dalereagan.com - Digital Photography Workflow Mini FAQ - Photography by Dale Reagan, Photographer based in Savannah, Ga

* Digital Photography Workflow Mini-FAQ

Note that the information below is an extremely brief introduction to the topic of digital workflow. This information may or may not be relevant or appropriate to your needs.

What is digital workflow?
Why should camera users care about digital workflow?
What is meta-data and why is it important in a digital workflow?
Why is the camera image file format important?
Why is the backup medium important? CDs/DVDs will last for hundreds of years, right?
What resources can be used to learn more about digital workflow?

1. What is digital workflow?

Digital workflow is the process or sequence of steps that is traversed to move a captured image from a camera to it's final end use. Steps along the way can include:

making a copy of the files on the CF card (or other camera media) to a hard disk or other storage device
evaluating the images (delete rejects, apply ratings, labels, or other 'quality' stamps)
applying a naming convention to the files (default in-camera file naming conventions are currently fairly limited in that they usually only include a sequence number and some sort of vendor designation along with a file format type for example the name: DSCN1038.JPG.)
applying meta-data to the files (i.e. adding copyright, photographer contact, image description or other information that will make the image data-rich)
converting captured images to the file format of choice (currently, there is significant debate about the merits and use of vendor camera RAW image formats; for many end users convenience will drive the file format selection - whatever is easiest to use will top the list - anything else will be used when the need arises/dominate)
creating backup copies of the files for online, off-site or long term storage
adding data for the new images to a master database or image management tool/system
processing images use (i.e. preparing versions of the files for web, print or other presentation usage)
delivering the final image to clients, family or friends (i.e. printing snapshots for the family, sending out a DVD with press ready images, transferring files to clients via electronic means)

2. Why should camera users care about digital workflow?

Digital media immediately increases post-production time - you simply will have more images to screen/select. If you only take a handful of images then you won't typically be concerned with organizing how you handle your images. On the other hand, if you are now generating several hundred or thousands of images then it can be quite a time saver if you develop your own process for handling images. How easily can you put your hands on negatives/slides/prints from 5, 10 or 15+ years ago? Can you generate a list of all images of your family pets? Or a list of all of your 'best' images? How about a list of all images taken in 2002? A list of all unpublished images? A list of all published images?

3. What is meta-data and why is it important in a digital workflow?

Meta-data is data about data - All of the information that already exists in your image files and any that you add after you create the file is meta-data; for digitally captured camera files it usually includes EXIF data as well as information that you might add as you edit the file. Why add more information? - simply put, value. Data (in this case, an image) that is data-enhanced has increased value as long as the quality of the added information is good. In addition to speeding up file searches (provided you use some indexing tool that takes advantage of meta-data) adding appropriate meta-data to your images decreases the long term maintenance.

4. Why is the backup medium important? CDs/DVDs will last for hundreds of years, right?

The 'life expectancy' of any optical medium is speculative, not proven by the actual passage of time. In the same manner that slides, negatives and prints will age (and possibly/most likely deteriorate) today's CD/DVD ROM discs will also eventually fail or degrade. The more you use your CD/DVDs and/or the more you expose them to 'poor' conditions, the more likely you will encounter disc failures. The quality of the discs that you use will also affect the real life that you extract from the medium.

5. Why is the camera image file format important?

The image format that is chosen for long term storage of images is what will determine how easily your images may be used in the future. If the vendor formats keep changing (which is what we are seeing from the camera makers) then you have to keep changing your software in order to work with the images. If you archive your files using an vendor neutral, industry standard file format (i.e. TIFF or JPEG) then the chances are good that software 20 years from now will be able to read/use the files. A nice 'feature' of film/slides is that you have something physical to work with and from which you can still get high quality images from.

6. What resources can be used to learn more about digital workflow?

The books found here cover workflow for both general and RAW file format uses.

Digital Photography Vocabulary

meta-data: data about data
EXIF: Exchangeable Image File Format - typically includes information generated from your camera when you capture an image; usually includes information like the image exposure settings, ISO information, lens information, etc. In general it could contain any information that the camera is capable of recording about the image capture process.
TIFF - Tagged Image File Format - a cross platform image file format; widely supported in current image editing software programs; a 'lossless' format; files tend to be large
JPEG - Joint Photographic Experts Group - an images file format that compresses files by throwing away 'excess' data; a 'lossy' format; file size depend on JPEG quality levels
RAW - generally speaking this refers to any vendor specific (i.e. proprietary) file format used to store images. Most cameras provide file format choices that offer various benefits. For many professional users the RAW format provided by their camera vendor will be the preferred format due to the amount and quality of data that these file formats support

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