Most of us using digital camera and dealing with digital images nowadays. The number of images we take are way more than what we could take with the film cameras and growing camera MPs are adding up on the size of the hard drives (not physically, fortunately). I am interested to know what everyone is using to organize their libraries, files and images. What is your evolved workflow? I am sure most of us continuously changing the way we download, store, process and search later when we need them. How do we name them?
What I am doing is using the Adobe Bridge CS5 downloading the images from the memory card by a card reader creating folders named by shot dates and I add a descriptive name later to it e.g: "2012_09_02, Father's day images" (that is the father's day in Australia). Individual images inside the folders are named automatically with continuous numbers like "IMG_2076.CR2" I don't convert them to DNG (I don't know why?). As I process them Later, I save them on the same folder with the same name but different file extensions like "IMG_2076.jpeg".
If I need to find them later, I search for "Father's day images".
I am thinking of converting them to DNG at the time of downloading.
What about you guys. How do you do that and what program do you use Lightroom, Adobe Bridge or something else? What do think works best for you and how did you get to this workflow?
Would like to learn from all of you there.
Many thank for reading and posting.
Posted by Mark Stahlke on August 30, 2012 at 10:33 AM
Here is my system, such as it is.
My top level folders are named for a particular photo outing. I have four sub-folders - raw, adjusted, print, and web. Raw files go directly into the raw folder. After being adjusted I save layered TIFFs in the adjusted folder. Files I want to print are flattened, sharpened for printing and stored in the print folder as TIFFs. The web folder contains flattened and resized files that are sharpened for the web and saved as JPEGs. If I was shooting 4x5, the raw folder contains raw scans. If I was shooting LF and digital, the raw files and scans go in separate sub-folders.
I don't use any software to do this so I there is no key wording for searches. My naming conventions (really a lack of naming conventions) suck. I need to work on that. I've thought about getting Apple's Aperture for cataloging images. Perhaps one day I'll do that.
Since I shoot 4x5 pretty much exclusively, here's my system...
Negatives and transparencies are numbered sequentially, e.g. 666-1.
I have a main folder for the scans (TIFF files), with subfolders named 'Scans-600-700, etc.. I then duplicate the scan file and save it as a 'Master File'. Master files go to the appropriate 'Master File' folders that are numbered similarly to the 'scans' folders. So, the 'master file' for 666-1 would go into the 'Master-Files-600-700 folder, and its name would be 666-1.psd. This 'Master File' is the one that is adjusted in Photo Shop. Note that I do not sharpen my master files.
Now, let's say I want to create a 16x20 print of #666-1. I have a folder named 'Prints-16x20'. I duplicate my 'master file' and save it as, 666-1-16x20.psd. The images sized and sharpened. This folder contains only 'ready to print' 16x20 images.
If I make an image for the Web, I duplicate the 'master file', resize it, convert the profile to sRGB, sharpen as needed and then save it in a folder named' 'Images-to-Post'. The resulting filename would be 666-1-Web.jpg.
I use a similar convention for other uses of the same image. For example, if I need a 12x16 print, I once again duplicate the 'master file', resize it, flatten it, and then save it in the 'Prints-12x16' folder as 666-1-12x16.psd.
If I were to give my workflow a name, it would be 'Targeted File Workflow'. My master files are full resolution, layered *.psd files in Adobe RGB color space. They are never sharpened and never flattened.
My system is actually quite simple. If I search for files with the file name 666-1.*, all the files with that name will be in the search results.
I use a digital asset management (DAM) program called IDImager. It is very robust, and in my opinion much more flexible than Bridge. All of my images have labels and keywords, so can find any specific image very quickly.
There are probably as many possible workflows as there are photographers, and mine is only one of them. In my opinion, one should give their naming conventions and folder structure a great deal of thought so that a system that is created will serve over the long term.
