Posted by Andrea Hadley on October 19, 2009 at 11:39 AM
Okay, this involves many questions that need many answers. So I will start at one.
1)When transfering your photos from camera to computer, should you save originals in a folder stating "Originals"?
2)When editing those photos, do you save the after photos in a different folder named "your choice" and leave the originals in their place untouched?
Basically, I'm asking if you should always keep your originals in another folder untouched just in case you decide to make changes later on? And when editing a photo for internet reasons, should you save it in another folder, resizing it, editing and everything? Keeping your original photos, because resizing the originals for the internet could ruin it if you were to print them or whatever? I hope I was clear on my questions, because after I edit my photos, I save them as a copy and with a different name.
Your questions are clear Andrea, and sooooo appropriate! After you have worked so hard to get a great photo, safeguards have to be a top priority, both short term and long term.
I HATE working on photos right from the folder downloaded from a camera. If I make a mistake and save the changes while not preserving the original, there's little chance to go back. So the first thing I do after downloading to the computer is to copy the folder to a portable drive PLUS burn a DVD. I especially like working from DVDs because if I inadvertently hit Save rather than Save As, the computer won't let me do the damage to an original file.
Worked images are saved to their own folder bearing the same name as the original DVD plus the word SELECT. We shoot in TIFF or RAW, but these select images are always saved as TIFF files with the adjustment layers intact. I name the new image file to include keywords along with the original file #. Original DSC_8043.RAW might become bearleap8043.tiff, for example.
Now there's one more step. As a matter of course, as soon as I finish editing and saving a file, before closing it I flatten it, reduce it in size for web posting, and save it as a jpeg retaining the same bearleap8043.jpeg. Those go into a folder carrying the same name as the file of originals and the file of SELECTS, but in this case id'ed as JPEG. Ulitimately I save the SELECT folder and JPEG folders onto the same portable drive as the originals and burn them onto a disc (usually a CD).
You can accumulate a lot of DVDs and CDs, but that's not a problem with a simple management system. I put them in a folder along with any paperwork from the shoot, and that goes into a hanging file in my file cabinets. The tab is labeled with the location and date.
Me? Mess up an image edit? Nah. I just do this stuff because I like to burn discs.
Hank's workflow is excellent. Always keep your original camera files intact, and unedited.
Since I work with film, I store all my transparencies archivally, and scan only those that will be printed.
I create folders called 'No-Edit-Scans-1, -2, etc.'. All the scans go into these folders. Next, I create a 'Master File'. These 'master files' are stored in folders called, 'Master-Files-1, 2, etc.'. The full-resolution files are the ones I edit in Photoshop, and are saved as a tiff or psd file with all layers intact. These files are never sharpened.
Let's say I want to print the image. I duplicate the Master File and use Save As...to create a file with the same name, but stored in a folder whose name is the size of the print; for example, "Prints-12x16" or "Prints-16x20". I then flatten the file, adjust the size and print resolution, sharpen, and then save the file for later printing.
Since I don't do many images over, say, the course of a week, I usually do a backup onto the other computer on my network about every ten days.
Currently, I do not create CD's becasue most of my files are very large (some exceed 1GB), and burning to CD's would leave me with a huge pile of them. I need to get a CD/DVD drive that will burn both; my current drive will only burn CD's.
Hank wrote: "Nah. I just do this stuff because I like to burn discs."
Not only that, Frisbees are in short supply in the frozen North!
I do things a little differently than Hank. I import all my images through Lightroom. While I import images to my main working folder on one hard-drive I also copy them to a backup drive.
My images are orgainized by date and shoot/subject within my main working folder (i.e. 20091018_barrlake or 20090215_jazzfestival). All my originals are .CR2 (canon's raw file). As I work on things, which is either adjustments in Lightroom or Photoshop I'll save them in different formats.
Anything with layers gets saved as a .PSD; images for clients are .Tiff; for web .Jpeg. I save them right next to the master file (.CR2) so I know where everything is. I'll also append a little code on the file so I know what I'm doing (_L for layers, _BW for Black and White, _P for print file). In the end they all get sorted into different groups within Lightroom.
It looks complicated in print but is super easy in practice and I'm not dealing with stacks of discs or photos spread everywhere. At the end of a spell (week, two weeks, whatever) I update a copy of my main working folder (with all the images I've adjusted) and move that offsite for protection. Yeah, it's three external hard-drives but it works for me.
Good luck - in the end, everyone works out their own unique way of doing this.
