commons license

• Full resolution image available to me (with a Pro account), but only low resolution displayed to others

• http://www.flickr.com/photos/mark-wilson/

Copyright and creative commons• In the UK, you automatically own the copyright on

your images (unlike the US, where copyright has to be registered)– © All rights reserved

• Creative Commons is a means to grant a license for others to use your work:– Some rights reserved– Various licenses are available - read more at

http://creativecommons.org/

SUMMARY

What have we covered?• Described what workflow is, and what a simple

workflow might look like• Listed some of the types of computer software

that might be useful for a digital photographer• Stressed the importance of backups – and gave

some advice on how to make sure images are safe

• Talked about sharing images online, including copyright and Creative Commons licensing

CThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence.

For further details, please visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/

cbn

© 2010, Mark Wilson.Some rights reserved.