--P
Posted by Keith Bauer on August 31, 2012 at 10:19 AM
Here's my flow:
Download into Lightroom. Every image is key worded coming in. Sometimes in big batches, other times, it is a one at a time proposition. It pays off in the end. My folder structure is this. One high level folder that contains every other folder (and this is on a dedicated drive in my Mac Pro). Inside of that is a structure that is basically People, Places, Things, Birds, Events. Inside of each of those it breaks down to whatever is necessary. For instance inside of birds is a folder for each species. Inside of places it contains States, Cities, and more detail if needed. When I need to find anything, it is just a simple search text search in Lightroom searching keywords, folder names, etc. Very simple process. I do not convert anything to DNG. All images are stored as RAW files. Raw process in Lightroom Develop, Edit in Photoshop, save the PSD file which is placed back in the same folder as the raw and a LR stack is created automatically for me with the RAW and the PSD.
As I mentioned in another thread, I'm a huge fan (and instructor) of Lightroom. Using the power of Lightroom to manage images makes life much easier than any other tool I've seen. YMMV.
Posted by Mark Stahlke on August 31, 2012 at 7:58 PM
Thank you guys Mark, Preston and Keith for your inputs. Mark, I think naming the files or folder really helps when you are searching for something as Keith says,"It pays off in the end". I think it does.
Preston I like your way of organizing but I think, 1- I know the hard drives are cheap and getting cheaper everyday, but you need lots of them to store one image with so many formats! 2- Naming your images just with numbers, how can you find when you are searching for an image? Do you keep a glossary? I know a photographer friend on mine does. I think your folders look very structured and well organized (Devilish system ).
"There are probably as many possible workflows as there are photographers". Preston, this sentence of you reminds me a movie I watched few years ago and a sentence in a movie was "the number of ways to reach the God is equal to the number of people in the world." I think you are right and that's why I post this thread.
Keith, I have a question for you since you are LR instructor, what advantages LR has got over Adobe bridge regarding the file and folders organization? (I have not used LR at all. I have a copy, bough as a package with my PS but have not installed in my computer at all).
I used to store my images in folders like your Keith, but in some cases I did not really know where some images belongs!! Like, Event and/or People, Travel or places!! then I decided to keep them in a folder named as shot date and description. Do you ever come across a situation like this that you think homm. which folder this image suits best?
What about rest of us? What are you guys using and how are you organizing and naming your files and folders? What is the best way or convenient way for you? Please share with us.
Posted by Keith Bauer on September 1, 2012 at 7:03 PM
You asked what advantages Lightroom has over bridge. Rather than try to write them all down, here is a link that has 100 reasons and video clips of each.
Clearly not every single one will apply to everyone, but you will get a feeling of the power LR brings to your workflow.
"Preston I like your way of organizing but I think, 1- I know the hard drives are cheap and getting cheaper everyday, but you need lots of them to store one image with so many formats! 2- Naming your images just with numbers, how can you find when you are searching for an image? Do you keep a glossary? I know a photographer friend on mine does. I think your folders look very structured and well organized (Devilish system )."
Mohammad,
Thanks for your comments. To your first point about storage space: I do not scan, create master files, or print all of the exposures I make. In fact, the number is actually quite small because I work up only those images that will eventually be printed. As a rough guess, I'd say my storage requirements are about 300GB. My 'working' scans and master files are on a fast SSD, my C:\ drive (there are about twenty of them at the moment). The remainder are archived on a 500GB standard drive.
To your second point about my naming convention: I have a 'flat file' log in MS One Note where I record the info for each exposed sheet of film before they go to the lab for processing. Each transparency/negative sleeve then gets a label with the file number, subject, location, and date. Next, I scan only those that have made the cut.
As I noted in my original post, I use a program called IDImager-Pro into which I can import scans, master files, print and Web files. IDImager allows me to create labels, keywords and thumbnails of each image file. The program allows me to seach by label, keyword, date, file name, etc., so I can find a particular image very quickly.
Fabulous topic, and thank you everyone for sharing your systems!! This is all very helpful to me too.
Posted by Nathan Buck on October 17, 2012 at 5:44 PM
Here is what I do: When I have photos that I need to download, I put them into a directory with the date of the download, or a date that most of the photos were taken. I arrange these folders by year. Since my Nikon keeps a sequential number then I can usually find files fairly easily if I know about what number I am looking for. If I make changes, then I am saving PSD files. I will save off jpgs for web use into a specific web use folder and then if I print (which I do not do enough of) then I save those off separately also.