Posted by Andrea Hadley on October 19, 2009 at 3:18 PM
Thanks ya'll for your very quick response. I very much appreciate it,
Posted by Andrea Hadley on October 19, 2009 at 4:13 PM
wow, you were posting right as I was posting my reply, I didn't even see your's yet. I've definitely got to go through my portable hard drive and reorganize folders so I'll have a folder to immediately transfer them from camera to drive.
If you are interested the Luminous Landscape site has a downloadable tutorial called "Where the @!?$S are my photos". I wouldn't say it essential reading, and it does cost $30 or something, but in it Seth Reznick puts forth some ideas for organization that I found useful. It is Lightroom based, so if you aren’t using Lightroom it isn’t really worth the price of admission.
Just to reiterate my concern about inadvertently saving your edits onto the original capture file, my preference for working from DVDs just paid off last night. We're working on a very large job, and late in a long day of editing, I hit Save rather than Save As. Since I was working from the DVD, the computer wouldn't let me do it. Had I been working on the file from my hard drive or a portable drive, the computer would have been perfectly happy to overwrite my original file.
I'm reasonably careful as a rule of thumb, but prone to stupid mistakes when I'm tired. My "mistake" was a sure sign it was time to shut down for the night. Even with backups, that inadvertent Save would have created a new version of the "original" file, which could have caused no end of confusion for my confused little brain.
Yes I always keep the raw originals in a seperate folder. Then I save as I go with "Save As" so that I have many versions saved along the way. Hard drive space is cheap so why not? Then once in a while if I come back to my finished Tiff and think I may have overdone something, I can go back to the saved version before the thing overdone. I typically have folders inside of folders to keep this somewhat organized.
Posted by Andrea Hadley on October 26, 2009 at 1:04 PM
Yeah I'll definitely keep all this in mind. Thanks again.
Many years ago, like 10, I started a file system that works for me. It takes a little revising occasionally but I can always find my files.
I import from my card reader through Breezebrowser Pro and rename everything continuously so that the images I took 5 years ago were numbered with up to 9999 and I am now up into the 200000.Those RAW images go into folders by subject. When they are processed they go into folders of the same name but on a different hard drive for processed images. Each processed image, eg, TIFFS and Jpegs, flattened, unflatened, and ready to print(sharpened for the size) go together with identifiers for size and version.
I am now running 3 - 1.5 T Hard Drives. One has Birds Processed, Loons & Owls-RAW&Processed, another has Birds-RAW,. The third has everything else, including Mammals, Insects, Reptiles and Amphibians,Locations and Family. They are all duplicated to other external hard drives with the same subjects.
The changes that have occurred are the result of adding or moving subjects around. I used to keep all Loons and Owls on a different hard drive but upgraded to larger ones and now keep them with the Processed Birds.
Every once in awhile I go through and delete RAW images since I have taken others that are better.
This works for me where storing by date, not subject, works for others. Five years ago I stopped using CD's for storage as some no longer opened as sectors had gone bad. After losing some images because of that I started using only external hard drives. Also, I used to save all images that were ready to print as PSDs but have changed to TIFFs only.
I have a couple of external drives that are now available for processing and storing video! All that money I am saving by not having film goes into storage!
There are lots of good ideas in the other posts and for me, storing RAW and Processed files separately, is the key!
Discussion
11 replies1)When transfering your photos from camera to computer, should you save originals in a folder stating "Originals"?
2)When editing those photos, do you save the after photos in a different folder named "your choice" and leave the originals in their place untouched?
Basically, I'm asking if you should always keep your originals in another folder untouched just in case you decide to make changes later on? And when editing a photo for internet reasons, should you save it in another folder, resizing it, editing and everything? Keeping your original photos, because resizing the originals for the internet could ruin it if you were to print them or whatever? I hope I was clear on my questions, because after I edit my photos, I save them as a copy and with a different name.
I HATE working on photos right from the folder downloaded from a camera. If I make a mistake and save the changes while not preserving the original, there's little chance to go back. So the first thing I do after downloading to the computer is to copy the folder to a portable drive PLUS burn a DVD. I especially like working from DVDs because if I inadvertently hit Save rather than Save As, the computer won't let me do the damage to an original file.
Worked images are saved to their own folder bearing the same name as the original DVD plus the word SELECT. We shoot in TIFF or RAW, but these select images are always saved as TIFF files with the adjustment layers intact. I name the new image file to include keywords along with the original file #. Original DSC_8043.RAW might become bearleap8043.tiff, for example.
