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I never intentionally erase any of my pictures from their memory cards until after I've seen them on my notebook computer.
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Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983
T e c h n o f i l e
Digital photo workflow, Part 1: Copying and editing
Feb. 8, 2004
By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2004, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2004, The Post-Standard
What you do after you take a picture with your digital camera can be more important than you might think. The steps you take in the "digital workflow" from camera to final image can help you turn a so-so picture into a good one. And they can make sure you'll be able to find each photo among the hundreds in your collection months later.
I'm offering my own digital workflow as a guide.
How I get my photos off the camera
I like to have enough storage space for a full day of photography, so I bought six or seven extra memory cards when I saw them go on sale. After each one is full, I take it out of the camera, slide the erase-prevention tab into position and put the card into a resealable plastic bag that I keep in my pocket. The erase tab protects the pictures against accidental deletion and gives me a visual and tactile cue that the card is full.
During a break in any long photography session, I transfer the first pictures from my memory cards to my notebook computer using the USB cable that came with the camera or a memory-card reader that plugs into the computer. This frees up some of the memory cards for more photos.
I never intentionally erase any of my pictures from their memory cards until after I've seen them on my notebook computer. (Remember the erase-prevention tab? That keeps me from erasing the photos accidentally, too.)
Whenever it's convenient, I copy the photos from my notebook computer to my main desktop computer, where I do all my editing.
I then make backup copies using a couple of CDs or a single DVD. I get the equivalent storage of six and a half CDs on one data DVD.
Sorting and editing
Then I make copies, in TIF format, of every photo good enough to keep. I ignore any bad pictures. (I know a "bad picture" when I see one, and so do you. I go with my gut.)
TIF, also written as TIFF, is a lossless format. TIF images are exact copies, with every byte in the image intact. Other lossless formats I've used are BMP and PNG. I never edit photos stored in a lossy format such as JPEG (also spelled JPG) because lossy images degrade each time the image is saved.
But this presents a minor problem. I wish I never had to deal with JPEGs, but that's just not possible. My camera's standard image format is JPEG, and that means the photos I get from my camera usually are JPEGs. And that, in turn, means I don't dare do any editing until I've made my TIF copies, using software that does batch conversion. I've used ACDSee for that under Windows; I now use GraphicConverter under OS X.
I've settled on Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 for all my image editing. I've installed a dozen Photoshop plugins, adding immensely to the flexibility and power of the program.
My first step is overall cropping, to trim the picture down to its essentials. Sometimes I crop only a small part of the edge of a photo to straighten it slightly, but I also like to crop my images down to typical print dimensions of 4 by 6 or 8 by 10 if I'm sure I will make photo prints.
The second step is toning. I adjust the color first, using the automatic color balance in my photo editor. Then I adjust the black-and-white balance, usually called "contrast." My photo editor has an automatic option for that, too.
I sometimes have to make manual adjustments, too, but I always let the photo software go through its automatic routines before I make my own changes. No picture is left untoned. Even if an image seems fine to my tired eyes, I run it through the software. (And I've never had an image that wasn't improved at least slightly.)
Tip: I always adjust the color balance before I adjust the contrast; otherwise I'm never able to get the colors quite right.
I never do any sharpening when I edit photos. You can't undo the effects of sharpening, so it's best left to the last editing stage, just before printing.
Next week: How I sort and catalog my digital images.
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