Here is where I have a question. It is about moving off my favorite images and culling the images that are not up to snuff. I have a copy of LR, but have not used it yet. I was waiting to get a beefier laptop that I knew would run it better - but I have not accomplished that yet. I am thinking that I will just try it on the laptop that I currently have. So I may be able to identify the good images a bit easier and organize them a bit better using LR.
I am a bit over a year behind in the 'culling' phase of my workflow. So a couple of questions there:
1. Do you all get rid of all of your sub-par images?
2. Do you just have to keep up with it or do you do this through your slow times of shooting?
3. Do you only get rid of the really bad stuff (missed focus, clearly horrible comp, etc.)?
Any suggestions and thoughts would be helpful. Thanks for the thread Mohammad, I hope that this is not too far off and that I am hijacking your thread.
Discussion
10 repliesWhat I am doing is using the Adobe Bridge CS5 downloading the images from the memory card by a card reader creating folders named by shot dates and I add a descriptive name later to it e.g: "2012_09_02, Father's day images" (that is the father's day in Australia). Individual images inside the folders are named automatically with continuous numbers like "IMG_2076.CR2" I don't convert them to DNG (I don't know why?). As I process them Later, I save them on the same folder with the same name but different file extensions like "IMG_2076.jpeg".
If I need to find them later, I search for "Father's day images".
I am thinking of converting them to DNG at the time of downloading.
What about you guys. How do you do that and what program do you use Lightroom, Adobe Bridge or something else? What do think works best for you and how did you get to this workflow?
Would like to learn from all of you there.
Many thank for reading and posting.
My top level folders are named for a particular photo outing. I have four sub-folders - raw, adjusted, print, and web. Raw files go directly into the raw folder. After being adjusted I save layered TIFFs in the adjusted folder. Files I want to print are flattened, sharpened for printing and stored in the print folder as TIFFs. The web folder contains flattened and resized files that are sharpened for the web and saved as JPEGs. If I was shooting 4x5, the raw folder contains raw scans. If I was shooting LF and digital, the raw files and scans go in separate sub-folders.
I don't use any software to do this so I there is no key wording for searches. My naming conventions (really a lack of naming conventions) suck. I need to work on that. I've thought about getting Apple's Aperture for cataloging images. Perhaps one day I'll do that.
Negatives and transparencies are numbered sequentially, e.g. 666-1.
I have a main folder for the scans (TIFF files), with subfolders named 'Scans-600-700, etc.. I then duplicate the scan file and save it as a 'Master File'. Master files go to the appropriate 'Master File' folders that are numbered similarly to the 'scans' folders. So, the 'master file' for 666-1 would go into the 'Master-Files-600-700 folder, and its name would be 666-1.psd. This 'Master File' is the one that is adjusted in Photo Shop. Note that I do not sharpen my master files.
Now, let's say I want to create a 16x20 print of #666-1. I have a folder named 'Prints-16x20'. I duplicate my 'master file' and save it as, 666-1-16x20.psd. The images sized and sharpened. This folder contains only 'ready to print' 16x20 images.
If I make an image for the Web, I duplicate the 'master file', resize it, convert the profile to sRGB, sharpen as needed and then save it in a folder named' 'Images-to-Post'. The resulting filename would be 666-1-Web.jpg.
I use a similar convention for other uses of the same image. For example, if I need a 12x16 print, I once again duplicate the 'master file', resize it, flatten it, and then save it in the 'Prints-12x16' folder as 666-1-12x16.psd.
If I were to give my workflow a name, it would be 'Targeted File Workflow'. My master files are full resolution, layered *.psd files in Adobe RGB color space. They are never sharpened and never flattened.
My system is actually quite simple. If I search for files with the file name 666-1.*, all the files with that name will be in the search results.
I use a digital asset management (DAM) program called IDImager. It is very robust, and in my opinion much more flexible than Bridge. All of my images have labels and keywords, so can find any specific image very quickly.