Now there's one more step. As a matter of course, as soon as I finish editing and saving a file, before closing it I flatten it, reduce it in size for web posting, and save it as a jpeg retaining the same bearleap8043.jpeg. Those go into a folder carrying the same name as the file of originals and the file of SELECTS, but in this case id'ed as JPEG. Ulitimately I save the SELECT folder and JPEG folders onto the same portable drive as the originals and burn them onto a disc (usually a CD).
You can accumulate a lot of DVDs and CDs, but that's not a problem with a simple management system. I put them in a folder along with any paperwork from the shoot, and that goes into a hanging file in my file cabinets. The tab is labeled with the location and date.
Me? Mess up an image edit? Nah. I just do this stuff because I like to burn discs.
Hank's workflow is excellent. Always keep your original camera files intact, and unedited.
Since I work with film, I store all my transparencies archivally, and scan only those that will be printed.
I create folders called 'No-Edit-Scans-1, -2, etc.'. All the scans go into these folders. Next, I create a 'Master File'. These 'master files' are stored in folders called, 'Master-Files-1, 2, etc.'. The full-resolution files are the ones I edit in Photoshop, and are saved as a tiff or psd file with all layers intact. These files are never sharpened.
Let's say I want to print the image. I duplicate the Master File and use Save As...to create a file with the same name, but stored in a folder whose name is the size of the print; for example, "Prints-12x16" or "Prints-16x20". I then flatten the file, adjust the size and print resolution, sharpen, and then save the file for later printing.
Since I don't do many images over, say, the course of a week, I usually do a backup onto the other computer on my network about every ten days.
Currently, I do not create CD's becasue most of my files are very large (some exceed 1GB), and burning to CD's would leave me with a huge pile of them. I need to get a CD/DVD drive that will burn both; my current drive will only burn CD's.
Hank wrote: "Nah. I just do this stuff because I like to burn discs."
Not only that, Frisbees are in short supply in the frozen North!
-P
And when you line your ceiling and walls with them, the spy satellites can't steal your freedom.
No, wait....... She didn't get elected!
I do things a little differently than Hank. I import all my images through Lightroom. While I import images to my main working folder on one hard-drive I also copy them to a backup drive.
My images are orgainized by date and shoot/subject within my main working folder (i.e. 20091018_barrlake or 20090215_jazzfestival). All my originals are .CR2 (canon's raw file). As I work on things, which is either adjustments in Lightroom or Photoshop I'll save them in different formats.
Anything with layers gets saved as a .PSD; images for clients are .Tiff; for web .Jpeg. I save them right next to the master file (.CR2) so I know where everything is. I'll also append a little code on the file so I know what I'm doing (_L for layers, _BW for Black and White, _P for print file). In the end they all get sorted into different groups within Lightroom.
It looks complicated in print but is super easy in practice and I'm not dealing with stacks of discs or photos spread everywhere. At the end of a spell (week, two weeks, whatever) I update a copy of my main working folder (with all the images I've adjusted) and move that offsite for protection. Yeah, it's three external hard-drives but it works for me.
Good luck - in the end, everyone works out their own unique way of doing this.
Just a thought.
I'm reasonably careful as a rule of thumb, but prone to stupid mistakes when I'm tired. My "mistake" was a sure sign it was time to shut down for the night. Even with backups, that inadvertent Save would have created a new version of the "original" file, which could have caused no end of confusion for my confused little brain.
I import from my card reader through Breezebrowser Pro and rename everything continuously so that the images I took 5 years ago were numbered with up to 9999 and I am now up into the 200000.Those RAW images go into folders by subject. When they are processed they go into folders of the same name but on a different hard drive for processed images. Each processed image, eg, TIFFS and Jpegs, flattened, unflatened, and ready to print(sharpened for the size) go together with identifiers for size and version.
I am now running 3 - 1.5 T Hard Drives. One has Birds Processed, Loons & Owls-RAW&Processed, another has Birds-RAW,. The third has everything else, including Mammals, Insects, Reptiles and Amphibians,Locations and Family. They are all duplicated to other external hard drives with the same subjects.
The changes that have occurred are the result of adding or moving subjects around. I used to keep all Loons and Owls on a different hard drive but upgraded to larger ones and now keep them with the Processed Birds.
Every once in awhile I go through and delete RAW images since I have taken others that are better.
This works for me where storing by date, not subject, works for others. Five years ago I stopped using CD's for storage as some no longer opened as sectors had gone bad. After losing some images because of that I started using only external hard drives. Also, I used to save all images that were ready to print as PSDs but have changed to TIFFs only.
I have a couple of external drives that are now available for processing and storing video! All that money I am saving by not having film goes into storage!
There are lots of good ideas in the other posts and for me, storing RAW and Processed files separately, is the key!