There are probably as many possible workflows as there are photographers, and mine is only one of them. In my opinion, one should give their naming conventions and folder structure a great deal of thought so that a system that is created will serve over the long term.
--P
Download into Lightroom. Every image is key worded coming in. Sometimes in big batches, other times, it is a one at a time proposition. It pays off in the end. My folder structure is this. One high level folder that contains every other folder (and this is on a dedicated drive in my Mac Pro). Inside of that is a structure that is basically People, Places, Things, Birds, Events. Inside of each of those it breaks down to whatever is necessary. For instance inside of birds is a folder for each species. Inside of places it contains States, Cities, and more detail if needed. When I need to find anything, it is just a simple search text search in Lightroom searching keywords, folder names, etc. Very simple process. I do not convert anything to DNG. All images are stored as RAW files. Raw process in Lightroom Develop, Edit in Photoshop, save the PSD file which is placed back in the same folder as the raw and a LR stack is created automatically for me with the RAW and the PSD.
As I mentioned in another thread, I'm a huge fan (and instructor) of Lightroom. Using the power of Lightroom to manage images makes life much easier than any other tool I've seen. YMMV.
You're right, Mark. The devil made me do it.
--P
Preston I like your way of organizing but I think, 1- I know the hard drives are cheap and getting cheaper everyday, but you need lots of them to store one image with so many formats! 2- Naming your images just with numbers, how can you find when you are searching for an image? Do you keep a glossary? I know a photographer friend on mine does. I think your folders look very structured and well organized (Devilish system
"There are probably as many possible workflows as there are photographers". Preston, this sentence of you reminds me a movie I watched few years ago and a sentence in a movie was "the number of ways to reach the God is equal to the number of people in the world." I think you are right and that's why I post this thread.
Keith, I have a question for you since you are LR instructor, what advantages LR has got over Adobe bridge regarding the file and folders organization? (I have not used LR at all. I have a copy, bough as a package with my PS but have not installed in my computer at all).
I used to store my images in folders like your Keith, but in some cases I did not really know where some images belongs!! Like, Event and/or People, Travel or places!! then I decided to keep them in a folder named as shot date and description. Do you ever come across a situation like this that you think homm. which folder this image suits best?
What about rest of us? What are you guys using and how are you organizing and naming your files and folders? What is the best way or convenient way for you? Please share with us.
Clearly not every single one will apply to everyone, but you will get a feeling of the power LR brings to your workflow.
http://photoshopuser.com/lightroom/
Mohammad,
Thanks for your comments. To your first point about storage space: I do not scan, create master files, or print all of the exposures I make. In fact, the number is actually quite small because I work up only those images that will eventually be printed. As a rough guess, I'd say my storage requirements are about 300GB. My 'working' scans and master files are on a fast SSD, my C:\ drive (there are about twenty of them at the moment). The remainder are archived on a 500GB standard drive.
To your second point about my naming convention: I have a 'flat file' log in MS One Note where I record the info for each exposed sheet of film before they go to the lab for processing. Each transparency/negative sleeve then gets a label with the file number, subject, location, and date. Next, I scan only those that have made the cut.
As I noted in my original post, I use a program called IDImager-Pro into which I can import scans, master files, print and Web files. IDImager allows me to create labels, keywords and thumbnails of each image file. The program allows me to seach by label, keyword, date, file name, etc., so I can find a particular image very quickly.
--P
Here is where I have a question. It is about moving off my favorite images and culling the images that are not up to snuff. I have a copy of LR, but have not used it yet. I was waiting to get a beefier laptop that I knew would run it better - but I have not accomplished that yet. I am thinking that I will just try it on the laptop that I currently have. So I may be able to identify the good images a bit easier and organize them a bit better using LR.
I am a bit over a year behind in the 'culling' phase of my workflow. So a couple of questions there:
1. Do you all get rid of all of your sub-par images?
2. Do you just have to keep up with it or do you do this through your slow times of shooting?
3. Do you only get rid of the really bad stuff (missed focus, clearly horrible comp, etc.)?
Any suggestions and thoughts would be helpful. Thanks for the thread Mohammad, I hope that this is not too far off and that I am hijacking your thread.
Nathan